Archive for September, 2011

Sakamoto Ryoma Wears Samurai Blue Soccer Kimono

A few video clips show us a giant statue of a soccer-loving Sakamoto Ryoma on the grounds of the Shimabara Fukko Arena in Nagasaki prefeture:

The giant statue is a copy of the famous statue at Katsurahama beach in Kochi, but there have been some significant alterations to its appearance. His kimono has been painted “samurai blue” colors of the Japan national soccer team and Sakamoto family crests have been replaced with the logos of Adidas and the Japan Football Association. On his feet he wears soccer cleats. A soccer ball is under one foot.

If it looks familiar to some of you, it’s because it used to stand in Tokyo’s Yoyogi park, where it stood during the 2010 World Cup. It’s now been moved to Nagasaki prefecture, which is sort of appropriate because Sakamoto did reside in Nagasaki for a time.

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Miss Universe Japan 2011 National Costume

Here’s the Japanese “national costume” that Maria Kamiyama wore during the 2011 Miss Universe pageant:

Itai News has recorded some reactions from Japanese netizens, who had a generally positive impression of her costume.

But some thought that Japan’s costume wasn’t quite as eye-catching as some of the other countries, such as Tanzania and the United States:

The American costume brings to mind the costume that was created for Emiri Miyasaka in 2009. At the time, its gaudiness caused a minor scandal in Japan:

The negative reaction forced a last minute change that lowed the hemline and covered up her underwear.

In 2010, they gave Maiko Itai a costume that wasn’t quite as weird:

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Japanese War Diary Returns Home

An Australian television news program recently filed this report about a Japanese woman receiving the war diary written by her father, who died in 1943:

A Japanese naval diary retrieved from a battlefield and stored in the belongings of an Australian veteran returns home after 67 years. The family of the sailor traveled to Australia to thank the person responsible.

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Fallen Tree Crushes Taxi in Shibuya

Typhoon Roke tore through central Japan today, causing serious flooding in some areas and killing at least three people.

The storm also passed through Tokyo, where it was strong enough to knock down trees:

The above video clip shows how one tree fell onto a taxi cab about 200 meters from Shibuya station. Luckily, the tree fell on the trunk of the vehicle, so the taxi driver and its passenger were not injured.

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Bavarian State Opera Plagued By Radiation Paranoia: 80 Members Cancel Japan Tour

The Bavarian State Opera will be coming to Japan, but almost one forth of members have refused to participate in the tour because of paranoia about radiation from Fukushima:

The 400-strong German opera company, based in Munich, is due to arrive in Japan later this week to start a major tour to celebrate 150 years of relations between the two nations.

However, around 80 members are believed to have refused to take part in the 18-day tour due to concerns of radiation leakages from Fukushima’s nuclear power plant damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami…

The paranoia is does not appear to be limited to the members who refused to come. At least some of the members who agreed to participate will not be drinking the water in Japan:

The company, known in Germany as the Bayerische Staatsoper, will airlift drinking water from Germany to Japan, while radiation experts in Germany will accompany it on the Japanese tour to gauge radiation levels in the members’ meals, they said.

A really sad reaction, considering the fact that their performances will be held in Tokyo, where daily tap water tests have been consistently detecting no radiation for some time now.

Related story: American racecar driver and “talk-before-she-thinks specialist” Danica Patrick was so scared about radiation that she packed her own food when she came to the country to participate in a recent race. She was also fearful about aftershocks.

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Swimming From Okinawa to Taiwan

A group of Japanese swimmers have successfully completed a relay between Okinawa and Taiwan:

Team leader Kazuya Suzuki said he was surprised to learn that Taiwan donated over 20 billion yen for the disaster relief, and that President Ma Ying-jeou appeared on TV to help raise funds.

“Therefore I decided to express our gratitude to Taiwan through some form of real action,” Suzuki was cited by the United Evening News as saying before starting their relay across the rough waters.

The swimmers, accompanied by a fishing boat carrying 17 members of their support team, are expected to reach their destination, Suao, Yilan County, at about 10 a.m., the United Evening News said.

A quote from an article about their arrival in Taiwan:

Scores of Taiwanese swimmers swam out to sea to greet the six Japanese swimmers off the northeastern coast of Taiwan at Toufu Cape near Nanfangao in Yilan County at 9:50 a.m.

The six Japanese set off on the 150-kilometer swim from Yonaguni Island early Saturday morning, rotating in 30-minute relays.

They brought with them three letters of gratitude from the governors of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima — the three prefectures hardest hit by the twin disasters — as well as a letter to Yilan Cotunty’s Suao from Ishigaki City in Okinawa Prefecture, Suao’s sister city.

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