I’m not the only one to note the strange synchronicity of Ed’s post on recent Japanese earthquakes, and the very large tremor which rocked China this week. It feels a bit strange to blog about a part of Asia, and to not, at the very least, acknowledge the human tragedy, particularly since China has made […]

The NY Times has a straight-up report of the visit of Hu Jintao to Japan. Interesting points from the article:

It is the first visit by a Chinese leader in a decade.
They discussed some thorny issues including control of an underwater natural gas field in the East China Sea and an unsolved case of poison found in frozen Chinese-made […]

The news reports on the Japan leg of the Bejing Olympic torch (which some are calling the “flame of shame”) relay in Nagano made me wish I had been there with a camera.
Large numbers of Chinese “students” were on hand as were groups of free Tibeters, all of whom seemed to be carrying flags and […]

A little something that just came flying in over the JAPUNDIT transom from someone who wishes to remain on the down-low.

It is apparently on a taxi in China.

A BBC article asks
The Chinese guards protecting the Olympic torch have been described as heavy-handed, aggressive and even thugs. Who are the men in blue tracksuits?
A Times article responds - “The Chinese torch guards are actually paramilitary police from a squad spun off from the army,” and goes on to say that they will […]

interesting series of photos on this website

A little off-topic, but interesting, I think. Let’s hear it for the stereotypes about repressed Asians.

A Chinese official’s wife uses a press conference intended to announce some aspect of the 2008 Olympic Games to instead tell everyone of her husband’s infidelity.

Silda Spitzer stands by her man.

Art history buffs know that there is no Japanese sculptor more celebrated than Unkei. He’s even called the “Michaelangelo of Japan” due to the sheer virtuosity of his work, and the realistic and emotional power he gave each of his pieces. Active in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, Unkei is perhaps best known […]

planning a trip with the kids? looking for something a little bit more original than disney? or maybe you want the kids to experience something educational while they’re having fun. well if your visiting japan, korea, china, or vietnam; you might consider the following amusement parks.
probably NSFW

[…]

Danwei has an interesting about Björk’s Sunday night gig in Shanghai, apparently only her second ever gig in China, and by the looks of things, very possibly her last.
Adam Schokora writes that Björk “closed the show with a 2nd encore performance of “Declare Independence” – a rousing power-to-the people anthem containing such lyrics as: “Declare […]

Here is a product that seems to indicate that China may be making a move on Japan’s virtual monopoly on strange gadgets.

It is a Breast Massage Robot, which Beijing BUBBY Robot Technologies Co. claims, meets a wide variety of needs that seem to be busting out all over. They say it is great for:

Adolescent […]

I just got hit with some heavy work and don’t have time to post anything of substance, so here is a video of a 7-year-old Chinese kid doing some wild break dancing.

After weeks of sensational news reports about people across Japan claiming to have been sickened by consuming poison gyoza dumplings that were made in China, Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry now announces that only 10 individuals were confirmed to have been suffering from chemical poisoning due to consuming dubious dumplings.
“We took a particularly […]

Almost 76 percent of the respondents to a telephone survey conducted in Japan by Kyodo News last weekend said they will no longer use food items that come from China.
According to Kyodo, the percentage of people in Japan who use Chinese food items dropped from around 58% last year to only 21.6% after the […]

In case you are not aware, there is a big scandal going on in Hong Kong right now due to the public release of sex pics that show movie actor Edison Chen and actress Gillian Chung doing the dirty for the digital.
Though this has been ongoing news for quite a while now, we have […]

Every year, the city of Nagasaki celebrates the Chinese New Year with a spectacular array of bright and colourful lanterns. The Lantern Festival began this year on February 7 and continues until the 21st.
Nagasaki, which for a couple of hundred years of the Tokugawa shogunate was one of the few entry points for trade in […]

Just a note to stress that I am posting the following videos for their interest and entertainment value. This post is not meant to endorse any of the views presented in these videos.
Why asian guys can’t get white girls

Why Asian Girls Go For White Guys

When the groups Reporters Without Borders and Chinese Human Rights Defenders published an online report titled Journey to the Heart of Internet Censorship about how China is censoring online content, the Chinese government did the only thing it knows how to do. . . It censored the report
Just hours after the report was issued, Yang […]

Check out this amazing time map animation that traces geopolitical changes on the Korean Penninsula over time.

I wanted to find something like this for Japan but I couldn’t.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) reportedly is forcing the nation’s athletes to sign contracts that effectively ban them from speaking out against human rights abuses in China.
The controversial clause has been inserted into athletes’ contracts for the first time and forbids them from making any political comment about countries staging the Olympic Games.
The […]