Posts Tagged ‘chinese’

New Movie: Kung Fu-kun

Chinese child martial artist Zhang Zhuang will be hitting Japanese theaters tomorrow with the release of Kung Fu-kun, a wacky action comedy that teams the kid up with al all-star cast of Japanese celebrities and comedians. Here’s the official film trailer and a plot summary from Eigapedia:

A young shaolin martial arts student defeats a series of foes and is told his final enemy is located in Japan. When he arrives he befriends a middle-aged woman who manages a Chinese restaraunt called Koraku. Together they get mixed up in various kung fu mayhem.

And a video of Zhang Zhuang showing off some cool moves on a morning news program:

If you’re interested in this movie, you might want to check out Mark Schilling’s review of it over at the Japan Times.

[props to Danny Choo for discovering these cool videos!]

Shukan Asahi Concerned About Chinese Toilets

Yesterday’s Mainichi WaiWai column summarized an article in the Shukan Asahi that was concerned about the quality of public toilets in areas where Olympic events will be held in China:

While Beijing has been widely blessed for the excellence of its newly opened National Swimming Center, where the Games’ aquatic events will be held, not everything about the stadium is as world-class as its pools.

Nearly every toilet in the center is a squat style, not the sit-down type of loo most Westerners — and Japanese — are accustomed to.

Squat toilets are the dominant style nearly everywhere throughout China. And though individual cubicles have become the norm on trains and public toilets in smaller cities, doors on the cubicles are still a rarity.

“There are growing numbers of Western-style toilets in southern China,” a Shanghai-born Olympic facility worker tells Shukan Asahi. “I guess squat-style toilets are still the norm up north.”

Toilet paper is also posing a problem. Outside of classy hotels in the big cities, most toilet paper used in China is a rough, harsh type that doesn’t dissolve well in water, the weekly says. To avoid blockage, it’s more common to dump the dirty paper into a trash can instead of the cistern. And though most Chinese are well aware of this practice, there are no notices anywhere informing visitors to the country of the proper way to prime the potty, running the risk of clogging the crapper. It’s a point the Games’ organizers concede.

“We have to put up signs,” an organizer says.

Soccer: Japan Beats China

Those of you who follow the news links posted on Japan Probe’s front page may have read the article we linked to focusing on expectations of anti-Japanese hostility leading up to a China-Japan soccer match. Well, the match took place last night, and judging from the news photos showing up on Yahoo! Japan, fans of nasty unsportsman-like behavior weren’t let down.

The most painful-looking event in the match was a kick delivered to a Japanese player by the Chinese goalkeeper during the second half of the game (the photo at the top of this post shows the kick from a different angle):

A video of the “dangerous kung fu kick” is currently the most-viewed video on YouTube Japan:

Other photos and videos (all of which were popular on Yahoo and YouTube’s Japanese sites) show other scenes of “dirty football:”

Japan ended up winning the game, though:

“I knew it would be a tough game but my players fought calmly,” said Japan coach Takeshi Okada, whose squad missed Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura and three key strikers including former Frankfurt player Naohiro Takahara because of poor form or injury.

“They fought patiently and produced a result,” Okada added.

China’s under-pressure Serbian coach Vladimir Petrovic praised his whole squad, including six under-23 players, for “performing aggressively.”

The AFP article linked states that Chinese fans “remained unexpectedly quiet during Japan’s national anthem and cut out the loud booing that marred their win over North Korea.” Japanese language articles, however, report that Chinese fans were quite hostile, booing loudly and even burning a Japanese flag. Jiji Press also released a photo showing Chinese guards restraining a fan whose anti-Japanese cheering got out of hand:

FTV news ran a short segment on Chinese fan reactions to the match, mentioning the flag-burning incident. However, the report noted that there was less anti-Japanese protesting that usual after the match, with Chinese fans instead focusing their anger on their own team:

[Update] More on this from the AFP:

“We deplore yesterday’s performances very much. As the delegation, we are considering making some representations to the EAFF (East Asian Football Federation),” Kuniya Daini told reporters.

“Dangerous acts could threaten players’ careers.”

Daini also hit out at North Korean referee Song O-Tae, who handed out four yellow cards to the hosts but did not send anyone off.

He said he would consult with Japanese men’s coach Takeshi Okada later Thursday and may take action on Friday.

“We may seek appropriate steps to be taken with regard to both rough plays and refereeing,” Daini said.

Okada had already complained he was “very much dissatisfied” with the officiating and other matters.

“I told my players to act calmly but it was myself who was more excited,” he said after the match.

Not Only Japan: Other Countries Fear Chinese Food Ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

After the recent frozen gyoza scare in Japan, it appears that Japan’s concerns over Chinese food are shared by the rest of the world. As a result, Chinese government has selected 36 farms that can provide food to athletes at the Beijing Olympics which begin in about 5 and a half months time.

In these specially selected farms, all of the food is grown in a way that will, hopefully, provide safer produce for the athletes. This food is then prepared by an American catering firm that has been used over a dozen times before for Olympic events.

The AOC (Australian Olympic Committee) has gone further by issuing directives about what to eat and what not to eat, as well as bringing some of their own food all the way from home. There are also orders to drink only the bottled water provided by the sponsor, Coca-Cola (not sure if this is for safety or publicity, though). Even after all these warnings, it appears that athletes are getting sick while preparing for the games in China.

Is all this fear in Japan and the rest of the world justified? Food has been imported into Japan and the rest of the world from China for over 40 years, yet the recent survey alluded to by James in a February 10 Japan Probe post said that 75.9% of Japanese people will not use Chinese food. Will any of you go out of your way to avoid Chinese food? Should other Olympic Committees also encourage their athletes to bring their own food to the Olympic games?