Japan’s former agriculture minister Yoshinobu Shimamura (Center) and other lawmakers visit Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo April 23, 2007. Interestingly, the Japanese Prime Minister has stuck to his word and has not visited the shrine, a place of contention for Korean and Chinese nationals.
Photograph by REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN)
Kyodo News is reporting that there seems to have been an underwater volcanic eruption around Minami IwoJima.
The coast guard confirmed a change in the color of the sea water and volcanic smoke in waters 60 kilometers south of Iwojima Island. The Japanese Meteorological Agency believes it is likely that the volcano called Fukutoku Okanoba has erupted, agency officials said.
A fishing boat from Kochi Prefecture spotted the unusual sea color and smoke, and informed the coast guard around 10 a.m. Monday, they said.
Kyodo News is reporting that Shiroo Tetsuya, the man who allegedly shot and killed the Nagasaki Mayor Ito Itcho, has apologies to the people of Nagasaki and the entire nation, but not the family.
“I caused trouble to the people of Nagasaki and the entire nation,” his lawyer said. “I was financially struggling…”
You can read the full article here.
Wow. Swanky! Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced yesterday that he has picked the Lake Toya hot-spring resort area as the site for the 2008 summit of the Group of Eight nations.
Not a bad place to hang out in my opinion. Seen here in this photo by Kyodo News, the Windsor Hotel Toya Resort & spa has a beautiful backdrop of snow-capped Mount Yotei on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Some film scenes are violent and then some films, like this Kung-Fu flick’s jail cell fight scene, are just over the top ridiculous… (Should I warn you about violence?)
Is that jello? Anyways here is another one with ‘great’ english dubbing. (This one is rather violent as well…)
This dude below is kind of like the evil Chinese version of The Hulk.
Part of the martial art Iaido (drawing the blade) is understanding tamishigiri (cutting technique).
Iaido is a really facinating martial art that differs from Kendo because in Iai, you don’t go against an opponent and you use a blade as opposed to shinai (bamboo sword). I encourage you to look into it. Here is a video my sensei edited and posted. Hope you like it.
Japanese vote in upper house by-elections seen as key test for Abe. Voters on Sunday were casting ballots to fill two empty Upper House Diet seats in by-elections seen as a key test for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Click here for the full story.
For those of you interested in historical documentaries, here is a promo for a one-hour documentary I am producing called The Secret World of Zen. Filmed in 5 cities across Japan, we should have it out for broadcast by August.
EDIT: There seems to be a frame rate issue with the play back that makes the image look slightly jittery. Not sure why exactly (first time uploading to a site like this) but I’ll work on it.
As the French election draws closer to a conclusion, Foreign Minister Taro Aso is urging the French politicians to read manga! (I wonder which ones he’s suggesting to read?)
The Japan Times has the article here. Here is a portion of that story:
Foreign Minister Taro Aso gave advice to one of the highest-profile candidates in the race: Read more Japanese comics.
Segolene Royal has criticized “manga” comics and animation as being violent and pornographic.
When asked in a news conference Friday to comment on her position, Aso said, “I think she should read a little bit more” Japanese comics.
Aso, a big backer of Japanese pop culture, said the contents of manga, citing some for girls as one example, are much more diverse than Royal may think.
He is well known for his love of comics and reads more than 10 manga magazines a week despite his busy schedule as Japan’s top diplomat.
The Socialist candidate has criticized Japanese society for being tolerant of violence and pornography in a book published in 1989. She also reportedly expressed her concerns that some Japanese comics contain sexist material when she met with Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party, in Paris in December. Aso was also asked to comment on Royal’s main rival, rightist Nicolas Sarkozy, The former interior minister has reportedly said he doesn’t like sumo. He was quoted in the weekly magazine Paris Match in 2004 as describing Japan’s national sport as “battles between obese guys with slicked-down topknots.” Sarkozy has denied that he made the comment.
I know if it were me, I would absolutly hate to participate in one of these. Talk about stress! If you fail, you’re making your country look bad. Or at least that’s a possible mindset one could reasonably have … Click here to check out the Japan Times story.
Here is a portion of the article:
The education ministry Tuesday will conduct its first National Assessment of Academic Ability in 43 years. The nationwide test is designed to check academic achievement in elementary school sixth-graders and third-year junior high school students.
The results will give the ministry vital information on academic performance and will pressure both schools and students to improve. Some experts, however, are concerned that the results may allow the public to rank the schools and that the resulting competition will become excessive and produce negative effects.
Yup… That’s gotta suck!
Here is a really cool photo of a man walking by an advertisement with designs of QR codes. Microsoft has finally found a taker for a colorful barcode technology the company shelved two years ago because it failed to catch on. Gavin Jenke, the Microsoft researcher who invented the colorful barcode, said the United States would eventually catch up with Japan, where it’s common to see people snapping photos of giant barcodes posted on billboards.
Photo by AP Photo/Koji Sasahara
With the arrival of Spiderman 3 in theaters soon all over the world, and the world premiere of the film held in Tokyo, we thought it just right here at JAPUNDIT to share with you the Japanese version of Spiderman …
In this full 30 minute episode, which is really reminiscent of something from Ultraman, watch how Spiderman rides a motor bike, fights a bunch of lame looking goons in jump suites and takes on an evil bitch with too much makeup. Fun for all… I’d say something about the horrible production values here but you’re probably already expecting that…
A Kurosawa classic that is an undisputed classic example of Japanese cinema at its best…
(As always the clip here is only the first five minutes. If you like it, download the player from the veoh website and you can grab the entire film in AVI format. Hope you like it!)
The Mainichi Daily is reporting that one of Japan’s most famous gay magazines is being brought back to store shelves. The publication “Barazoku”, is one of Japan’s oldest and longest running monthly magazines that caters to gay men.
It went bankrupt in 2004 but since has made a return. Three times actually. Here is a portion of the article:
Brief returns were made in April 2005 and again in August last year, but the same problem of lack of advertising revenue drove it back into the dark hole once again. This time, its publishers are aiming to keep it running for good.
“People keep calling us and begging us to bring it back,” “Barazoku” publisher, 75-year-old (and straight) Bungaku Ito, tells Shukan Asahi. “There are loads of old gays in the country who wouldn’t have a clue how to use the Internet. Many of them say ‘Barazoku’ used to give them hope. Those sorts of people prompted us to put it out again.”
“Barazoku” owes its beginnings to the small publishing company Ito originally ran and used to start printing erotica to try and make some extra money.
More information on the publication is available here at Wikipedia dot com.
Kyodo news is reporting that due to Prime Minister Abe’s recent meetings with the Chinese delegation in Japan, that he may skip out on visiting Yasukuni Shrine during the Spring. A sign of better relations to come?
Ah I feel so sorry for this kid. This is an older clip but still funny to watch. The setup is 17 year old Tsuruta Hidenori is walked in to an interview with Hollywood starlet Dakota Fanning. The poor kid is nervous as hell… Ahh good times!
The stand off has ended.
Policemen seen here in this photograph stand outside the apartment building where an alleged member of the yakuza barricaded himself.
Japanese police stormed into the apartment early Saturday morning thus ending the standoff with the armed man 15 hours after it all began. Photograph from AFP/JIJI Press.
I had some reservations about posting this piece of news to be honest because there’s been so much negative material here recently (Ito’s assassination, School Shooting, measles outbreak) but this is what people are talking about and what’s in the news so its important to at least mention it once.
A man believed to be a member of the yakuza has shot and killed a man and is currently barricaded inside a home in Tokyo.
Reuters has published a report which you can read here.
Here is a portion of what is currently happening out there:
here were no hostages, but residents near the apartment, belonging to a gang member in Machida, on the west side of the capital, had been evacuated, police said.
Riot police wearing helmets and bulletproof vests and carrying shields were still stationed near the apartment some seven hours after the incident began.
“I heard three shots, bang, bang, bang. We were told by police to stay inside,” a woman living nearby told Nippon Television by telephone.
Police said the man had fired nine shots from the apartment, with one hitting a police vehicle, but no one had been injured.
Earlier, the suspect fatally shot a gangster outside a convenience store in a nearby city and then fled, Kyodo news agency said.
Police confirmed that the victim was shot dead but did not say whether he belonged to a crime syndicate. A senior member of a crime syndicate talked to the gunman on the phone and urged him to surrender, media said.
“I would like to express my apologies by killing myself,” the gunman was quoted as saying.
But the suspect later stopped answering his mobile phone, Kyodo news agency and public broadcaster NHK said.
Children at nearby schools were met by parents who escorted them home, many holding hands, TV footage showed.
Japan has strict gun control laws and legal firearms are mostly in the hands of hunters and police, but the shooting of the Nagasaki mayor by a gangster on Tuesday has prompted lawmakers, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to call for even tighter supervision.
“The incidents involving guns followed the fatal shooting of the Nagasaki mayor and it is truly regrettable and grave,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters.
Two guards walk by the front entrance of Yasukuni jinja in Tokyo. If you have an interest in Japanese history, there is a museum on the Yasukuni grounds that I believe is a must-see. You can read more about Yasukuni Jinja here.
The above photo is by REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN)
