Archive for November, 2011

X Japan Concert in Thailand

As flood waters continue to cause damage in Thailand, some musicians have cancelled their Bangkok concerts. There is one notable exception to the trend: X Japan.

Here are a Japanese news video about the concert and their energetic Thai fans:

Even for those coming from still dry areas, getting there was a major pain, both by private and public transport. Fans started to fill the massive hall early in the evening, some dressing in cosplay but the majority sticking to plain black T-shirts. Only a few Western faces could be spotted among the sea of Thai and Japanese.

By 8pm, every seat in the hall was filled, but it was not until 8.50 that frontman and drummer Yoshiki appeared at his drums, posing as if praying and waiing the fans who greeted the long-overdue concert with powerful screams…

[...]

…..Their show was energetic, passionate, even furious at times, as they showcased their finely honed talents on stage. But somehow the show lacked continuity, with long pauses between songs and extended instrumental intros. It was a bit disappointing too that X Japan did not bring their full production complete with hydraulics and special effects to Bangkok though that may have been down to transport difficulties. More could have been done with the visual effects, though, to enhance to intense emotions of the music.

If a band is to be praised for its undying passion for music and loyalty to the fans, then X Japan has to go to the top of the class. They truly enjoyed their own music and the company of their fans. Their sound is probably what the many of us see as old-school heavy metal – mainstream glam rock with speedy guitar riffs. But they rocked, they screamed and they entertained. The fact that they did not cancel the show because of the floods really proved that they genuinely exist for their fans and to entertain them.

A couple of the fans told the Japanese reporter that their homes were flooded. One woman said she swam there.

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More Radiation Testing for Food in Japan

Last month, the anti-nuclear activists at Greenpeace announced the results of independent radiation testing of Japanese seafood. Tests on 60 different fish products from four major supermarket chains found that nothing exceeded safety standards. Many products contained no detectable radiation, and the highest recorded amount was 88 becquerels per kilogram (in “wakasagi” lake smelt from Ibaraki Prefecture). The test results should be reassuring, since the highest amount was much lower than the 500 bequerels per kilogram safety limit set by the government. It was even less than the amount of natural radioactivity found in bananas(130 Bq/kg) or brazil nuts (444 Bq/kg).

Nevertheless, consumer fear about radiation remains, and some organizations are conducting their own radiation tests. Here are a few recent examples:

Authorities in Tokyo began their own program aimed at testing the safety of food being sold in the city:

The 500 items will include processed foods that regular households consume almost daily, such as tofu, boiled beans, juice and jam. Fresh food subject to inspection will include meat–except beef, because the metropolitan government is already conducting blanket testing on cows–milk, eggs, vegetables and fish.

Among other food items, the inspections will focus on items regularly consumed by children, according to the officials.

Metropolitan government officials will visit supermarkets and other retailers to seek their cooperation, buying 20 to 30 items per week from stores that will then be checked with handheld geiger counters.

If any of the foodstuffs are found to contain 50 becquerels per kilogram or more of radioactive substances, they will go through additional tests using germanium detectors.

The test results will be displayed on the Web site of the Tokyo metropolitan government, which also will release the names of products found to contain radioactive substances above provisional standards set by the central government.

Rice farmers in Fukushima are banding together to enforce a “near-zero limit” on cesium in rice (as opposed to the 500 becquerels/kg safety limit set by the national government):

A self-imposed, near-zero limit on radiation in rice may help spur sales from Fukushima, which was the fourth-largest producer in Japan last year, representing about 5 percent of the total harvest. The prefectural office of Zen-Noh, Japan’s biggest farmers group, plans to only ship cesium-free rice to address safety concerns, as does the National Confederation of Farmers Movements, which includes about 30,000 producers nationwide.
“We advise our members to test their rice for radiation and sell only if results show no cesium is detected,” said Yoshitaka Mashima, vice chairman of the confederation. The government has tried to “hide inconvenient information, which is deepening consumer distrust.”
The near-zero limit was set as very low levels of cesium are hard to detect. Testing equipment in Japan is unable to verify levels of cesium in food below 5 becquerels a kilogram, according to Mashima.

AEON, Japan’s largest retail chain, is enacting its own “near-zero” radiation policy for food sold in its supermarkets:

…it is moving to zero radiation contamination of its food products. This includes all seafood – which is a central part of the Japanese diet – sold by AEON.

To achieve this, AEON is strengthening its radiation screening, releasing the results to the public, and stopping sales of products they find to contain any amount of radioactive contamination, not just those that are below official government safety levels.

It doesn’t look like they will be applying the “zero radiation” rule to foods that contain radioactive potassium (bananas, nuts, potatoes, beer, etc.). It’s a good thing that there will be more tests for radiation, but it is very misleading for stores to market themselves as radiation-free when selling foods that contain natural radiation.

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Japan Soccer Bra

Triumph International recently held a press conference to unveil latest in its line of bizarre gimmick bras. This time it is a bra that expresses support for the “Nadeshiko Japan” team that won the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup:

…for the team’s next challenge, the 2012 Olympics, underwear manufacturer Triumph has released the “Nadeshiko Go!” bra. Covered with purple paper flowers, the bra comes with shorts, bearing the words “Go, Nadeshiko” and a half red circle inspired by the Japanese flag.

Note: Like all of Triumph’s other wacky Japanese bras, this is will not actually be sold in stores. It was created so that the company could receive media attention.

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Royal Family Will Not Receive Dried Persimmons From Fukushima

Every year, Japan’s royal family receives a gift of dried persimmons (anpo gaki) from the Date district of Fukushima prefecture. However, that will not be happening this year because tests have found that the persimmon crop from that area contains relatively high levels of cesium.

The farmers cannot give them the gift, so they won’t be receiving it:

Shipments from the area have been banned. As you can see from the video, farmers are dumping thousands of persimmons into fields, where the fruit will rot.

One farmer tells the reporters that he is angry because he’s received no apology from Tepco or the national government. Local farmers are taking photos of the piles of fruit to use as evidence for the financial compensation that they will be demanding from Tepco.

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Rwandan Troops Will Protect Japan’s Military?

Japan is going to send a Ground Self-Defense Force unit to participate in the UN Peacekeeping effort in South Sudan. Because of Japan’s legal limitations on the use of military force, the soldiers will not be allowed to properly defend themselves. According to the Asahi Shimbun, a unit of Rwandan soldiers may be assigned the duty of babysitting the Japanese.

One doesn’t have to be a right-wing nationalist to consider that a bit embarrassing.

A recent Yomiuri editorial called on the government to revise the law:

One of Japan’s five peacekeeping operation principles strictly limits SDF personnel’s use of weapons. Even though military clashes have occurred recently near the new nation’s northern border with Sudan between government forces and the rebel militia, the Japanese government’s position is that the current standard will pose no problem since the security situation in and around Juba, several hundred kilometers from the region of conflict, is relatively stable.

However, it is highly likely GSDF activities in South Sudan will last for a long period. Assuming changes in the security situation, the government must relax the current standard for weapons use, which is limited to self-defense and emergency evacuation purposes, to enable the GSDF members to use arms for the purpose of performing their duties, for instance.

Members of the Democratic Party of japan Policy Research Committee are discussing what japan’s PKO activities should be like. We hope the party will come up with a forward-looking conclusion.

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Google Honors Hideyo Noguchi

Google.co.jp has a logo image on its front page today honoring the 135th birthday of Hideyo Noguchi, one of Japan’s first world-renowned scientists (and the dude on the 1000 yen note):

You can read more about Noguchi here and here.

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