Archive for August, 2011

Cameraman Visits Liancourt Rocks

NTV’s “Bankisha” recently paid a Korean journalist to take a tour boat to the Liancourt Rocks ( Takeshima / Dokdo ):

The issue has flaired up in recent months after Korean Air made a highly-publicized “test flight” over the disputed territory and the Japanese Foreign Ministry responded by asking its officials not to fly on Korean Air for one month (a meaningless action, because they never fly on Korean Air anyway). In response to the Korean anger of the “boycott,” a handful of Japanese lawmakers announced that they’d be taking a trip to South Korea’s Dokdo Museum, which exhibits evidence supporting Korea’s territorial claim. The lawmakers were denied entry to South Korea because authorities considered them a threat to public safety.

NTV’s trip to the rocks took place a few days after the lawmakers returned to Japan.

At Ulleungdo’s ferry port, the journalist filmed several Japanese language signs that had been put up. One sign tells Japanese politicians to come and apologize, and they’ll be given bananas (this is probably meant to be a racist insult, because Koreans have been known to mock “Japanese monkeys”). Another sign, written in very rude and direct Japanese, says something along the lines of, “You came? Take a look. What the hell do you bastards think belongs to you?”

As tourists board the ferry to the rocks, policemen are checking each passenger. Apparently they are there to enforce the recently-imposed ban on Japanese passengers. Korean police seem to be actively assisting the discriminatory policy of this ferry business. If NTV had sent a Japanese camera crew, they probably would have been turned away.

Inside the ferry, a concession stand sells snacks – many of which have nationalist slogans and images of the rocks on their packages. (The narrator reminds viewers are of recent actions by Koreans that have tried to escalate the tension between the countries, such as the Korean Air “test flight” and the purchasing of an advertisement in New York’s Times Square.)

The trip to the rocks takes about an hour. The passengers are allowed to disembark for 30 minutes, but their movements are restricted to a concrete observation platform. Policemen watch over them, making sure nobody does anything suspicious.

From the platform, one can observe the various buildings that South Korea has constructed on the rocks: a police station, a heliport, a radar tower, and several solar panels. The solar panels are a very recent addition. It seems that South Korea thinks that building more structures on the islands will help bolster its territorial claim.

They can also see the house of Kim Sung-Do and Kim Shin-yeol, a couple who are the only permanent residents of the rocks. Like some of the other structures on the island, Kim’s house has been upgraded in the last couple years. According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, the South Korean government paid for Kim’s house and also pays him a monthly stipend. When NTV calls up Kim’s government-subsidized phone line, he tells them that he has a very comfortable life, with access to plenty of electricity and fresh water.

The report closes with footage of tourists re-boarding the ferry. Two men scream about Korea’s ownership of the islands as a friend snaps a final photograph.

Look forward to more drama in the coming week: The Sound Korean National Assembly’s “Special Committee on Measures for the Safeguarding of Territory” plans to hold an official meeting at the rocks on August 12th.

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Protesters March Against Fuji TV

Several of the most-viewed videos on YouTube Japan today show an August 7th protest march against the headquarters of Fuji TV:

The protesters were people who agreed with Sousuke Takaoka’s complaints about Fuji TV airing way too many Korean dramas. In addition to complaints about the “Korean Wave” being forced on Japanese views, recent grievances against Fuji TV include:

• Under Japanese law, foreign ownership of broadcast television networks cannot exceed 20%. For years, foreign ownership of Fuji TV stock has been quite close to the limit. In recent weeks, articles have appeared on the internet pointing out that foreign ownership of Fuji Media Holdings now exceeds 28%.
• One of Fuji TV’s regional networks accidentally aired a joke about radioactive rice.
• Fuji TV did not air Asada Mao’s figure skating victory ceremony, which included the Japanese national anthem and flag. [The network did not air the victory ceremonies for Japanese wins in 2007(Miki Ando), 2008(Mao Asada), 2010(Mao Asada) and 2011(Miki Ando). When South Korean Kim Yu-na won in 2009, they aired the full ceremony.]
• Japan’s victory in the Women’s World Cup was treated in the same way.
• The South Korean government has been spending millions of dollars to help export its TV dramas and movies. The “Korean Wave” is seen as a way of expanding Korean soft power and gaining influence over other countries.
• When viewers called up Fuji TV to express their opinions on Takaoka and the alleged foreign ownership of the network, staff were extremely rude and cut off their calls.

Some have claimed that 2,000 people participated in the protest. However, the video doesn’t seem to show more than about a couple hundred people.

Another demonstration is being scheduled for August 21st.

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Brazilian Soccer Team Uses “Slanty-Eyes” Photo to Advertise Japan Match

This is how Brazil’s Santos FC is advertising its upcoming appearance at the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:

Some information from Hypervocal, who thinks it “might be a wee bit insulting” to Japan:

“…the Marca reporter in the clip above never even discusses the casual racism contained within the ad. He simply says the four guys in the picture are getting psychologically prepared for the tournament in Japan, calls Neymar the face of the club (some face!) and talks about Real Madrid’s efforts in trying to woo the Brazilian striker. “

[hat tip to TomoAkiyama]

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Radiation Paranoia in Kyoto: Festival Cancels Plan to Use Iwate Wood

Every August, Kyoto holds its famous Gozan no Okuribi festival, burning giant mountainside bonfires to help the spirits of deceased family members return to the spirit world.

For this year’s event, organizers had panned to use wood from Iwate prefecture. However, irrational fear of radiation has forced them to cancel the plan:

The wood was supposed to come from the wrecked trees of Iwate’s famous Takata Matsubara pine forest. Hundreds of pieces of wood had been gathered and cut. Tsunami survivors wrote prayers on the pieces of wood, hoping that the burning of the wood at the festival would help carry their messages to family and friends who died in the disaster.

Realizing that some people might be concerned about the wood being contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, tests were carried in July out on about 300 pieces of wood. No contamination was found. None.

Nevertheless, hysterical complaints kept flooding in from citizens who were afraid of radiation. According to the Sankei Shimbun, the city received messages that said things like, “WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN CHILDREN EXPERIENCE AFTER-EFFECTS?!!!” and “THE WATER FROM LAKE BIWA WILL BECOME UNDRINKABLE!!!!”

In the face of such panic, the city decided to cancel its plan to use the wood.

As you can see from the video report, people in Iwate are taking photos of the prayers that have already been written on pieces of wood. They will send the images to Kyoto, where they will be copied onto “clean” wood from another area of Japan.

Update: According to the Yomiuri, some cesium was found “on the surface” of some of the wood. Shaving off a millimeter or two would totally solve the problem, but Kyoto wasn’t willing to do it.

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Learning English From Japanese TV

Scott Bean of Kansai Gaidai University gave a special English lesson on last night’s episode of “Sekaiichi Uketai Jugyou.” It included this scene, where three Japanese celebrities assume that English-speakers would understand the katakana words for certain foreign foods:

Bean tells them that:

• Ordering a “mikkusu sando” (ミックスサンド) sounds like you want a bowl of mixed sand. Instead, you should order a “mixed sandwich.”
• Ordering “shu kurimu” (シュークリーム) sounds like you want shoe cream. The katakana term is actually based on French: Chou à la crème. In English it’s called a “cream puff.”

• English speakers would supposedly understand that “aisu kohi” (アイスコーヒー) refers to iced coffee. [Fun fact: iced coffee has been common in Japan for over a hundred years, but didn't really catch on in America until the 1990's.]
• If you ask for “gamu shiroppu” (ガムシロップ), English-speakers won’t understand that you’re asking for a syrup sweetener for your coffee. They might might think you’re talking about chewing gum or something to stick your dentures to your gums.

Viewers were also introduced to some of the following terms:

• ham actor – an unskilled actor
• top banana – a leading actor; an important person
• second banana – an actor who plays a supporting role

Many native English speakers might not even be familiar with these terms, because none are really used in everyday speech. It’s probably unrealistic to expect entertainment programs to provide serious English lessons, but sometimes it feels like these kind of shows deliberately go out of their way to teach useless words and phrases.

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Chimpanzee Stays Cool in Summer

Ken Shimura teaches Pan-kun the chimpanzee how to enjoy the summer heat in Japan:

• Using a Japanese folding fan
• Enjoying a fish foot spa
• Eating edamame
• Drinking out of a ice beer mug (filled with vegetable juice)
• Using a handheld fan that also sprays water
• Eating watermelon
• Eating cool flowing somen noodles (with chopsticks)

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