Archive for September, 2011

Yoshihiko Noda Received Illegal Political Campaign Contributions From Foreign Citizens

After only a few days in office, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is facing a unpleasant scandal. Somebody has discovered that Noda’s political funds management organization received at least 158,000 yen in illegal donations from a South Korean citizen:

The man acknowledged during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun he was a South Korean resident in Japan and made donations to Noda.

He said he has been serving as an executive of a chapter of the Korean Residents Union in Japan since before he made the donations.

“Mr. Noda should’ve known I was a foreign national,” he said. “But maybe he didn’t notice I made the donations.” The man made the donations under a Japanese name.

The donations took place between 2001 and 2003. There is only a 3 year statute of limitations on the law banning political donations from foreign nationals, so no legal action can be taken against Noda.

It is very similar to the scandal that forced Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara to resign back in March. Maehara had been considered a front-runner to become PM, but his problems with foreign donors probably contributed to his election failure.

Update: More recent news reports now state that there were donations of about 300,000 yen from at least two South Korean citizens.

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War Documentary: Africans Who Fought Against Japan in Burma

Journalist Barnaby Phillips traveled to Nigeria, Japan, and Burma to learn about how how Africans and Japanese fought each other during World War II. Here is his documentary, “The Burma Boy,” which aired yesterday on Al Jazeera:

Some 100,000 African soldiers were taken from British colonies to fight in the jungles of Burma against the Japanese. They performed heroically in one of the most brutal theatres of war, yet their contribution has been largely ignored, both in Britain and their now independent home countries.

In the villages of Nigeria and Ghana, these veterans are known as ‘the Burma Boys’. They brought back terrifying tales from faraway lands. Few survived, even fewer are alive today.

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Typhoon Delays Taiji Dolphin Hunt

On September 1st, the town of Taiji in Wakayama prefecture was scheduled to begin its annual dolphin hunt. A group of animal rights activists came to protest, but found that the hunt had been delayed because of the approach of Typhoon Talas:

A bus brought in 23 foreign protesters, led by Ric O’Barry. Because no hunt was in progress, there wasn’t much for them to do other than stand around on the beach and say a prayer for the dolphins.

Because past protests have involved illegal activities such as net-cutting, police will be reinforcing their presence in Taiji during this year’s dolphin hunting season.

Although the typhoon prevented them from filming something that might help them produce some anger about hunting dolphins, Ric O’Barry managed to find a few dolphins in a sea pen, which were apparently would soon be killed by the typhoon:

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Vogue Japan Uses Tape to Make “Asian” Eyes

Anna Dello Russo, stylist and editor for Vogue Japan, has attracted a lot of negative attention over her use of tape to give an American model slanted “Asian” eyes:

Among blogs, Jezebel seems to be the most offended, quoting Julie Kang (Geisha School Dropout) as their example of an Asian person who was also not amused:

“First of all, the taping was done unevenly, so she looks odd. But most importantly, she doesn’t look more Asian at all because obviously, the rest of her face isn’t Asian, and for the millionth time in my life, not all of us Asian people have “chink eyes”!!! Argh! If you knew Asian people at all, you’d know that 1. Dolce & Gabbana doesn’t have to resort to racist editorial spreads to garner attention…Asia LOOOOOOVES them already and 2. If anything, we actually prefer BIG eyes.”

It’s completely offensive that Anna Dello Russo (and makeup artist Jessica Nezda) decided to tape Renn’s eyes, but it’s compounded by the fact that asian models — or any models of color — are so rarely hired in the fashion industry. As our own Jenna Sauers mentioned yesterday, there’s an option easier and less racist than trying to change a white model into an Asian model: Booking an Asian model.

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Toilet Attack Cat

Here’s Anku, a cute cat in Yamagata prefecture that likes to stick his paws under his master’s bathroom door:

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Computer Animation: Earthquake Wrecks Tokyo

Today is Disaster Prevention Day (Bousai no Hi), the anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Tokyo in 1923.

To help spread awareness, some of last night’s news broadcasts included fancy CG simulations of what would happen if the Tokyo area were hit by a huge earthquake:

The footage was apparently produced by the government-funded Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park. It shows how thousands of buildings would collapse or catch fire, and millions of people would be unable to return to their homes due to damaged transportation infrastructure.

The government estimates that there is a 70% probability of a major earthquake hitting the Tokyo area within the next 30 years. Experts used to think that the earthquake wouldn’t exceed a magnitude of 7.3, but after the March 11th earthquake, they’re not so sure anymore. The 70% prediction may also be revised, since the increased seismic activity seems to have changed the situation.

You can read more about the new predictions here:

• Chances of big quake below Tokyo rising (The Daily Yomiuri)
• Japan earthquake ‘increases likelihood of Tokyo disaster’ (The Telegraph)

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