TOKYOMANGO

Get your hand-printed limited edition TokyoMango t-shirt now (2 weeks only)

My friend Ben and I made a test run of TokyoMango t-shirts on Saturday. They're really nice, do you want one? If so, you can buy one here. Below are the details:

- All shirts are 100% cotton.
- Each t-shirt will be hand-silk screened by me and Ben on his Yudu machine. The shirt logo was custom-designed by Ben. Mango design courtesy of my web designer James.
- The Women's tees come in a t-shirt style (pistacio and white) and a spaghetti strap ribbed tank (yellow).
- The Men's tees come in orange and white. In the pic above, Ben is actually accidentally wearing a girl's tee, but you get the idea... the sleeves will be more manly on the one you get.
- You can choose a custom colored tee for $25. Just shoot me an email with your preference after you place the order.
- The sizes tend to run a little big (except for the tanktops). They might shrink in the wash.
- Some of you will receive a free surprise Japanese toy or gadget with your t-shirt! I'm just gonna randomly stick them into bags, so keep an eye out.
- We're taking orders over the next two weeks only, at least for this first printing. They'll ship at the end of those two weeks, when Ben & I will silkscreen them by hand.
- Last day to order is Monday, October 5th.

UPDATE: T-shirts are no longer for sale. Maybe we'll do another round sometime!

Obama's bow to emperor pisses off conservatives

Some conservatives are pissed off that President Obama bowed at the emperor and empress during his visit to Japan this week. I'm not sure I agree with them. I think they might be thinking of the bow as a subservient gesture, whereas it should probably best be interpreted as the standard form of formal greeting in Japan, much like the handshake in America.

Link

Koizumi makes voice actor debut with Ultraman flick

Schwarzenegger stumbled into politics after his Hollywood career peaked, but former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi is just getting his debut in acting — he'll be voicing the part of a minor superhero in an upcoming Ultraman flick called MegaMonster Battle Ultra Galaxy.

Politician's porn past raises questions of aptitude

This is a clip from a porn horror film called Blind Beast v. Killer Dwarf, based on a novel by Edogawa Ranpo (he's kinda like the Japanese version of Edgar Allan Poe). It stars Mieko Kikuchi, aka Mieko Tanaka, a Democratic Party of Japan member. I don't think there's anything wrong with politicians having a porn past, but an article in the Global Post raises an interesting question of whether the contingency of female politicians in the DPJ are truly qualified to hold official positions, or if it's just a PR stunt.

Link (via Hiroko Tabuchi's Twitter)

Ex-finance minister found dead at his home

Former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa, a 56-year old Tokyo native who made headlines earlier this year when he made some embarrassing drunken public appearances in Italy, was found dead in his home today. The cause of death has not been announced yet, but his wife discovered him lying face down on the bed hours after he had passed. His father was also a politician and a heavy drinker who died around the same age; he had committed suicide in Hokkaido in 1983 at age 57. I'll update the post as we find out more about the exact cause of death.

via NY Times

Related stories:
Ex-minister Nakagawa accosted Vatican statue, set off alarms
Finance minister's public intoxication signals need for change
New cell phone game pokes fun at the drunken ex-finance minister

Hatoyama's wife flies in UFOs, meets Tom Cruise, chomps on the sun

Ladies and gents, meet the soon-to-be first couple of Japanese politics, Mr. and Mrs. Yukio Hatoyama. Miyuki, the wife, is quite an interesting character &mdash she used to be a Takarazuka actor, is an excellent cook, and authored a book called Very Strange Things I've Encountered. In it, she writes about a journey she took on a UFO:

While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus. It was a very beautiful place and it was really green.

Another one of the very strange things she claims to have encountered is actor Tom Cruise. Apparently, Cruise used to be Japanese in his past life, and that's why they met. Who knew?

Mrs. Hatoyama also admittedly likes to chomp on the sun for energy. MSNBC reports:

"I also eat the sun," Hatoyama said on the program, looking up with her eyes closed, raising her arms high as if she was tearing pieces off an imaginary sun. "Like this, hum, hum, hum. It gives me enormous energy."

Interesting lady!

New leading party may provide cash incentive to people raising kids

The Democratic Party, which takes power soon, is proposing to give Japanese families $300 per month per child through junior high school to help combat the aging shrinking population problem:

The DPJ is promising Japan's 100 million voters it will grab money away from bureaucrats and redistribute it to them. Topping their woo-list is a pledge to pay a $300 benefit per child per month to families. Another $10 billion dollars in subsidies will go to the nation's farmers. Other sugarcoated policies include the abolition of expressway road tolls and the removal of a gasoline tax used to fund new highway construction.

Link (Thanks, Alyssa!)

Five facts about the prime minister-to-be Yukio Hatoyama

Here are five quick facts about Yukio Hatoyama, the guy who will be replacing Taro Aso as prime minister:

1. He's a 4th-generation politician hailing from a family sometimes referred to as the Kennedys of Japan.
2. His maternal grandfather founded and inherited Bridgestone.
3. He has a PhD in managerial engineering from Stanford.
4. The Washington Post describes him as "stiff, shy and very rich."
5. Unlike Taro Aso, he can read and write the Japanese language. We hope.

Related posts:
Aso tells poor young people not to get married
Aso and Obama's cheesy happy handshake photo
Taro "I can't read kanji" Aso publicly proves incompetence in Japanese language
Aso to be featured in erotic video game
Aso depicted as a local hero in Akihabara
Japanese politics: The man who can explain it all and make you laugh

Aso tells poor young people not to get married

Taro Aso is getting some heat for a statement he made about money and marriage in front of a group of young Tokyoites on Sunday night. Here's an excerpt of what he said:

If you don't have money, you'd better not get married... Marriage isn't something that you do because you have money and you don't do because you don't have money. It depends on each individual. However, you can't be confident unless you earn a living. It's difficult for you to be respected if you don't earn money.

Some youngsters found this offensive since they're struggling really hard to find work but can't. I see his point about people gaining respect by earning money, but I don't necessarily think that has to be a prerequisite for marriage.

Link

The Happiness Realization Party

Japanese politics has been dominated by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party for half a century, but every once in a while there are these small radical-sounding parties that take a stab at leadership positions. One of the most recent is the Happiness Realization Party. They've just published their manifesto in English this month, which includes goals like a new constitution, reduced taxes, protection against North Korean missiles, and the realization of true happiness.

The Happiness Realization Party is actually the political offshoot of a new religious group called Happy Science, which might be something similar to Scientology, though I don't know for sure.

Link (Thanks, Ted!)

Read more about Japanese politics on TokyoMango's politics channel.

Learn to speak English with Barack Obama's speeches

My mom tells me that one of the most popular English-language learning books on the market right now is this "Speeches of Barack Obama" booklet set, which includes a page-by-page translation of Obama's iconic speeches throughout the years &mdash his keynote at the Democratic National Congress in 2004, his battles at the primaries, and his acceptance speech among them. The booklet also includes a CD of the actual speeches by the president. At 1000 yen ($10), it's way cheaper than enrolling in an English lesson taught by amateurs at Gaba, and who better to learn how to speak English than the president in all his motivational oratory glory! Also worth noting that the publisher, Asahi Press, didn't have to pay anybody for the rights to his speeches nor to write original content, so this is just a huge profit-making venture.

Lords of the Samurai, a must-see exhibit in San Francisco, opens Friday

San Francisco's Asian Art Museum has a special Samurai exhibit starting on Friday. It's the private collection belonging to former prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa, who comes from a famous samurai family that dates back 700 years. Hosokawa is the 26th generation.

I went to the media preview and met Mr. Hosokawa in person, which was cool! I remember when he was prime minister &mdash I was a kid, but I liked him instantly because he kinda looks like my dad. He was one of the only post-war PMs who was not a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He also happens to be a talented ceramicist, and has some his art work on display, too.

The collection includes 6,000 items from the Hosokawa clan's possessions, including armor, samurai swords, and costumes from the times of Miyamoto Musashi. In fact, the exhibit includes original artifacts that belonged to Musashi, like his dual-length wooden swords. Amazing.

The museum will also be hosting fun events on Thursday nights starting next week for those of you who want some nightlife mixed in with viewing art. A must-see if you're in SF between June 12 and September 20.

Exhibit main page

Iowa senator urgest AIG execs to commit suicide Japanese-style

Charles Grassley is a Republican Iowa senator, and he's angry. Angry at AIG execs for paying themselves $165 million in bonuses even after the federal bailout; something even Prez Obama opposes. Instead of trying to paraphrase, let me just quote him:

...the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide.And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology.

Hmmm. Okay. Later, the guy's spokesperson explained that Grassley didn't actually want the AIG peeps to commit suicide; he simply wanted them to take responsibility. But he still maintained that the Japanese have a tendency to commit suicide.

There's a major distinction that Grassley should be aware of here—Japanese execs who fuck up kill themselves when they feel that their shame is too heavy for them to carry on living; in the AIG case, clearly the execs are acting completely shameless even after all the screwing up they did.

Link

Restaurant features sushi that looks like Obama

President Obama has officially become a sushi menu item. Apparently, you can get this at a Japanese restaurant in Washington, DC called Perry's.

Tokyo Sushi Academy via AltJapan

Aso and Obama's cheesy happy handshake photo

Taro Aso's a lucky guy. He isn't all that smart, and he barely reads Japanese, but he got to be the first foreign dignitary to meet Barack Obama since he became president. Why do they always take this cheesy happy handshake photo? Click through for a cheesy handshake photo of Taro Aso with Hillary Clinton.

New cell phone game pokes fun at the drunken ex-finance minister

A hilarious new invention by Tokyo start-up Liveware Inc parodies Shoichi Nakagawa's drunken stupor at the G7 conference in Rome in a silly but addictive cell phone game. The goal is to try to keep Nakagawa awake during the press conference by "poking" him with the 5 key at the right timing so that he doesn't miss any of the reporters' questions. If he does, you lose. His approval ratings are displayed in big white print at the top of the screen--I don't think they ever get super high, but the idea is to try to keep it from falling to zero. Pretty funny, and a quick and witty reaction to Japan's most recent obsession on the part of Liveware.

Press release (Japanese) via the Japan Times

Related posts:
Ex-finance minister Nakagawa accosted Vatican statue, set off alarms
Finance minister's public intoxication signals need for change

Ex-minister Nakagawa accosted Vatican statue, set off alarms

Not long after his drunken appearance at the G7 conference last week, ex-finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa set of the security alarm system at the Vatican Museum by stepping over the barrier protecting the famed Laocoon statue, pictured here. Totally embarrassing, and not very strong evidence against his claim that he was not drunk. Would a guy who was so sick that he had to OD on cold meds be misbehaving at a museum with his politician pals just a few hours later? Not so much. He also accosted a few other statues that weren't supposed to be touched (obviously) in front of museum officials.

Finance minister's public intoxication signals need for change

The biggest news in Japan right now is finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa's impressive drunken performance at the G7 meeting in Rome. Of course, the guy claims that he wasn't drunk—just drowsy from too much cold medicine—but the global shame he amassed led him to resign yesterday, just a week before he was supposed to publicize his proposed budget plan. Here's a video.

In my opinion, it doesn't really matter if he was drunk on alcohol or high on cold meds. The fact is, he was clearly unfit to be representing Japan in such a public way that day, and he should have stayed in his hotel room. It's embarrassing that he thought it would be okay to have his Finance Minister face on in such a stupefied state.

On the other hand, it's a good thing that these silly old politician dudes are making a fool of themselves. Real change often and only comes after a series of grave errors made by the guys in charge—we know that from looking at the US. Now that the prime minister has proven that he can't read kanji (he also has a near-record low approval rating of 9%) and the finance minister can't stay sober, it's more likely that something good will happen soon. It has to.

Novelist Haruki Murakami claims support for the underdog in Israel speech

Ask anyone who their favorite Japanese author is, and chances are they will say Haruki Murakami. The guy has a penchant for winning foreign literary prizes, the most recent being this year's Jerusalem Prize, awarded by the Israeli president to the best foreign writer. Murakami pondered whether he should go to accept the award because of all the mayhem in Gaza. But he went, and gave a riveting speech to an international crowd in which he made a cool statement about a wall and an egg. He prefaced the metaphor by explaining his decision to be there—he's a rumored hikikomori, but he decided it's better to say something than to say nothing at all—and then said:

"If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg."

Obama: first I will start with hot dog reform!

I found President Obama inadvertently promoting hot dogs in Akiba yesterday. Apparently, they're quite delicious. The headline reads: First, I will start with hot dog reform!

Obama action figure lounging in a kotatsu

I love this Barack Obama action figure—not just because I love the new president, which I do, but because here he is lounging Japanese winter-style in a kotatsu. A kotatsu, in case you have the misfortune of never having sat in one, is an amazing table-heated blanket hybrid piece of furniture that, until recently, was the centerpiece of almost every Japanese living room. We used to have one when I was a kid. Sometimes there's even a hole in the floor that you can dangle your legs in. Here, Obama is hanging out with his legs in the kotatsu, and he's about to eat a mikan (tangerine) and play Super Famicom.

Link (Thanks, David!)

Japanese Obama t-shirts

Did you see the inauguration?? So awesome. Here are a couple of additions to all the Obamamania paraphernalia out there. One says "Yo! President! Yes you did!" and the other says "Obama and Ozawa are the new leaders"—Ichiro Ozawa, of course, being the leader of Japan's own Democratic Party.

Product page (Japanese) (Thanks, George!)

The secret society of Japanese press clubs

Kisha clubs, or Japanese press clubs, are exclusive associations of Japanese journalists from various news organizations. A recent report by NPR's On The Media reveals the biases and restrictions of Japan's press clubs. Government entities and corporations have close affiliations with these kisha clubs, allowing members access to press conferences closed off to outsiders. This kind of stuff happens in many countries, but it's a little different here. For example, organizations have their very own kisha clubs installed right in their office buildings. One other unique characteristic is that members of the kisha club develop deep and interdependent relationships with political figures.

Takashi Uesugi, a former kisha club member, was interviewed in the segment, and I found some of his comments interesting:

Strangely enough, if a reporter started out covering Mr. Aso when he was Foreign Minister, basically the same reporter follows Mr. Aso for the rest of his life. As your pet politician rises up the food chain, so does the reporter who follows him.

If the reporter gets some information about this politician's rival scheming or something, he would warn him. You see? If your politician has a big downfall caused by a scandal, you have a downfall too, maybe getting assigned to some remote area. Then you can't write anything.

They like the convoy system; no one should stand out. If you are the only one who gets the scoop, you are given the cold shoulder. If you are the only one who doesn't write it, then you are condemned by your company.

The full transcript is available here. (by Emily Co)

Taro "I-can't-read-kanji" Aso publicly proves incompetency in Japanese language

He might have encyclopedic knowledge of manga, but our new prime minister proved at a recent press conference that he can't really read kanji. He mispronounced at least four words written in high school-to-college level kanji by his speech writer. "The guy needs furigana (captions deciphering kanji) on all his speeches," one politician mocked. "What an embarrassment that the guy who represents Japan to the world can't read Japanese!" another rightfully declared. When approached by a team of reporters on this subject, Aso deflected. "I just misread, that's all," he said hastily, and then shuffled away from the podium.

Geeks had previously given our manga-loving prime minister the affectionate nickname Taro "Rozen" Aso after his favorite manga, Rozen Maiden. He now has a new nickname, Taro "KY" Aso—Taro "Kanji Yomenai" Aso, or Taro "I-can't-read-kanji" Aso. (KY is a popular geek term for someone who isn't in on the joke, like Michael Scott from The Office. You can read more about the concept and take a KY Quiz here.)

Related stories:
Aso is a local hero in Akihabara
Aso to star in an erotic video game

Obama town's crazy dance moves

Obama's going to be the new president of the United States, and whole world is super psyched! One little seaside town in Fukui, Japan, is particularly ecstatic because their town name, which means Little Beach, is pronounced "OBAMA" in Japanese. Emily did some research for us and found this awesome video of the Obama dance. She also dug up the following deets:

Their "Obama for Obama" support group are ingenious in a typical Japanese fashion; creating Obama manju, Obama chopsticks, Obama kimonos, and even Obama fish burgers. Some of their committee members are hoping to fly to Washington to attend his inauguration. They're hoping that the Obama hula girls will be asked on stage to perform—unlikely, but hey, anything can happen.

Related stories:
People in Japan love Obama
Obama wins Japanese primaries

I'm playing Super Obama World

Since today is election day, I'm going to sit at my desk and play Super Obama World. I've always loved Mario, but this is even better. The new (maybe) president jumping over pigs and gathering American flags. Whee!

Play Super Obama World online (Thanks, Jenna!)

Prime ministerial red bean buns

I found these funny manju packages on a street corner last week. The pink one features ex-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. It's called "Sayonara Jun-chan Manju" and you see Koizumi waving with a smile. The three guys holding hands in the bottom right corner are his three successors to date, Aso, Fukuda, and Abe.

The package on the left is called "Birth of Taro-chan Manju," ad it features Taro Aso, the current prime minister. He's sitting on an executive's chair saying "I will make Japan brighter and stronger!" and if you look closely, you see ex-PM Jun-chan waving goodbye in the background.

Prime Minister Aso to be featured in an erotic video game

A new erotic video game that's coming out next year called "Love me seriously!" is rumored to have a character modeled after our new Prime Minister Taro Aso. As you can see here, he looks a lot like the guy, and his height (175cm) and hobbies (shooting guns) also match the PM's profile. I think his job is specified as prime minister, too.

Of course, there's a disclaimer saying that any similarities to real characters are pure coincidence. Fair enough. But this rumor has triggered a lot of buzz on 2channel, and I think it's fair to say it surprises nobody that erotic game makers would want to celebrate the anime-loving politician in this way.

Link (Japanese)

New prime minister appeals to web-savvy with video messages

In an effort to better connect with the young, apathetic, often non-voting population, new PM Taro Aso is sending out video messages to supporters via email called the "Taro Channel" (quite possibly a parody of Nintendo's Wii Channel.) The first one was sent out on Thursday with the theme Stronger, Brighter. I wish I could find a copy of it on YouTube, but I'm in the south of France and for some reason YouTube is blocked here—or at least at this hotel.

The new minister of declining birth

Yuko Obuchi is former prime minister Keizo Obuchi's 34 year old daughter. She has an interesting position in Taro Aso's new cabinet. Her title is Minister of Population and Gender Equality in English, but in Japanese, she is the 少子化相 (shoushika-sou), or Minister of Declining Birth.

Call me crazy, but in my slightly feminist mind, gender equality and declining birth are NOT the same thing. The job title "minister of declining birth" is kind of horrendous—it takes a lot of power out of her hands already by defining what her role as the person in charge of gender is. Women don't get to choose their path in life, they just need to have more babies. That's kinda how that title resonates with me.

Agriculture Ministers Busted for Discussing Gundam on Wikipedia

Ever wonder what your government bureaucrats do on their down time? An internal investigation at the agriculture ministry recently revealed that six of their staffers had been spending hours and hours editing Wikipedia entries about Gundam on their work computers. Apparently they know a lot more about mobile suits than farming, cuz they edited at total of 260 entries related to the popular anime series.

As a consequence, Wikipedia was banned from all ministry computers. When interviewed by CNN, a ministry official had this to say about the situation:

"The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam."

Sorry guys!

Yasuo Fukuda Is The New, Very Old Prime Minister

Guess who's filling Abe's resigned shoes as PM of Japan? Yep, this 71-year old grandpa, Mr. Yasuo Fukuda. His father was prime minister, actually, from 1976 to 1978—he's the first 2nd gen PM of Japan.

Too bad Taro Aso lost. That could have been the ultimate otaku revolution. The guy's a known manga maniac and proponent of having Gundam be the next ambassador to the world.

Link

Next Prime Minister?

Now that Abe's gone, will it be this guy:

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda

Or this guy?

Ex-Foreign Minister and manga maniac Taro Aso

Cast your vote!

Prime Minister Resigns!

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe just announced his resignation. His popularity was plummeting, and people were questioning his ability to lead the country. And now he's gone.

Being prime minister of Japan must be really hard. I remember days where we had like 10 prime ministers a year. None of them stayed. Ok, maybe not ten. But a lot of guys have had a really hard time sustaining this job. Abe's not the only one, though he is being noted for not putting up a fight before folding.

Link

Politician-With-A-Nosebleed Tissuecase

This is a standard size tissue box case that strategically places the opening right under this illustrated old man's nostrils. It looks like either: a. he has a white mustache; b. he has milk coming out of his nose; or c. he has a nosebleed and has plugged their flow with tissues.

Apparently, this 3-dimensional face is modeled after the governor of Miyazaki Prefecture. Awesome!

Link

LDP Got Their Butts Kicked in the Elections

News flash! The Liberal Democratic Party, which has long dominated Japanese politics, got their ass kicked by the Democratic Party today in the national Upper House elections. The prime minister, Abe, of course, is LDP. And despite their liberal-sounding names, both these parties are pretty conservative, especially the LDP.

If you want unbeatable perspective on the world of Japanese politics (actually quite entertaining/fascinating despite the boring gray suit image), read Columbia professor Gerry Curtis' book, The Logic of Japanese Politics.

Link

I Met Dr. NakaMats in Shibuya (Pics!)

It's election time in Tokyo again, and poster boards like this one are all over the city. The whole world is talking about the strange lineup of candidates, and the candidates themselves are showing up in their big campaign vans all over the city, doing whatever it takes to get your attention.

Once again, alleged floppy disk inventor Dr. NakaMats is running for office, and even though he has never been chosen to date, he continues to be optimistic and a favorite among pop culturists like me. So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw him and his campaign van in the middle of Shibuya's Scramble Crossing last week:

Gundam-Inspired Upper House Election Poster

The Upper House elections are coming up later this month, which means the election poster boards are up once again and that all the strange characters who emerge during this time are campaigning for everyone's vote. Since politics in Japan is no longer really about policies, candidates are running to creative campaigning to appeal to voters. And since campaigning rules are super tight here (no buttons or t-shirts or Obama-style YouTube videos), they're doing it by making regulation-size election posters that stand out. In Tokyo, there's Dr. Nakamats (again!). In Yamagata, there's this dude, who is pretending to be Amuro from Gundam.

Actually, this dude isn't a candidate. He's just a guy hired by the National Police Dept to encourage people to go to the elections and vote. The poster is a pun on the "Amuro will go!" Gundam tag line originally spoken by actor Toru Furuya. The large letters say: "Elections, will go!"

(via Gizmodo Japan)

Jury Trial System Coming Back to Japan

If you've been following Tokyomango for a while, you know that Japan is home to many strange, strange crimes, like grandmas peeing on neighbors' properties, brothers chopping up sisters, and guys stealing thousands of panties. The legal system in Japan currently has no juries—decisions are made by professional judges only, and so there's a strong feeling that, once a case goes to court, the verdict is completely out of the citizens' hands.

This will all change in May 2009, when the jury trial system will be reinstated for felony crimes. It will be slightly different from the US, though. For example, there will be six jurors and three judges meeting together to come to a majority vote decision, and verdicts are expected to be reached within just a few days. So it will be quick, interactive, and thorough.

I attended a seminar held by the Japan Society of NorCal yesterday at the courthouse, and there was a Japanese judge and two American lawyers who explained everything. Want to know more? Keep checking back, I'll dive further into this topic later.

Ishihara and NakaMats' Election Posters

Dr. NakaMats lost the mayoral elections last week, but he certainly did his best to think outside the box, even amidst strict campaign rules. Beginning exactly two weeks before the election, candidates can post a "Vote for Me!" ad that fits exactly in these green numbered boxes temporarily installed in each neighborhood.

Usually--and I mean 99.9% of the time--the incumbent will put a smiling photo of himself in a business suit with his name and a cheesy slogan against a blue background.  Here, you see reigning champ Shintaro Ishihara's shining example on the top right, and the balding head of another candidate (sorry, I forgot which one) below him. (My dad thinks it's Shiro Asano, who came in #2.)

And then you have the pink and white picture-less poster from none other than invention master himself, Dr. NakaMats. His slogan is: "I hear your complaints, citizens." And then below the envelope it says "Email Me."

And I did. I e-mailed him, but he didn't write back.

No Online Campaigning For Today's Tokyo Elections

Exciting! Kind of. It's election day in Tokyo, and our slightly hawkish, notoriously racist, Mickey-Mouse-hating governor, Shintaro Ishihara, is hoping to keep his position as top dog. We'll see what happens.

When you run for office in Japan, you can only start campaigning 2 weeks before election day. Things like how and where you can run around promoting yourself are very highly regulated. While in the US, every presidential candidate has a MySpace page and governor avatars are running around giving publicity stunt speeches on Second Life, campaigning online was monitored and banned in the days preceding today's ballots. Earlier today, Cyber Agent Inc., which is kind of like YouTube, announce that they had deleted all the campaign broadcasts posted by users on their site per the request of the election management committee of the city of Tokyo. The committee sent the same request to YouTube, but of course, the GooTube is way too important to be honoring requests like that.

It's not okay for you to make a website for your campaign, but it IS ok to have a sexy robot woman encouraging people to vote.

In a completely rational world, such a guy would not be re-elected, but as MSN Mainichi Daily News reports, he's up against an inventor, a street musician, a taxi driver, and a fortune teller. Hmmmm. I wonder who will win?

We'll find out soon enough.

Crazy Inventor Running For Mayor

Meet Dr. NakaMats. He's one of the world's most kookiest, eccentric inventors. With over 3200 and counting, he's the world record holder for patents (Thomas Edison had 1093). His first invention was a gravity stabilizer for a plastic airplane that he made when he was 5. A couple decades later, he invented the floppy disc--his claim to fame. Since then, he's invented a chair that makes you smarter, a golden toilet, sex sprays, a water-fueled engine, and shoes that make you run 3x faster than Carl Lewis, just to name a few. He even won the IG Nobel Prize--a parody of the Nobel Prize hosted by a science organization--for Nutrition last year, because he documented every single meal he's ever had since he was in his forties (he's 79 now). But wacky inventions isn't his only thing.

Dr. NakaMats really, really wants to be the governor of Tokyo. He ran in the elections three times before--in 1991, 1999, and 2003--and now he's running again in 2007. Campaigning starts soon, and the elections are in April. His selling point?

"I plan to invent a system that will make missiles turn around," he told a Kyodo News reporter.

NakaMats' opponents include the hawkish nationalist current governor, a feng shui expert, an architect, and a comedian. What is Japanese politics coming to? We'll find out what happens next month.

(Thanks, Ted!)

Abe Denies Wartime Sexual Slavery

I think it's horrible that PM Shinzo Abe is denying that comfort women ever existed. Sure, there are plenty of ultra-nationalists who would argue the same thing. And granted that is exactly who he is at heart, I don't think he should be saying things like:

"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion.That largely changes what constitutes the definition of coercion, and we have to take it from there."

He's basically painting this and all the other women who have sacrificed their dignity to speak out against a war crime as liars. Come on, man, we already officially apologized for this in 1993. You can't take that back. Shit happened during the war, and you're never going to get along with our neighbors if you don't face up to it.

Let's not forget that Abe is the grandson of the conservative post-war ex-war criminal ex-prime minister Nobusuke Kishi, and how that lineage influences his perspectives on politics.

Prince Pickles' Cute Army Marches On

Japan's armed forces have come a long way since the Imperial Army days so aptly portrayed in Letters From Iwo Jima. No more kamikaze suicide fighters, no more scary, serious, nationalistic fervor. Cuteness has extended beyond the streets of Tokyo to the war zones in Iraq in the form of a little mascot named Prince Pickles.

In this symbolic official cartoon from the Defense Ministry, Pickles is tugging charmingly on the sleeve of an Iraqi official. I'm not exactly sure why, but my guess is that he's either asking him if he could bring him some tea, or recruiting him for a game of hopscotch.

"Prince Pickles is our image character because he's very endearing, which is what Japan's military stands for," a Defense Ministry official told the Japan Times. Not exactly what you expect to hear from one of the world's superpowers, but then again, we are in the age of American hegemony, and Japan is arguably its most loyal pet. And pets are supposed to be endearing and cute.

We Disapprove!

Shinzo Abe's not doing so hot. The disapproval rate for his regime is at 41% right now, compared to a 36% support rate. He's several percentage points less popular than he was in January, in part because of his decision to keep Hakuo "Women-are-baby-making-machines" Yanagisawa on staff even after he revealed himself to be a total sexist pig.

Let's see what fancy political stunt he tries to pull next to gain some fans back. I don't think he can pull of an Elvis impersonation, but maybe he could try to embody someone a little less cool but still well-known, like Meatloaf.

 

Update: Health Minister In Trouble For Baby-Making Machine Quote

Even Shinzo Abe thought the Health Minister's statement about women being baby-making machines was inappropriate. The prime minister issued a warning today to Yanagisawa. "Watch it, old man," he basically said, "I'm not saying you're fired--yet--but you're treading dangerous waters."

In the photo (left), you see Yanagisawa apologizing to a sea of reporters earlier today in Tokyo. The Japan Times quotes him as saying:

I used that expression to make it easier to explain about population projections. It was really inappropriate.

Meanwhile, all 28 non-LDP female Diet members gave Yanagisawa a letter urging his resignation. And you can only imagine what assassination plans the nation's feminist groups are ruminating over. I say we send him to the gallows. (Kidding, of course.)

Beat Takeshi's Disciple Elected As Governor

Comedian Sonomamma Higashi was voted in as the new governor of Miyazaki Prefecture after his predecessor left the post early last month due to public works bid-rigging scandals. He is the newest in a long line of comedians-turned-governors, which includes--most famously--our very own Arnold Schwarzenegger over here in California--and the recently passed former governor of Tokyo, Yukio Aoshima. Aoshima was most known for his leading role  in "Ijiwaru Basan," a well-known comedy show from the sixties about a mean grandma.

Higashi was one of Beat Takeshi's disciples in comedy. He won the votes of the younger people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, the ones who usually don't give a shit about politics and don't have loyalties to any political party.

Politician Skips Meeting For Golf Game

If you have your representative in the assembly, just be glad it's not Mr. Nakane from Aichi Prefecture. Here, you see the man in question apologizing at a press conference for ditching an important plenary session for a game of golf with his supporters.

What makes it worse is that he told people he couldn't attend the session because of a funeral.

What's up with politicians these days? Too many of these dudes want all the glory but don't really do their work. We need to get politicians off the golf courses and Texas ranches and back into meeting rooms so they can do something more productive, like make laws or lower the unemployment rate.

Link

Foreign minister shows off non-existent nuclear power.

Like most alpha males, Taro Aso feels the need to show off his power--especially after his sweeping defeat in the prime ministerial elections in September. So now the foreign minister is strutting around in parliamentary committee meetings, telling people that Japan has the capability to produce nuclear weapons. "But we are not saying we have plans to possess (them)," he adds.

It's kind of like when boys on the playground say, "I can kick your ass in hopscotch...but I won't because I'm nice!" or when the editors at work say, "I can kick your ass in Fight Night....but I have better things to do, like copyfit a feature."

Boys will always be boys.

Full story here.

Abe meets Bono and tries on his shades.

Nah...they look better on Bono. But at least the attempt impressed the singer, who said:

George Bush never put them on. The last Pope, John Paul, he put them on, and Prime Minister Abe. Very cool.

Bono and Japan's new prime minister met to discuss the alleviation of poverty this week in Tokyo while U2 was on tour there.

Story here.

Japanese politics: the man who can explain it all and make you laugh.

Does the political scene in Japan put you in a confused frenzy? Do hours of contemplating why Abe got elected prime minister leave you in a cerebral pretzel? Well, there's a man out there who can explain the most intricate factional labyrinth to you in a nutshell. Gerald Curtis. I salute you for teaching the best politics class ever in the whole world. For painting these hard-shelled Japanese men who run the country as simple humans that we lay people can understand. According to Professor Curtis, Abe is an ideologue where Koizumi was a sentimentalist.

Read Professor Curtis' opinion on Shinzo Abe's challenges here. Or get one of his books on Amazon. They're actually really insightful and fun.
(Thanks, Mary, for sending me the article!)

The Logic of Japanese Politics by Gerald L. Curtis = 5/5 stars
The Japanese Way of Politics by Gerald L. Curtis = 4/5 stars