APPENDIX TO "THE MISERY SENSHI NEO-ZERO DOUBLE BLITZKRIEG DEBACLE" By Peter Guerin INTRODUCTION This appendix was designed to help explain some of the cultural aspects of Japan as well as explain some of the in-jokes in the story; since this story has a heavy anime influence, and otaku in-jokes are very much a hallmark of the business, there's plenty of them. This appendix is in two parts: Part 1 is a brief but detailed discussion of Japan in general while Part 2 is an explanation of the in-jokes by the data (or chapters) they appear in. Part 1 itself is divided into several subjects: History of Japan; Politics and Government; Religious Practices; Education; Business; and Social Conditions. I am greatly indebted to the two books I have drawn most of my source material from. I have learned more about Japan from these two books than in any encyclopedia article or news report I have read in the past twenty years. They are "The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity" by Edwin O. Reischauer (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1988), a book often cited as the definitive English-language book on Japan; the other is "Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation" by Dr. Antonia Levi (Chicago, Open Court Press, 1996), which is available from Lorraine Savage's organization Anime Hasshin at PO Box 5121, Manchester NH 03108; please write to her for details about ordering this book or e- mail her at hasshin@tiac.net and mention about it to her. The historical outline as well as some information about Shinto were taken from "World Almanac 1997" (Mahwah, NJ, World Almanac Books, 1996). Since this is but a brief description of Japan, I sincerely hope that those who read this appendix will consult these references for further study; Reischauer's book should be available at any good library, and Dr. Levi's book, as mentioned, can be ordered from Anime Hasshin. ***************************************************************** ******************** PART ONE: JAPAN IN GENERAL ***************************************************************** ******************** 1. History Japanese history is broken down into several eras; until the so- called Meiji Restoration of 1868, they often coincided with events such as conquests, coups or changes in government structure. After 1868, eras changed when a new Emperor ascended the throne (as when the Showa Era ended and the present Heisei Era began in 1989 when then Emperor Hirohito died and his son Crown Prince Akihito acceded to the throne). Although the Christian or Common Era dating system is now used in Japan as in the rest of the world, Japanese coins to this day still bear the imperial era year instead of the calendar year (i.e. 1998 is Heisei 10). Japanese history is said to have started in 660 BC, when, according to legend, Jimmu Tenno established the Imperial Dynasty; whether or not he actually ruled all of Japan is in doubt, but he did exist, and it is true that the dynasty has ruled unbroken to the present day (Akihito being a direct descendant).Reliable records, however, only begin in AD 3rd Century and were written by the Chinese. Another aspect was that Jimmu Tenno claimed as his ancestor Amaterasu-Omikami, the Shinto Sun Goddess; this claim was not disputed until Hirohito renounced it at the insistence of American occupation forces in 1946. This divine claim of the Imperial Family's origins will be explained further in the article about religion. Japanese historical eras roughly begin with those first records and are as follows: Yamato (c. 300-592) Yamato plain conquered. Asuka (592-710) Empress Suiko ascends the throne. Nara (710-794) Heijo (later Nara) established as Japan's first capital; later moved to Nagaoka in 784. Heian (794-1185) Heian (later Kyoto) becomes the capital; remains de facto capital until 1868, when Tokyo is proclaimed the sole capital. Fujiwara (858-1160) Fujiwara-no-Yoshifusa becomes regent. Taira (1160-1185) Taira-no-Kiyomori seizes power; defeated by Minamoto-no-Yoritomo in 1185. Kamakura (1192-1333) Yoritomo becomes the first shogun or military ruler of Japan. Namboku (1334-1392) Imperial power restored by Godaigo, who later establishes the Southern Court at Yoshino in 1336. Ashikaga (1338-1573) Asikaga Takaugi restores shogunal rule. Muromachi (1392-1573) Southern and Northern Courts reunited; arrival of first Westerners--Portuguese and Jesuit priests. Sengoku (1467-1600) Onin War breaks out. Momoyama (1573-16003) Oda Nobunga enters Kyoto 1568; deposes last Ashikaga shogun in 1573; Tokugawa Ieyasu victor at Sekigahara, 1600. Edo, or Tokugawa (1603-1867) Ieyasu becomes shogun; establishes Edo (later Tokyo) as shogunal capital. Christianity stamped out and Europeans expelled; only Dutch are allowed to trade and only at Nagasaki. Japan begins to isolate itself from the rest of the world. Westerners return with a vengeance, led by US Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853, US Consul-General Townsend Harris (born in Hudson Falls, New York) negotiates first trade treaty 1858. Upstart samurai and others depose Tokugawa shogunate 1867. Meiji (1868-1912) Mutsuhito proclaimed Emperor in so-called Meiji Restoration; Tokyo proclaimed sole capital. Charter Oath, 1868; first Constitution promulgated by the "genro" or elder statesmen who actually rule in 1889; Sino-Japanese War 1894-95 and Russo- Japanese War 1904-05 big Japanese victories, especially for Imperial Navy, which gets technical assistance from British Royal Navy (their influence would be felt elsewhere, as will be explained in the article about education). Korea and Taiwan annexed as well as half of Sakhalin Island. Rapid modernization occurs. Taisho (1912-1926) Reign of Emperor Yoshihito, who is unfortunately mentally incompetent; forcing Crown Prince Hirohito to act as regent for most of his father's reign. Great Kanto Earthquake 1923 decimates most of Tokyo. Showa (1926-1989) Hirohito ascends throne; becomes longest ruling Emperor ever (he reigns almost as long as Queen Victoria). Military slowly creeps into power, first with unauthorized attack on Manchuria in 1931; in full power by 1937; Hirohito objects strongly to most of the military's actions but is powerless to stop them. Gen. Tojo Hideki becomes prime minister 1940. Japan allies itself with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Surprise attack against Americans at Pearl Harbor 1941. Japan conquers most of East Asia, but almost all land is reconquered 1941-1945. Atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 force Hirohito to call for surrender against the wishes of his government. American occupation 1945-1952; Gen. MacArthur's staff drafts present Constitution, adopted 1947. U.S. takes Okinawa (but is returned in 1972); USSR takes Kuriles and the southern half of Sakhalin Island (they're still part of Russia to this day; the Russian possession of the Kuriles has been a source of friction between the two nations). After occupation ends, Japan recovers to become an industrial and economic powerhouse. Hirohito was the last World War II leader still in office (and the only Axis power government official still in office) when he dies. Heisei (1989-present) Akihito accedes to the throne; presides over economic crisis of 1990's. Great Kobe Earthquake 1995. ***************************************************************** ******************** 2. Politics and Government a. Constitution Japan is governed under its present Showa or 1947 Constitution. This supplanted the original Meiji Constitution of 1889 and was drafted by the American occupation forces under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Although some view it as an American document imposed on Japan, it did take into account many of the trends that were already prevalent in Japan before the militarists took over; Japan was becoming a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy as of the British model. There were some American innovations, however, as will be explained shortly. The new instrument solidified the trend toward parliamentary democracy. The Emperor was now called "the symbol of the State and the unity of the people" while the Diet was called "the highest organ of state power" and "the sole law- making organ". Further, the famed Article 9 states that "Japan forever renounces war as a sovereign right and the maintenance of land, sea, and air forces"; this has been interpreted to mean that Japan cannot wage offensive war, but has the right to defend itself; thus the creation of the Self-Defense Forces in 1954 amid much controversy. Amendments to the constitution can be made by a two-thirds majority of both houses of the Diet, though it is silent as to whether such amendments are later to be approved by referendum as in many European nations or to be ratified by the prefectures as in the American system of ratification by states. So far, no amendments have been made. There is even a Bill of Rights like in the American Constitution; such existed in the 1889 Constitution, but had legal restrictions placed on them. There are no restrictions in the present document, though the public is enjoined to use their rights "for the public welfare". b. The Emperor and Imperial Family Presently, the Imperial Family is restricted to the immediate members. This was one of the reforms of the American occupation. Only Hirohito, Empress Nagako, Crown Prince Akihito and Hirohito's three brothers were considered to be "imperial"; even his married daughters were classed as commoners. In 1959, Akihito married Michiko Shoda (now Empress Michiko); even by pre- war standards she was a commoner (her father, however, was a respected businessman) and was the first to marry into the Imperial family (she was also the first non-Shintoist and non- Buddhist to do so; she's Catholic and went to Seishin University, a Catholic institution); they fell in love while playing tennis. The present Crown Prince is Naruhito; he too is married to a commoner named Masako Owada, and there were rumors for a while that Crown Princess Masako was unhappy about their marriage. Thankfully, the Japanese Imperial Family has been free of the tabloid controversy that has surrounded the British, Monegasque, Belgian and Dutch Royal Families,despite misgivings that still linger (especially by veterans) over what degree of guilt Hirohito had in the military government's actions. Hirohito was actually relived that he no longer had to wear a military uniform and instead wore a business suit and pursued his interests in marine biology. The Imperial Family is actually a shy, quiet, retiring family, much suited to their roles as serving as symbols of the state. Although the Emperor still takes part in some Shinto rituals, the government says they have no actual religious significance. When Shinto was declared the established religion during the Meiji Era, the Emperor was considered a god and the leader of the faith; to put it in perspective, it would be as if someone combined the Queen of England's role as temporal head of the Church of England with the spiritual leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury and then made a living saint or a god. Shinto, however, is much more complex than that, as will be seen in the article about religion. Perhaps one of the reasons why the Japanese Imperial Family has kept itself free from controversy is that most Japanese view them now as average people; gone are the days when it was forbidden to look at the Emperor's face. Hirohito stunned everyone in 1945 when he went on the air to announce Japan's surrender to the Allies and told his countrymen to "bear the unbearable". The marriage of Akihito and Michiko stirred interest because they were in love with each other and the fact that Michiko is Catholic is not as fatal as if Prince Charles--who would be the temporal head of the Church of England when he ascends the throne--married a Catholic (which he is forbidden to do so anyway); after all, Shinto and Buddhism existed peacefully side- by-side for centuries, and after the Meiji Restoration, Christianity itself was beginning to be accepted once again (the present constitution guarantees complete religious freedom; this was no hasty decision given the toleration for Shinto and Buddhism as just mentioned). Most Japanese people accept the Imperial Family as an integral part of their government; most just don't make a big deal out of if, and there is no real movement to abolish it (even the Japanese Communist Party does not want to get rid of it). The Imperial Family lives in a palace in Tokyo that was used by the Tokugawa shoguns; it is open to the public only on two days a year: the Emperor's Birthday (December 23) and New Year's Day. The Emperor's functions--other then the non-religious role he now has in Shinto--are quite few. He signs documents such as bills and treaties, thus indicating his Imperial Assent (much like the Queen does in Britain in signifying her Royal Assent). Every December, the Emperor opens the yearly session of the Diet by reading a speech at his throne just behind the Speaker's podium in the House of Councilors, much like the Queen's Speech is read in the State Opening of Parliament every November or the President delivering his State of the Union Address to Congress every January or February. The administration of the Imperial Family's functions is handled by the Imperial Household Agency. It should be noted that the Japanese themselves do not call the Emperor by his actual name;in government documents and in news reports, he is called "His Imperial Majesty" or "the present Emperor"; even in death, he is referred to by the name given to the era of his reign; thus, Hirohito is now the Showa Emperor, and when Akihito dies, he will be known as the Heisei Emperor. c. Prime Minister and Cabinet Actual political power rests with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet (curiously, Emperors ceased to have actual political power almost a thousand years ago; even the so-called Meiji Restoration just removed power from the shogun and transferred it to the genro, or elder statesmen who engineered the coup). The Prime Minister can come from either house of the Diet, but in practice he is always from the House of Representatives, the lower house, since they have the final say on who will hold the post. The Prime Minister appoints his Cabinet of ministers. Among the most important include Education, Finance, and International Trade and Industry (MITI) . As in other parliamentary systems, the Cabinet consist of members of the party in the majority in the House of Representatives. Other functions of the national government are of agency rank, such as the Self Defense Agency and the Imperial Household Agency. d. The Diet When the Diet was first organized in 1890, it was clearly influenced by the British Parliament. In 1947, it was reorganized with some influence of American Congressional practices but is still much like Parliament. Like many national legislatures, the Diet is bicameral; that is, it consists of two houses. The upper house is called the House of Councillors, while the lower house--much like ours is in Congress--is called the House of Representatives. The House of Councillors is an entirely elected body that replaced a partially appointed, partially inherited, partially elected House of Peers from the Meiji Restoration. The House of Councillors consists of 252 members; of these, one hundred are elected from the nation at large; the other 152 are elected from each of Japan's 47 prefectures. Each prefecture has a minimum of two so that at least one member from each prefecture will stand for election during each election cycle. Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture has the most with 8. All members of the House of Councillors serve for six-year terms, and elections are held every three years, regardless of whether the House of Representatives is also standing for election; at each election, half of the at-large membership (or 50) and half of the prefectural membership (or 76) stands for election. Therefore, the upper house of the Diet is more akin to the U.S. Senate and the Canadian Senate than the British House of Lords as in the previous House of Peers. The House of Representatives consists presently of 500 members, each elected form a prefectural constituency; each prefecture is divided into districts (or constituencies), which in turn elect from three to five members depending on the population of the constituency (the only exception is Okinawa Prefecture, which only elects one member at-large). A voter can only choose one candidate in the election, however. This rather convoluted system was seen as a compromise between the Anglo-American plurality system (where whoever has the largest amount of votes-- not necessarily a majority--wins) and the European proportional representation system (where the parties are assigned seats in relation to how many votes they got in total). As in most parliamentary systems, the party that gains a simple majority of seats in the House of Representatives (or 251) gets to form the government, with the party leader becoming Prime Minister. Members of the House of Representatives serve for four years, unless (which, like many parliamentary democracies) elections are called for sooner than that by the government. As in most parliamentary systems (and unlike our Congress, where both houses are roughly equal in power), the House of Representatives has the most power; it originates revenue bills, including the budget, and can override a rejection of a bill by the upper house by two-thirds vote (which is roughly analogous to overriding a Presidential veto by Congress but different from the House of Lords delaying bills for a year). Further, the concurrence of the upper chamber is not needed for treaties, and budgetary bills become law after thirty days whether or not the upper house has voted on it (much like the House of Lords cannot defeat a Money Bill passed by the House of Commons). The typical year for the Diet starts with the State Opening in December, where all the members gather in the House of Councilors' chamber to hear the Emperor's Speech which, like the Queen's Speech in Parliament, outlines the Government's agenda for the year. Work on the budget is usually completed by April, though sessions are held in summer and fall in order to appropriate additional moneys as necessary. Both houses elect their own Speakers; the Speakers, though still tied to their parties as in the American system, must practice strict neutrality as is the case for the Speaker of the British House of Commons. History was made in 1992 when Doi Takako, a Socialist, was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, the first woman to hold the post; Ms Doi already made history by becoming the first woman to head a political party in Japan. As is the case for Congress and Parliament, both houses have committees; among the most important are the Audit Committee and the Budget Committee; it is in the Budget Committee that questions are asked of the Government and is somewhat similar to the "Question Time" of the House of Commons which many have seen here in the U.S. on C-SPAN on Sunday nights. e. The Supreme Court One American innovation made to Japan's otherwise pure parliamentary system was the creation of a Supreme Court with the power of judicial review as in the American model. In most parliamentary systems, once a law is passed, the courts (not even the House of Lords, the highest court of appeal in Great Britain) cannot rule on its constitutionality, though in Britain, statutory instruments (the equivalent of Federal regulations) can be scrutinized to see if they fall within the scope of powers granted in the parent law. This is not the case in Japan, where the Supreme Court can rule on constitutionality. However, most of the time, the court sides with the decisions made by the Diet majority. However, the court has been a zealous defender of citizen's rights and was active in many pollution cases in the 1970's. The Prime Minister appoints the members of the Supreme Court; the Chief Judge is named by the Emperor. At the next election of the Diet after his/her appointment, the newly appointed judge stands for election, and then faces election every ten years afterward. However, most elections for the Supreme Court are uncontested and non-controversial. The Supreme Court appoints judges for the lower courts and trains prospective lawyers.. Below the Supreme Court are regional courts, prefectural courts and municipal courts. f. Law Enforcement and Justice The chief organ of law enforcement in Japan is the famed National Police, equivalent to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the French gendarmes. The logo--a sunburst shaped to look like a chrysanthemum-- is a familiar sight all throughout Japan and can even been seen in anime regularly; it can be best seen in the TV, movie and OAV anime series "Patlabor". What makes the National Police so unique is that instead of precinct house or stations, there is a "kobun" or "police-box" in every major intersection in major cities and large house-like facilities in the countryside. The National Police have a hard-won reputation for honesty, efficiency and integrity. That is not to say that there are misgivings. They date back to the Tokugawa era, when "doshin", the lowest level of samurai, served as law enforcement officers in the urban areas. These doshin carried a weapon called a "jitte", a steel rod with a hook, that was used to disarm drunken or disorderly samurai (that weapon figures prominently in the anime series "Cyber City Oedo 808"). The reputation of the police was not helped much by the militarist rule of the 1930's, though it was also much neighborly snooping as well as the police that led to the suppression of opposition. However, by and large, the National Police are highly respected. Every six months, the local unit pays a visit to their service area's residents, asking questions on the welfare of the family, what possessions they recently got, and the like. Although this may be viewed in the U.S. as an unwarranted invasion of privacy, in Japan it is viewed as a minor inconvenience to suffer for protection. In fact, outside of totalitarian nations, no one is safer in the world than in Japan. The nation has very strict gun control laws, and murder is almost unheard of (even the manufacture and possession of samurai and ninja swords is restricted). A woman can go down the street at night and schoolchildren can go to and from class without fearing that someone will molest them. The Japanese are pretty much a law-abiding people; even schoolchildren who find a one yen coin on the street (which is worth about one cent) will more often than not turn it in to the police (they get a notepad in exchange). Of course, that is not always the case. Much has been made of the yakuza, or gangs. However, they operate on different principles than the Italian or Russian Mafias and are much like the so-called "Triad Gangs" of Hong Kong. Yakuza stress the so-called "bushido" or code of honor of the old samurai. Also, unlike their counterparts in the West, they're not afraid to be open about their connections. They often own buildings, put out publications and even hand out "meisei", or calling cards with the gang's name on them. If a yakuza member messes up, don't expect to find him in the bottom of Tokyo Bay with concrete overshoes; usually they will kill themselves instead since they let their gang down. The usual trend in Western organized criminal cartels has been to downplay such connections (exceptions being seen in Al Capone and John Gotti) and to enforce discipline by "rubbing out" disloyal members. Besides the National Police, there are local police departments as well; the most famous is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD). However, the chiefs of all local police forces are answerable to the Chief of the National Police. The National Police also have a special unit called the Mobile Unit, which specializes in riot control (which it has been called on to do many times in postwar Japan); the image of the Mobile Unit officer in riot gear, nightstick and body length shield is known throughout the world. As far as prosecution is concerned, Japanese law enforcement has been pretty good in getting criminals to confess. Though excessive force is rarely used, sometimes it is needed, though that has further lent to the reputation of cautious suspicion of the police. As far as the judicial process is concerned, Japan has been surprisingly known more for its leniency than for any severity. How a defendant acts while at trial weighs as much if not more than his actions prior to trial. Signs of remorse could help reduce a sentence. Case in point: the sentence handed to the American servicemen in 1995 for raping a schoolgirl in Okinawa (ten years hard labor) might seen severe in our eyes, but to the Japanese it was appropriate since the suspects showed no remorse for their actions. Prosecutors (equivalent to our DA's) often have a 99% conviction rate. Further, until the Tokugawa era, there was no capital punishment. It was first instituted during that era in the form of crucifixion, which the leadership found out about from the Jesuit priests who had visited in the 16th Century. Today, the method of execution is hanging. Japan's system of law is based more on the code system of Europe than on the Anglo-American common law, though some common law concepts have taken hold in postwar Japan. g. Local Government Local government in Japan is pretty clear-cut. The highest form of local government are the 47 prefectures. In theory, there are four types of prefectures: 1) Most--43--are called "ken", or regular prefectures; many of them are named after an important city (such as Nagano-ken, Nagasaki-ken or Saga-ken); 2) Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture (and the most rural) is a "do", or circuit prefecture; 3) Osaka and Kyoto are "fu", or municipal prefectures; and 4) Tokyo is a "to", or metropolitan prefecture (that last status is roughly equivalent to Washington being in the District of Columbia or Mexico City being in the Federal District or Canberra being in Australian Capitol Territory). All prefectures, however, have the same government structure: they have an elected governor and a unicameral (one- house) prefectural assembly. Below the prefectures are municipalities. There are three types, depending on population: 1) villages have fewer than 30,000 residents; 2) towns have between 30,000 and 50,000 residents; and 3) cities have more than 50,000 residents. All three forms of municipalities have an elected mayor and council; councilmen are elected at-large from all villages, towns and small cities, while in larger cities they are elected by "ku" or wards like American city councilmen often are (it is of note that although Tokyo itself is divided into wards, it has no city government; it is instead governed by its prefectural governor and prefectural assembly; thus Gov. Nagai in my story governs Tokyo and the rest of the municipalities of Tokyo-to directly). h. Defense Since 1954, Japan has relied on its Self-Defense Force for protection. These replaced the old Imperial Army, Imperial Army Air Force and Imperial Navy of World War II. First controversial, the SDF has been accepted by the Japanese as necessary to protect their peaceful society (after all, Switzerland, which is neutral as well as peaceful, depends on its armed forces to keep it that way). Interestingly, many of the companies that made armaments for Japan during World War II are still making them for the SDF; Mitsubishi, which made the infamous A6M fighter (known here as the Zero) made the F-4EJ Phantom, based on the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The SDF is divided into Ground, Air and Sea Divisions. Interestingly, Japan is now the third highest spender for defense in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) in the world. However, much of Japan's defense is still reliant on American troops, as per a 1951 Security Agreement that has been renewed in 1960 and 1970. The bases, mainly in Okinawa-ken, have been a source of controversy, however, as the unfortunate case of the raping of a schoolgirl in 1995 brought out. One further curiosity: the version of the national flag that was used by the militarist regime--an off-centered red "Rising Sun" with red rays on a white field--survives today as the ensign of the Sea Self-Defense Force. i. Political Parties Japan has several political parties. The best known is the right-of-center Liberal Democratic Party, which--except for a couple of breaks--has governed since 1955. Others include the Socialist, Democratic Socialist, Communist, and the Komeito, or Clean Government, which gets its backing from the Soka Gakki sect of Buddhism. To put the parties in the traditional left-to-right political spectrum, they would run thus: Communist, Socialist, Democratic Socialist, Liberal Democratic, and Komieto. More recently, a group of break-away LDP members have formed the Democratic Party, which posed a serious challenge in the recent elections for the House of Councillors. One surprising thing about the LDP is that it is composed of various factions, usually built around a leader or around a stand on various areas of controversy. However, despite that, the LDP as a whole functions rather well, and is a cross between the weak, decentralized party system of the United States and the strong, centralized, disciplined parties of Great Britain and Europe. The other parties, however, are more centralized and disciplined (especially the Communists and Komieto). Recently, the LDP has suffered some major setbacks. In the most recent elections for the House of Councillors in 1995 and 1998, it lost control of that house. Some experts (though they've been long been saying this for years) are saying that it is only a matter of time before the LDP loses its majority in the House of Representatives as well. Some, of course, dismiss that notion, but then again, no one thought the Democrats were going to lose control of Congress in 1994, either. ***************************************************************** ******************** 3. Religious Practices Japan today has three religions of note: 1) Shinto, the indigenous religion; 2) Buddhism, which was imported from China and Korea; and 3) a small but considerable Christian minority. a. Shinto Shinto is the Chinese word for what the Japanese call "Kami no Michi"; both terms mean "the way of the gods". Shinto is the oldest of the three religions in Japan and the only one that developed in Japan itself. In describing Shinto, there are several areas that have to be looked at: 1) its pantheon, or group of gods; 2) the role of the priests; 3) places of worship; 4) moral code and sacred texts; 5) development; and 6) Shinto today. At eight million "kami" (gods) and "megami" (goddesses), Shinto has the most complex pantheon of any major world religion. The best known to Americans is Amaterasu-Omikami, the Great Heaven Shining Deity who serves as the Sun Goddess. However, she does not hold the place of being the head of the Shinto pantheon as Zeus did to the Greeks or Odin to the Vikings, despite the fact that she figures prominently due to Jimmu Tenno--the legendary first Emperor of Japan--claiming her as an ancestor. In fact, when one looks at Shinto, it's hard to tell what god or what priest or whoever at all is in charge. If ever there was a religion so decentralized, Shinto is it. Much of that decentralization and complexity was due to the attempts by Buddhist monks and Shinto priests alike to equate their gods with the other religion's pantheon, not unlike what the Romans did when they appropriated the Greek pantheon for themselves (i.e. Zeus becomes Jupiter, Hera becomes Juno, etc.). Other gods besides Amaterasu-Omikami include her brother, Susano, God of the Wind and of Yomi, the World of the Dead (unlike Buddhism and Christianity, and much like the ancient Greeks, Shinto holds that all who die--good, bad or indifferent--go to Yomi; there's nothing like Heaven or Hell in Shinto); Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy (who figures in the anime "Doomed Megalopolis"), Benton, the Goddess of Luck and Womanly Arts (she figures prominently in Rumiko Takahashi's classic TV anime series "Urusei Yatsura") and Uzume, the Dread Queen of Heaven. There are also the original gods, Izamagi and Izanami, who created Japan by stirring up mud from the ocean floor with their spear. The other gods and goddesses as well as the Japanese are supposed to be descended from them, or so the legend goes. It is easy to tell Shinto priests from Buddhist monks and priests. Shinto priests usually wear a white robe and a hakama, which are loose-fitting trousers. Hakama can be blue, red or even white. Special robes and headdresses are worn for special occasions. Unlike other religions, women have very much an equal role in Shinto as the men. In fact, Shinto priestesses are called "miko". Miko usually are called to cast out evil demons and interpret the will of the gods. Perhaps the best known miko to American fans of anime is Hino Rei (or Raye Hino), miko of Sendai Hill Shrine (or Cherry Hill Temple) in Naoko Takeuchi's hit series "Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon". Others include Sakura from "Urusei Yatsura", Keiko from "Doomed Megalopolis" and Ayaka Kisaragi of "Phantom Quest Corporation". When exorcising demons, they usually throw a scroll with the Japanese phrase "Akuryo taisan," which means, "Begone, demon!" and usually shout that phrase out as well (DIC really dropped the ball on that score when they dubbed "Sailor Moon" into English; Sailor Mars winds up saying "I call forth the power of Mars" when she throws the scroll). Miko, in other words, were for centuries the original "Ghostbusters," without benefit of proton packs or snotty Brooklynese-sounding secretaries. Shinto places of worship are called shrines. They are distinguished by their "torii" or gateways that stand in front of them. Sendai Hill Shrine in "Sailor Moon" is such a Shinto shrine (once again DIC muffed it up by calling it Cherry Hill Temple; temples are Buddhist places of worship). Among the more famous are Meiji Shrine in Tokyo (dedicated to the Meiji Emperor); Yasukuni Shrine, also in Tokyo (which serves roughly as their Arlington Cemetery/Tomb of the Unknown Soldier); the shrine to Amaterasu-Omikami in Ine; and Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima in the Inland Sea, considered one of the "Three Famous Landscapes of Japan" due to the torii being right out in the sea. Shinto is unique among the world's major religions in that it has no moral code or sacred texts as such. There is nothing in Shinto equivalent to the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rule; its only concerns are about purity of body and mind (which is why Japanese love bathing) and an abhorrence of death (Yomi, the World of the Dead, is thought to be a place of corruption and decay). Thus almost all funerals in Japan are Buddhist rites, since Buddhism at least has some sense of Heaven and Hell. That is also why morality in Japan is not based on religion as much as it is on human relations, which was taken from Confucianism. As for sacred texts, the closest are the "Nihongi" and the "Kojiki", both written in AD 8th Century. Both contain myths and legends about the Shinto pantheon and some early history of Japan; however, since different versions of the myths circulated at the time, the scribes wrote all the versions down. Shinto had a gradual development over the centuries. As stated, the myths were only written down in AD 8th Century. The arrival of Buddhism complicated matters somewhat; for the first and perhaps only time in human history, a nation allowed two religions to coexist peacefully. In fact, Shinto priests and Buddhist monks worked out ways in describing their pantheons in terms of the other religion's gods. Matters, however, took a drastic turn in the Meiji Restoration, when the genro declared Shinto the established religion in imitation of the European powers. This stage of "State Shinto," however, was more patriotic and militaristic in bent than religious, and when the religion was disestablished at the insistence of American occupation forces, it returned to its peaceful ways. During this time, the divine origin of the Emperor was especially stressed, though Hirohito denounced all divine claims in 1946, once again at the insistence of the Americans. Today Shinto is still practiced, but it has become more eripheral in Japanese life, though there are still throngs of faithful followers and the most popular shrines still get many visitors. Since it was disestablished as the state religion, Shinto has splintered into thirteen sects; the most important among them is Tenriko, based in Tenri City in Nara-ken; healing by faith plays a central role in that sect. Many Japanese still observe some important days in Shinto, especially the ritual of taking children to the local shrine at three, five and seven years of age. People still buy good luck charms for all occasions: to do well in school; for a safe journey; for safe driving (like Miyuki did in Part 3 of "You're Under Arrest!"); etc. Frankly, most Japanese, though registered as belonging to one faith or another, profess to not following any at all. This is not to say that they're either agnostic or atheist; they just do not feel that it plays a significant role in their lives. To them religion is not an opiate of the people or a crutch much as it is time-honored traditions that they dutifully carry on like the day's business and then pass on to their children like a cherished family heirloom. b. Buddhism If Shinto has suffered some setbacks in the 20th Century, Buddhism has continued to flourish. Imported from China and Korea, the major sects of Buddhism in Japan include Zen, Shingon, Soka Gakki, Trantric, Pure Land, True Land and Nichiren. In Buddhism--an offshoot of India's Hinduism--it was held that one could achieve Nirvana by overcoming human desires that enslave humans to the cycle of reincarnation and karma. Of course the most famous aspect of Buddhism to Americans is Zen meditation, where Buddhist monks sit in lotus positions and chant. Buddhist places or worship are called temples, and there are monasteries as well. The most famous Buddhist festival in Japan is Bon, where the faithful launch miniature lighted boats into the water in memory of departed souls. c. Christianity Surprisingly, about 2% of Japanese are Christians. Christianity was brought over by St. Francis Xavier in 1549. About 500,000 were converted before the Tokugawa shogunate stamped out the faith in 1638. After the Meiji Restoration, Christianity was at least tolerated again, and the 1947 Constitution granted complete religious freedom (which is not a stretch considering that Shinto and Buddhism coexisted without conflict for centuries). The Japanese Christian community is evenly split between Catholic and Protestant. As for the Catholics, it has been noted that Empress Michiko is herself a Catholic, and one of the most beautiful Catholic cathedrals in Asia stands in Nagasaki (it survived the atomic bombing of 1945). As for Protestants, 40% of them belong to the United Church of Christ in Japan; although this was a creation of the 1930's military regime, it had its roots back to a "No Church" movement started by Chimura Kanzo, who thought that sectarianism was repugnant. The second biggest group of Prote stants belong to the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. There is a far-wider acceptance of Christianity in Japan today than ever before; Christmas has even become a "semi-official" holiday there, though admittedly some of the meaning is lost in the translation, and New Year's Day is the big family holiday for that time of the year there. ***************************************************************** ******************** 4. Education Japan has been the envy of the world for its educational system. One of the reasons for Japan's sudden success (especially after World War II) has been that is has among the most highly educated people in the world. When the educational system was reformed after the war, it was molded after the American system. There are six years of elementary school; three of junior high; three of high school and four of university. Education to the ninth grade is free and compulsory, though most do go to high school and a considerable number go to college. The educational system is a mixture of public, private and parochial institutions as in the United States. Overseeing the entire educational system is the Education Ministry, which has broad powers to approve textbooks (the ministry has taken some heat in this regard as to how Japan's involvement in World War II is portrayed), appropriate money, and set curriculum. There are local Boards of Education, but these are appointed by local mayors and prefectural governors and usually take their cues from the national ministry. As for universities, the most famous is Tokyo University, the first of the "national universities". Other national universities are Kyoto, Tohoku, Kyushu and Hokkaido. Below these are the private universities, the most famous being Keio and Waseda, and junior colleges, or as the Japanese call them "short- term universities". Japanese education is rather strenuous; teaching is committed to memory and is by rote, especially in learning the Japanese written language. Many students go to a special "juku" or cram school so they can prepare for the important examinations for high school and university; in "Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon", Mizuno Ami goes to a "juku" (DIC flubbed it up when it introduced Amy; she says that she goes to a special computer school, but the monster that attacks her school calls it a cram school). The strenuous time leading to the exams is called "examination Hell" and rather overbearing mothers who oversee all aspects of their children's education are called "education mothers" (Usagi's mother in "Sailor Moon" is such a "education mother"; she often scolds her for her lazy study habits). Perhaps the most well-known aspect of Japanese education as far as American fans of anime is concerned is that most students wear uniforms. The generic term for that is "seifuku". Elementary schoolchildren often wear sweaters with the school crest embalzoned on them and either knickers or knee-length pants for boys or knee-length skirts for girls; also, they often wear white hats going to and from school (so they can be seen easier in traffic). In junior high school (and in some high schools), the boys wear what looks like a Chinese aristocrat's outfit: a navy blue suit with big brass buttons and a high collar. As for the girls, the most well-known outfit is the "seirafuku" or sailor suit. This is actually adapted from the uniforms worn by enlisted sailors in the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, and itself was based on those worn by sailors in the British Royal Navy, which lent technical assistance to Japan at that time. The seirafuku is a sailor blouse with the sailor collar, a scarf and usually a blue pleated skirt (though the actual colors will vary with the school); further, as in naval tradition, there is a blue outfit for winter and a white outfit for summer. Among the more famous seirafuku- clad heroines in anime include A-ko Magami from "Project A-ko"; all of the Sailor Senshi from "Sailor Moon" (theirs are a bit modified; they're sleeveless shirts, miniskirts and either go-go boots a/la/Nancy Sinatra or high heeled shoes); All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku-Nuku; the Legendary Magic Knights of "Magic Knight Rayearth"; and Lum from "Urusei Yatsura". There's actually been an industry built around magazines and pin-up photos of seirafuku-clad schoolgirls in Japan (though some of it goes over the line into pornography). In high school, three- piece business suits are worn by both boys and girls (blazer, vest, collared shirt, tie, and pants or skirt). Uniforms used to be mandated at universities, but now they're not. ***************************************************************** ******************** 5. Business One of the amazing aspects of Japan was its ability to rapidly convert from a medieval economy to a modern capitalist economy in the space of about a century and a half. Today Japan has one of the most modern and internationally competitive economic climates in the world. The floodgates for such change were opened during the Meiji Restoration. Some of the companies well known on both sides of the Pacific got their start then like Mitsubishi and Matsushita, though some like Mitsui and Kikkoman (the soy sauce maker) had their roots back to Tokugawa times, others like Toyota were founded in the early 20th Century and some like Sony were founded after World War II (the founders began by scrounging bombed out areas of Tokyo to salvage radio parts!). Some of these companies were actually founded by old samurai families. From the Meiji Restoration to the end of World War II, the companies that dominated were called "zaibatsu". These zaibatsu usually centered around a bank and had heavy industries, aerospace, chemicals, and other companies built around them. They were not constructed haphazardly like American conglomerates, nor did most act like monopolies; often even two divisions of the same zaibatsu found themselves in competition with each other as well as other companies; though, especially during the war, cartels often were formed. After the war, these zaibatsu were broken up at American insistence. However, many of these companies still have their old names, even if they're not part of the company anymore (i.e. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Bank). Often, in Japan, the brand name used in the United States is as well known as the Japanese brand, though some changes are made; in Japan, Matsushita's principal electronics company, Panasonic, is actually known as National, while the famed Bridgestone tires is actually the transliteration of the last name of the person who founded the company. However, in Japan, a Canon is a Canon and a Nikon is a Nikon. One aspect known to Americans is the famed lifetime employment practices. Once a person (who is hired after passing examinations) is taken on, he can usually count on being there until he retires, usually at 55. However, this normally applies only to male office workers, called "salarymen" and usually doesn't include factory workers or female workers, who are called "OL" or office ladies; these ladies, usually wearing a blue suit, usually wait upon visitors to the company, serve secretarial duties and pour tea (much like American secretaries are usually expected to pour coffee for the boss). With the recent economic downturn, however, these practices have taken somewhat of a beating (though to be fair, the CEO of Ban Dai, the toymaker, said he wouldn't hesitate to fire those who didn't agree with him or did their best). One assumption made about Japanese business is that it's mainly non-union. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are three important unions: Sohyo (which covers white collar workers and government employees), Domei (consisting of blue-collar workers) and Nikkyoso (which represents teachers and professors). Management-labor relations are not as antagonistic as they are in the United States; though there's the famed "spring offensive" for better wages and working conditions, these are mainly peaceful demonstrations held before the day's work begins; real strikes that cripple production rarely occur. Further, instead of defending obsolete jobs by "featherbedding", the unions and the companies help affected employees retrain for new jobs in the same company. Further, locals of unions are not organized by geographic region as much as they are organized by a company-to- company basis (i.e. one local covers Mitsubishi employees; another covers those of Toyota). Another hallmark of Japanese business is that decisions are usually made on a consensus basis. Major decisions are made after consultation with middle and lower management as well as the actual workers. This sharply contrasts to what we're accustomed to in the United States: the image of a Julius Caesar Dithers or an Ebeneezer Scrooge or a Cosmo Spacely or a Sylvester Slate yelling at his employees to get to work and that they'll not be getting a raise. Such persons are viewed as downright dictatorial in Japanese terms. The Japanese generally are hard- working people and have deep devotion to the companies that employ them; most workers and management do not wish to do anything that would harm the company's long-term outlook. Another matter that needs to be looked at is what happens at the beginning of the day. Usually the employees gather in a large building, where they sing the company song and hear the company creed read aloud. Then usually a brief pep talk is held as well as an overview of the day's business. One aspect of Japanese business that has dramatically improved is quality control. William Deming arrived after the war to teach quality control to the Japanese; they listened and learned very well. By the 1980's, the term "Made in Japan" was no longer a joke; it became a symbol of quality. The Japanese MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) even gives out an award called the Deming Prize to the company that has the best quality control. ***************************************************************** ******************** 6. Social Conditions One last area that needs to be looked at is the condition of society in Japan. Several areas naturally suggest themselves: 1.) Morality; 2.) Mass Media; 3.) The Status of Women; 4.) The Status of Children; 5.) Individuals vs. Groups; and 6.) Hierarchy. a. Morality The Japanese, contrary to popular belief, are not amoral or immoral. They are a very moral people. However, their basis for their morality is different than what we're used to seeing in the West. The Judeo-Christian morality is based on religion. We have our Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, etc. Japanese, however, view morality as a product of human relations. As stated, Shinto has nothing that says "Thou shalt not do this or that"; it is merely a religion that celebrates the beauty of nature and of life (Shinto services are rather loud, boisterous affairs, and consumption of alcohol, especially sake or beer, is common); further, while Buddhism does have a moral code, it is downplayed in Japan mainly because most become Buddhist (other than those who adhere to it for life) upon death, and most funerals are Buddhist, and even the Buddhist concept of Heaven and Hell is not stressed as much. The Japanese view the Universe mainly as an amoral, indifferent place, and that death (as symbolized by Yomi in Shinto) is a place of corruption and decay; to Shinto, death is oblivion; there's no Heaven, Hell, Nirvana or Paradise. The morals that the Japanese have are mainly based on Confucianism and the complex relationships that Kung Fu-tzu (or Master Kung, as he's always called by Asians) himself formulated. After all, it was Master Kung who formulated the precept to treat others in the same manner that you wish to be treated yourself (I think that sounds better than the old "Do unto others. . ."); Confucianism itself is called by East Asians "the philosophy of the teachers". It is for those reasons that matters that to us may be downright immoral or at least indecent are dismissed as trivial by the Japanese. For instance, other than on HBO or Cinemax, one wouldn't dare show a topless lady in prime time television here in the United States; in Japan, nudity is accepted since families often bathe together and mixed bathing in public places often occurs. There is the inevitable culture clash, though: A Christian group screamed blue murder at 20th Century-Fox when it distributed the Hayao Miyazaki classic "My Neighbor Totoro" because the father of the two girls was bathing with them; there was a similar scene in an episode of "Sailor Moon" where the Tsukino family is bathing together at a typical Japanese resort. However, both scenes are shown in Japan without much ado. Sure, there's the scene in "Project A-ko" where A-ko takes off her nightshirt, runs topless to her closet and grabs a bra and a scene in "Burn Up! W" where officer Rio nude bungee jumps, and all those nude scenes and breast jokes in "Ranma 1/2" (which was created by a woman, by the way), but perhaps the best known nude scenes (other than those in "spooge" or pornographic efforts like "Urostukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend" or "Venus 5") is the "transformation sequence" in "magic girl" shows like "Sailor Moon" or "Magic Knight Rayearth" (just to be fair, Son Goku romps in the nude altogether quite frequently in "Dragon Ball"). This was actually created by one of Japan's more controversial anime creators, Go Nagai, for his android heroine Cutey Honey. This could also explain why the Japanese are not as alarmed at pornography like we are here. Pornography is not viewed as evil over there, though until recently the only restriction placed on it was that nude photographs could not have any pubic hair displayed (the yakuza made a killing illegally importing American versions of "Playboy" and "Penthouse" for that reason). What the West seems to forget is that nude does not always equal sexy, especially if it involves women's breasts. Seeing A-ko nude wasn't made to titillate; it just proves just how human she really is beneath her superhuman exterior (after all, when was the last time you saw a teenage Clark Kent wake up late for school?). Another area where Japanese morality is different from the West's is in alcohol. The Japanese are no more as prone to alcoholism than the French. Of course, sake, or rice wine, is popular, but so is beer (one brand known to Americans is Kirin). The Japanese do seem to become drunk easier than most; some say that is due to a lack of an enzyme that processes alcohol. Drunkenness is almost freely forgiven, the only exception is for DWI; being caught DWI even once results in having your license revoked for life. Alcoholic consumption is often part of business meetings, family affairs and even Shinto religious festivals (where even teenagers are inebriated). Sometimes, students do have a beer during study time (as in a couple of scenes in "Here is Greenwood") but it doesn't seem to affect their study habits. It may help that a person has to be 19 (starting in 1999, 20) before he or she can get a driver's license in explaining the lack of an adolescent drinking problem in Japan. Sex is another area of difference in Japanese vs. Western morality. The Japanese view sex as just part of nature. There was once a double standard (all too well-known to us here) of men being promiscuous and women having to be "pure", though this is disappearing. Further, teenage sex and pregnancy rarely occur because of the high supervision such teens have at home and at school. If extramarital sex (at the teenage or adult level) occurs, it is the results and not the actual act that most people worry about. The most famous difference is in the view of suicide. In the West, suicide is as big (if not bigger) a sin than to kill others. However, the Japanese feel that suicide is an honorable option out of a drastic situation if all others have been exhausted. This, of course, had its heyday during the shogunal times, where samurai often committed seppuku if captured or faced other situations. Seppuku is the preferred term for what is known in the West as hara-kiri; although both mean, "slitting of the belly", hara-kiri carries a negative connotation. Further, not all seppuku was committed the same way. Traditionally, seppuku was committed by taking the blade of the samurai sword, slitting the abdomen with it and then cutting the neck (if someone was assisting, he delivered a blow to the back of the neck with a second sword). However, women committed seppuku differently. They stabbed themselves through the neck. Seppuku rarely occurs today; hanging is now the preferred method. b. Mass Media Mass media is about as powerful in Japan as it is in the U. S. Several areas once again suggest themselves naturally: 1) Print media; 2) Sports; 3) Movies and TV; and 4) Music Japanese are very avid readers. Perhaps the most famous publications to Americans are "manga", or comic books. Tezuka Osamu, the legendary creator of "Tetsuwan Atom" and "Jungle Taitei" (or as we know them here "Astro Boy" and "Kimba the White Lion") almost single-handedly created the medium after the war, in fact, he is still called "manga no kami-sama", or "the god of comics" in Japan and has a museum dedicated to him. Tezuka has been called "The Walt Disney of Japan", though he seems to be more suited to be Japan's Stan Lee or Siegel and Shuster. There have been other famous manga artists like Monkey Punch ("Lupin III: Tales of the Wolf"); Go Nagai ("Shameless School"; "Cutey Honey"; "TranZor Z"); Rumiko Takahashi ("Urusei Yatsura"; "Ranma 1/2"); the four-woman studio CLAMP ("Magic Knight Rayearth"; "Tokyo Babylon"; "RG Veda"); Matsamune Shirow ("Dominion Tank Police"; "Ghost in the Shell") and Naoko Takeuchi ("Sailor Moon"). In fact, it's been estimated that two out of every five publications sold in Japan are manga, and such publications as "Shonen Jump" (the home of Akira Toryama's "Dragon Ball") have among the highest circulations of any publication in the world. Japan also has some well-known newspapers and magazines. Among the best known newspapers are "Yomiuri Shimbun"; "Asahi Shimbun"; "Mainichi Shimbun"; "Samkei"; "Nihon Keizai" (their equivalent to our "Wall Street Journal"); "Hokkaido Shimbun"; "Tokyo Shimbun"; "Chunichi"; "Nishi Nippon" and "Japan Times" (which is printed in English). Magazines do not play as much a role in Japan as they do in the U.S., but there are specialized magazines covering various hobbies and special interests. The Japanese are avid sports fans. There are, of course, some sports that originated in Japan itself. Sumo wrestling, where tall, large, muscular men grapple with each other and try to push the other person out of the ring, is the best known; sumo has some connections to Shinto, and recently an American, Akebono, made history by becoming the first foreigner to become grand champion in the sport. More recently, one of the "basho" or tournaments was held in Vancouver, Canada; only a few times have basho been held outside of Japan. Jujitsu and judo (which developed out of jujitsu) are the best known martial arts, as is kendo, or fencing with bamboo sticks. However, the best known sport to Americans is actually a sport Americans themselves created: baseball. Japan has two major leagues: The Central League and the Pacific League, both with six teams each. At the end of each season, they play a Japan Series much like our World Series. Sadaharo Oh, who played for the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, hit 868 home runs, or 113 more than Hank Aaron; another player once had an "iron man" streak longer than Lou Gherig's, though Cal Ripken eventually broke even that one! There is a minor league system like we have here as well. Soccer, American rules football, basketball and even hockey are beginning to attract crowds now (all four major leagues here in the U.S. have played exhibition games in Japan, and even some regular season games). Japan has hosted three Olympics: the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo; the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo and the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano. In 2002, Japan will co-host the World Cup Soccer Tournament with South Korea, a first for the event. Japanese are also very avid movie and TV watchers. Outside Hollywood, Japan is a leading producer of films and are avid moviegoers (though India has even more productive studios and even more avid moviegoers). Perhaps the best known movie studios are Toho (home to Godzilla, or as the Japanese call him, Gojira) and Toei (home to "Go Renjaa", or as we know them, "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers"). The best known director to Americans is Akira Kurosawa; his films include "Rashomon" (a story told in several different points of view); "The Seven Samurai" (which served as the basis for the American Western "The Magnificent Seven") and "Ran" (which is essentially William Shakespeare's "King Lear" set in feudal Japan). There are other well-known films; one that made a lot of noise recently was "Shall We Dance?", which was about a salaryman who takes up ballroom dancing. However, the best known films to Americans are the "kaiju" or rubber-suited monster movies. The best known, of course, is 1954's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" (the scenes with Raymond Burr in them were added by the American distributor); others include "Mothra"; "Ghirda"; "Gamera"; and "Rodan". The Japanese are also well known for some several science-fiction efforts like "Johnny Soko and his Flying Robot" (which served as the inspiration for "Giant Robo") and "Zeiram" (which inspired "Iria: Zeiram the Animation"). Japanese TV is a mixture of American and British practices. As in the U.S and the U. K., the networks themselves are a mixture of public and private companies. The best known is Nippon Hoso Kyoku, or NHK, which translates to Japan Broadcasting Office, or Japan Broadcasting Corporation. NHK is Japan's PBS; in fact, it is two networks. One has educational fare like PBS; the other has the type of programs that American TV networks present. There are commercial networks that either have a national reach or are seen regionally, like Asahi TV (home to "Sailor Moon"); Tokyo Broadcasting System; and Fuji TV. There are no seasons as such as in the U.S.; shows continue until they reach a logical ending. However, a popular show can go on for several seasons and sometimes its title will be altered to stress that fact (for instance, "Sailor Moon"; "Sailor Moon R"; etc.). You don't need a license to own a TV in Japan as is the case in Great Britain; however, NHK gets its funding from a special tax imposed on TV's. Overall, the actual programming is more like American TV than British, with an emphasis on comedy and drama. The best known TV and movies to most Americans are anime and "sentai", or "battle team" shows. Sentai has been around almost as long as anime. Among the earliest was "Ultraman". The best known, however, is the aforementioned "Go Renjaa"; though several others have made their way here like "Masked Rider"; "Superhuman Samurai Cyber Squad"; "VR Troopers" and "Big Bad Beetleborgs". As for anime, the list of well-known TV shows, movies and OAV's (original animation videos, or direct-to-video releases) is vast: "Astro Boy"; "Speed Racer" (or "Mach Go Go Go"); "Robotech" (or "Superdimensional Fortress Macross"); "Kimba the White Lion"; "Sailor Moon"; "Dragon Ball"; "Project A-ko"; "Bubblegum Crisis"; "Dominion Tank Police"; "Patlabor"; "You're Under Arrest!"; "Battle of the Planets" (or "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman"); "Burn Up!"; "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend"; "Samurai Pizza Cats"; "Star Blazers" (or "Space Battleship Yamato"); and "Urusei Yatsura", just to name but a few. One form of TV drama has been catching on with Americans recently: the live-action samurai show. One that is getting attention has been "Lone Wolf and Cub", based on the famous manga of the same name. One more matter before I move away from anime; recently, much has been made of an actress calling herself Apollo Smile; she calls herself the first "living" anime character. She bleached her hair blonde and done it up in ponytails and has her own anime and manga series as well as some hit tunes in Japan. Recently, she hosted the Sci-Fi Channel's "Anime Week '98" festival. She also seems to speak very fluent English. As far as music is concerned, perhaps the best known to American anime fans are the "pop idol" singers. If the 1960's and the alternative-rock scene of the 1990's were rife with here-today- gone-tomorrow bands and singers, for pop idol, that has been the case for decades. Today's hot singer may be a has-been by the next month. However, there have been a few bands and singers that have attracted attention in America. Perhaps the best known to teenagers and twentysomethings is the heavy metal band Loudness, who once toured with Quiet Riot; they contributed two songs to the anime film "Odin: Photon Space Sailer Starlight". Also well known is Hiroshima, whose musical influences are more toward classical Japanese than modern rock; they did a song that appeared in "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier". There was a singing duo called Pink Lady who had their own short-lived TV series on NBC in the early 1980's (which featured actor-magician Jeff Altman); another band, The Plastics, made an appearance on the Canadian comedy series "Second City Television" ("SCTV"). Recently, Ciba Matto, a couple of Japanese women living in New York City, have attracted media attention, as well as Buffalo Daughter (the white rap band the Beastie Boys signed them to their Grand Royal label). Of course, there's also Yoko Ono, widow to former Beatle John Lennon. One well-known alternative rock band from Japan is Shonen Knife. A year or so back, there was even a computer-generated idol singer, "DK 95", or Date Kyoko as she was also known; however, anime had beaten her to the punch earlier than that: there was the virtual idol Sharon Apple in "Macross Plus". c. The Status of Women It has been said that Japanese women are far behind American and European woman as far as equality is concerned. While it is true that they are behind in some areas as compared to their Western counterparts, they are in fact treated better than in comparable areas of Asia, where many nations follow Islam, and women of course have to go out covered literally from head to foot. Historically speaking, woman have in some aspects been treated better in Japan than in other ancient cultures. Granted, samurai women were often treated as inferior wedding pawns, but in the countryside women often ran the rice paddies; this is especially true today, since in many instances the husband and children are now often than not seeking employment outside of the farm, and the children often leave for the big city. As stated earlier, Shinto and Buddhism are among a small number of major religions where woman have almost an equal role as men: there are female Buddhist monks and the aforementioned Shinto "miko" or priestesses. As far as women in the suburbs and the cities, they have far more power than most Western authorities about Japan give them credit for. Although there are still quite a few stay-at-home mothers (as in the U.S., career women have grown, but not as much or as fast as here, since women workers are still considered temporary workers), they have powers that American feminists would not have thought possible. They have vast financial powers, including: control of the family budget; keeping their husbands on a strict allowance; decide what major purchases will be made; and often vigorous oversee their children's education (like Tsukino Ikuko does on "Sailor Moon", much to Usagi's chagrin!). Often it's been said that these powers make Japanese husbands rather meekish; perhaps to an extent it is true, but when most salarymen are out from dawn to late at night on their jobs or at hostess bars, women often are "wearing the pants in the family". To be fair, there are feminist organizations in Japan. However, the militaristic approach of an organization like NOW is not the Japanese approach. While it is true that Japanese women face the same "glass ceiling" as their American sisters, they prefer to go around it rather than smashing it. Many women therefore go into business for themselves (some examples in anime: Osaka Naru's mother in "Sailor Moon" runs her own jewelry store; in "Bubblegum Crisis", Linna is an exercise instructor.). Perhaps one of the most female-friendly businesses has been anime; among the most famous female anime artists have included Rumiko Takahashi; Naoko Takeuchi, the four-women studio CLAMP; Haigo Moto; and Kei Kunosake. Literature has also been female-friendly; in fact, the most famous Japanese novel (and the first ever written in history), "The Tale of Genji", was written by Lady Shikibu Murasaki in the 11th Century. Most American feminists, however, think of the Japanese approach to sexual equality as a "separate -but-equal" approach that does not reap the same results as the confrontational approach they've been using. However, the Japanese methods may be reaping more long-term rewards. In the U.S., women seem more comfortable working with their peers than alongside men, and even if they're not facing the same kind of discrimination that their mothers did, they're now facing a different, more subtle kind of discrimination. d. The Status of Children Children are considered very valuable to Japanese parents; in fact, one of the major holidays in Japan is called "Children's Day"; though this used to be exclusively a boys' holiday, it is now considered one for girls as well. The one paramount thing that is stressed to children is the importance of their education. Even the most crowded house or apartment will have plenty of study room for the children. Birth control and abortion are not as controversial in Japan as in the United States because the size of families is often dictated by how much a family can afford to educate their children more than anything else (to be fair, neither birth control or abortion is a hot-button issue; neither Shinto or Buddhism have any restrictions on either of them, and Japan has rather lax abortion laws that are not even enforced; further, there is virtually no teenage pregnancy problem). As far as discipline, corporal punishment is almost unheard of; this is not because they have anti-spanking laws like Sweden (they do not), but rather traditionally persuasion has been seen to be better than force in disciplining children. The main motive used is shame. "People won't like you if you act that way" seems to be more effective to Japanese parents than hitting the buttocks with a belt. Also, whereas American parents often ground their children, Japanese children who misbehave are often locked out of their homes (like Usagi was on the very first episode of "Sailor Moon"). Frankly, most Japanese feel that the Western method of corporal punishment is repugnant and brutal. This is not to say that corporal punishment doesn't occur at times; it was quite frequent during the militarist rule of World War II. Japanese teens are not as unruly as their American peers. Problems with drugs and alcohol are almost unknown, though teen smoking has been somewhat of a problem (Japan, not necessarily undeveloped, is one of the American tobacco companies' biggest foreign markets; this has been the case since the Japanese government eased its monopolistic control over tobacco in the 1980's). Further, the "bosozuku" or "speed tribes" of motorcycling youths are not like the Hell's Angels or Banditos in the U.S.; most are just enthusiastic about motorcycling and commit no worse crimes than breaking the speed limit. Japanese youths rebel in other ways, mainly in trying to alter their school uniforms or even dying their hair! Of course, at the universities, especially during the 1960's, there are still the occasional protests. e. Individuals vs. Groups One distinguishing hallmark of Japanese society is the stress of the group. Even in government there is a stress on group leadership; even in shogunal times the shogun often had his advisors, and Gen. Tojo was merely the hub holding the military leadership together in World War II (when things began to go badly for Japan, he meekly resigned the prime ministership). Most individual think of themselves as part of a company or of a family or of a community rather then as a single person. However, one should be careful to assign a "herd mentality" to the Japanese. There are ample opportunities for Japanese to prove their individuality. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their literature; often authors write of their own struggles against what they feel to be a "conformist" society (one Japanese author, Yasunari Kawabata, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, one of his stories, "The Izu Dancer", can be seen in anime form in the series "Animated Classics of Japanese Literature" from Central Park Media).; the two well-known Japanese poetry styles--the seventeen syllable Haiku and the thirty-one syllable tanka--have also served as forums of individual expression. f. Hierarchy The Japanese concept of hierarchy is a bit different from most. Certainly, in the feudal past, there was the powerful elite at the top down to the peasant farmers at the bottom, but the combined effects of the Meiji Restoration reforms as well as World War II and thereafter have changed that; by the end of the war most wealth was eliminated, and inheritance taxes are pretty stiff (it's not unusual for a CEO of a major firm to "adopt" someone to take over the business when he retires). Most Japanese, if asked, say that they're middle class. Thus hierarchy has taken on a "vertical" rather than a "horizontal" orientation. Usually this is achieved by groups, with a clearly defined leader and followers. It should be noted, however, that leaders usually have a rather symbolic role and that actual authority or carrying out the business of a group may rest with some high-ranking junior officers or middle management. Thus a Japanese person says he's a company man rather than being in the middle class. No where is hierarchy better known to the American otaku than in education. Upperclassmen, or "sempai", have considerable authority over their "kohai" or underclassmen, though the type of bullying seen in such anime as "Oh! My Goddess" or "Hre is Greenwood" is quite rare (there has been a bullying problem in the Japanese educational system, but much of that is do to students acting differently than others; the Japanese are now only beginning to address this problem). This is different from the American situation, where it seems we've all heard stories of how the dumb jocks pick on the smart nerds and treat them like outcasts a/la/our heroine, Daria Morgendorffer. ***************************************************************** ******************** This is more or less a basic description of Japan in general. As stated, I highly encourage everyone out there to read Mr. Reischauer and Dr Levi's books that I have mentioned. And now for. . . ***************************************************************** ******************** PART 2: THE IN-JOKES! ***************************************************************** ******************** As stated, the in-jokes are described by the data or chapter they're in. The use of "data" instead of chapters is in itself an in-joke; some anime series like "Cyber City Oedo 808" and "The Guyver" are divided up into data instead of episodes. The title of this story is in itself a pun of sorts; it's a pun on the episode "The Misery Chick" as well as "Sailor Senshi". ***************************************************************** ******************** Author's Disclaimer "So there": If you've ever seen the movie "Airplane!", in the statement in the closing credits that states that copying the film is a Federal offense subject to criminal prosecution (yadda, yadda, yadda), after that, there are the words "So there." Next time you see that film, look very carefully for it. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 1: Ebon Genesis Sweet Adeline Data Title: The title of this data is a pun on the title of the anime series "Neon Genesis Evangeleon" from the legendary GAINEX studios. "A brown octopus": Often in American World War II propaganda, the military government of Japan was depicted as a greedy octopus trying to grab all of Asia with its tentacles; there was one good cartoon where the American eagle attacks such an octopus. "Shaolin Temple": This famed temple (which does exist, by the way) does teach their monks the martial arts style of kung fu; it was mentioned in the 1970's cult classic TV series "Kung Fu" (it gets mentioned later in Data 16). "Chang Ryu": One of the most common in-jokes in anime are characters that look vaguely familiar to other anime characters (i.e. Mari the bully from "Project A-ko" looking like Kenshiro from "Fist of the North Star"). I've tried a verbal approach to this. Ryu was named in honor of Ryu from "Street Fighter". "Amazana Yoriko": Yoriko's last name is a pun on "Amazon", the fabled female warrior tribe of Greek mythology; anime has quite a few of them like Shampoo from "Ranma 1/2" and A-ko (her mother is supposed to be Wonder Woman, herself an Amazon). "New Imperial Rule Assistance Association": It wasn't until the militarists were in control that they attempted to form some political organization. In 1940, all political parties were ordered to join an organization known as the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. This organization, however, was not as cohesive or as well-organized as the Italian Fascists or the German Nazis were. "With a deft movement. . .pack up her briefcase": This is one of several references to Project A-ko I make in the story. In the first film, when we first meet A-ko, she wakes up late for school, takes off her nightshirt and races to her closet--wearing nothing but her panties--to grab a bra. "Akbar el-Salaam/Allah Akbar": "Allah Akbar" is Arabic for "Allah (God) is great", thus Akbar's name is an ironic pun. "Torymura Keiichi": I named him after Morisato Keiichi from "Oh! My Goddess" and the last name is sort of a pun on "Dragon Ball" creator Akira Toryama. "Nagai Kenji": In this case, I named the Governor of Tokyo-to after controversial anime creator Go Nagai, responsible for "Shameless School","Mazenger Z" (known as "TranZor Z" here; it was the first of the "transforming robot" shows); "Kekko Kamen"; "Cutey Honey" ; "Violence Jack" and "Devilman". "Linda Lovelace": Of course, she was the star of the famous (or infamous, depending on your politics on the subject) pornographic film "Deep Throat". "Red miniskirt": That was my favorite scene from "The Lab Brat": Quinn showing up in her living room wearing that red miniskirt and trying to seduce Kevin. I especially like the shot where you see Kevin and you see Quinn's back and legs. It kind of reminded me of that famous scene in "The Graduate" where Dustin Hoffman's character is seeing those legs. "Ashley Judd": In the 1998 Academy Awards, Ashley, daughter of Naomi Judd and sister of Wynnona Judd (I'm not going to call her just by that first name; there's too many one-name performers as it is already!) showed up in a high-slitted dress, and everyone thought she wasn't wearing any underwear! "Larry Flint": Of course, the controversial publisher of "Hustler" magazine and the subject of the film "The People vs. Larry Flint". "Gee, Commander. . .take over Lawndale": I couldn't resist spoofing the opening of "Pinky and the Brain"; you know, where Pinky asks, "Gee, Brain, what are we going to do tonight?", and Brain responds by saying, "The same thing we do every night, Pinky: TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!" NARF! ZORT! ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 2: Ms. Morgendorffer Goes to Tokyo Data title: OK, OK, I'll admit it: it's a pun on the Frank Capra film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" with Jimmy Stewart. "Since the last time. . .changed your mind": In the "R" season of Sailor Moon, Ami was accepted for her pre-med studies in Germany but changed her mind about going when the Four Sisters attacked an ice cream stand and tried to deep freeze some people; that episode aired here as "Sailor Mercury--Moving On?"(if you look very carefully when she steps out of the taxi when she arrives at the airport, the main terminal is clearly marked in both Japanese and English as New Tokyo International Airport, the official name for Narita Airport, which is in the town called Narita in Chiba-ken). "Mamoru had dumped me": Shortly after Chibi-Usa's arrival in the "R" season, Mamoru had an awful vision of The future Neo-Queen Serenity (Usagi) being attacked by the Wiseman and the Four Sisters and decided to break up with her for their safety (Usagi took it in her usual manner; she collapsed into a phone booth and cried; that has to be one of the most dramatic animated sequences ever made); that episode aired here as "The Cosmetic Caper"; they eventually got back together again (at least in the Japanese version; American audiences were left hanging after DIC pulled the plug on the show and will still be left hanging unless those 17 extra episode they made for Canada ever get brought over here). "I've got small breasts": In a recent issue of "Cracked" magazine, they did a spoof of "Daria" called "Duncia"; in the spoof Daria/Duncia moans that she's short and has small breasts (she also complained about being drawn in the "Beavis and Butt- Head" style). It's also a jab at the "R" episode called "Steal Mamoru's Kiss! Ann's Snow White Strategy" (which aired here as "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall"), where Makoto says that she deserves the role of Snow White because she has the biggest breasts of the five Sailor Senshi (DIC, bowing to stupid American censorship rules, recast the line so that Lita says that she deserves the role because she has the most talent). OK, let's admit it, Daria does seem a bit flat-chested, but they seemed to give her some bust when she done herself up as Quinn towards the end of "Quinn the Brain" and you can see some bust on her in the makeovers of her as a gymnast and as a "Baywatch" lifeguard in the closing credits (my personal favorite makeover: Daria in a 60's go-go miniskirt and go-go boots). "Hamada Ieyasu": I named him after Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun who inaugurated the isolationist Tokugawa feudal period of Japan. "Hi no Tori": This is Japanese for "Phoenix" or "Firebird". It's also an in-joke on Tezuka Osamu; his great manga epic was called "Hi no Tori" and spanned from the ancient past to the far future. So far, only two parts have been made into films: the live action "Phoenix", which covers the part of the story set in prehistoric Japan, and the anime "Phoenix 2772: Love's Cosmic Zone" (also known as "Space Firebird"); which is set in the very far future. It's also a pun on some of the Japanese moon legends that inspired Takeuchi-sensei's creation of "Sailor Moon"; one legend states that the White Hare of Inaba stole some immortality pills and hid out on the moon. (Tsukino Usagi means "Moon Rabbit" in Japanese; most overseas versions of the show have her called Bunny [as well as MixxZine's translation of the manga], but DIC opted to call her Serena here because its derived from Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon). "Morita Dojo": I named the dojo (or martial arts school) after Pat Morita, who played Arnold on "Happy Days" and the martial arts instructor on "The Karate Kid" films (he did narration on the historical anime film "Great Conquest: The Romance of Three Kingdoms"). "Heated dinner table/rice cooker": These are two uniquely Japanese items that almost every house or apartment have there; it's a joke on the old American political promise of "A chicken in every pot". ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 3: Enter Sailor Misery Chick "Magami Eiko": Another "Project A-ko" reference. Unfortunately, A-ko has the same habit of waking up late for school as Usagi does; however, she does have the advantage of having superhuman speed (much to C-ko's consternation!). "Ms. S": I admit this was a carryover from the American version of "Sailor Moon". In that version, the girls' junior high school English teacher is called Patricia Haruna, and Serena calls her "Ms. H". "Duke Nukem 3D": In this videogame, Duke, the hero, has as one of his weapons a "Freezethrower", which shoots freezing water and turns any foe to ice; then you can go up to the creep and kick him to ice cubes. Daria had this in mind when she froze the crooks. "Your face, your ass, what's the difference!": Duke actually says that in the game. "Bob Schulz": This person, who lives in Fort Ann, New York, heads the All-County Taxpayers' Association. He's been known to file various frivolous lawsuits against New York State to stop various government projects because he feels that all his tax money's being funneled to New York City (which is a complete lie, by the way). Interesting Howard Stern trivia: Schulz was chosen to be the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of New York State in 1994 after Stern dropped out because he wouldn't reveal his tax returns. In 1997, Schulz led an unsuccessful campaign to hold a constitutional convention in New York State; if he had it his way, welfare would be abolished and the Adirondack Park opened to clear-cut logging (as well as New York City and Long Island being left crippled financially so as to save Schulz's precious Upstate way of life). He also has his own radio talk show which originates from AM 590 WROW in Albany, New York; I don't know if its syndicated or not, but at least he has something else in common with Stern: both shows should be banned by the FCC for having obscene materiel in them. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 4: Jihad at 25,000 Feet Data title: This is a pun on the "Terror at 25,000 Feet" episode of "The Twilight Zone"; that episode had William Shatner (later to play Capt. James T. Kirk on the original "Star Trek") as a passenger who thinks he sees a gremlin wrecking the plane he's traveling on; everyone else, of course, thinks he's nuts. Yosof Islam/Cat Stevens: In 1979, Cat Stevens, whose "Morning Has Broken" was his biggest hit, retired from music when he fully converted to Islam and adopted his present name; unfortunately he took a lot of heat for taking Khomeini's side in the controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" was condemned by Khomeini as being blasphemous to Islam. Recently, Islam cut a new album whose proceeds are to go to Islamic children in the former Yugoslavia who have been ravaged by the ethnic warfare there. "Asahi TV": This was the network in Japan that "Sailor Moon" originally aired on! It was also the home of "Dragon Ball"; if you look very carefully during the episodes of "Dragon Ball Z" during the big fight between the Earth Special Forces and the Sayans, the camera crew has "AHO" on the backs of their jackets; this stands for the Japanese name for "Asahi Broadcasting Corporation". ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 5: The NIRAA Strikes! "gaijin-shojo": "gaijin" is Japanese for "foreigner", while "shojo" is Japanese for girl; thus Gen. Torymura is calling Daria a "foreign-girl". "HUD": This technical term stands of "Head-Up Display". This device is essentially a transparent computer monitor inside the cockpit which serves as a targeting mechanism for both machine guns and missiles for most jet fighters. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 6: Enter the Solar Warrior "Ty Cobb": There's been some controversy surrounding this song from Soundgarden, which appeared on their final album, 1996's "Down on the Upside". Some fans feel that the song is about the infamous Detroit Tigers outfielder who had a reputation for brawling (this was depicted rather well in the 1994 film "Cobb", with Tommy Lee Jones playing the title role). The band was rather loud in its insistence that the song has nothing to do with him, but I feel that it does. Besides, I keep having a recurring nightmare where Ty Cobb is chasing me with a big baseball bat while screaming "FUCK YOU! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOUR BRAINS OUT WITH MY BAT!" There might be some deep Freudian meaning to all this, but I'll leave it to you amateur psychoanalysts to figure it out. "Apocalypse Now/The End/Ride of the Valkyries": Of course, in Francis Ford Coppola's famed 1979 film, The Door's song "The End" (which, co-incidentally, is the final song on their 1967 debut album) figured prominently in the plot, as well as Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" from his opera "Das Valkyrie" from his "Ring of the Nibelung" tetralogy, which played in the film's famous scene of a Vietnam village being hit with napalm (and Robert Duvall's character saying "God, how I love the smell of burning napalm in the morning!", which I lampoon in my first Tokyo bombing scene). I remember when PBS aired the entire "Ring" tetralogy in 1990, and my mother watched the whole damn thing; she drove me nuts with her singing all week! I was tempted to buy a T-shirt that said "I survived 'The Ring Tetralogy!'" "Cornhulio": In "Beavis and Butt-Head" (where Daria originated), whenever Beavis ate too much sugar, he pulled his shirt over his head, went spastic, shook his fists and went "AAAAAAAAA! I AM THE GREAT CORNHULIO! YOU WILL GIVE ME TEE PEE FOR MY BUNG HOLE!" It just made him more stupid than he already was. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 7: Black Saturday at Lawndale Data Title: This is a double pun. It's a pun on the titles of two films: the Western "Bad Day at Black Rock" and the disaster film "Black Sunday" (Which I make reference to later on). "Jesse began to strum. . .'Peace, dudes!'': Mystik Spiral's performance of the National Anthem was inspired from Jimi Hendrix's legendary performance of that song at the original Woodstock concert of 1969. Well, almost; in Hendrix's version, after "Gave proof through the night/That our flag was still there", he played "Taps". "Two-Face": Anyone who's read the Golden Age "Batman" stories can tell you that Two-Face's lucky coin is a double-obverse 1922 Peace Dollar; in the original comic book storyline, DA Harvey Dent was using that as evidence to convict a gangster; the gangster, however, splashed acid on Dent's face, scarring it up. While recovering at the hospital, Dent scratched one side of the coin up, and then used it to make major decisions when he embarked on his criminal career. "'Sailor Moon' fan subbed video sale": This is a bit of an in- joke on an in-joke. In the original Japanese version of "Sailor Moon", sometimes you can see storefronts selling merchandise for other anime, especially "Magic Knight Rayearth". One episode was even set at an amusement park where one of the attractions was a stage show where the hero looked suspiciously like one of the members of the famed "sentai" show "Go Renjaa" ("Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" to you). "Surge Cola Stadium": This is my big "Up yours!" to the recent trend of corporations plastering their names all over sports facilities (you know, Coors Field, Pepsi Arena, Fleet Center, General Motors Place, etc.). If they ever rename Yankee Stadium "Con Ed Stadium" or Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum "Northrup Grumman Arena" or even the Glens Falls Civic Center "Finch Pruyn Arena", I'm taking the next shuttle flight to Mars! "Gabrielle": C'mon, let's admit it, doesn't Quinn look very much like Xena's sidekick, played by Renee O'Connor? It has to be the hairstyle and the bare midriff. I just got hooked on both "Hercules" and "Xena" recently, and I've got a big-time crush on Gabrielle! "Chiller": When I was growing up in the suburban West End of Suffolk County on Long Island, one of the channels we got was WPIX-TV out of New York City (it's now called the WB 11). One of the regular shows it had in the 1970's was a Saturday afternoon (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong) movie show called "Chiller Theater". The show began just as I described it: the hand coming out of a pool of blood, setting out the letters that spelled the name of the show, and an eerie voice saying the name of the show as the hand went back into the pool of blood. That gave me big-time nightmares. "Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko": This is one of my all-time favorite anime. It's about a teenage schoolgirl who writes a song expressing her love for this guy, but then she winds up in a parallel universe and has to stop an invasion of our world. It's pretty well-done, though in the dubbed version everyone has British accents, and in the video I got from The Right Stuf International, the trailer that followed the film was better-looking than the actual film (it didn't seem as dated or worn out). "Daria had the sensation. . .grab a bra": Another homage to that scene from the first "Project A-ko" film, I must confess! "Now I know. . .'Kubla Kahn'": Colleridge was inspired to write his poem when he had an opium-induced dream. However, he was interrupted by an insurance salesman, lost his train of thought, and never got a chance to finish it. "Black Sunday/The Hindenburger": Both films deal with airships. "Black Sunday", which came out in 1977 was about a demented war veteran who steals a blimp and tries to fly it to the Super Bowl in Miami; he intends to kill some spectators by using a dart gun; a Middle-Eastern anti-terrorist agent vows to stop him. The film stars Bruce Dern and Robert Shaw."The Hindenburg" (I mispronounced it because that's what Beavis and Butt-Head probably would have done; however, I do remember seeing a parody called "The Hindenburger" on a Brit-com I only saw once in my entire life; I think it was called "Grandma's Television Station" or something like that. If you remember that series, e-mail me, please!) was a 1975 film with Gig Young, George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, Rene Auberjonis and Burgess Meredith; it was about the 1937 disaster involving the explosion of the famed German dirigible. Believe it or not, the film got roasted on an episode of the 1987 animated series, "Beverly Hills Teens", called "Miracle at the Teen Club". It was essentially a retelling of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" with the teens in the various roles; Buck Huckster was Scrooge and Pierce Thorndyke III was Marley. Pierce said, "We are going to look back at your life to see how became a miser!" Buck said, "Bah, Hindenburg!" Pierce says back "No! We're not going to see that film!" Rumor has it that a new film version is in the works of "The Hindenburg". ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 8: Ami Joins the Free Lawndalers "American rules football player": Since Ami is Japanese, I had to distinguish our game of football from soccer, which the rest of the world calls "football" and even from the Canadian and Australian variants of the game. That's where the Australian version bails me out. They call it "Australian rules football", so I call ours "American rules football". "Burkina Faso": One of my favorite countries with unusual names; it used to be called Upper Volta and is in Africa. The name change was made in 1984 after a military coup; in the native tongue it means "the land of the upright men". "M*A*S*H": OK, OK, it's a visual joke; I used the asterisks like they did for the classic TV series with Alan Alda and Jamie Farr. Just be lucky I didn't throw in the theme song "Suicide is Painless". "She could see Daria. . .snatched Trent from Daria": This is a satire on the scene from the "Sailor Moon" episode that aired here under the title "The Past Returns", which told how Queen Beryl destroyed the Moon Kingdom. "Kunzite": The original Japanese name is used here, he's called Malachite here in the U.S. and in the original Japanese version was homosexual (he had a thing for Zoisite, who was a guy in the Japanese version; DIC got around that by recasting Zoycite as a woman). "Who watches the watchmen?": The Latin saying can be translated like that, though "Who will guard the guards?" or "Who will keep the keepers themselves?" might be better. I chose the translation that I used because it makes reference to the DC Comics mini-series "The Watchmen", and that was used as their advertising slogan. "Somehow, there were. . .Those bastards!"; An all too obvious reference to Comedy Central's controversial animated series "South Park", where Kenny gets killed in every episode and Kyle expresses his shock over his death. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 9: The Neo-Zero Attacks! "Gojira": I decided to use the original Japanese name for Godzilla here. "Tokyo Tower": At over one thousand feet, Tokyo Tower, which is a TV transmitter, is one of the most familiar sights in Tokyo and is the city's (and Japan's) tallest structure. There is an observation deck about half-way up and school field trips often go there (in "Magic Knight Rayearth", Hikaru, Fuu and Umi first meet there as their respective schools were having field trips there). It's seen quite often in anime; you can see it in the background in many scenes of "Sailor Moon". "IFF device": This is short for "Identify-Friend-or-Foe" device. This device helps most jet fighters know what's a friendly craft from an enemy one. A similar device is found on radar for civilian air traffic control; it identifies what carrier and what flight the particular plane is. "Grumman F-14A Tomcats": Being from Long Island originally, and having relatives who once worked for Grumman (now known as Northrup Grumman), I'm proud to include this fine jet fighter in this story. The fighter's logo is an alleycat in a boxing ring, with the motto "Anytime, baby. . .!" below that. Grumman, which was based in Bethpage in Nassau County, also made the F6F Hellcat during World War II, which proved to be more than a match for Japan's Mitsubishi A6M Zero. The company also made the Apollo Lunar Module and the ill-fated Flixible buses the didn't fare too well in New York City (it also made the current version of the U.S. Postal Service truck). "Moonlight Knight/Furuhata Motoki": After the Dark Kingdom was destroyed, Mamoru lost all knowledge of being Tuxedo Mask (much like the Sailor Senshi lost all knowledge of who they were). However, when Ail and Ann arrived, he adopted the disguise of Moonlight Knight; only later on when he realized that the Sailor Senshi were indeed back did he revert to his old Tuxedo Mask identity, only to give that up temporarily when he dumped Usagi at the start of the Four Sisters incident, only to resume that later on in that storyline and for the other three seasons of the series. Motoki was called Andrew in the American version and was a friend of Mamoru, Usagi and the others (Usagi and Makoto once had big-time crushes on him). "The Monks": The Monks were five American ex-servicemen who were living in Germany; they were originally formed as The Five Torquays in 1961. In 1965, the line-up was more or less set, and they adopted their outfit of all-black clothing, rope neckties and tonsured heads (shaved partially bald). The band consisted of: Gary Burger (vocals, guitar); Dave Day (electric banjo); Eddie Shaw (bass); Larry Clark (organ) and Roger Johnston (drums). Their only album was released in 1966 and is called "Black Monk Time". It includes the songs "Monk Time"; "Boys are Boys and Girls are Choice"; "I Hate You"; "Complication"; "Love Came Tumblin' Down" and "Oh How to Do Now". Until 1997, the album was available only as an import item from Polydor Records; in that year, American Recording's Infinite Zero Archive label got the domestic rights to the album and reissued it; it includes seven additional tracks, including four rare A and B sides, a live track and two demos. If you can, find this album; it's pretty good and is still ahead of its time despite being released over thirty years ago. "The Hindenburg": This scene is a parody of a part of the Beavis and Butt-Head book "This Book Sucks!" Co-incidentally, if you look very carefully inside Daria's locker, she's got a picture of the disaster inside the door. "Tom Anderson": He was the old neighbor that Beavis and Butt- Head kept harassing. He, like Beavis and Butt-Head, was voiced by creator Mike Judge (co-incidentally, he sounds much like Hank Hill from Judge's "King of the Hill" series on Fox). ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 10: The Truth About Amazana Yoriko Data Title: This is a parody of "The Truth of Bashtarlle" episode of the "Giant Robo" OAV series. "Dr. Vander Helffen looked at Daria. . .story of my life": This scene is a satire of the passage from George Orwell's "1984" where O'Brien grills Winston Smith in the torture room of the Ministry of Love. Take it from me, Dr. Vander Helffen would believe that two and two equals five if that could advance his arguments. "Master Kung": The actual Chinese name of Confucius is Kung Fu- tzu; Confucius is the Latinized rendition of that name. He is always called Master Kung by East Asian persons. "Ultra Soldier": This is a parody of the "Super Soldier" formula used to create Captain America. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 11: The Solar Warrior's Origins "Terra": Anyone who's a die-hard Trekkie will know that Terra is the technical catalog name for Earth (like Sol is the technical catalog name for the Sun); the names are used by alien races in the Federation. "Mecha-Dominion": This is a double parody. It makes fun of two "Star Trek" adversaries: the Borg from "Next Generation" and the Dominion of "Deep Space Nine". "The needle! The needle! THE NEEDLE! THE NEEDLE!": In "Beavis and Butt-Head", whenever the subject of capital punishment was brought up, Beavis began to say "The chair! The chair! THE CHAIR! THE CHAIR!" But since in most states electrocution had been replaced by lethal injection, I decided to update Beavis's schtick. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 12: A Desperate Teleportation "Three sliders Scotty always used": On the original "Star Trek" series, when Scotty activated the transporter, he used three sliding control bars that started the teleportation sequence. This was retained in the movies and in the three other TV series by a series of three touch-sensitive buttons that Chief O'Brien or whoever is in charge of the transporters slid their fingers over. "How dare you interrupt . . .introductory speech": Whenever Sailor Moon and/or the Sailor Senshi arrive to kick bad guy ass, they always make an introductory speech. The best example is in the episode "Steal Mamoru's Kiss! Ann's Snow White Strategy" (aired here as "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall"), where some appropriate background scenes are rendered (my favorite, Sailor Venus against a rendition of the famed painting "The Birth of Venus"). ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 13: Crush! Kill! Destroy!, or the Battle of Lawndale Data title: I was inspired for the title of this data from the "Revolt of the Androids" episode of "Lost in Space" where the Robinsons and Dr. Smith face a killer robot named IDAK; he kept saying "Crush! Kill! Destroy!" ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 14: Corlew's Last Stand Data title: This is a pun on "Custer's Last Stand". "Lorena Bobbitt/John Wayne Bobbitt": In the famed 1993 incident, Mr. Bobbitt had his penis cut off by his wife. "St. Eligius": He's the patron saint of metalworkers; his name is also on the Boston hospital that served as the locale for the TV series "St. Elsewhere". "The force of the kick. . .Uncle Phil went the same way!": This is a satire on the climatic scene of the film "The Naked Gun: From the Files of 'Police Squad!'" In that film, Lt. Drebin had just thwarted Ludwig's plot to kill Queen Elizabeth II by using a brainwashed Reggie Jackson and had pursued him to the top of Dodger Stadium. Drebin fired one of his cuff-link bullets, and Ludwig fell to the parking lot, where he was ran over by a bus, a steam roller, and the USC Trojan Marching Band playing The Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie". Drebin's boss goes, "Oh, Frank! It's so horrible! Horrible!" Drebin says, "I know, Ed". The captain then says "My father went the same way!" In essence, it's a double pun; The USC Trojan Marching Band played the brass section part of Fleetwood's 1979 hit "Tusk" (the name of the song was derived for drummer Mick Fleetwood's nickname for an erect penis) in the original studio version and later reprised that part when the song was played on the reunion special "The Dance" on VH1. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 15: Sailor Misery Chick Takes to the Skies "Wouldn't that be like using a pea shooter against an ICBM?": I have Michael J. Pfeffer to thank for this one. This line can also be seen in Gordon Korman's novel "Son of Interflux". "Sailor Moon parked right on top of her": Another "Project A-ko" pun. When A-ko and B-ko fly up to Captain Napopolita's ship to save C-ko, a missile blast separates them, and A-ko falls on top of a jet fighter; the only thing the pilot can see is her buttocks. ***************************************************************** ******************** Data 16: Tokyo Game, Set and Match Data title: There is a famed spy novel trilogy from Len Deighton called "Game, Set and Match". The first part is "Berlin Game"; the second is "Mexico Set"; the third is "London Match". "Tiger and dragon tattoos": In the original "Kung Fu" series, the original Caine got the marks of the Shaolin priesthood by putting his bare arms on a hot brazier where indented marks in the shape of a tiger and a dragon seared into his flesh; the resulting scars indicated his status as a priest. However, if you look closely at the modern-day Caine on "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues", he's got tattoos instead of burn marks. "Kwai Chang Caine": Of course I mean the modern-day Caine from "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" and not the original Caine from the original "Kung Fu" series. "Oni": Oni in Japanese folklore and ogres who are gigantic, have wildly-colored hair, horns, sharp teeth, wear tiger skins, possess superhuman strength, can fly and usually eat humans and rape women. The most famous oni in anime include Lum from "Urusei Yatsura" and the Ogre Slayer. "Murakumo-no-Tsurugi": This sword was used by Susano the Wind God to kill an eight-headed dragon who was about to eat a young girl. He later gave the sword to Amaterasu-Omikami as an apology for making her angry during an early incident (those two had a severe case of sibling rivalry).This legend is alluded to in the beginning of the anime TV series "Blue Seed" in explaining the origins of the shape-shifting alien monsters called the Aragami. "A few days later. . .'BANZAI!' five times;" This scene was loosely modeled after the final scene of the first "Star Wars" film, where Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca and Han Solo receive medals from Princess Leia. To be fair, George Lucas was inspired from a scene from a Nazi propaganda film called "Triumph of the Spirit" when he made this scene. It's quite a common occurrence for one movie scene to inspire another; the shoot-out scene in Chicago's Union Station from "The Untouchables" film with Kevin Costner and Robert Di Niro was modeled after a similar scene from the film "Battleship Potemkin". "Charles Xavier": He's the wheelchair-bound leader of the mutant superhero team the X-Men; his code name is "Professor X". His mutant ability is that he's a pretty strong telepath. ***************************************************************** ******************** And that does it for this appendix. Before I wrap this up, let me just thank a few people: God Almighty (I wouldn't be alive without Him right now); My parents, Diane McNeill and Walter McNeill (they have to put up with my eccentricities); Katherine Goodman, Webmaster, Alt-Lawndale.com (thanks for letting me post this on your site); My late and dear friend, Kristin Graziani, who was very much like Daria herself when we were in high school, and for whom this appendix is dedicated to; I hope you're playing a mean harp up there, Mother Hen; Michael J. Pfeffer, for the tip-off about the "Pea shooters and ICBM's" line; Naoko Takeuchi, creator of "Sailor Moon", for my inspiration for this rather twisted fanfic; Glenn Eichler, creator of "Daria" (never let it be said that nothing good came out of "Beavis and Butt-Head"); Tom Clancy (let's see Jack Ryan top this one!); Martin Luther (a mighty man who built a fortress out of a rock); International Masters Publishers (I got my money's worth already from "Aircraft of the World"); Terri Hawkes (the North American voice of Sailor Moon); Karen Bernstein (the North American voice of Sailor Mercury and sometime executive producer for PBS's "American Masters" documentary series); Tracy Grandstaff (the one and only voice of Daria); Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle from "Xena: Warrior Princess"; man, do I love that bare midriff of hers!); Mamoru Oshii (director, "Patlabor", "Ghost in the Shell", "Urusei Yatsura"; I should have thrown in a basset hound in here somewhere); The Monks ("Boys are boys and girls are choice"); Wendy Hoopes (the voice of Quinn, Helen and Jane; "Kevin, how do you like my skirt?"); Teryl Rothery (the voice of A-ko from "Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group" onward; ask me to e-mail a letter I got from her!); and To everyone like me who was an outcast at high school for some reason or another and had to put up with the abuses of our own Sandies, Kevins, Brittanies, etc.; someday, I can only hope, the world will judge us not by how we look or what problems we have but by the content of our character and the pureness of our soul. ***************************************************************** ******************** "Well, the one thing we did right/Was the day we started to fight!/Keep your eyes on the prize, O Lord!" --Theme from the PBS documentary series "Eyes on the Prize" ***************************************************************** ******************** "Terminat hour diem, terminat author opus" ("The hour ends the day; the author finished his work.") --From "Doctor Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe. FINIS ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Guerin is the author of "The Misery Senshi Neo-Zero Double Blitzkrieg Debacle" (a crossover between "Daria" and "Sailor Moon"); "Triumph of the Retart" and "One Man's Trash. . ." (his Daria" crossover with the 70's sitcom "Sanford and Son"). Besides being a fan of "Daria" and "Sailor Moon", Peter is also a big fan of other anime such as "Project A-ko", "Gunsmith Cats", "You're Under Arrest!", "Samurai Pizza Cats", and "Here is Greenwood". He also likes other American animated efforts like "Spider-Man"; "X-Men"; "Silver Surfer"; "South Park"; "Tiny Toon Adventures"; "Animaniacs"; "Pinky and the Brain"; and the old Loony Tunes cartoons. Born in 1968 in Bay Shore, New York, Peter graduated from Connetquot High School in Bohemia, New York, in 1987 and received his Associate's Degree in Business Administration from Adirondack Community College in Queensbury, New York, in 1994. He currently lives in Hudson Falls, New York with his mother, stepfather and elder stepbrother. Besides his interest in anime, Peter also likes such live-action TV programs as "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (he especially likes the episodes with "The Bishop" and "Njorl's Saga" sketches in them [remember to invest in Malden!]); all four "Star Trek" TV shows (though he wonders to this day why they'd chose Mrs. Columbo to command "Voyager"); "Sanford and Son"; "Hogan's Heroes"; "The Flip Wilson Show"; "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess" (he admits he's got a thing for Gabrielle and her bare midriff of hers!). He also likes the film "Colossus: The Forbin Project," from whence he got one of his e-mail handles. Peter also like some music, especially Garbage (he's got a thing for Shirley Manson and her miniskirt and go-go boot get-ups); The Monks ("It's Beat Time! It's Hop Time! IT'S MONK TIME NOW!"); Fleetwood Mac ("Tusk!");Rage Against the Machine ("Rally 'round tha family with a pocket full of shells!"); Splendora ("You're standing on my neck!") and REM ("What's the frequency, Kenneth?"). By the way, PLEASE NEVER, NEVER, under any circumstances, play Italian music around him; it depresses him to no end! Peter himself suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), the same affliction that David MacAllister suffers from in "Triumph of the 'Retart'"; in fact, the story is semi-autobiographical; Peter himself ran for Student Government President in his junior year and lost by sixteen votes, the closest such election in the school's history. As for his future plans for fanfic, Peter has an idea for a Daria/Hercules/Xena crossover as well as a story that is going to be a mega-crossover (we're talking "Marvel Secret Wars" big here!) that essentially will be a spoof of Albany, New York's Tulip Fest and Hudson Falls' Sandy Hill Days involving "Daria", "Heathcliff," "Beverly Hills Teens" (Bianca Dupree is more sinister than J. R. Ewing and Alexis Carrington-Colby combined, at least in his opinion), "Cats and Company" and "Inspector Gadget", as well as a Daria/Bishop crossover. Among the other weird crossovers he has in mind also include one that would feature Penelope Pitstop, Dick Dastardly, Muttley, Klunk, Zilly, Yankee Doodle Pigeon, the Hooded Claw and the Ant Hill Mob from the Hanna-Barberra "Wacky Races/Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines/Perils of Penelope Pitstop" saga as well as Speed Racer; the tentative title is going to be "Lawndale Death Race 00". He also plans to do some involving "Hogan's Heroes" (it won't be a lame-o time travel thing; it'll be set in the present, and you will see some changes in Hogan, Klink and the others) as well as one involving "Project A-ko" and "Colossus: The Forbin Project". Peter can be reached at either DocForbin@Hotmail.com.; DickMarino@Yahoo.com; PeterThree@MailExcite.com or Harmacy@MailCity.com. Please e-mail him. That would make him very happy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------