Posts from — July 2008

In a surprising twist Naito Daisuke, who was losing this evening’s pound for pound match against Shimizu Tomonobu (the pretty boy challenger), landed a wild right hook that left his opponent struggling to stay up in the 11th Round. Shimizu, who is younger and much much more graceful in the ring, was landing punches alright but it seems they’re not hurting the champ so much. Although Naito was the one who always charged forward in the match, his punches went wildly from every direction as if you’re seeing a crazy drunk man on a brawl. At the other side, Shimizu waits in patiently for the opening every time Naito throws one of his crazy hooks.

One of the highlights of the match came as the fight came to a close: the loosing Naito performed an unusual array of slow motion punches as if he’d just undergone some kind of trance - what the hell was he thinking? Maybe he thought that was cool. Meanwhile, the tactic seemed to be working very well for Mr.Prettyboy boxer as he accumulated points for those straight punches, but in the end luck joined the champ’s side with that single wild hook that knockout our young challenger. In sum, this Shimizu boy has graceful skills in the ring - better than the champ’s for sure - but his punches are not that powerful yet. A year or two of training will make him more effective in the ring, that’s for sure.

Naito, however, is not without passion for the sport. Maybe he’s nowhere near the gracefulness of Muhammad Ali, but he sure got a fearless heart. Thanks to Naito’s vigorous charges the fight became one of the most exciting boxing matches in Japan in recent years. By the way, shortly after the fight former opponent Kameda Daiki climbed the ring to personally congratulate the champ while hinting in front of the camera that he wants to be the next challenger. Hmmn, that’d be fine, but he’d better be sure no wrestling-style acrobatics this time.

Don’t get me wrong. I eat unagi by the bucketfull but the idea of a fizzy drink made from eel extract somehow doesn’t excite my taste buds. But here it is, the Unagi Nobori — “Surging Eel” according to translations — has just been launched in Japan to coincide with the annual eel-eating season. The Japanese are mad about eels as can be seen by the several recent news articles, one of the most high-profile of which is the case of two companies mislabeling eels from China as domestically grown. I might actually try this drink if I get my hands on one, just to see how the flavor compares to the real fish.

Kazunori Hayashi, spokesman for the company Japan Tobacco Inc, which produced the drink, said : “It is mainly for men who are exhausted by the summer’s heat”.

The product is believed to be the first mass-produced drink of its kind made in Japan.

Its main ingredients include extracts from the head and bones of eels, and five vitamins – A, B1, B2, D and E – contained in the fish.

The beverage has a similar taste to broiled eels, a popular summer delicacy popular among the Japanese, and sells at about 65p (140 yen).

Broiled eel drink, anyone?

Our man just did it again. Hooray for Takeru Kobayashi, (小林尊)Japan’s eating machine sensation who just beat the competition again this July 27th with a simple lick. This time the venue is in Singapore where pounds after pounds of Satay were served to fill our Japan champ just right. Not that the main opponent is weak or should I say lacking appetite at the time, no, Kobayashi’s archrival is non other than Joey Chestnut - the champion of this year’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Well, it’s not as though our own Kobayashi did not wear that mustard belt for 6 years, he just got tired of eating hotdogs I reckon. Now that’s not saying much, just imagine yourself eating 5 kilograms of Satay in 12 minutes maybe you’d appreciate the effort better. For those of you who doesn’t know what satay is, it’s simply Asian style barbecue originating in South East Asia. Now, Joey loves his hotdogs - that’s for sure - but satay didn’t seem to taste the way he expected. “The sauce was sweeter than I expected, and that slowed me”, said Joey after the ordeal. Well, I guess we’ll be expecting Joey to go for revenge next year then.

Those of you who can’t imagine how it’s done, better not imagine it. But if you really insist, this is how they really do it:

Heads up guys. Tomorrow, I mean today (July 24) is the last day for Wireless Japan 2008 event. Japan’s all-things-wireless Expo started last 22nd of July and will be ending today. Those of you who still wants to glimpse some new mobile gadgets, you still got the whole day to decide. It is being held at Koto-Ku’s Tokyo International Exhibition Center. There’s a lot of exhibit for mobile phones from gadget makers all over the world - some even claiming to be the iPhone-killer. Also, the latest wireless technology, like Wi-Fi, WIMAX, Zigbee, Bluetooth, and many more wireless systems are being featured and discussed throughout the event.

If only I had my way I’d be there tinkering with the gadgets already, alas I have work on those days. Hopefully when it finished we could get some raw photos of the event for you.

How about you, do you think convenience stores should stop servicing the population after midnight? The original proposition came about with the intent of decreasing CO2 emission. But the debate (see Japan Times article for an overview) seems to have been bloated to almost every aspect of Japan’s society - from crime prevention to keeping the balance between convenience and socio-ecological circumstance of Japan. I know, that seems to be very deep on the case against convenience stores. Convenience store interest groups say that the stores kept women who walk the streets alone on wee hours safe, while opposition points out that the stores themselves have been the target of robbery especially in late hours. On the social side of the debate, the Kyoto Mayor, who requested convenience stores in his district be shut down after the clock ticks 12 at night, claims that convenience has had negative effect on the social well-being of those living on the district. Which side do you think has more weight on the matter?

Convenient store owners’ ultimate intent is easy to decrypt: for profit. But that does not necessarily mean it’s bad. What’s more difficult to perceive is the ultimate goal of the opposition, because they raise so many issues that makes their main argument too hazy, or even weak. If it’s the environment, then let’s see the facts on the pros and cons of the stores. If it’s about social policies, then let’s focus on that instead. Of course this kind of debates will normally raise many issues, but the public will just get confused on the real gist of the matter and will make them more indifferent about the whole debate. Most of the public thinks round-the-clock convenience stores are great from time to time (see Japan Times’ accompanying survey). Arguing for the public’s social well-being is a wrong move i reckon. Too much interference on how the public should go about their life is the wrong case to raise here.

As part of the public, even if I only drop by there now very infrequently, I still think they are nice and convenient. When I was still in the university studying late all throughout the night, trips to the convenient stores probably kept me from starving. Imagine those who are active or who works in late hours, could you tell them, “hey it’s bad for your social well-being, you should buy things before midnight.” Now, if the opposition would just focus on decreasing CO2 emissions argument, lay out detailed facts about the damages brought about by late-night convenience stores, and how much (in lay person’s terms) it could make a difference if they were shut, then perhaps the public (who are now more environmentally-aware) might think twice about their opinion about the matter and might even be actively mobilized to support the cause even to their own short-term inconvenience.

JR East has launched a fleet of bullet trains decorated with Pokemon characters for the summer holidays. From Mainichi Daily News:

At Ueno Station, Pokemon character Pikachu made an appearance and saw off smiling children boarding the bullet trains. “I was surprised to see Pikachu, but I really like the character so I’m happy,” said one 7-year-old boy who was traveling to Iwate Prefecture with his family on the first day of operation. “It’s a cool bullet train,” he added.

The Pokemon-themed bullet trains are part of a joint campaign with All Nippon Airways which also fields planes decorated with the characters.

The Japanese language Mainichi Shimbun (毎日新聞) issued an apology on the front page (PDF file) of its July 20 issue regarding the WaiWai columns that appeared on its English-language website. Also, the index page of Mainichi Daily News as of today (July 20, 2008) displays two similar articles of apology regarding the publication of the columns which was deemed inappropriately lewd by many Japanese. On the first article entitled “Mainichi Daily News to start over again” the news site writes:

The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. continued to post extremely inappropriate articles in the WaiWai column of the Mainichi Daily News (MDN), its English Web site. We have reported the results of an in-house investigation into the case on Pages 22 and 23 of the July 20 morning edition of the Mainichi Shimbun.

We continued to post articles that contained incorrect information about Japan and indecent sexual content. These articles, many of which were not checked, should not have been dispatched to Japan or the world. We apologize deeply for causing many people trouble and for betraying the public’s trust in the Mainichi Shimbun.

The Mainichi Newspapers took punitive measures on July 20 against Managing Director Yoshiyuki Watanabe, who previously served as general manager of the Multimedia Division, and another senior official, to hold them responsible as supervisors, in addition to those who were earlier punished.

We will take the following measures to prevent a recurrence of the problems pointed out to us through the criticism and opinions received from many readers, through our in-house investigation, and as indicated by the Open Newspaper Committee of experts:The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. continued to post extremely inappropriate articles in the WaiWai column of the Mainichi Daily News (MDN), its English Web site. We have reported the results of an in-house investigation into the case on Pages 22 and 23 of the July 20 morning edition of the Mainichi Shimbun.

We continued to post articles that contained incorrect information about Japan and indecent sexual content. These articles, many of which were not checked, should not have been dispatched to Japan or the world. We apologize deeply for causing many people trouble and for betraying the public’s trust in the Mainichi Shimbun.

The Mainichi Newspapers took punitive measures on July 20 against Managing Director Yoshiyuki Watanabe, who previously served as general manager of the Multimedia Division, and another senior official, to hold them responsible as supervisors, in addition to those who were earlier punished.

We will take the following measures to prevent a recurrence of the problems pointed out to us through the criticism and opinions received from many readers, through our in-house investigation, and as indicated by the Open Newspaper Committee of experts.

“The Mainichi Shimbun pledges to learn from its serious errors”, the second article states:

It was impermissible as a news organization that the Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. continuously posted inappropriate articles in the WaiWai column of the Mainichi Daily News (MDN), its English site.

The articles had inappropriate content that should not have been dispatched in Japan or to the world, such as incorrect information about Japan and indecent sexual topics. We apologize deeply for making many people feel uncomfortable, damaging many people’s reputations, causing great trouble and at the same time, betraying the public’s trust in the Mainichi Shimbun. We are deeply sorry.

An in-house investigation has indicated that many articles in the column in question were barely checked before being posted, and that the seriousness of the problem went undetected even within the company. We neglected repeated warnings from those outside the company. These are serious errors and are extremely regrettable. In accordance with internal regulations, those involved in the matter have been severely punished.

In an effort to maintain and improve the quality of the printed edition of its newspaper, the Mainichi Newspapers has an article review division, and has also set up an Open Newspaper Committee, a third-party panel comprised of experts. Nevertheless, we failed to notice the problems that occurred on the English site. Our quality-control system was insufficient. We also failed to clearly define the role of our English site, which dispatches news to the world.

We have worked out measures to prevent a recurrence while keeping in mind the results of our in-house investigation and opinions from many readers.

We have decided to reform the MDN in order to rehabilitate it into a site that can dispatch information to the world that can help people properly understand Japan.

The row over these WaiWai articles has been brewing for a few months now, with many Japanese bloggers and forum posters calling for an end to the sensationalist and perverted stories that are featured in these columns, many of which are translated from Japanese tabloids. The columns draw a lot of foreign traffic to Mainichi Daily News’ website and naturally spread false and misleading picture of Japan to the unsuspecting world.

Here is a TV clip regarding the WaiWai columns issue:

Wanna print something fast but your home printer have run out of ink? How about printing a full-color A3 poster for your office presentation?

Fuji Xerox now provides a service called Netprint which enables Internet-connected users to print their files on any of the 12,000 7-Eleven stores in Japan. The printing process is surprisingly simple: Login to the Netprint site (after signing up for free), register your documents, go to the nearest 7-Eleven store, enter the 8-digit print number that you have been provided into the Multicopy Printer and print your document. Of course, the service is provided 24 hours a day, as long as 7-Eleven stores are open.

Supported documents and image files include Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files, JPEGs and TIFFs, and Adobe Acrobat files. Maximum file size has been increased to 2MB. Printing fee is from 20 yen for a black-and-white A4-sized document to 100 yen for a full-color A3-sized document.

Fuji Xerox also provides an API to enable third-party sites to use the service. Zenrin, for example, offers their maps for printing for 300 yen for a full-color A3-sized map.

This service is especially convenient when your printer is out of order or you’re on the road with only a laptop or if you want to send a printed document to someone who lives far away.

You can search for 7-Eleven stores near you through this page.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (崖の上のポニョ), Hayao Miyazaki’s new animation since Howl’s Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) and based loosely on Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”, debuts in movie houses all over Japan. It tells of the tale of a fish-girl Ponyo who yearns to be human and rides a jellyfish to escape her home in sea.

“101 minutes of bliss,” says Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). “Hayao Miyazaki delivers another classic“: Japan Times (4 stars out of 5). The Daily Yomiuri gives it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Below is a TV clip with the film’s trailer. You can go to the official site here and a list of theaters in Japan showing the movie here.

Just when you thought Todai is the coolest of the cool, the highest of the high, and the most righteous of the righteous in Japanese education, this news will turn up. As it turns out, a team of medical researchers conducted studies on specimens taken from unknowing patients and lied about it on a published medical journals claiming they had consent from the “donors.” Tell me, what else would you expect from the lavishly-funded thinkers of Japan who are given more than enough time to think things over. Well, maybe they just got a bit overexcited with their crusade to save the world. It’s sometimes easy to commit such mistakes - easy to forget that it’s not only our intent that counts in the overall judgement of our actions, the means in which we carry out our intents matters too. This kind of things makes me want to watch Extreme Measures again, and hear Hugh Grant retort, “…Maybe they are doing a great thing for the world. Maybe they are heroes. But they didn’t choose to be. You chose for them. And you can’t do that, because you’re a doctor, and you took an oath…“