Posts Tagged ‘2008’

Tonight: SASUKE (Ninja Warrior) Fall 2008

The SASUKE 2008 Fall competition will be airing tonight at 7:00PM on TBS. As with the last competition, there will be several Americans taking part in the obstacle course, including Olymipic wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo and G4 Tech TV’s Ninja Warrior fanatics. Keep an eye on Lost in Ube and Rambling Rican for live blogging and results from the competition!

Japanese reporter eats insects

One of NTV’s reporters in Beijing goes to a local food shop and tries to eat cicada on a stick:

More Information About Obama City

Starved for more information about the wackiness going on in Fukui Prefecture’s Obama City? Here are a few videos about Obama City that have appeared online in the last week!

First off, a video about Obama City from the Associated Press:

And finally, a series of four videos filmed by an American girl living in Obama City.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Barack Obama Visits Japan (Blackface Comedy)

In honor of the ongoing Democratic Party primary elections, popular Japanese blog Daily Portal Z ran a story about visiting Obama Station in Fukui Prefecture. The real Barack Obama wasn’t available to go there with them, so they did the next best thing: they painted a Japanese guy black and had him wear a big rubber nose!

Here’s a sample of the kind of pictures found in the post:

Claytonian, who brought the post to my attention, had the following to say in the commentary he posted on his blog:

I’m a little conflicted; I like Daily Portal Z and I think this thing gets funny at times. Especially when Hillary shows up in the article. Then there is the politically-correct, and dare I say oppressed at times, foreigner side to me that always feels its a bad idea to paint yourself up like a black man, or a white woman for that matter. Then yet again, this could be political satire so sophisticated it goes over my head.

In the past, I have expressed my view that comedy acts which rely on parody of the physical features of other races are not my cup of tea. I don’t expect the average Japanese person to understand the hurtful history of blackface comedy, but I still wish that people could understand how someone of another race might feel hurt when they see a Japanese comedian using racial differences for laughs.

20 Nations Will Train For Olympics in Japan Because of Pollution Concerns

Beijing’s horrifying air pollution has driven 20 nations to have their athletes undertake pre-Olympic training in Japan instead of China:

Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States are among nations planning to hold training camps in Japan, according to the Japanese Olympic Committee and other sources.

[...]

“I want to avoid the risk of a long stay in Beijing,” said the coach of the Finnish rowing team on a visit to Kagawa Prefecture in November to sound out the possibility of holding a training camp there.

The Finnish canoe team also made an approach to the prefecture the following month, leading a prefectural government official to suggest that “competitors in outdoor events have got the jitters about the air quality [in Beijing].”

The manager of the British swimming team also reportedly told an Osaka municipal government official of their “anxiety” over air pollution and food in China.

Some national teams have decided to hold camps in the same locations as they did for last summer’s athletics championships in Osaka.

The Finnish athletics team will be based in Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture, a city where nine countries held camps before the Osaka championships.

Ireland’s athletics coach gushed about Matsue as a training location, saying, “Everything–the facilities, food and accommodation–was good.”

Cormorant Festival Makes Predictions for 2008

Every December, a city in Ishikawa Prefecture uses a Cormorant to predict the future:

At midnight on December 16 in Hakui City, Ishikawa Prefecture, a hunter carries a live cormorant into Keta Shrine. The head priest of the shrine performs Shinto rites at 3:00 A.M., afterward opening the doors of the main building and consecrating the cormorant in the sanctuary In the sanctuary the hunter exchanges questions and answers with the priest. Then, after all the lights are extinguished save for one on the altar, the cormorant is released. As it advances toward the light it also approaches the altar, and the manner of its approach provides a clue about the future. Its service rendered, the bird is returned to the sea.

Here is a video showing the results of this year’s divination:

Upon its release, the cormorant sat around doing nothing for several minutes, after which it flapped its wings and jumped onto the altar. Priests have interpreted this to mean that we should not rush things in the coming year, but instead act with prudence and discretion.