The WSJ reports on how Toyota’s CEO mentioned Charlie Chaplin at a recent press conference:
In his opening remarks to reporters, Mr. Toyoda said: “Charlie Chaplin, the greatest comedian, was said to reply ‘the next one,’ when asked which of his films he thought was the best. I find his mindset similar to Toyota’s ‘kaizen’ mentality – to always strive to create something better. Please do look forward to the ‘next one’ from Toyota and Lexus.”
It’s a good line, and one that was reported by media in Japan and elsewhere. There’s only one problem: Chaplin experts say the famed Hollywood actor never said it. A cursory Google search in English yields similar results.
Hiroyuki Ono, the author of several books on Chaplin and chair of the Chaplin Society of Japan, said it’s widely believed among Japanese that Chaplin made “the next one” comment, but that his research into the matter has found otherwise.
My own Google search found quite a few Japaneseblogsandwebsites that make use of the fake Chaplin quote. Although the question is always written in Japanese, Chaplin’s is often written in English as just two words: “next one” (or ネクストワン in katakana). There is no “the” at the beginning of his answer, making it sound as if Chaplin was speaking in broken English.
A video shows one of four kangaroos that escaped from cages at an animal importing company in Chiba prefecture:
At 1:18 in the video clip, the kangaroo has a close call with a truck!
Ten police officers were called in to apprehend the fugitive kangaroos. It took 4 hours for the animals to be captured. One officer was punched by a kangaroo in the process. The animals are now back in their cages, having suffered no injuries.
[Update: Links to Cachedversions of the articles have been added to prevent publishers from making stealth edits.]
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has posted “Dying to be thin: Anorexia in Japan,”(cached version here) a summary an article by freelance writer Georgia Hanias (although labeled as a “review,” it looks like it is pretty much a copy-paste of Hanias’ PR version of the article[cached here]). The full version of the article appears in this month’s print edition of Marie Claire (unavailable online).
Anorexia is a very important problem that should receive media attention. Unfortunately, if the short version of the article is an indication, the Marie Claire article is a stinking piece of garbage.
The first sentence is worthy of a facepalm:
[ ‘In Japanese there are no words for “I’m suffering” or “I’m sad”. I can’t share my feelings with anyone. Needing help is seen as failure, something to be ashamed of.’ ]
Even though a Japanese person may have said this, it’s absolute bullshit. The Japanese language has words to express those feelings, just like every other language on the planet. It is astounding that the author took such a statement at face value and made it the the opening line of an article about a serious subject.
Note (May 12): After Japan Probe and numerous readers ridiculed the above quotation, the Bureau’s editors tried to explain it away as a “metaphor.” Readers then correctly pointed out that it was clearly not a metaphor. So the Bureau’s editors made stealth edits to the post, adding in sentence that says “whilst her comment is not strictly true – there are words for sadness and suffering in Japanese – it reflects her state of mind of hopelessness.” The original version of the post, prior to stealth edits, can be found here.
The short version of the article also presents incorrect data:
[ In fact, women in Japan are consuming fewer calories than they did in the Second World War. A third of the population of Japan has a Body Mass Index of less than 18.5, considered in Japan to be the lowest healthy weight. ]
Japan’s Health Ministry publishes annual reports on the nutrition of the Japanese people. The most recent report found that 11.0% of women and 4.6% of men have a Body Mass Index of less than 18.5 (underweight). It also found that 21.1% of women and 30.4% of men had a Body Mass Index of greater than 25 (overweight).
The statement about daily calories also does not present a fair picture of nutrition in Japan. As of 2008, the per capita amount was 1,867 calories per day, which is indeed quite low. Japanese wartime sources show that daily caloric intake declined from 1,971 calories a day in 1942 to 1,793 calories a day in 1945. The American military reported that by the summer of 1945 average caloric intake had dropped to 1,680 a day, with mining and heavy industry workers receiving greater amounts of food than others. Few women worked in the coal mines, so it is safe to assume that they were suffering badly during the war years. By 1945, many Japanese were starving, eating peanut shells, insects, and sawdust. Women in today’s Japan may not consume many calories, but the nutritiousness of their meals probably far exceeds that of the food available during the bleak war years.
The author also attacks the Japanese concept of cuteness:
[ The article explores the Japanese phenomenon of ‘kawaii’, meaning cute, a bizarre mix of highly sexualised, pre-pubescent imagery. Dolls, cartoons and pop stars all radiate the message that thin is beautiful. ]
If the full article does devote significant space to complaining about the sexualization of pre-pubescent females, it is missing the point entirely. The idea that thin is beautiful goes beyond cuteness in Japan. Japanese women of all ages, including women who aren’t trying to look “kawaii” or pre-pubescent, feel pressure to be thin. The numerous television programs and bestselling books that promise weight loss to housewives almost never focus on cuteness.
These are just the problems that stick out in the summary of the article. The full version could be even worse. (Update: The full version of the article is available for reading here. As I expected, it’s riddled with the same kinds of problems.)
It is good that there are magazines out there that want to publish articles about Anorexia. However, serious societal issues deserve accurate articles, not exaggerations and false data. How hard can it be to hire somebody capable of basic fact-checking?
P.S. – Here is an example of how the Japanese media reports on eating disorders. It is about a very thin 25-year-old woman who throws up after her meals (possibly due to her poor relationship with her mother):
The Asahi Shimbun also recently ran an article about the seriousness of eating disorders among children.
Finally, a robot that can shampoo your head and massage your scalp (apparently without killing you in the process!):
Panasonic presents its Head Care Robot. The robot is designed to support staff at hospitals and care facilities with hair washing. The robot will undergo trials for 2 months at Hair Salon Super Seo in Nishiyama City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
