Celebrity News

Ruy Ramos would fight for Japan

In a recent Yukan Fuji article, former Japan national soccer team player Ruy Ramos spoke about his commitment to his country of citizenship. Ramos was born in Brazil and first came to Japan in 1977. He naturalized in 1989. Over the years, he has developed a deep love of this nation.

Here is what he said in the interview:

日本で戦争が起きたらオレは戦う。だって日本人なんだから。日本人になった期間は短いけどオレは日本人だよ

Roughly translated, it says: “If Japan got into a war, I would fight (for this country). After all, I’m Japanese! Even though I have been Japanese for a short time, I am Japanese!”

Ramos is already 55-years-old, so he’s far too old to enlist in the Self-Defense Forces. If there was a war, he’d probably have no opportunity to fight in defense of Japan. But his remarks have nonetheless drawn some praise from netizens.

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New Genki Sudo music video sends message of Japan-China-Korea friendship

Amid all the nationalistic tensions between Japan and its two neighbors, Genki Sudo’s World Order has released a new “PERMANENT REVOLUTION” music video. It appears to have a message of unity and friendship:

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Famous performing chimpanzee Pan-kun viciously mauls woman

For years now, I’ve blogged about Pan-kun, a performing chimpanzee at the Aso Cuddly Dominion Zoo who frequently appears on television. And, for years, readers have left comments on such blog posts predicting that Pan-kun would one day go wild and attack somebody.

Well folks, it happened!

As Pan-kun was being walked off the stage after a performance yesterday afternoon, he suddenly dashed towards a student trainee staff member and attacked her. He didn’t eat her face off, but he did do some pretty bad damage. There were cuts on her forehead, ears, ankles, and back. She was flown by helicopter to a hospital, where she required stitches and will probably not be getting out for a couple weeks.

Pan-kun was scheduled to retire from performances in April. For obvious reasons, he’s been forced into an earlier retirement. He won’t be doing any more shows, but will still be living at the zoo.

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Goodbye, Zippei: Popular TV Canine Dies of Heat Stroke

Back in February, I blogged about internet anger over the treatment of Zippei (ジッペイ), a dog that would travel around Japan for on Nihon TV’s Zip! morning show. Zippei often appeared on live broadcasts, yet never seemed to make any noise. It turned out that his lack of barking due to the fact that the dog had undergone surgery to remove his vocal cords. Some Japanese netizens thought it was cruel to surgically deprive a dog of its ability to make sounds, and questions were raised about NTV’s commitment to the welfare of performing animals.

The press is now reporting that Zippei has died. Here is the announcement made on the Zip! morning show:

According to the Yomiuri, the two dogs that took turns playing the role of Zippei died of heat stroke after being left in a hot automobile. The owner claims to have parked the vehicle in the shade and left the air conditioner running. A total of nine dogs were inside it. After returning to the car about an hour later, the air conditioner had apparently stopped working, and all the dogs had collapsed from the heat. Seven of the nine dogs died.

The YouTube video of NTV’s announcement has already received over 300 comments from Japanese netizens, many of whom doubt the story they are being told. In their eyes, both the owner and NTV already have a proven record of mistreating the dogs, so why should they be trusted?

It is truly saddening to think of those poor dogs, dying inside a hot vehicle, deprived of the ability to cry for help because their owner had them surgically de-barked.

[hat tip to Aceface]

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