Archive for July, 2011

Why Do People Join the U.S. Military?

Last night, Fuji TV aired a special hosted by Yoichi Watanabe, a photojournalist who has traveled through many of the world’s most dangerous war zones. During a segment on the war in Afghanistan, Watanabe noted that not all of the American military personnel had enlisted out of a desire to go to war. Many of them joined for economic reasons.

Four major incentives offered to military personnel were introduced:

• The government helps pay their college tuition.
• Immigrants are given an easier path to U.S. citizenship.
• Military personnel and their families can travel on military aircraft when taking overseas vacations.
• Free cosmetic surgery.

Everyone in the studio seems very surprised, especially by information about travel perks and cosmetic surgery.

The first three are true, but the surgery claim seems to be false or exaggerated. Although an 2004 article in the New Yorker mentioned that military personnel and their families were receiving free breast enhancements and liposuction, many posts by military personnel and their families on Yahoo Answers state that it is a myth. Some free cosmetic surgery procedures are available, but are apparently restricted to cases of medical necessity.



Yoshizumi Ishihara, son of Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, shares his opinion on this matter. He is not sure if offering these kinds of rewards is a good thing. He feels like the American government is exploiting the poor and the weak.

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Crows Fly Around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant

On the evening of June 29th, the live camera at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant recorded a lot of crows (major action begins about 5:45 into this clip):

An Asahi TV news report about the murder of crows says that it looks like a horror scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

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Softbank White Family (Bizarro Version – Featuring Bobby Ologun)

The latest commercial in Softbank’s “White Family” story has the canine father accidentally entering the wrong house:

With everybody conserving electricity, it is too dark for him to realize that it isn’t his home. When somebody turns on the lights, he finds an weird alternative version of his family. Instead of Aya Ueto and Dante Carver as his children, there are Naomi Watanabe and Bobby Ologun! There’s also a dog, but he doesn’t talk!

At the end of the commercial, the daddy dog is back at his real house, recalling the embarrassing episode as he sits in front of a novelty fan.

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Okinawan Fisherman Rescued After 20 Days Adrift at Sea

An Okinawan fisherman has been rescued after an engine failure left his boat adrift at sea for nearly 3 weeks:

Ryoko Shimabukuro, 70, the captain of the Mitsu Maru, a fishing boat belonging to the Ie fisheries cooperative association in Okinawa Prefecture, was found in good condition after the 4.9-ton boat he was aboard was spotted about 70 kilometers south-southwest of Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture. The boat had gone missing in mid-June.

“I’d been worried I might not be found forever,” Shimabukuro was quoted as telling coast guard officials, adding that his boat went adrift at sea after engine trouble. He was unable to use the radio aboard the vessel.

His boat had drifted about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from its original location.

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Part Of The World (Hikikomori Song Parodies Little Mermaid)

Grant Woolard has created this music video, about an otaku/hikikomori type who longs to leave his room for the first time (set to the tune of “Part of That World” from The Little Mermaid):

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Korean Wave Fakery: Phony Japanese Fans Paid to Greet Jang Geun-suk

South Korean actor Jang Geun-suk visited Japan this week. Media reports about his visit emphasized the fact that about 800 fans gathered to greet him on his arrival at Haneda Airport. Even Jang was surprised by the overwhelming evidence of his popularity in Japan:

“I was honestly worried that there might be an accident within the crowd because there were so many people there to greet me,” he said, expressing concern for the fans present.

[...]

“Honestly, it’s pretty scary. It just happened so fast; I gained a lot of fans in such a short amount of time,” he said about his new popularity in Japan.

800 fans at the airport is pretty impressive when you compare it to the greetings that other international stars have received. When Lady Gaga arrived at Narita Airport a couple weeks ago, about 200 fans were there to greet her. Johnny Depp, who is enormously popular in Japan, was greeted by a mere 400 fans when he visited Japan earlier this year.

The secret of the Jang’s huge fan gathering was revealed when a photograph of a flier found its way onto the internet:

It is recruiting women to participate in the greeting event at Haneda Airport. A reward of 2,000 yen (about $25) was offered to each “fan” who attended the event.

According to an article on Livedoor, there were some diehard fans who showed up out of genuine excitement. Many others, however, were paid. Some people found out about it through the fliers, while others were veteran members of event mailing lists. People who replied to the 2,000 yen job offer were driven to the airport on two special buses. While on the buses, the phony fans were given Jang Geun-suk merchandise to wave around when the media filmed them.

One participant said the buses carried about 80 paid fans to the airport. Combined with the legitimate fans, there probably weren’t much more than 100 people gathered for the event. One of the event promoters walked around declaring that 800 fans had come to greet Jang, and the media didn’t bother to verify the claim.

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