Archive for August, 2011

Life-Sized Gundam Parts in Tokyo

Parts of the 1:1 scale Gundam mobile suit are back on display in the Odaiba area of Tokyo:

According to Akihabara News, the Gundam will be on display until August 21st. (Open: 10am to 6pm / Admission Fee: 500 Yen)

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City Will Change Pikachu Look-Alike

Here’s an update on Ecoha, the Ube city mascot that was criticized for looking like a copy of Pikachu:

• When shown photos of the Ecoha suit, everybody seems to think it’s Pikachu.
• The city has received 96 comments from citizens. 82 of the comments could be categorized as complaints about how Ecoha looks too much like Pikachu.
• After consulting with the Pokémon Company, Ube city has decided to ditch the current version of its Ecoha suit, and make a new one that looks more like the actual 2D character and less like a copy of Pikachu.

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Gyunoya? Copying Yoshinoya in Thailand

Japanese beef bowl chain Yoshinoya is preparing to return to Bangkok.

Thai people have been without Yoshiyo beef bowls since 1999. However, it seems that those who don’t want to wait a few more months can try the next best thing – beef bowls from Gyunoya:

Gyunoya looks and feels like a Yoshinoya – it’s name, logo, menu, and even the designs on its bowls are all clearly meant to copy the famous chain. Apparently it’s owned by a Japanese person, and it was recently re-done so it would look less like a blatant copy of Yoshinoya.

For the moment, it seems that the real Yoshinoya is most concerned about preparing its first new restaurant in Bangkok, and won’t be taking legal action against Gyunoya.

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Taiwanese Politician Faces Charges Over Yasukuni Protest

Taiwanese Legislator Kao Chin Su-mei (May Chin) is apparently facing criminal charges in Japan because she led a group of protesters who trespassed onto the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine:

In its charges laid out in a letter to a Tokyo district prosecutors office, the Metropolitan Police Department said Kao Chin led a group of aborigines from Taiwan who entered the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Aug. 11, 2009 without permission.

Using a megaphone, Kao Chin shouted “No to Yasukuni” repeatedly, while her group member carried protest banners and chanted slogans, demanding Japan return the name tablets of Taiwanese aborigines who died in the service of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, according to the charges.


Kao Chin and her group also “physically assaulted” the shrine’s security guards when they tried to stop them, according to the charges.

According to Wikipedia, Kao Chin is known for her “anti-Japan and China-friendly standpoints,” and has been denouncing the Yasukuni Shrine for years. She objects to the fact that the shrine honors the souls of Taiwanese who died while serving in the Japanese Imperial armed forces.

The shrine refuses all such demands, whether they come from Japanese, Taiwanese, Koreans or people from other nationalities. As a private religious entity, it can belief whatever it wants about intangible human spirits and souls. Japan’s constitution protects freedom of religion, so lawsuits demanding that the shrine alter its practices have been thrown out. The grounds of the shrine are also private property, so unauthorized protesters can be charged with trespassing (and assault – if protesters really did assault security guards).

Kao Chin is apparently undisturbed by the charges:

“Even if I am indicted, no-one can sway me from my resolve to have the names of those Taiwanese aboriginal ancestors removed from the Yasukuni Shrine,” she said.

Kao Chin said she felt sorry for Japan, which she described as “a so-called democracy and free country,” for pressing the charges. “The whole world is watching,” she said.

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Chinese Government Dismantles Memorial to Dead Japanese Civilians

In the 1930′s, the Japanese government encouraged thousands of its citizens to settle in Manchuria. Most were poor farmers in Japan, and their lives in Manchuria weren’t much easier.

When the Soviets invaded Manchuria in 1945, these civilians were left to fend for themselves:

these unprotected civilians were abandoned by fleeing Japanese forces and became easy targets for attack. Many of those who eluded the fighting died of disease, malnutrition, and “compulsory group suicides” while seeking to return to Japan. In order to save the lives of their children as well as their own lives, thousands of mothers faced the agonizing decision, in their words, to “leave,” “give up,” “abandon,” “sell,” or “entrust” their loved ones to Chinese families.

In the 1980′s, many of the war orphans who had been raised by Chinese families were given special visas so they could live in Japan. Fangzheng county in Heliongjiang province has benefitted economically from money that the war orphans have sent back to China:

“Our economy profits thanks to people who went to Japan from our county, and I support promoting friendship between China and Japan,” said the owner of an appliance store, who put up a Japanese sign last year. “But some people criticize residents of our county as if they were traitors.”

[..]

The county has one of the largest amounts of foreign currency being exchanged among the same level of local governments, largely because people who have moved from the county send large amounts of money back home in yen.

Last month, the Fangzheng county government erected a memorial to the Japanese civilians who started to death in 1945:

The 3.8-meter high memorial wall was emblazoned with the names of 229 Japanese immigrants who were among the thousands settled in Heilongjiang province by Japan’s government during its World War Two-era occupation.

An official said the memorial to the immigrants who died of hunger following Japan’s surrender was a mark of the Chinese people’s humanness.

Unfortunately, such feelings were not shared by many Chinese netizens, who expressed outrage at the idea that public funds would be spent to honor hated Japanese invaders. Encouraged by the internet postings, five men came up on a train from Beijing and defaced the memorial with red paint and hammers on August 3rd:

When a group of five men spray painted the memorial and knocked chunks off it with hammers on Aug. 3, an act which resulted in them being taken into custody, they drew praise as “men of courage” on the Internet.

The men were released the following day. They told the media that since Japanese immigrants came from the country that invaded China, they should not be commemorated.

Some Chinese media also blasted the municipal government.

The Global Times, an English-language newspaper operated by the People’s Daily, mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, ran a number of articles Aug. 6 that said the memorial ran counter to the basic values of Chinese society.

The articles suggested that the municipal government in Fangzheng should apologize to Chinese people and remove the memorial.

Shortly afterwards, the local government removed the memorial. A nearby memorial, honoring the Chinese families who adopted Japanese orphans, was not removed.

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Hop: An Easter Movie, Coming to Japanese Theaters on August 19th

Here’s a great example of how the Japanese release dates for foreign movies are delayed to the point of absurdity. The Easter Bunny movie “Hop” will be released on August 19th in Japan, months after the end of the Easter season:

Almost nobody in Japan celebrates Easter, but the movie is still being marketed under a new title that emphasizes its association with Easter. In place of its original title, the movie is called “Easter Rabbit’s Candy Factory” in Japanese (イースターラビットのキャンディ工場).

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