The real "Last Samurai "
Topic: Media
Quixotic presidential bid by scion of samurai?
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 10 (IHT/Asahi: March 11, 2004)
Irina Hakamada, a candidate in next Sunday's Russian presidential election, likes to wear black. She calls herself 'a scion of samurai,'' and the media has labeled her the 'Samurai Lady.''....
.... Hakamada stands out. She is a vocal critic of the government, charging that Russia has become a society that keeps itself together by falsehood and terror. ... In her campaign speeches, she says, ``Don't keep silent. Let us raise our voices.'' Failing to do so, she warns, could bring a return to the Soviet era.
Her father was Mutsuo Hakamada, a deceased former member of the Japanese Communist Party, who sought asylum in the Soviet Union in the days when being a member of the party was enough to earn the death penalty in Japan. (?!)

(I can't say whether that statement is true about the death penalty for being a Commie, it sounds "off" to me).

Take a leak, take a 1.6 kiloliter leak
Topic: Japanese life
Ohhhh, I gotta take a leak.
This is near where I sea kayak every summer break during OBON.
Ehime reactor leaks 1.6 tons of radioactive coolant water
The Japan Times / March 10
MATSUYAMA, Ehime Pref. (Kyodo) About 1.6 tons of radioactive coolant water poured Tuesday morning from a pump at the No. 3 reactor of the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Electric Power Co. said.

Live action CUTIE HONEY film
Topic: Media
Ok, here a good one....CUTIE HONEY is now gonna be a live action film.


http://www.cutiehoney.com/

Hot and new Cutie Honey

    VS

        Old-school Cutie Honey

Congrads you're a BUCHO: now work for free
Topic: Japanese life

TokyoNow: Nearly everyone's a manager at this company
Tuesday March 9, 7:30 AM / Kyodo
Half of the 60 or so full-time employees of a manufacturing company in the Tokai region of central Japan hold managerial positions, which strangely enough, saves the company money.
Initially, the company aggressively persuaded more than a dozen union members in 1999 to become managers, telling them that management could not afford to pay them overtime.

And Japanese call this
Topic: Japanese life
It's that time of year again. The TV "news" constists of nothing but blithering about blooming. ARRRRG! We got to put chicken wire around the TV to protect it from me throwing things at it when the "Flower Front fake news comes on again and AGAIN! ARRRRG!

This is NOT news.

'Sakura' set to blossom early
Japan Times, March 9
It set off a flurry of phone calls to weather officials. The big story: Japan may be on its way to one of its earliest cherry blossom seasons ever. ...


<---translation of the haiku on the right
Without seeing cherry trees
Middie-aged men forget depreession
Got drunk and become alcoholic.

Even the magnolia in Japan lack something
Topic: Japanese life
It was snowing yesterday but today the magnolia is blooming. Oddly, the magnolia in Japan does not have the cloying scent like my grandma's COZY INN in Hot Springs Arkansas. This time of the year you cut the air with a butter knife it was so thick with magnolia fragrance. You view the picture of the magnolia and other dorky flowers in bloom here.

Robo soapland for the elderly: 'I like both ways'
Topic: Japanese Tech
Ok, this ain't "news" except to hard-up-for-a-story gaijin reporter but it's still interesting. I've actually had this done to me in the J-hospital 8 years ago by some very bored night nurses as entertainment...their washing maching had 6 portholes in the sides that they reached into to scrub my various bits in addition to the auto-soap job.

Japan elderly take spin in people-washing machines
NT Times / March 7
MACHIDA, Japan -- With an electronic whir, the machine released a dollop of "peach body shampoo." Then as the cleansing action kicked in....
...a littl more hot water, please?". Futuristic images of elderly Japanese going through rinse cycles in rows of washing machines may evoke chills. t ... Several elderly women living in Katsura-ryo said they rather enjoyed their robotic baths.
"It automatically washes my body, so I am quite happy about it," said Kuni Kikuchi, an 88-year-old.... "These bubbles are good for the massage effect."....Eiko Suzuki, 73, generally agreed, saying: "I like both ways. "

Bird Flu Suspected in Deaths of 10,000 Chickens at Kyoto Farm
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040227p2a00m0dm001001c.html

Chairman of farm that suffered bird flu outbreak in Japan commits suicide
The Star, Malaysia - 8 March
TOKYO (AP) - The chairman of a Japanese poultry farm that suffered an outbreak of bird flu last month and his wife were found hanged on one of their farms ...

TARO COMMENT
Since life insurance pays for suicides, ChickenMan and Okaasan were must likely trying to make their children's lives better and debt free by doing this. In Japanese eyes, traditionalists would say they made the best sacrifice for their kids. See also...""Okaasan, ya wanna hang out with me?"

Aliens have landed!

Black ships outside the city!
Pale aliens with long proboscises present their demands

Today in History - March 8
Associated Press
On March 8, 1854, US Commodore Matthew C. Perry made his second landing in Japan; within a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese. ...

A Mexican in a skirt beats Japan's champion boxer for WBA title
Topic: Japanese life
Did anybody see on TV this cute Mexican flag skirt that this boxer was wearing when he took the title from the Japanese champ?

AP News
"...champion Hideki Todaka, left, and Mexico's challenger Julio Zarate fight during the World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight title match in Saitama north of Tokyo, Saturday, March 6, 2004. Zarate defeated Todaka by 2-1.... "

Never bet on a snoring sumo
Wrestling With Sleep Apnea
From: About Sleep Disorders / march 6
A while ago I wrote an article about the number of football players who suffer from sleep apnea. Now another study, this one conducted in the Douai Memorial Hospital in Tokyo, reveals that many Sumo wrestlers also suffer Sleep Apnea... if the wrestler suffers from obstructive sleep apnea, he lacks the concentration needed for the sport. This may be causing injuries. Apnea is also causing wrestlers to lose more matches than is normal or to miss tournaments.

Why the Peace Sign in all Japanese photos?
Topic: adviceS
"Edoolittle" on March 5, 2004 07:19 PM wrote in the Conclave Project...
Q: "So What is up with the two digit peace sign and why is it so cool?"


A:
It was introduced to Japanese via hippy 60s and the Viet Nam War (and in an odd way the 5th Beatle, Yoko Ono promoted it). Since Japanese like to PRETEND to be pacifists, it stuck.

Posted by trek/taro at 11:28 PM JST
Updated: Saturday, March 6, 2004 11:46 PM JST
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