Japan Probe

South Korean TV Erases Japanese Flag From H-IIA Rocket

James — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:56:13 +0000

A couple days ago I blogged about how a Japanese HII-A rocket had successfully carried a South Korean satellite into space.

Japanese media reports about the launch showed that the streets in the town near Tanegashima Space Center were lined with Japanese and Korean flags. Local businesses put up signs welcoming Korean visitors.

It was a great opportunity to show how Japan and Korea can work together. However, the Korean media’s portrayal of the launch has annoyed some Japanese netizens. It seems that Korea’s infamous anti-Japanese sentiment has once again reared its ugly head.

A TV report from South Korea’s Arirang TV proudly states, “it is now 20 years since Korea put its first satellite into orbit, and now, Korea’s third multipurpose satellite, Arirang-3, is ready for launch. ” Their computer animated portrayal of the launch has removed the Japanese flag and “NIPPON” letters from the rocket (skip to 3:00 to view the CG):

Like the other programs on Arirang TV, it is meant to advertise the greatness of Korea to English-speaking viewers. Having the Arirang-3 launched into space on a Japanese-looking rocket might interfere with the message of the program.

The markings that clearly identify the rocket as Japanese were wiped out of existence. The Mitsubishi logo and name have been left in place, but few English-speaking viewers would be able to read the kanji “三菱重工” (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries).

In a later section of the Arirang TV report, the satellite is shown entering orbit. A Korean flag and “KOREA” have been added to the white tip of the rocket:

From the available images of the real rocket, it would appear that this “KOREA” marking is a fabrication.

Having taken the trouble to copy so many other details of the rocket, it seems highly unlikely that Arirang TV simply forgot to include the Japanese markings. This was probably part of a conscious effort to make viewers think that Korea is not relying on Japanese technology.

Note: In the name of giving credit where credit is due, it should be mentioned that some of the Arirang-3 satellite’s impressive capabilities are largely thanks to technology South Korea purchased from Astrium, a European aerospace company.

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Short Film: “Regular Days” in Saga Prefecture

James — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:13:15 +0000

A really beautiful short film showing scenes of everyday life in Saga prefecture (Takekoba & Karatsu City):

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More Vandalism: Hair Removed From Sazae-san Character Statue

James — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:55:16 +0000

Stop the presses! There’s been another attack on an anime character statue! This time, somebody’s stolen the hair from a statue of Namihei Isono, the grandfather in the “Sazae-san” comics/anime series:

The statue was one of a group of bronze character statues unveiled in April at Tokyo’s Sakurashimachi station, near the neighborhood where the creator of “Sazae-san” once lived.

Namihei’s hair was made from a piece of wire that had been screwed into his head and secured with super glue. It was supposed to be very difficult to remove from the statue. Yet, somebody seems to have achieved the impossible twice: the statue had its hair stolen around May 7th, and after it was replaced, the new hair was stolen on the 20th!

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Videos: Solar Eclipse Over Japan

James — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:52:27 +0000

It was pretty cloudy this morning in much of Japan, but millions of people went outside at 7:30AM and were still able to put on protective glasses and view a rare annular eclipse. Here are some amateur and professional videos that have turned up on YouTube in the last couple hours:

The last time Tokyoites were able to see such an eclipse was 173 years ago. The next chance will be in hundreds of years.

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Japanese H-IIA Rocket Carries South Korean Satellite into Space

James — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:34:04 +0000

A couple days ago, a JAXA/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket carried a South Korean satellite into space. It was the first time a Japanese rocket carried a foreign satellite into orbit, marking Japan’s entry into the commercial space race.

Here a video clip of the launch:

“With the success of this commercial launch, we hope to build customers’ trust and get the next order, entering a business dominated by European Ariane and Russian Platon rockets,” said MHI’s Kenichi Nakamura.

The South Korean institute paid several billions of yen (tens of millions of dollars), “the cheapest price in an international auction”, the Sankei Shimbun reported, citing the institute. MHI declined to confirm the report.

On Saturday, America’s SpaceX, a company that offers satellite launches at half the price of an H-IIA launch, attempted to to send the first commercial spaceship to the International Space Station. However, problems were detected and the launch had to be aborted a second before lift-off.

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Takeshi Kitano Compares Homosexuality to Bestiality?

James — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:54:09 +0000

Comedian/Film Director Takeshi Kitano (“Beat Takeshi”) could have a view of homosexuality that isn’t very different from America’s Christian right:

“Obama supports gay marriage. You would support a marriage to an animal eventually, then,” Kitano said after being shown footage of people celebrating the US president’s comments.

The Original Japanese was:

“同性婚が認められたらそのうち動物との結婚も認められるようになったりね“

The comments were made on Jouhou 7 Days, a news program that Kitano co-hosts on the TBS network. He’s sometimes known for expressing strange or unconventional opinions on such programs, and co-anchors/guests often disagree with him (in this case, Eri Watanabe argued in favor of gay marriage in response to Kitano’s comments).

The AFP has run a story in English about Kitano’s comments. Although Japanese internet users have spread news of the comments via Twitter and 2channel, a few Google searches could find no reports about it from mainstream Japanese media outlets.

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Detective Conan Statues Vandalized

James — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:31:10 +0000

The town of Hokuei in Tottori prefecture built several bronze statues in 1999 to celebrate itself as the birthplace of the popular Detective Conan (Case Closed) manga series. Unfortunately, as this news report shows, the statues are very vulnerable to vandalism:

Somebody snapped a magnifying glass out of one statue’s hand, and bent a snorkel on another statue. City officials estimate it will cost about 500,000 yen to repair the damage.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In 2007 the same two statues were vandalized in the same way. And in 2005, one statue had its arm snapped off. In total, there have been 9 recorded cases of vandalism, with overall repair costs of about 3,500,000 yen (44,000 USD).

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BBC Global Poll: Japan Has Most Positive Influence in the World

James — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:22:10 +0000

The BBC World Service has conducted its annual poll measuring perceptions of different countries’ influence in the world. Japan has topped the ranking:

“Japan is seen as having the most　positive influence in the world　among all countries evaluated, and　views have improved slightly since 2011. On average, in the 21 tracking countries surveyed, 58 per cent of respondents hold positive views of Japan’s influence (up from 56% in 2011), and 21 per cent hold negative views (up 1 point from 2011). This very favourable global picture is reflected in the picture by country: out of the 22 countries surveyed in 2012, 20 countries lean positive and only two lean negative (South Korea and China).”</blockquote>

The full results can be viewed here (in PDF format).

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Photo: Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur

James — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:55:52 +0000

Earlier this year, it was reported that Tommy Lee Jones would be playing the role of General Douglas MacArthur in Emperor, a film set during the American occupation of Japan.

To help spread the hype about the film, the studio recently released this promotional photograph:

“Tommy Lee Jones turned up on set that day with that hat, those glasses, and — bang — he was the man,” director Peter Webber says.

Jones concedes, in typical bluntness: “I bear no resemblance to Douglas MacArthur whatsoever. But a campaign hat, some aviator glasses and a corncob pipe go a long way.”

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Tokyo Disney Resort Allows Gay Weddings

James — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:27:22 +0000

Since 2007, Disney has allowed gay couples to participate in its Fairy Tale Wedding program in the United States.

Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR) has not banned gay weddings, but they did have some restrictions in place. When LGBT rights activist Koyuki Higashi contacted TDR this year to inquire about holding a lesbian wedding there, officials told her that they would allow a ceremony, but would not allow both women to wear wedding dresses. Somebody had to dress as a woman and somebody had to dress as a man (“同性カップルの場合、一方が男性に見える格好で、もう一方が女性に見える格好であること。異性カップルに見えない装いでの結婚式はお断りしている”).

Using her Twitter account, Higashi spread the news of this disappointing policy. In response to the negative online PR, the company that manages TDR contacted Disney’s American offices for a clarification of its gay wedding policy. It only took one week for them to reverse their decision and apologize to Higashi. Tokyo Disney will no longer require homosexual couples to dress like like heterosexual couples at its wedding ceremonies.

(Note: Disney may be allowing these ceremonies, but gay marriage is still not legally recognized in Japan. )

[via Sankei Sports]

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Sea Shepherd Leader Paul Watson Detained in Germany

James — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:02:30 +0000

Paul Watson, the infamous leader of Sea Shepherd, has been detained in Germany. Costa Rican authorities had made a request for his extradition:

“He is accused of using his ship, the Farley Mowat, to ram a vessel called the Varadero, which was observed conducting illegal shark-finning activities. In claims filed with prosecutors in 2002, several members of the crew described Watson’s behaviour as attempted murder.”

It is interesting that Germany acted based on the Costa Rican arrest warrant. Japan supposedly issued an international arrest warrant for Watson in 2010, but nothing ever came of it.

Learn more about Watson by checking some of these other posts:

Watson has spent years bragging about the violent activities of his organization. It’s about time he takes legal responsibility for his actions.

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Japanese Woman Opens Cat Cafe in Vienna

James — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:06:28 +0000

The BBC reports that a Japanese-style cat cafe (Cafe Neko), has opened in Vienna. Its Austrian customers seem to like it:

“The cafe was opened by Vienna resident Takako Ishimitsu, a 47-year-old woman originally from Nagoya, Japan, who moved to Vienna some 20 years ago. She had to spend three years negotiating with city officials over hygiene issues for the cafe to be allowed to open.

Ishimitsu said she decided to open a cat cafe in order to introduce some aspects of Japanese culture to Vienna.”

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Misquoting Charlie Chaplin in Japan

James — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:20:00 +0000

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 Japanese blogs and websites 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.

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Escaped Kangaroos in Chiba Prefecture

James — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:59:43 +0000

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.

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Stupid Journalism: Marie Claire Article About Anorexia in Japan

James — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:03:47 +0000

[Update: Links to Cached versions 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?

[hat tip to Fukumimi, Durf, and SandraJapandra]

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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.

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Panasonic’s Hair-Washing Robot

James — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:36:15 +0000

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.

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Voice of America Interviews American Who Raised $7,500 Online After Claiming Children in Chiba Were Sick From Radiation Poisoning

James — Wed, 09 May 2012 01:29:10 +0000

This is an update about a story from a few days ago – American Claims Children in Chiba Are Sick From Radiation Poisoning / Raises Thousands of Dollars Online. After Japan Probe and its readers questioned the validity of the fundraiser’s claims, he deleted the fundraising page, holding on to about $7,500 in contributions. Thanks to our efforts to maintain of record of what happened, the mainstream media is now reporting on the story.

Steve Herman of the Voice of America contacted and interviewed the man who was using YouCaring.com to raise money to evacuate his children from Chiba prefecture, where they were supposedly “sick from radiation poisoning.”

Read Herman’s article here. It’s an excellent summary of the story, and includes information from radiation experts and another resident of the same area of Chiba.

Below is an examination of the quotes from the fundraiser. First off, he told the Voice of America that he never meant for the fundraiser to be public:

“It was probably a mistake putting that on the Internet,” says Joshua Swift, who now is appealing to the online detractors to “just leave us alone and let us go.”

The appeal on YouCaring.com was delisted Monday following the criticism on social media and other online sites, and the appeal remains archived.

Swift says the Internet appeal was not intended to be public and claims that all of the money raised came solely from “family and friends.”

Swift’s own public postings on Twitter directly contradict his claim that the appeal was not intended to be public. The record shows that Swift reached out to EX-SKF, the author of a popular conspiracy theory blog:

As you can see, Swift wanted Ex-SKF to spread the news about his fundraising plea. He was apparently grateful when Ex-SKF blogged about his cause on April 30th and May 3 (cached).

So it would seem that Swift was happy with posting about his situation on a public forum and asking blogs for publicity, as long as that publicity came from like-minded conspiracy theorists.

On the Swift family’s fundraising page, they wrote that it was imporant that their children leave Japan quickly:

“They must move to the USA now!……IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY COME TO KANSAS TO SAVE ALL THEIR LIVES”

Some readers wondered how someone who was so sure that his kids were being poisoned daily could still be in Chiba over a year after the first radiation leaks from Fukushima. Why wait days, weeks, or months for online contributions? If the lives of children were at stake, couldn’t someone in the family max out a credit card to buy plane tickets?

Here is Swift’s reason for delay:

He said it was not possible for the family to immediately evacuate because he wanted to continue to make mortgage payments on his home in Inzai, a city of 90,000 people, in Chiba Prefecture.

So….he thinks mortgage payments are so important that it’s worth putting his family in mortal danger?

The reason for a lack of medical evidence is also revealed:

Swift acknowledges no physician has diagnosed the children as being sickened by radiation. He said no doctor in Japan “would be allowed to,” alluding to a supposed cover-up of the health effects resulting from one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents.

Why provide evidence, when you can just claim every single doctor in the nation of Japan is part of a conspiracy to cover up evidence of radiation poisoning? Plenty of 3/11 truthers would accept such a ridiculous claim, and gladly donate money.

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Nuclear Option – A Documentary About Energy

James — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:02:01 +0000

Here is the trailer for “The Nuclear Option,” a interesting-looking documentary that explores the questions surrounding the use of nuclear energy:

“Fear, confusion, and uncertainty have long polarized the debate around nuclear energy, making it a casualty of ignorance and poor association. Experts agree a safe, clean, and abundant alternative source of energy is required to meet the demands of explosive world population growth and rapid depletion of natural resources. What’s more, humanity’s reliance on a fossil fuel based economy has more than proved to be not only completely unsustainable, but also ecologically devastating. Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power are promising, but lack the efficiency of scale to sustain the expected living standard of modern humans now and in the future. Faced with a slew of misconceptions and mired in a sea of bad public relations, nuclear energy has the ability to be the number one contender in the fight for an energy solution, but it faces an uphill battle. However, despite the negative imagery, there is qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the idea that from the get-go, nuclear energy has gotten a bad rap. The risks behind nuclear power need to be assessed alongside its benefits in an analysis that considers our values as a country, as the future of sustainable energy relies on helping the public determine the difference between science fiction and science fact. Our desire for economic progress has to be balanced by our good stewardship toward nature and humanity. Properly weighed with the values of modern industrialized society, nuclear energy stands to contribute powerfully to both of these ends.“

Meanwhile, all of Japan’s nuclear reactors have been turned off. Although efforts are being made to fill the gap in energy output with massive imports of carbon-emitting natural gas, severe electricity shortages are expected this summer.

[via Atomic Insights]

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Hatred & Distrust of Japan: The Real Force Behind Korea’s “East Sea” Campaign

James — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:39:44 +0000

Seoul-based reporter Andrew Salmon has written an excellent article about South Korea’s constant campaigning to force people who speak different languages to adopt the Korea-centric name “East Sea” as the international name for the Sea of Japan.

Salmon is fed up with twisted views of history:

I am tired of Koreans preaching about how non-Koreans must learn “right” or “correct” history. What they actually mean is “Koreans’ interpretation of history,” for history is not science, and beyond certain basic facts, historical events and trends are open to interpretation. I have yet to read an article in the local press that acknowledges opposing arguments ― the practice seems to be, “Ignore them, and restate the Korean side.”

And sees a nationalism founded upon hatred of Japan as the real reason behind Korean actions:

As I see it, the real reason Koreans want a name change is simple. Nationalism is a powerful emotive force in Northeast Asia in general and in Korea in particular. A cornerstone of Korean nationalism is distrust, dislike or hatred of Japan. This, I think, is the real force behind the “East Sea” campaign.

Alas, self-righteous, introspective campaigning on grounds of wounded national pride wins few international allies or votes. On the contrary, a low-key, restrained approach may be more effective. Japan has certainly been a less aggressive advocate. Seoul sent a 16-man delegation to the IHO; Tokyo just nine. A search of Google news finds over 30 Korean reports, but just one from Japan.

While Korea’s consumer exports, pop culture products and tourism marketing win friends around the world, I am willing to bet that nationalist emoting does not. If the “East Sea” issue can be laid to rest, and Koreans refocus on national, rather than nationalist agendas, so much the better.

If you’re interested in reading more of Salmon’s works, he has two books available on Amazon.com: To the Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951 and Scorched Earth, Black Snow: Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950.

[Hat tip to VGS]

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Video: Creepy Sadako 3D Truck in Tokyo

James — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:22:41 +0000

This truck was created to promote the upcoming release of “Sadako 3D,” which stars the infamously scary girl from “The Ring” film:

There were also people wearing Sadako costumes:

[hat tip to Mulboyne]

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Amateur Videos of the Deadly Tornado That Hit Tsukuba City

James — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:18:13 +0000

Yesterday afternoon, a powerful tornado hit the city of Tsukuba, killing one person, injuring over 30 others, and heavily damaging dozens of homes. People in America may not find this kind of story to be extraordinary, but for Japan, tornadoes like this are extremely rare. It is a huge news story.

Here are several amateur videos that have been uploaded to YouTube:

And here is a news report that shows aerial footage of the aftermath:

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Fukushima Doomsday Predictions From “Nuclear Expert” Robert Alvarez

James — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:15:09 +0000

Every since the Fukushima Daiichi accident, certain people have stood out as spreaders of fear. One of them is Robert Alvarez, a former official at the U.S. Department of Energy. Using his resume, he has marketed himself as an expert, speaking out against nuclear energy and telling scary stories about Fukushima.

For example, in one recent article on JapanFocus.org, Alvarez was introduced as a “top spent-fuel pools expert” who could confirm that the situation at reactor No. 4 was still very dangerous. His name has also been listed as a “nuclear expert” on a doomsday warning letter that anti-nuclear activists sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

However, according to this clip from a recent episode of the No Agenda podcast, Alvarez’s resume apparently isn’t as impressive as anti-nuclear activists would have us think:

[" Robert Alvarez has made a career out of connections with the cottage industry that captures attention and donations by fighting against the beneficial use of nuclear energy. For the past dozen or more years, he has used the fact that he was once a political appointee with the Department of Energy to establish his "creds" with gullible reporters.

He currently serves as a "Senior Scholar" at a deceptively named Institute for Policy Studies and claims to be a nuclear fuel expert. The holes in his life story include the fact that he was a music major before dropping out of college to hang out with the antinuclear movement (perhaps with the No Nukes concert organizers). In addition, his appointed position at DOE came to an inauspicious end when he and his antinuclear activist wife were arrested for growing commercial quantities of pot in their Takoma Park, MD basement. "]

[via Atomic Insights]

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New Jersey Japanese School Wins Takeshima Lawsuit

Avery — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:38:07 +0000

In September 2011, an individual named Jay J. Choi (최좌성) sued the New Jersey Japanese School for using a standard Japanese social studies textbook, and the state board of education for allowing the school to operate. Choi, represented by the Korean law firm Kim & Bae, P.C., claimed that teaching children that the island of Takeshima in Shimane Prefecture belongs to Japan is “inappropriate, biased, intellectually dishonest, and a form of propaganda”, and is furthermore “intolerance to cultural diversity”. Choi, who does not know anybody at the school and does not have any children attending school in New Jersey, did not offer any comment on whether a Korean school teaching children about Dokdo would be similarly illegal propaganda. This frivolous legal action taken against by a random angry person against a small elementary school was proudly reported by the Korea Times and the national Chosun Nippo. Finally, justice can be served against the dastardly plans of the Japanese to teach their national government’s official stance on the Takeshima dispute!

The dismissal of this suit took roughly a week, which I imagine was mostly clerical work. Gail M. Cookson, the judge tasked with examining Choi’s claims, found the following issues:

Choi does not seem to have any relation to the school. He downloaded a picture of a textbook which he thinks they are using from the Internet. He did not claim to know anyone who goes there or even to have talked to anyone who knows anyone there. He claimed to live somewhere near the school but actually lives fourteen miles away. In short, he has no standing.
Even if he had standing, “there would still be no action upon which relief may be granted,” that is, no law is relevant to his complaint.
Even if there was a relevant law, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that minute details of public school textbooks cannot be revised through lawsuits.
Even if the Supreme Court did not have such a clear stance, there is no standard explaining how territory disputes must show “tolerance to cultural diversity”.
Even if there was such an absurdly specific standard, private schools have no obligation to abide by state standards (e.g. religion classes at Catholic schools).

In a footnote, Judge Cookson also offered her innovative solution to the Liancourt Rocks dispute, which we would love to hear Choi’s opinion on: “It would certainly be tempting to suggest that this historic Asian-Pacific dispute, which apparently remains the cause of wide-ranging emotions and politics on both sides, be settled through a designation of one islet to each country.”

Judge Cookson’s dismissal of the lawsuit does not seem to have attracted the notice of the Korea Times or Chosun Nippo. However, Japanese Sankei News did pick up on the story eventually, and quoted Mr. Kim of Kim & Bae, who said that he was unhappy with the judge’s decision, and might be tempted to sue other Japanese schools, apparently in hope that some judge might eventually discover a previously unknown law that could be used to punish anyone who teaches about Takeshima in America.

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Contributor Bio: Avery teaches English somewhere near Takeo. When he is not translating things, he is probably visiting haikyo or researching weird footnotes in Japanese history. He can be reached on Twitter at @ahm.

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American Claims Children in Chiba Are Sick From Radiation Poisoning / Raises Thousands of Dollars Online

James — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:56:36 +0000

It has come to my attention that an American man and his mother are using YouCaring.com (cached copy here) to raise money so they can help his family escape from Chiba prefecture, which he claims is dangerously contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant. They assert that his children are suffering from radiation poisoning:

“The Josh Swift family has been gravely impacted by the Japanese tsunami and the 2000+ earthquakes that followed since March 11, 2011. The children are sick from radiation poisoning and the food source has been compromised. They must move to the USA now! Currently, at the Swift home in Chiba, their Geiger counter registers radiation levels 70 times higher than normal. Radiation levels remain high at the children’s school as well, so they receive constant doses of radiation from the air, food and drink, which has sickened all three children……..THE DECLINING HEALTH OF THE CHILDREN LEAVES THE SWIFT FAMILY NO ALTERNATIVE. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY COME TO KANSAS TO SAVE ALL THEIR LIVES, BUT THEY ARE VERY HARD-PRESSED TO DO SO WITHOUT OUR HELP. ”

They live in Inzai, a city that did not suffer serious contamination from the Fukushima accident. If one searched in certain spots, such as drainage ditches, one might be able to detect amounts of radiation that sound scary, but actual radiation exposure for residents of the city is negligible. To have an impact on human health, radiation levels would have to be extremely high, much higher than 70 times normal background radiation. Given that there have been no documented cases of children in Fukushima prefecture suffering from radiation poisoning, it is almost inconceivable that children in Chiba would have radiation poisoning.

Stress, not radiation, is a far more likely culprit. There is no evidence that tiny doses of radiation can cause problems like those described by Swift, but the link between stress and autoimmune disease is well-documented. Moving to Kansas could free the children from the stress brought on by radiation-obsessed family members and earthquakes, but a “please give us money so we can move to a less stressful area” fundraising page probably wouldn’t attract as much attention as a plea to save children from radiation poisoning.

It is a ridiculous story, but it has been embraced by bloggers committed to spreading anti-nuclear fear and panic. The Swift family has already raised over $6,000 in contributions.

Aside: Swift states that they are making their children drink Zeolite every day to protect their bodies from radiation. A quick check of Google found that experts believe that sellers of Zeolite health products use pseudo-scientific quackery to fool ignorant consumers into thinking it provides protection from cancer.

Update 1: Reader Jonathan has posted a very intelligent comment about this blog post.

[ Oh dear. I'm quite sure this family are genuine and are really fearing for their children. That they're wrong about this is simply awful. It's nice that there are so many people willing to help them out, but it's dreadful that they don't know enough to direct their efforts to something worthwhile.

Now this comments page is being filled with obvious nonsense like "Parents know best about their health of their children" and "One family at a time is about our only hope right now of saving the children of Japan". Over on the family's youcaring page there's also a flood of comments calling them frauds and liars (which they're deleting almost as soon as they appear).

It's simply a tragedy that so many people are queuing up to use this family's request to push their own agendas. The Japan Probe article here is factually correct. Those rushing to condemn this article have no idea how irresponsible they are. They honestly think they're fighting some international conspiracy and that their actions are somehow saving children (notice that it's always children - so much more emotive).

It's a year on from the tsunami and Fukushima incident. No one has died or even become ill from radiation. And no one is going to either. The doomsayers ignore all scientific evidence to the contrary and have no knowledge of the subject themselves, but happily latch on to anything that appears to support their pre-decided stance and reject everything else as part of the conspiracy.

One of the reasons this issue is so enticing to the conspiracy-minded is that it seems to simple. People are suffering because of the nuclear whatever, so we need to get the people away from it and ban all nuclear everything forever. Simple. So much easier to deal with than something more intractable like poverty.

As one commenter has said here "You know the saying, everybody has opinions..." to which one could add that it's a tragedy that knowledge and wisdom aren't in such plentiful supply ]

Update 2: Mr. Swift (Chibarooks) has posted some very creepy messages on Twitter.

Very serious stuff. Let this screen shot serve as a public record. Instead of addressing numerous online skeptics by providing evidence to back up his case, Mr. Swift is singling out individuals and trying to find out where they live.

Just in case he tries to delete the record of his fundraising, here is a cached copy of the page.

Update 3: Instead of provide evidence to back up his claims of radiation poisoning, Swift has removed the information from his fundraising page and stopped receiving further donations. According to a cached version of the page (which swift cannot remove), $7,500 were raised and deposited into Swift’s Paypal account before the campaign was brought to an abrupt stop.

So there you have it. When the fundraisers were subjected to straightforward and reasonable questions about extraordinary claims of sickness due to radiation poisoning, the fundraisers tried to remove all evidence of their fundraising campaign.

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Anpanman + Kewpie Doll = Ankew

James — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:47:30 +0000

A news report shows us images of t-shirts sold in Osaka that used Anpanman and Kewpie characters without permission from trademark holders:

The creator of the shirt, who has been arrested for trademark violations, claims that the images are based on Anpanman but the character on the shirts is not Anpanman. He said it is a totally original character named “Ankew” (or “Ankyu” in Japanese).

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Live Stream of Japanese Crested Ibis Nest

James — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:29:49 +0000

Japan’s Environment Ministry has set up a ustream channel to let people see live footage of a Crested Ibis nest:

>Re-introduced Japanese Crested Ibis is raising chicks.

They went extinct in the wild in Japan.
But they were reintroduced to the wild in 2008.
In April 2012, three chicks have hatched for the first time in 36 years.
Chicks are expected to leave their nest in late May!

At the time this blog post was written, there were nearly 600 people watching the live stream.

You can read more about the Ibis chicks in the Yomiuri and the Mainichi.

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Survey Confirms Post-3/11 “Flyjin” Phenomenon / 25 Percent of Tokyo’s Foreign Residents Fled

James — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:21:36 +0000

The Mainichi reports that the Tokyo metropolitan government conducted a survey of foreign residents and found that 25% had temporarily fled the country after the March 11th disaster:

According to the survey, among those who had briefly returned to their home countries following the disasters, nearly half were foreigners who have lived in Japan for less than three years, hinting at the tendency that the shorter a foreigner had lived in Tokyo, the more likely they were to leave after the disasters.

Among the most common reasons for those who had briefly left Japan were, “Strongly urged by families abroad,” and “Following embassies or employers’ instructions to leave temporarily.”

A further 5% fled to Kansai, on the other side of Japan.

Because the survey was conducted in Tokyo, it does not include information about foreigners who permanently fled. Other sources have reported that Tokyo’s foreign population dropped by as much as 10,000.

The survey results deal a major blow to certain bloggers who have claimed that the “flyjin” phenomenon was a myth.

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Korean Company Trademarks Common Words Describing Sake Flavor

James — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:05:55 +0000

A Japanese TV report looks at a strange development in South Korea, where there has been a Japanese liquor sales “boom” in recent years:

A South Korean company that specializing in the sale of imported Japanese sake has applied for and been granted the rights for 27 sake-related terms. They include some words that many different sake brands include on their labels as descriptions of quality and flavor:

“Tokusen” (specially selected)
“Karakuchi” (dry flavor)
“Sukkiri” (refreshing)

The owner of the company had lost out on registering a brand name in the past, so this time around he went overboard. Now other companies that import different brands of Japanese sake will have to get his permission to sell their products or remove the flavor descriptions from the original Japanese labels.

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Empire State Building Turns Pink to Celebrate Japanese Cherry Blossoms

James — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:49:17 +0000

A Japanese TV news report shows how New York’s Empire State Building was lit up in pink and white to celebrate of the centennial of Japan’s gift of cherry blossom trees to the United States:

For more info on the centennial, check out:

Diplomacy flowers with cherry blossoms (Christian Science Monitor)
Festival marks 100 years of cherry blossoms in Harlem park (NY Daily News)

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Answering Questions About Fukushima: Reactor 4 Fuel Rods & Worldwide Mass Extinction?

James — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:07:01 +0000

Wondering about the latest string of fear-inducing stories about the horrors of Fukushima?

An excellent place to find some answers is Reddit’s /r/AskScience, a forum in which questions about scientific issues are answered in a serious manner, “free of layman speculation.” Included among its regular users are several people with professional expertise on nuclear reactors and radiation.

In recent weeks, several threads have covered scare stories being spread by professional anti-nuclear activists:

As one might expect, the claims of people like Arnie Gundersen and Helen Caldicott are easily countered by people who actually understand the issues.

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Poll: About 40% of Foreign Residents Have Little Social Interaction With Japanese People

James — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:35:01 +0000

The Yomiuri Shimbun has reported about the results of a survey conducted among foreign residents of Toyota, a city in Aichi prefecture known for its auto factories, which employ many foreign workers.

One thousand foreigners took the survey. The most represented nationalities were Brazilians (117), Chinese (90), and Filipinos (55). The results seem to show that many of the foreigners have little social interaction with Japanese people in their daily lives:

Q: Do you have a regular opportunity to converse with Japanese people?

There are those close to me with whom I converse often.: 37.3%
I have friends with whom I can discuss everyday life: 21.3%
I have acquaintances with whom I exchange greetings: 33.5%
None whatsoever: 6.9%
No Answer: 0.9%

The lack of social interaction could have to do with language ability. The survey also found that a significant number of foreign residents could do little more than introduce themselves in Japanese.

Q: How is your Japanese language ability?

Listening:

I can understand daily conversation: 40.1%
I can understand basic self-introductions: 26.6%
I can understand the news on television and radio: 17.6%
I can understand as well as native Japanese: 12.2%
I cannot understand a thing: 2.8%
No answer: 0.6%

Speaking:

I can have an everyday conversation: 42.9%
I can give a basic self-introduction: 22.6%
I can participate in meetings at work or school: 20.7%
I can speak as well as native Japanese: 10.7%
I cannot speak a word: 2.5%
No answer: 0.6%

Reading:

I can read Hiragana (Katakana): 39.2%
I can read Kanji seen in everyday live such as on sign boards: 32.9%
I can read this questionnaire without Furigana: 12.2%
I cannot read a word: 9.4%
I can read as well as native Japanese: 5.3%
No answer: 0.6%

Writing:

I can write Hiragana (Katakana): 47.3%
I can write short sentences using Kanji: 28.2%
I cannot write a word: 14.7%
I can write long sentences using Kanji: 7.5%
I can write as well as native Japanese: 1.3%
No answer: 0.6%

The survey also asked the foreigners about issues that caused them concern or worry. The top answers were: health of themselves and their family (61.4%), earthquakes and natural disasters (44.2%), and lack of employment (43.6%).

The Toyota city government told the Yomiuri that it would strengthen its efforts to support Japanese lessons for foreign residents and organize community events that encourage residents to interact.

Update: The full survey results (including an English translation) can be found here.

[hat tip to Ken Y-N]

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Anti-Piracy Curtain

James — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:28:28 +0000

Diginfo visits a trade show to get a look at a new invention that is supposed to protect merchant ships from pirates:

“Ordinary anti-piracy systems use water cannons to spray high-pressure jets at pirates. But our system deters intruders by sending water downward like a waterfall, and it is also very easy to see from a distance.”

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Don’t Let the TPP Rob Your Future?

James — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:38:52 +0000

Japan’s Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives paid to have an anti-TPP advertisement printed in the Washington Post today:

However, as the Wall Street Journal’s Japan Real Time blog has noted, many Americans have no idea what the “TPP” is, making the advertisement pretty damn useless:

The ad is titled “Don’t let the TPP rob your future,” and features a picture of a padlocked factory on the back page of the newspaper’s front section.

For American readers, it must have seemed a strange message. The advertisement doesn’t say what the proposed free-trade agreement consists of or how it would “destroy jobs” for Americans. JRT asked a colleague who doesn’t cover Asia to review it. The reaction: “What is it about? I have no idea what it means.”

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Dust – A Sci-Fi Fantasy Movie Filmed in Shikoku

James — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:24:58 +0000

A preview clip for “Dust” – an independent Science Fiction / Fantasy film that used the countryside of Shikoku as the backdrop for many of it scenes:

“A deadly new plague linked to a mysterious dust is devastating the countryside around Kabé—the world’s oldest city.

Irezúmi is a disgraced Tracker living in the abandoned outskirts of Kabé. Hired by a Merchant of the city’s underground medicine trade, he has yet to find a cure to the mysterious Dust that has begun falling on the city.

Little is known about the Dust or the unusual sickness it causes but as it continues to consume the countryside, Kabé is preparing to shut its gates—denying refuge to anyone outside the walls.

With the city verging on lock-down, Irezúmi unwillingly returns to the countryside he abandoned years ago in search of the source.”

The project is being funded through KickStarter contributions. You can visit the fundraising page here.

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Alaskans Return Soccer Ball Swept Away by 2011 Tsunami

James — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:09:14 +0000

Residents of Alaska recently made an unusual discovery: a soccer ball with some Japanese writing on it. It turns out that the ball belonged to a Japanese tsunami survivor! Here is a video about it:

More info from ABC:

Speaking to reporters Sunday, 16-year-old Misaki Murakami said he was “shocked” to hear his prized possession had floated more than 3,100 miles across the Pacific Ocean.

He received the ball from friends when he was in the third grade, as a good luck gift before he transferred from Osabe Elementary school in Rikuzentakata, one of the cities hardest hit by the tsunami last March.

On the ball, classmates signed their names in Japanese, along with the date March 2005, and the words “Misaki Murakami. Work hard!”

Kyodo news has interviewed David and Yumi Baxter, residents of Alaska who helped find the ball’s original owner.

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Video: Cherry Blossoms in the Fukushima Daiichi Exclusion Zone

James — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:45:06 +0000

Japanese journalists received special permission to enter the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant so they could film the cherry blossoms in the empty town of Tomioka. Here is their video:

Near the end of the clip, we are shown footage of 2010, when people enjoyed the beauty of the blossoms without worrying about their safety. Now visitors to the area have to wear protective clothing to avoid radioactive contamination…

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Tokyo Allows Cat Cafes to Remain Open Until 10:00PM

James — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:23:39 +0000

There have been quite a few stories recently about a new Tokyo city ordinance that bans businesses from displaying animals after 8:00PM. Some pet stores operated well into the night, and many people complained about what they saw as cruelty to animals.

The ordinance would also apply to cat cafes, where people can drink coffee in a room full of cats:

Cat cafe manager Shinji Yoshida says he will also be snared by the law and will have to close in the evenings — his busiest time.

Yoshida’s cat cafe in Ikebukuro, a busy commercial and commuter hub in Tokyo, keeps 13 cats in a carpeted room where they have the freedom to jump around and climb all over the large fake tree.

“It is a huge blow to us cat cafes, and it’s nothing to do with protecting cats’ health,” said Yoshida, 32.

“As you see, cats can walk and play freely. I ask customers not to touch them if they are sleeping. At night, we dim the room light,” he said. “And cats can rest during daylight.”

After some careful consideration, Tokyo has decided to make a special exception for cat cafes, allowing them to remain open until 10:00PM:

Many cat cafes operate until about 10:00PM anyway, so the compromise should be able to prevent harm to the businesses while allowing the cats plenty night-time naps.

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Will Tokyo Purchase the Senkaku Islands?

James — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:35:18 +0000

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara is stirring up trouble again. This time he has announced his intention to have the Tokyo metropolitan government purchase the Senkaku Islands, a move that would effectively make the islands a part of Tokyo:

“Tokyo has decided to buy the Senkaku Islands. Tokyo is going to protect the Senkakus,” Mr. Ishihara said in a speech in Washington at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. “Would anyone have a problem with an act by the Japanese to protect our own land?”

The purchase, Mr. Ishihara said, is aimed at preventing China from taking “effective control” of the islands out of Japan’s hands, according to Japanese media reports. He didn’t disclose the value of the purchase, but added that the matter has to be discussed by the metropolitan assembly.

The islands are currently owned by private Japanese citizens, and are administered as part of Okinawa prefecture. The central government leases the islands for about $300,000 a year. If Tokyo bought the islands, it could eventually earn enough to pay back the cost of such an investment.

However, it is unclear how spending a lot of tax money to make the islands part of Tokyo would make them more secure from foreign aggression. Maybe Ishihara fears that Okinawan voters could one day turn against the idea of defending all Japanese territory? Maybe he fears that the current owners of the islands could one day decide to sell them to China? Or maybe he just wants to get some attention from the media?

Ishihara’s plan is bound to spark anger in China. Although the Chinese government has only claimed the islands since oil was discovered in the area in the 1970s, Chinese nationalists are convinced that their claim is legitimate.

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Burger King Japan: 15 Strips of Bacon for 100 Yen

James — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:15:50 +0000

Burger King Japan has a very interesting promotion going on:

Usually, one can pay 60 yen to add 3 strips of bacon to a burger. Now, for a limited time only, you can pay 100 yen to add 15 strips of bacon!

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Notorious B.I.G. Karaoke Fail

James — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:08:53 +0000

A Japanese karaoke fails to get the lyrics right for Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy“:

“Livin’ life without fear
Puttin’ 5 karats in my baby girl’s ears “

[Via Rila blog, hat tip to Durf]

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Asia Journalist Christopher Johnson Makes Threats Against Other Journalists?

James — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:26:00 +0000

Get out your popcorn, internet drama fans. Tokyo-based freelancer Christopher Johnson is once again getting some attention on the Japan blogosphere. This time, Jake Adelstein has posted e-mails that were allegedly sent by Johnson.

The e-mails contain threats against Adelstein (who did not sufficiently support Johnson after the “gaijin gulag” article), and against Mr. B (a journalist who replaced Johnson as France 24′s Tokyo correspondent). The e-mails contain boasts about being a big tough guy:

“I will tell you very frankly that I am a 6-foot, 200-pound guy from a rough part of the Detroit area, and I’ve been through too much – 9 wars, where I lost 7 friends – to let anyone disrespect me.”

And direct threats:

“Who the hell are you talkin to me like this? You think your ass is powerful? You are a 5-foot 6, 150 lb dweek in shorts and sunglasses looking over your shoulder in a crowd.”

“Where I come from, you don’t mess with a man’s car, a man’s woman, a man’s dog, or a man’s job. You go behind someone’s back, and they come knockin on your front, with a shotgun.”

“I’ll be at the FCCJ in coming days and will be looking for you mofo.”

The blog post also contains a link to a very disturbing voicemail recording:

“The more I know about the individual and his past, the more I began to feel increasingly uneasy. He has a history of making sick and venal threats. On October 16th, 2007, he left disgusting messages on the answering machine of an NHK colleague that implied he would sexually molest the individual’s children. The tape contains what seems to be the sounds of said journalist masturbating over the phone. It’s unpleasant; please don’t listen on a full stomach. It has been posted on YouTube several times and then taken down.“

Read the full blog post here.

(Adelstein does not mention names in his blog post, but Johnson has been using his Twitter account to let the whole world know that it was him, and he’s shared the link.)

Rather than immediately deny that he made the physical threats found in the e-mails, Johnson’s initial response is complaining about how the recipient of the threads is a “snitch.”

Japanese Cherry Trees Planted in Taiwan / Thank You for the 3/11 Donations

James — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 01:48:46 +0000

As you may know from previous posts on this blog, Japan received an extraordinarly huge amount of charity donations from Taiwan after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami (¥18 trillion according to a recent Japan Times article).

Here is a news report about one of the ways Japan is expressing its gratitude to the Taiwanese people:

It shows a ceremony in Tainan, where over 200 cherry trees from Japan were planted at the Yoichi Hatta memorial park. Former Prime Minister Yoshihiro Mori was in attendance.

Some more information from Focus Taiwan:

“Taiwan and Japan have been close friends, and hopefully we can be even closer through this event,” said Mori, who also unveiled a monument nearby and wrote “kizuna” and the Japanese word for “cherry blossoms” on it.

The views were echoed by Mayor Lai, who said the planting of Japan’s national flower — the cherry blossom — had furthered the friendship between Taiwan and Japan.

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Harajuku Fashion Walk Documentary

James — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:54:49 +0000

A mini documentary about the Harajuku Fashion Walk:

[hat tip to dash101]

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Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in Tokyo

James — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:59:55 +0000

Ben & Jerry’s will be returning to Japan on April 14th, and according to this advertisement, they’ll be giving away free ice cream on their first day of business:

Their first shop will be inside the Omotesando Hills shopping center. A menu is available on the Ben & Jerry’s Japan homepage.

If you plan to partake in the free ice cream, be prepared to wait in a ridiculously long line.

[hat tip to Eido]

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Japan’s First Arab Sumo Wrestler – Osunaarashi (Abdelrahman Ahmed Shaalan)

James — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:22:21 +0000

Meet Abdelrahman Shaalan, the first Egyptian/Arab/African to compete as a professional sumo wrestler in Japan. He goes by the name Osunaarashi (大砂嵐 – “Great Sandstorm”):

Mongolians have been a dominant force in the top ranks for years, although Shaalan is among the sport’s first Muslim competitors.

As such, the 20-year-old does not touch the deep-fried pork cutlets loved by millions of Japanese or drink vast quantities of beer and rice wine sake, staples of a diet that sumo wrestlers rely on to bulk up.
Muslims avoid pork and alcohol.

But Shaalan, who quit his university accounting degree to enter sumo’s professional ranks, is undeterred, even brushing aside the challenges presented by the holy month of Ramadan when he cannot eat or drink during daylight hours.

Regular sumo tournaments are held in the afternoon.

“I am confident that I can overcome my challenges,” the burly wrestler told Japanese media last month after winning his first two professional-level matches at a tournament in the western city of Osaka.

Read more about him here. There is also a YouTube channel dedicated to his sumo career, which includes footage of his matches.

[hat tip to Curzon]

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Remembering Taylor Anderson – English Teacher Who Died in March 11 Tsunami

James — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:46:54 +0000

The following video aired on Japanese TV on March 10th:

It is news report about Taylor Anderson, a 24-year-old American who died when the March 11th tsunami hit the city of Ishinomaki. Taylor was a JET Program ALT who taught English at public schools in the city.

It starts off with a look at the Taylor Anderson Reading Corner at Ishinomaki’s Mangokuura Elementary School. It has a collection of over 300 English language books for children donated by Taylor’s parents.

They interview Cameron Peek, a friend of Taylor’s and a fellow JET. He comments on how Taylor enjoyed working with children.

They also talk to Ayane Sugiyama, a 3rd junior high school student at one of the schools where Taylor taught English. Ayane remembers how she had trouble learning English, and how Taylor taught her to keep trying until she understood.

Ayane wrote an essay expressing her thoughts and feelings about the loss of her favorite teacher. She wonders if the tsunami warning system was adequate. Apparently Taylor was last seen riding her bicycle towards her apartment, which was in the direction of the coast. She should have been heading to high ground instead. If the announcements had been easier to understand, would Taylor been able to hear the warnings and reach a safe place before the tsunami hit? A foreigner from an area that does not have earthquakes or tsunamis may not have known about the importance of evacuating to high ground. Ayane wants to improve her English so she can be capable of helping foreigners who cannot speak Japanese.

Back in Virginia, Taylor’s parents show the Japanese TV crew how they have received over 1,000 letters from students who loved having Taylor as their English teacher. The Andersons know that their daughter loved Japan and wanted to help educate children, so they’ve established a memorial fund in their daughter’s name. It has already raised over $200,000 in donations:

It is very important to Taylor’s family, friends and donors that 100 percent of the funds raised will be used for the benefit of the schools, students and families in Taylor’s area. Taylor’s family feels blessed that Taylor’s high school, St. Catherine’s in Richmond, VA is donating their time and services to administer the fund. Ishinomaki BOE, Smile Kids Japan, and the Fruit Tree Project contribute 100% of what they receive to the projects we identify with them.

“We think Taylor would be very proud of this,” Anderson said. “Her spirit encourages us and gives us the strength to do our best in her honor and keep her spirit alive in all of us.”

Activities on behalf of Taylor and Taylor’s Fund to date include: appearances at St. Catherine’s School (two), Randolph-Macon College, Japanese Ambassador’s Thank You Barbecue, National Jet Alumni Conference, Japan Sports Visitors Program at Ripken Baseball Academy, and the Taylor Anderson Reading Corner Dedication in Ishinomaki, Japan. The family also accepted the Luminary Award for Taylor at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of NY annual dinner, made an appearance at the Atlanta Consulate Reception in Atlanta and the Anime USA Festival in Washington, D.C. Taylor’s Fund was a beneficiary of The American Chamber of Commerce Japan Charity Ball held in December.

In the report, we can see the Anderson family giving a presentation at Randolph-Macon College, where donations from their fund have helped expand Japanese studies.

The report ends with another look at Mangokuura Elementary School, where volunteers (including a former student of Taylor’s) are visiting classes to read the English books donated by Taylor’s parents.

For more information, check out:

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Ex-Prime Minister Hatoyama Used by Iranian Propagandists?

James — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:45:00 +0000

Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama recently returned from a trip to the Islamic Republic of Iran where he met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad used the meeting to issue new denials of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, and the Iranian media reported that Hatoyama agreed with the president:

“International trust-building and respecting regulations are important issues for the world community,” he said, according to a statement issued by Ahmadinejad’s office.

“They should be seriously pursued given the double standards by the IAEA towards some nations, including Iran, which is not fair.”

Hatoyama late Monday denied making the comments and said Tehran had “completely fabricated” them, Kyodo news agency reported.

“I have made no comments that deviate from the stance of the Japanese government,” Kyodo quoted him as saying on his return to Tokyo.

Hatoyama was warned beforehand about visiting Iran, but he shrugged off the warnings. Now everyone has a chance to make “I told you so” statements:

Both the Japanese government and the opposition parties told Hatoyama not to go to Iran because they were concerned Iran would only use the meeting to spread official propaganda justifying its nuclear development program.

“We knew (Iran) would definitely take advantage of the meeting. It happened just as we expected,” said Toshimitu Motegi, policy affairs chief of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition force.

“Hatoyama is responsible for the problem, but the government and the (ruling) Democratic Party of Japan are partly responsible, too, because they failed to stop” Hatoyama from going, Motegi said.

“I told him that I would like him to be thoroughly aware that he is a former prime minister,” Gemba told reporters, suggesting he is concerned that Hatoyama’s trip to Iran may have resulted in dual diplomacy differing from the policies of the current government.

Despite the government’s repeated calls not to visit Iran at a sensitive time, Hatoyama still pushed ahead with his Iran trip, saying he wanted to “personally” make efforts toward a peaceful resolution of the current standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.

It looks like “Loopy” Hatoyama won’t be winning a Nobel Peace Prize any time soon….

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Fireworks Accident Prank on Japanese TV

James — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:10:52 +0000

A Japanese TV show tricks a comedian into thinking that they are filming a program that introduces beautiful fireworks to viewers. In fact, it is all a set up for a prank:

Earlier in the day, they had spoken to representatives of a fireworks company, watching as the crew loaded an enormous ball into a launching tube. It is supposed to be very impressive when it exploded. But, for some reason, after it is launched into the air, no explosion occurs!

Suddenly, a fake dud crashes through the ceiling of the shed. As the fear-struck comedian flees in terror, everyone gets a good laugh. He thought he was about to be killed! LOL!

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Americans Greet Japanese Defense Minister With “Sayonara” Sign

James — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 02:03:06 +0000

Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka visited Yokota Air Base on friday to check on the preparations for a North Korean missile launch. Instead of a “Welcome” sign, he was greeted with a “Sayonara” sign board:

It was obviously an error. And Tanaka, who isn’t exactly known as the sharpest tool in the shed, probably didn’t even notice it.

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Schoolgirl Falconer Fights Crows

Avery — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 01:36:54 +0000

From the April 6 edition of the Nishinippon Shinbun:

Schoolgirl falconer fights crows

The prefectural government of Saga, plagued by hordes of crows that attack trash and farms around their offices, has hired a high school student who is known as Japan’s only “schoolgirl falconer”, one Misato Ishibashi (17), a 3rd year at Takeo High School in Takeo City. Saga has entrusted Misato’s falcons with ridding the offices of their crows. Misato, who freely manipulates falcons, often participates in competitions to expel avian pests and the like. After the prefecture received word of her getting top honors in a national competition, governor Yasushi Furukawa sent her the request.

On the evening of April 4th, Misato brought her 7-year-old male falcon “Momotaro” to the prefectural headquarters for a test flight. When Momotaro was released, dozens of crows burst out of the trees and flew away or tried to hide in the shadows. After several such flights, their cries could no longer be heard. “They won’t be back for a while,” said Misato.

According to the Saga Produce Support Division, some years ago a flock of crows numbering in excess of 10,000 took up roost in the area surrounding the prefectural offices. They congregate in trash disposal areas, cover roads in their droppings, and make a frenzied feast of farmers’ fruit tree fields. Countermeasures against crows in Saga Prefecture amounted to 66,000,000 yen for the agriculture sector alone, with Saga City accounting for one third of this number.

It is rare for any government authority in Japan to employ a falconer. The length of work hours and frequency of employment will have to be considered. The prefecture will begin with the area immediately surrounding its offices, and if effective will expand the program to the area around Saga Airport to counteract the so-called “bird strike” which occurs in the area once every 40 years.

Says Misato with an air of confidence, “The falcon is a divine punishment against crows. When their eyes meet the glare of the falcon, they will definitely not return.”

Your translator would like to add that Misato was previously hired by her high school to rid the auditorium of pigeons whose uncontrolled droppings were endangering the heads of students during the graduation ceremony.

Here’s a story in English about Misato from just after Momotaro was born. She was a fifth-grader then.

And here is a Japanese television news report about Misato and Momotaro. A demonstration of Momotaro’s power can be viewed at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the video.

Contributor Bio: Avery teaches English somewhere near Takeo. When he is not translating things, he is probably visiting haikyo or researching weird footnotes in Japanese history. He can be reached on Twitter at @ahm.

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Japanese Actress Becomes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring

James — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:31:29 +0000

Some great Dutch paintings are coming to Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in June. To help advertise the exhibition, Japanese actress Emi Takei was transformed into Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring:

For more information, check out: Masterpieces from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis

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New York’s New Japanese Taxis

James — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:10:02 +0000

Last year, New York city decided to convert its taxi cabs into Nissan NV200′s. Here’s a news report about the unveiling of the new taxis:

“The Nissan NV200 unveiled today will be the safest, most comfortable and most convenient taxi the city has ever had,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “New York City cabs have always been iconic, and now they will set a new standard. The 600,000 passengers who use taxis to get around every day deserve the cutting-edge technology and top-of-the-line safety features that this model delivers.”

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Tiny Japanese Tunnel

James — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:12:13 +0000

“Nanikore” discovers a very tiny tunnel in the mountains of Shizouka prefecture:

The tunnel has a height of 1.7 meters, which is barely enough to allow a compact truck to drive through it. About halfway in, the tunnel becomes more cave-like, with uneven rock surfaces. It narrows near the exit, but the vehicle is able to make it through without scratching the rocks.

According to an 86-year-old man who lives near the tunnel, local farmers created the tunnel during the Taisho period. Without the aid of any machinery, the farmers dug a shortcut that connected communities on both sides of a very large hill.

The elderly man says that few people use the tunnel nowadays. He says he only uses it a few times a year (but when asked about his most recent use of the tunnel, he says it was within the last couple days).

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“Brainwashed” Foreigners in Japan

James — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:43:59 +0000

The following article was submitted via e-mail by a Japan Probe reader who would prefer to remain anonymous.

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Last night I read Christopher Johnson‘s “special investigative report” on the people attacking him on the Internet. If you’re not familiar, this is a guy whose paranoiac account of getting detained near Narita for apparently working on a tourist visa was picked up by the Economist and reported as a real story, despite major issues. Most of this follow-up blog is an ill-considered dumping of Johnson’s personal dirty laundry, regarding a dispute he had with the NHK, which he believes to be secretly manipulating public opinion against him (which explains why he was referring to bloggers as “NHK agents” in February), and some other beliefs he holds about the Internet users who criticized him.

I have no interest in Johnson’s personal life and don’t see the need to comment on his accusations towards other bloggers. I don’t think it was very wise of him to bring his personal issues to the fore like this. I was interested, though, in the conclusion he tacks on to the end, which is quite a bit more coherent, although I wouldn’t exactly call it “sensible”.

From the outside, they seem brainwashed by NHK’s repetition of government lines that the Fukushima meltdown is under control, radiation is at safe levels, and the food chain is uncontaminated. NHK World’s Peter Pan portrayal of Japan, where Everything’s Zen and nothing is ever that bad, has whitewashed their view of the country. Led by author and TV personality Matt Alt, they are quick to defend the image of Cool Japan, a myth propagated by ANA, state agencies, and especially NHK World.

[...]

In order for Japan to grow economically and culturally, people have to learn to deal maturely with constructive criticism, and the fresh ideas that emerge from vigorous debate. Yet many Japanophiles reject any challenge to accepted wisdom, any investigation into corruption, any shattering of myths and illusions. In the words of some observers, the “fly-jin” have fled, and the “deny-jin” have taken over.

Sadly, the outrage of many “deny-jin” over the Gaijin Gulag story is only the latest manifestation of a reactionary mentality that’s been draining the intellectual vitality out of the foreign community in Japan for years.

[...]

While many Europeans and southeast Asians have become multilingual and joined the global market for English culture, Japanese haven’t learned English enough to appreciate the offerings of their gaijin neighbors.

Thus I’ve seen talented foreigners give up on Japan over the years. Former Tokyo Journal editor Karl Taro Greenfeld wrote Speed Tribes in the mid-90s, then left for better things in Hong Kong. Andrew Marshall, after delving into the yakuza in his book with David Kaplan, took his incisive wit to Myanmar. Instead of becoming Japan’s leading activist or educator, Alex Kerr, author of Dogs and Demons and Lost Japan, moved to Thailand and wrote Bangkok Found.

[...]

Despite fluency in Japanese and decades of paying taxes, many foreigners continue to languish as temps, freelancers, spell-checkers or teachers without tenure. They are permanently second-class residents, not fully 100 percent human in Japan. It’s a hard reality to swallow, and many “deny-jin” (like I was for two decades) will deny this applies to their situations. With little hope of climbing the social or corporate ladders, they do their best to hold down their positions and avoiding rocking boats that need a good tipping. In the case of NHK World, they only have to look at my story to understand what happens to someone who dares to step out of line.

With little or no chance to ever vote, get elected, or lead a corporation, many of these chronically frustrated gaijin have been marginalized and pushed into a bizarre subculture laced with heapings of hate. Lacking powerful voices in their Japanese communities, they turn instead to commenting on English-language websites teeming with vitriol and spite.

As I said, this is a coherent worldview and seems to be a lucid explanation of his own actions. I think Johnson should be applauded, at least, for understanding himself well enough to be able to explain his philosophy in such a straightforward way. I believe Arudou Debito probably believes something very similar. However, I think his interpretation of today’s foreigners in Japan is wrong.

The foreigners which Johnson calls “deny-jin”, and which I would call the Yakumos, have a fundamentally different conception of residency and citizenship than Johnson and Debito’s generation. He spells out his own view with both his words and his actions: Johnson and Debito believe the fundamental benefit of residing in a country is enjoying the protection of its legal system. They believe the fundamental failure of a country would not be the failure of its citizens to protect their country, but the failure of the powerful to protect them. I could easily imagine Debito addressing a government worker as a “servant of the people”, with the implication that the kōmuin is his servant. They did not come here to live in a nation, to embrace a society that contains both talents and flaws, but to live in a perfectly clean room.

Yes, a clean room. They want to live in perfect hygiene, with a white bed washed clean of hair and dirt, white sheets, and white plastic walls. This room could conceivably be anywhere in the world; Japan is just a place that can promise this room to Johnson and his ilk better than any other country, at least for as long as the vision of it holds out in their mind’s eye. When the clean room is finally dirtied, by “No Foreigners” signs or NHK office politics or nuclear disasters, then their vision is destroyed and they finally find themselves again in a nation, a pitiful, all too human nation made of well-intentioned people who promised cleanliness and were unable to deliver it.

These people then try to clean up their room, almost pathetically, by resorting to the Japanese legal system, as if the legal system could change how the society operated. I suppose things like that work in America sometimes, or at least pretend to “work” legally even as they tear the country apart.

They might talk about how much they love Japan, but they grow increasingly opposed to the people of Japan because those individuals are betraying their image of Japan as a perfect, metaphysical space. Naturally they would also grow opposed to the Yakumos, those foreigners who are fitting into that society.

Johnson and Debito are the true “deny-jin”, for they deny that Japan is a place in a world. They are precisely the same sort of cosmopolitans that G.K. Chesterton bemoaned in his 1905 classic Heretics:

Mr. Kipling is naturally a cosmopolitan. He happens to find his examples in the British Empire, but almost any other empire would do as well, or, indeed, any other highly civilized country. … The great gap in his mind is what may be roughly called the lack of patriotism—that is to say, he lacks altogether the faculty of attaching himself to any cause or community finally and tragically; for all finality must be tragic. He admires England, but he does not love her; for we admire things with reasons, but love them without reasons.

[...]

It is inspiriting without doubt to whizz in a motor-car round the earth, to feel Arabia as a whirl of sand or China as a flash of rice-fields. But Arabia is not a whirl of sand and China is not a flash of rice-fields. They are ancient civilizations with strange virtues buried like treasures. If we wish to understand them it must not be as tourists or inquirers, it must be with the loyalty of children and the great patience of poets. To conquer these places [by merely passing through and seeing the sights] is to lose them.

My apologies to the family of Rudyard Kipling for grouping him together with Debito and Johnson.

Now that I’ve established how I would respond to Johnson’s worldview, let me go through his characterization of non-cosmopolitan gaijin writers. I think the name “Yakumos” would best reflect our world view, because we cannot view Debito as our role model. Instead, I think we can find precedent in Koizumi Yakumo, that is to say, Lafcadio Hearn. Japanese people frequently remember this man’s adopted Japanese name more quickly than they can recall his Christian name, which I believe to be a unique status among Westerners who came to Japan. Skim Hearn today and you might be fooled into thinking that he was merely adopting Japanese fairy tales for the public. But read closely, and you realize the following things:

At a time when Mr. Kipling was writing gobs of stories about India based on pure whimsy and the colonial assumption that whatever he wrote was better than anything Indians could come up with, Hearn was translating actual stories told to him by Japanese people. As Chesterton writes elsewhere, Kipling’s stories could not have been told in India, because their Indianness and foreignness is the chief entertainment. Kipling would never birth an Indiaphile. But Hearn’s stories are about their subjects, like any good folk tale. The cultural elements of a good story can only stoke interest in that culture, just as how the Japaneseness of anime and manga is creating thousands of new Japanophiles today.
Hearn’s adoptions of stories are piously faithful to Japanese culture. Buddhist terms, old calendars, foreign conceptions of the world are all conveyed with complete respect for the Japanese tradition. But at the same time, they are incredibly compelling tales for the English-speaking reader. They lose none of their relevance or mood for taking place in a foreign country, and almost certainly made people feel more familiar with Japan as a result. Anyone who writes about Japan today must recognize that this is far harder to accomplish in writing than it is by translating a manga.
Hearn knew Japanese fluently, but throughout his writing career he never once bragged about it or used a Japanese word where an English one would do. He was naturalized and took his wife’s family name, by which he is known today in Japan, but he never portrayed himself as Japanese or discussed his personal, legal affairs.
Hearn wrote at a time when Debito and Johnson would have been right at home in the expat world. The expatriate British living in Japan were so incensed by the primitiveness of their adopted country that when Japan and Britain went to war against Russia, the British expats in Japan supported Russia. And the Japanese government, ever the naive supporter of treason, let them print newspapers and pamphlets decrying Britain’s support for Japan and demanding Britain rethink their policy. In this climate, Hearn did not react with his own self-righteous political hatred. He simply enjoyed his life in Japanese society, not really “fitting in” with strangers, perhaps, but definitely making many friends and learning much of the language. He only took occasional visits to the expat world, and was bewildered by what he found.

Getting back to our main subject, let us see how Johnson describes these Yakumos, the people for whom living in Japan means living in a nation of people.

“Led by author and TV personality Matt Alt, they are quick to defend the image of Cool Japan, a myth propagated by ANA, state agencies, and especially NHK World.” We can see how Johnson thinks this way, because Yakumos write and talk about things they like in Japanese society, not its failures as a clean room. That does not mean our lives don’t have problems or personal feuds. We just don’t air them like he does.

“In order for Japan to grow economically and culturally, people have to learn to deal maturely with constructive criticism, and the fresh ideas that emerge from vigorous debate.” I’m not going to claim that foreigners can’t teach Japanese people interesting things, but he’s referring to his long rant about being detained for an improper visa! He never seems to have learned the Japanese concepts of public and private, and how personal issues like his are basically dealt with in private, and then happy announcements of solutions are made in public. Instead, he thinks that making a public complaint against the Japanese legal system is just some vague white man’s “vigorous debate” that Japan needs to learn how to deal with– never mind that the concept of how to debate is entirely different in France and Britain and Germany and America.

Here we see Johnson’s dream country, which always acts on complaints no matter how minor, and how reality failed him. Japan may be the third largest economy in the world, but they have not “grown” psychologically. They were unable to clean his room. Japanese people, to him, are like children, and they need to be educated about the proper way to have a debate. He cannot accept that Japan is a real society.

“I’ve seen talented foreigners give up on Japan over the years.” Note that the examples he lists are clearly cosmopolitans. They wrote about things they liked and disliked in Japan, but like Kipling they could have been writing about anywhere in the world. Then they moved on. They admired but did not love.

“Japanophiles reject any challenge to accepted wisdom, any investigation into corruption, any shattering of myths and illusions.” An utterly incorrect view of Yakumos based on a totally different idea of what it means to live in Japan. For Johnson, Japan was a myth that needed to be shattered, a room that became dirty and needs to be investigated. Yakumos reject that view of the country because it doesn’t match our goals for living in Japan.

Take the Fukushima disaster, for example. A minority of Japanese people are actively protesting the government because they feel betrayed. Clean-room types will join them, not based on some logical analysis, but because their emotions lead them directly to this feeling of betrayal. Many Yakumos who blog are angered by the entire line of thinking that governments (not just Japan, at least not for me) always betray people. To counter the fearmongering, we push back with skepticism. This is not equivalent to “the establishment view” because anyone who actually watches the NHK knows that they report on every anti-nuclear protest and regularly host commentators who denounce nuclear energy.

I also think of the response of Matt Alt, whom Johnson hates for some reason. On his Twitter account, Matt regularly links both positive and negative articles about the responses of TEPCO and the government. I wouldn’t call this being brainwashed by the evil Japan media complex that doesn’t exist, or being taken in by anti-nuclear radicals. Rather, his motivation comes merely from a desire for people living in Japan to get accurate information. He doesn’t have a dog in arguments with Debito– he’s moved completely beyond that, focuses on his own interests, and thus could be a good role model for bloggers alongside Lafcadio Hearn himself.

“With little or no chance to ever vote, get elected, or lead a corporation, many of these chronically frustrated gaijin have been marginalized and pushed into a bizarre subculture laced with heapings of hate.” And in this final quote, he simply reflects his own frustrations onto others. Note that all of these things are legal rights. What he is demanding from Japan is not a nation but a way to achieve his dreams, although I’m pretty much 100% certain that Johnson has no interest in starting a business. And I don’t know why a first-generation foreigner would even want to get elected in his adopted country!

It’s hard for new immigrants to get ahead, especially in a country with a struggling economy, where even native citizens have trouble finding work. But it’s not impossible. Bill Totten, for example, founded a long-lived company here despite having weak Japanese. It’s not a matter of legal rights coming first, and success second. I’m betting Mr. Totten has a lot of friends in Japan, and that he got considerable help starting his company, growing it to success, and becoming a naturalized citizen. His unique political views alone qualify him as the Yakumo type: someone who truly loves Japan, beyond all reason, and would do anything to support Japan.

Also, I would point out that immigrants actually get a lot of support. Many of us are privileged with white-collar office jobs. Japan supplies 5,000 foreigners a year with high-paying, easy work through the JET Program. The tools are there: you just need to have the attitude and the know-how to use them.

People like Debito and Johnson are a dying breed, the colonial type who spat on his Japanese servants in the 19th century, the missionary type who printed thousands of pages of invective against pagan culture in the 1930s, the cosmopolitan type who wore Halloween costumes and had drinking parties on Tokyo trains in the 1990s, the type of person who, now that the money is disappearing, has only his clean-room dreams to keep him in the country.

The Yakumos, foreigners who are willing to sacrifice themselves to live in Japan, have no need for your advice. You will not be missed.

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Pasmo Cards Used to Prove Extramarital Affairs?

James — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 05:09:35 +0000

Pasmo smart cards are extremely useful for traveling on public transportation in the Tokyo region.

However, the use of such cards has raised privacy issues. As this news report shows, people have used the online data from Pasmo to check the travel history of their partners and expose infidelities:

Until recently, Pasmo made it possible to check a customer’s last three months of travel and purchase information. All one needed to do was enter some basic personal information on the customer: name, birth date, phone number, and card number. Given the amount of personal data people put on their Facebook accounts these days, it would not be difficult to investigate a friend. The hardest part would be copying down the person’s card number.

After discovering that some investigative businesses were advertising their use of the online service to investigate cheating partners, Pasmo shut it down.

However, there is still another way to find out a customer’s travel history. All one needs to do is take the Pasmo card to a nearby station and put it into a ticket vending machine. A travel history can then be readily printed out.

(Presumably, there may also be similar issues with other IC cards, such as Suica and Icoca.)

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