On the news this morning I heard that JAL has made yet another about face and will be sticking with American Airlines and the Oneworld Alliance. From the AFP:
Japan Airlines has decided to maintain its current tie-up with American Airlines and will end talks with Delta Air Lines, local media reported on Monday.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are competing to take a stake in JAL despite its bankruptcy filing last month with 26 billion dollars of debt — one of Japan’s biggest ever corporate failures.
Japanese media had previously said JAL planned to switch to Delta and its SkyTeam airline alliance from American Airlines’ Oneworld alliance as part of its recovery plan.
…
JAL plans to tell Delta as early as this week that it will terminate the tie-up negotiation, while together with American the Japanese airline will apply for anti-trust immunity with the US Department of Transportation within this month, the Nikkei business daily reported.
It had been previously reported that JAL had chosen Delta for a partner. Someone at the Dallas Morning News (AA’s parent company AMR is based in Ft. Worth, TX) seems to think this would make a great reality TV show.
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Contributor Bio: Steve has been splitting time between the US and Japan for the past 10 years or so and is now a post doctorate fellow at a large, lumbering University in Tokyo, where he gets paid to play with dirt.
A pretty interesting report from Al Jazeera English about Ainu activists who want compensation from the Japanese government:
101 East looks at Japan’s indigeneous people and their fight for cultural survival and acceptance. Over the last century, they have seen their traditions and their language stripped away, along with their ancestral lands. But after generations of oppression, racism and forced assimilation, change is in the air for the Ainu.
If you’ve watched the TV news in Japan a lot in the last few months, you’ve probably noticed that criminals seem to be wearing blue hoods over their faces when being escorted into vehicles by police officers. Here’s a clip that explains what’s the deal with them:
Apparently the hoods are part of a jacket that police in Chiba prefecture use to protect the privacy of individuals who have been arrested. The blue hoods can be adjusted to different levels depending on just how much a person wants their face to be blocked from the eyes of the media and the public. They’ve been in use for a few years now, but didn’t get much attention because there had not been many high profile crimes in Chiba until recently.
Meet Ban, a dog in Ibaraki prefecture that loves to a climb and sit atop a wall:
Her owners claim she learned to do this on her own, probably because she was bored with being restricted to a narrow space and wanted a better view of the neighborhood.
Radical animal rights group Sea Shepherd was all over the news last month when a collision with a Japanese whaling ship left one of their boats heavily damaged. The media attention had died down, but they’ve managed to get themselves back into yet another collision.
Here is a video filmed from the deck of the Sea Shepherd ship:
Sea Shepherd founder Captain Paul Watson said by satellite telephone that the Japanese ship rammed the Bob Barker—named after the U.S. game show host who donated millions to buy it—as it blocked the slipway of the Japanese fleet’s factory ship.
Japanese officials were not immediately available to comment on the incident, and Watson’s claim that the Bob Barker was deliberately hit could not be independently verified.
No video from the Japanese side has been posted to the internet yet, but it will probably appear on YouTube sometime in the next 24 hours, but here is a video from yesterday showing Sea Shepherd aiming a laser beam at the eyes of the Japanese crew:
Statements have been issued from the Japanese side denying that their ship intentionally rammed the Sea Shepherd vessel:
Institute spokesman Glenn Inwood says the impact was far from deliberate.
“Japan is doing a legal operation there. It has no need to ram anyone. This is all the work of the Sea Shepherd group.”
Mr Inwood says the Yushin Maru was trying to avoid acid bombs being lobbed by crew on the Bob Barker and in doing so, the vessel made a dramatic turn, clipping the Bob Barker. He also claims the protesters had been repeatedly firing a high-power green laser device at the Nisshin Maru crew.
Sea Shepherd admits to actively blocking the slipway of the Japanese whaling fleet’s factory ship when the collision occurred. It was trying to prevent slaughtered whales being loaded onto the vessel.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the Dutch parliament is considering a new law that could lead to the de-flagging of Sea Shepherd’s ships:
The amendment to the law on the nationality of ships would deprive Dutch-registered vessels of certificates of registry issued by the Dutch government “when harm is done to a ship, its crew or load or when it would be used in such a way that relations with other countries could be affected negatively,” according to the draft text of the legislation.
Should the Dutch government allow Sea Shepherd to use their flag?
The story of some Japanese hostesses forming a labor union was reported back inDecember by several English language news outlets, but they didn’t make video reports about it.
Australia’s ABC apparently noticed those old articles and dispatched a camera team to interview the hostesses in question. Here’s their report:
Curry House chain CoCo Ichibanya has hundreds of restaurants throughout Japan, but two of its top three most profitable restaurants are not located on the main islands of Japan. They are in Okinawa, and, as this news report shows, they are successful because of the patronage of Americans stationed at the military bases there:
The main focus of the news report is on a CoCo Ichibanya located right outside of the gate of Kadena Airbase. When the reporter checks inside the restaurant, she finds that almost every single customer is American.
It is noted that the Americans have eating habits that differ slightly from typical Japanese customers. They really like to order lots of toppings for their curry, as well as consume a lot of the tsukemono (it’s free). Although the monthly total of customers who eat there is less than at CoCo Ichi restaurants in Tokyo, the Americans order more per meal, making it the most profitable Coco Ichi restaurant in Japan. [It may also have something to do with the fact that they are exchanging dollars to yen at a rate of 1 dollar=80 yen. Ouch.]
It rarely snows in Tokyo, so when it does, it’s big news. Here’s a video from the Asahi Shimbun showing what the snow on February 2nd looked like from the sky:
Remember that video clip of Josh Sehrer acting stupid in Shibuya? Here’s another one, apparently showing him being taken away by the police:
Given the absolutely terrible quality of the video, it’s hard to figure out what is going on. However, Josh provided some details via e-mail:
As you probably know I was just in Tokyo for 72 hours to get publicity, well more like 48 hours. Thursday night when I arrived I had a coat but no shirt underneath, my belly button/tattoo of Shibuya’s 109 building was the only thing showing not either of my nipples.
Fans had been filming when literally all of Shibuya’s police force apprehended me, and you’d think it’d be over yelling that I love the foreigner girls walking past but as you can see from the superimposed time the police showed up about 15 seconds after we walked back.
I was apprehended because my belly button was showing and because of it I lost nearly 24 hours of my trip, detained without food or water!
And it was caught on tape! Please share this, not to promote my friends music but to put an end to this abuse rarely caught on tape!
What Japanese beverage do you like best?
Melon cream soda, CC lemon, Calpis, vegetable fruit juice, canned soup…and more?
Japanese beverages are very popular in Thailand, but they are of course arranged for Thai preferences.
Nowadays Gogo-no-koucha is selling well, but originally it was not common in Thailand to drink tea from a PET bottle. If they use the PET bottle same as what they do in Japan, the color of straight tea looks like “nam pla” and lemon tea looks like cooking oil, which doesn’t make Thai people feel like trying it. They learned that they had to change from bottle design to target Thai consumers. Tea is also very sweet compared with Japanese one, because Thai people like strong taste.
Ajinomoto is also a very popular Japanese company in Thailand. They do not sell beverages in Japan, but their canned coffee named “Birdy” is really successful among Thai consumers.
What Japanese beverages do you like or dislike?
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Contributor Bio: Kirin is a Japanese woman spending her life so far somewhere around Tokyo. She now works from home and is also spreading Japanese kawaii culture and etc. through her popular blog, Tokyo Kawaii,etc.
Another week, another “Mezamashi TV” interview with a foreign celebrity that involves the presentation of weird gifts:
Leona Lewis was singing the “Avatar” theme song before a gathering of Japanese fans, some of whom got very emotional. Mezamashi put one of the pretty girls who models trendy new products every morning The interviewer is a big fan of Leona and presents her with a card expressing her feelings (–we’ve seen what happens when announcers try to read such cards aloud–). Because Leona Lewis’ new album is named after a fairy, Fuji TV decides to present her with some little Ge Ge Ge No Kitaro figures, since yokai are pretty much the same thing, right? Having no clue what the characters are, she is nonetheless asked to pick her favorite.
NHK’s kids news program explains the earthquake in Haiti, Japan’s somewhat slow response to it, and the legal barriers to sending an SDF peacekeeping force overseas:
Somebody went through a lot of effort making little dolls and cartoon cut-outs to make everything easier to display, and I must say it is visually impressive.
Mongolian-born sumo Grand Champion Asashoryu was set to be almost certainly banned from the sport of sumo this week, but it seems he has preempted the Japan Sumo Association’s formal decision by announcing his retirement:
“I will retire,” he told reporters. “So many things have happened. I have caused a lot of trouble but I have no regrets about my sumo.”
The alleged attack took place on 16 January in the middle of a major tournament which he went on to win.
Reports in the Japanese tabloids said the 150kg () wrestler, who had been drinking heavily until the early hours, left his victim with a broken nose, a split lip and heavy facial bruising.
During an occasionally tearful appearance before the media, Asashoryu recalled the pride he felt when he defeated the then grand champion, Musashimaru, during his parents’ first trip to Japan to see him compete.
“That was my best moment,” he said. “I’ve been under a lot of mental stress and right now I want to get some rest.”
According to some of the Jap-hating comments I’ve already had to delete today, I think it would be fair to say that quite a few Mongolian internet users are not happy about what has happened. It seems that even their government officials are saying this is all part of an anti-foreign conspiracy:
One high-ranking official said, “I believe the Japanese side basically made use of this ‘violent incident’ to get him to retire from sumo. I feel that they did not want him to break the record for most titles. This behavior is unjust. The Mongolian people disapprove.”
I was a causal viewer of Roger Swan’s movie reviews, but my surprise at his sudden passing pales in comparison to the outpouring of shock and grief that I have seen around the YouTube community in the last week or so. To be honest, I don’t have the chops to eulogize him properly. I just didn’t know him well enough, which I regret. But here are some things I want to share with you.
There was a touching video made quite quickly by Tokyo Cooney. You can see that here. There were many other video tributes as well.
And there was a really powerful tribute by Kevin Allen at the blog Dogen, where Swan contributed articles. He says:
If you’ve ever seen the Truman show, then you may be able to understand Rodger’s existence, and its importance to everyone that knew him. He was that normal guy that was on video–all the time. He was that normal guy that everyone watched grow up. We saw him turn from a boy into a man. We saw him grow! And those of us who began watching, be it out of friendship or even a sympathetic curiosity, we all became hooked and hypnotized by Rodger’s complete lack of ego.
Please see the whole post here.
As I was a fan of the horror movie channel he put out, I offer his last video in that vein as a small tribute to a truly interesting vlogger’s memory.
I identified with Swan, as we both shared interests in Japanese novels, movies and culture. His death is a grim reminder of my own mortality, and I think the best thing I can do to honor him is to live my life to the fullest. For I’d like to think he died feeling quite content with all that he had done. Would that we all could heed such a lesson.
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Contributor Bio: Claytonian blogs and vlogs about Japan, language, and news at The Hopeless Romantic.
A massive recall of Toyota vehicles with safety problems has damaged the company’s image, as you can see from this portion of Tuesday night’s Daily Show:
As part of her campaign against Obama’s healthcare policy, Republic representative Michele Bachmann has been bad-mouthing Japan’s healthcare system:
“In Japan…to wait in and get health care is almost impossible. You get on a list and you wait and you wait and you wait. But he said this is something people don’t know: in Japan, people have stopped voicing their opinion on health care. There are things that are wrong with Japanese health care, but people [aren't] voicing. ‘Well why is that,’ I asked. He said it’s ‘Because they know that would get on a list and they wouldn’t get health care. They wouldn’t get in. They wouldn’t get seen. And so people are afraid. They’re afraid to speak back to government. They’re afraid to say anything.’ Is that what we want for our future? That takes us to gangster government at that point! And absolute abject corruption.”
It’s all based, apparently, on what a former resident of Japan told her.
When it comes to organ transplants, Japan does have a big problem with a lack of donors, so those with money often end up traveling to other countries to pay such procedures. I have not, however, heard of anything about terrifying “lists” that people have to wait on before getting medical care. I’ve never had to undergo a major medical procedure here, but everyone I’ve talked to has been pretty satisfied with the level of healthcare over here.
Chris Matthews has responded to her trolling with ridicule, saying he can’t wait until Japan hears about it:
Do you think the healthcare system in Japan is terrible?
Coming tomorrow to McDonald’s restaurants across Japan, it’s the New York Burger:
The limited time run of the Texas Burger has come to an end. The New York Burger will be a quarter pounder topped with bacon, tomato, Monterey Jack cheese and mustard sauce on a special bun.
Mercedes-Benz has a new series of commercials starring a character named “Mr. Naruhodo” who repeatedly says the word “naruhodo” (“I see”) in a annoyingly stupid accent:
After 92 days of living inside Narita Airport, human rights activist Feng Zhenghu has been told that he will be allowed to return to China:
Feng had already announced Sunday that he had decided to end his protest after meeting with officials from the Chinese Embassy last week. But it wasn’t clear until Tuesday whether China would allow him to re-enter the country – he had been denied entry eight times since June, prompting his protest.
“Chinese officials told me that they are giving me permission to go back to Shanghai,” Feng, 55, told reporters Tuesday at the airport terminal, where reporters were allowed in by security.
He said he planned to enter Japan on Wednesday before heading back to Shanghai for the Chinese New Year in mid-February.
Feng said Tuesday that he was certain that this attempt to return home would be successful.
“I won’t be rejected again. That would be impossible,” he said. “If that happens, it’s not my problem. It’s the Chinese government’s problem.”
Today is Setsubun. I hope you’re all driving away demons by throwing beans! Here’s a couple clips of Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi celebrated by scattering some beans on the International Space Station:
Maybe it’s a sign that my youth is slipping away, but I noticed lately that the hip-hop and rock tracks on my iPod have much lower “play count” numbers than the more acoustic-leaning, folk and roots tunes. Performance-wise it’s the same – interest in playing quiet coffee-houses is winning out over rock gigs. Fair enough, time to embrace the change, I thought, and went looking for Japanese music in the same vein.
Roots music back home usually consists of bands influenced by bluegrass or Celtic sounds, and weirdly, that can even be found here. Witness the hottest salary-man band this side of Kentucky:
These guys are good, but I was looking for something that was more an expression of Japanese roots, rather than Western ones. Some friends suggested Okinawan-influenced rock, which they said is often referred to as Japanese roots music. I’d love to hear suggestions. One that I’ve found that I particularly like is Miwa Sasagawa. She’s not from Okinawa, but she has a rootsy sound that’s just what I am looking for. Actually, she sounds a little like Susan Aglukark, an Inuit singer from Canada.
Luckily for me and the band, we found a singer with similar tastes. And with her in the lead, we altered an Odani Misako song in the direction of a rootsy/folk sound. Odani is not a roots artist, but she is a good songwriter so her songs can be interpreted easily into other genres. Check it out:
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Contributor Bio: JJ, shockingly, teaches English, but would prefer to do other things (shockingly). So he writes songs or comedy or the occasional theological treatise. Sometimes he tries to combine all of them. This is most easily observed at www.youtube.com/fatblueman.
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