Archive for December, 2011

Upskirt Photographers Use Silent Smartphone Apps

Most cameras and mobile phones in Japan automatically make shutter sounds when they are used to take a photograph, a feature that makes it difficult for perverts to secretly capture upskirt images. Smart phone such as the iPhone usually allow users to disable all sounds, but iPhones sold in Japan have been altered to keep the shutter sound on.

However, as the Yomiuri has pointed out, some smartphone applications can disable shutter sounds:

On Nov. 12, a man was arrested at a train station in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, after he took photos up the skirt of a female vocational school student with his smartphone as she stood on an escalator.

The man reportedly told police he used an app that silenced the shutter sound to prevent his target from noticing what he was doing.

A man arrested in September after he photographed a woman’s underwear in Tokyo also reportedly told police he had used such an app to stealthily take photos about 20 times.

According to the National Police Agency, 1,741 cases of illicit photography were reported nationwide last year, a 1.6-fold increase from 2006.

The largest number of snap-happy camera voyeurs was reported in Kanagawa Prefecture.

“About 30 percent of cases involved the misuse of smartphone apps,” a senior Kanagawa prefectural police investigator said.

There are already methods that allow determined people to disable the shutter sounds of non-smartphone cameras. It seems that smartphone apps are making this kind of behavior more accessible to people with less technical ability….

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Mayor Speaks Up About Embracing Facebook: “I Was Being Flamed on 2channel”

Takeo City in Saga has the youngest mayor in Japan, the 42-year-old Keisuke Hiwatashi. Hiwatashi has attracted various businesses and a shinkansen line to Takeo, and at the same time is grappling with bringing Japan’s notoriously bureaucratic municipalities to online social networks. Last year, all 390 city employees were given their own Twitter accounts. In November, Takeo City replaced its website with a Facebook page. Today, ITmedia.co.jp interviewed him about his embrace of social networks in one of Japan’s most rural prefectures. An excerpt from that interview is translated here:

People have surmised that it was the mayor’s idea to move the city website to Facebook. Could you tell us a little bit about why you’ve taken this measure?

Our website was quite old. It was slow to update, and there was no bidirectionality or cooperation. In short, we were working with stone tools, which is fine if you’re living in the Stone Age, but in our age of speed it’s impossible to deal with stone tools.

I think the difference between the Web and paper is the possibility for bidirectionality with users. Nevertheless, it’d be impossible to make all the city employees communicate in HTML, and if you make a city bulletin board it becomes a rough situation like “2channel”.  In other words, we were unable to guarantee good bidirectionality on the city website thus far, and users were unable to share their information with us reliably.

When did you begin thinking about this?

It was about 10 years ago. That was around the time I learned about the trashy stuff people post on 2channel. At that time, I was working for the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the national government. I started about 5 threads, and all of them got flamed in the most ridiculous way.

For example, I was transferred to Takatsuki in Osaka, and decided to invite people to Kansai University. I succeeded at that, but I also got amazingly hate-filled replies. Which would have been okay if I had known who was writing them, but they were anonymous! So, I thought “this is really no good”.  It wasn’t constructive at all, just the proverbial “bathroom graffiti”.

Based on my personal experience, I thought that after all, a web site needs to have a real-name system. Furthermore, without bidirectionality, we won’t get a good range of opinions, and it’ll be mottai nai. For example, when you’ve got two people arguing about something, with bidirectionality others can enter the conversation.

I was thinking about this for many years, and when Twitter got popular, I decided, “This must be it.” But Twitter has no real-name system and in the end noise got into the signal. Just as I was deciding, “This isn’t it after all,” Facebook got its boost [from the movie The Social Network, which premiered in Japan in late 2010 --A].

When I started using Facebook, I had only 100 friends, but my own contributions got excellent responses. And of course these responses weren’t just praise for me, but also people saying, “I think it would be better if you do it this way”, “look at the data I’m linking here”, and so forth. I got very involved in the discussions, and started thinking it could have real practical value for city administration.

Essentially, Facebook is the biggest site with a real-name registration system. The system I was wishing for 10 years ago when I got flamed on 2channel has finally arrived. This is why I moved the city website to Facebook.

[...]

Aren’t there a lot people being left behind by this technological evolution?

Oh, certainly. I don’t expect 70 to 80 year olds to get on Facebook for my sake.

But I feel like even that is changing these days. If you ask me how a 70-year-old in my city is meant to acquaint himself with Facebook, I would say that just like with vehicles, those who can’t drive for themselves can “carpool”. Rather than learning the keyboard for themselves, they can look on and contribute with the help of family members who can use Facebook.

Up until now people didn’t even know about the vehicle called Facebook, so they weren’t familiar with this process. But now everyone recognizes the usefulness of this tool. Like with a driver’s license, there are some people who won’t ever get one, but they can still carpool. I think that should be good enough.

The interview also discusses Hiwatashi’s F&B Goods initiative to sell products made in Takeo through the Internet. About this, he says:

In the past, just talking about business for a moment, it was an age when big cities had the advantage. But with social networking, these days it’s an age when if you’re really making something good, you can sell it.  Administration usually lags behind technology and has its demerits, but I want to make use of the reliability of government to promote a trustworthy “social business network”.

Contributor Bio: Avery teaches English somewhere near Takeo. When he is not translating things, he is probably visiting haikyo or researching weird footnotes in Japanese history. He can be reached on Twitter at @ahm.

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Dejima: Then & Now (Photos)

Aerial photo shows us what happened to Dejima, the famous artificial island in Nagasaki that once was home to Japan’s only Western residents:

[via 2chcopipe]

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No Yakuza Photos, Please: City Calendar Recalled

The city of Yaizu in Shizuoka prefecture will have to trash thousands of copies of its official calendar because somebody realized that one of its festival photos contains a gangster:

The Yaizu Municipal Government announced Dec. 12 that it will retract and dispose of 55,500 copies of the 2012 calendar, which the city had already begun distributing to some 50,000 households through neighborhood associations on Dec. 1. The city will re-create a new version of calendar, which residents will receive only after the turn of the year.

The move, apparently prompted by a nationwide drive to oust yakuza groups, means the 5 million yen spent on calendar production has been wasted.

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Dante Carver Caught Driving Without License

American actor Dante Carver, best known for his role in Softbank mobile commercials, has been busted for driving in Japan without a legal driver’s license.

According to press reports, Carver was stopped by police after making an illegal u-turn in Shibuya on July 2nd. When they asked to see his license, he showed them an international driving permit. Such permits are only recognized as legal when drivers are tourists. Because Carver is a resident of Japan, he should have obtained a Japanese license.

Carver, who has lived in Japan since 2005, pleaded ignorance. He says he didn’t realize he needed to get a Japanese license.

An article in the Sankei Shimbun says that Carver was scheduled to appear on BS Fuji TV network kids’ program later this month, but the show’s producers have decided to cut his segment. Apparently they do not want their program associated with Carver’s lawbreaking. Carver had appeared regularly on the program since 2008. It is unclear whether he will be allowed to return to the show in the future.

One can tell that this is no small matter from the way that this news video has presented footage of Mr. Carver. They are using file footage of him at a promotional event, but the logos in the background have been censored. This is to prevent his lawbreaking from damaging the reputation of whatever company or product he was promoting at that event.

As some of you may remember, Carver got into some trouble in August when he caused a minor traffic accident in Shibuya.

At the time, he made no mention of the status of his license.

For reference, here is a very clear warning from the United States Embassy:

International Driving Permits (IDP)

“Residents” are expected to convert or obtain a Japanese drivers license. Persons using an international drivers license who are resident in Japan can be subject to fines or arrest. The exact boundary between “resident” and “not resident” is unclear. In practice it seems to involve more than simply visa status or length of stay in Japan and is determined by the police.

We have heard from several Americans who were told by the police that using an International Driver’s License for more than a year, or using one after exiting and then returning to Japan, or using one when you are residing in Japan, or after you have obtained an Alien Registration Card, or after 90 days in Japan, or using a license obtained by mail while you are in Japan, is illegal. In two instances, following accidents, Americans were charged with driving without a license, a serious offense. Driving without a license may also void your insurance coverage.

Read what the Japanese Police have to say about International Driving Permits.

American citizens who come to Japan often have one-year international driving permits issued in the United States by the American Automobile Association (AAA). Carver has been living in Japan for about 6 years, he probably would have needed to get his permits renewed one or more times.

Other nationalities can easily obtain legal Japanese licenses through some simple paperwork, but Americans are required to take a test. Rather than go through such a hassle, some American residents of Japan choose to illegally drive using international permits. And many of them get away with it – especially when they don’t get caught violating traffic rules and don’t cause traffic accidents.

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Sound Equipment Failure Reveals Japanese Boy Band’s Atrocious Singing

A few days ago, Fuji TV aired a 2011 music special that included live performances of some of the year’s most popular songs. When boy band Arashi took the stage, there was some kind of technical trouble. Instead of the CD-like quality of the other groups’ performances, audiences were given a taste of some raw audio:

A sloppy machine translation of a J-Cast article about the incident:

Arashi singing performance of 2011 FNS song gest is topical as too bad, this has theory that is sound trouble. Fuji TV twitter erupted by Arashi fans.[from beginning, no voice, singing voice come to dissonance> Arashi performed Labyrinth Love Song with violinist, Taro Hakase, Emiri Miyamoto-san. this came to bad. from start no voice at all, and pitch was not stable. and chorus part also brink of collapse, from start to end singing voice come to dissonance. it seemed members embarrassed too. Kazunari Ninomiya-san who start sing begging part makes embarrassed face. Sho Sakurai-san also makes bitter smile.

Arashi fans have denied that the incident reflects the actual singing ability of the group.

Some internet conspiracy theorists have pointed out the lack of technical trouble during K-pop performances as proof of Fuji TV’s devious plot to promote Korean culture. They believe that Fuji TV intentionally screwed up Arashi’s microphones, while allowing the Korean artists to lip sync…

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