Archive for May, 2011

New Rodeo Monkey Emerges in Japan

Back in April, it was reported that the famous boar-riding “Rodeo Monkey” would no longer ride through the Fukuchiyama Zoo in Kyoto prefecture. It was sad news for fans of cute monkey cowboys.

But fear not, now there’s a new rodeo in Japan! Somebody’s found a wild monkey in Kochi prefecture that also likes to ride boards (cue the rodeo music, ATV!):

The riding takes place at a boar farm. When the human farmer puts out food for the boars, a wild monkey sneaks into the pen and steals some vegetables. The monkey also likes to jump around and ride the boars. It might be his way of asserting dominance over the other animals.

FTV also ran a story about the new monkey. As part of their report, they visited the Fukuchiyama Zoo to see what was up with the previous rodeo team:

Because the baby boar at the Fukuchiyama Zoo has grown to a large size, it’s no longer safe to allow the monkey and boar to freely roam about the zoo. The boar is now kept in a fenced enclosure, and the monkey is allowed to hang out there, often riding on the boar’s back.

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Japanese Whisky Commercial / Wacky Bearded Foreigners

The latest commercial for Black Nikka Whisky has a bunch of wacky foreigners busting into Yo Oizumi‘s house to give him a mustache:

You can see a special behind the scenes feature at the official CM homepage.

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Dog Reunited With Family 50 Days After Fukushima Evacuation

A dog is reunited with his family, some 50 days after they were split apart by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident:

The dog is named Umenosuke. Umenosuke and his family had lived in the town of Okuma, which was within the exclusion zone for the nuclear power plant.

Like many pet owners in the area, Umenosuke’s family probably left him at home believing that they would soon be allowed to return. However, the situation at the plant was worse than expected, and their dog was left to fend for himself.

Earlier this month, the dog was rescued by a local government employee and photos of the dog were put on the internet. The family realized it was their dog, and they came to pick him up. Umenosuke was leaping with joy as he saw them.

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Public Prosecutors Were Taught That Yakuza & Foreigners Have No Rights

Nico Nico News has posted an article about Hiroshi Ishikawa, a former public prosecutor who wants to spread the word about bad things that are going on behind the scenes in Japan’s justice system. Here is an English translation of the article, which was posted on Tepido.org by Level 3:

Stunning revelation from former prosecutor on the real situation of initial training, “We were taught that yakuza and foreigners have no rights”

The chief prosecutor in the Saga City Agricultural Co-op case, infamous for use of false charges, spoke at a symposium held in Tokyo on May 23, 2011. He gave a stunningly candid account of the reality of training for new employees. He disclosed that in his past experience, “We were taught that yakuza and foreigners have no rights.” and “Prosecutors are instructed to make up a confession on their own and then make the suspect sign it.” Further, he gave a chilling account of how under this warped training system, “While being trained in this way, I came to sort of agree that these kinds of things were only natural.”

The person bringing up accusations against his old training ground is former prosecutor Hiroshi Ishikawa. Ishiakwa was involved as the chief prosecutor in the Saga City Agricultre Co-op case that arose in 2000. In that case, during police questioning of the former union leader, a forced confession was obtained as police screamed, “We’ll fucking beat you to death, you bastard!” The union leader had been indicted on suspicion of breach of trust, but was found not guilty based on refusal to accept the confession was voluntary. As a result, Ishikawa received a harsh reprimand and resigned his post as public prosecutor.

Ishikawa spoke on that day as a panelist at a symposium on the theme “Prosecution, Public Opinion, and False Charges” held at the Graduate School of Communications at Meiji University. At first, he gave shocking testimony that, “I admit that public prosecutors, having committed errors unsuited to their position, must take the position of offering profuse apologies.” while also noting that, “I want to tell the whole truth, so we can know how many threat-spewing public prosecutors were created.”

Ishikawa was first appointed to the Yokohama District Public Prosecutor’s Office in 1993. In his first year there, he claims his superiors taught him that, ‘Yakuza and foreigners have no rights’ “That superior said on that point, ‘Foreigners don’t understand Japanese, so if you speak Japanese, you can heap as much verbal abuse as you want on them.’” Further, that superior said, “Once when we were interrogating a foreign suspect, we thrust an awl right in front of his eye and shouted abuses at him in Japanese. That’s how you get confessions!” as Ishikawa recounted his personal experiences.

In his third year, a superior instructed him on methods to take confessions. That being, the prosecutor rattling off a made-up confession and then thrusting the confession form at the suspect and making them sign it. If the suspect refused to sign, what should be done? “If the suspect resists, tell him, ‘This is not your confession form, it’s just [you acknowledging] what I’m saying.’” , Ishikawa recalled of that period.

“When being trained in such a manner, you come to sort of believe that these things are only natural. In my eighth year, even I verbally abused suspects, totally unsuitable for to my position. The case had a not guilty verdict, and it ended up with my resignation.”

In 2005, Ishikawa quit the prosecutor’s office altogether and is now practicing as a lawyer. On the day before the symposium (May 22), he appeared on the Asahi Broadcast Network news program “The Scoop – Special” to give a much talked-about televised apology to the family of the former labor leader he had once verbally abused. The Meiji Univ. symposium was live-streamed on NicoNico Douga where he gave his reason for making these statements in a public forum as, “To atone for my terrible mistakes, I thought, ‘Isn’t it my duty to tell what I have seen and what I have heard?’”

[via FG]

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Simple Emergency Toilet

Diginfo shows us a simple emergency toilet that is on display at a disaster preparedness expo:

It is very easy to use this toilet.

1. Put the colored bag over the cardboard stand.
2. Place chemical pellets into the bag. They will solidify any liquids and absorb odor.
3. Place the black poncho over yourself for privacy.
4. Poop or pee in the bag.
5. Tie the bag up. It is now ready for disposal.

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Peach Aviation – New Discount Japanese Airline

Japan has a new low-cost airline, partially owned by ANA. It’s called Peach Aviation (“peach” happens to be an anagram of “cheap”):

The company has also moved from Tokyo to a location near Kansai International Airport, with its flights planned to start next year at fares that would be some 50 percent lower than those offered now by major Japanese carriers.

Peach Aviation intends to launch flights connecting the western Japan airport to Fukuoka and Sapporo in March 2012 and another flight linking the airport to Incheon International Airport near Seoul in May of the same year. Its workforce will increase from about 50 at present to some 200 by March 2012.

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