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All entertainment news from February 2003 is archived in the News section.

Back Issues
2001
Issue #1 (May 02)
Issue #2 (Jun 02)
Issue #3 (Jun 20)
Issue #4 (Jul 02)
Issue #5 (Jul 25)
Issue #6 (Aug 13)
Issue #7 (Sep 04)
Issue #8 (Sep 21)
Issue #9 (Oct 09)
Issue #10 (Oct 24)
Issue #11 (Nov 07)
Issue #12 (Nov 26)
Issue #13 (Dec 11)
Issue #14 (Dec 24)
2002
Issue #15 (Jan 16)
Issue #16 (Jan 31)
Issue #17 (Feb 14)
Issue #18 (Feb 28)
Issue #19 (Mar 16)
Issue #20 (Mar 29)
Issue #21 (Apr 18)
Issue #22 (Apr 30)
Issue #23 (May 11)
Issue #24 (May 29)
Issue #25 (June 20)
Issue #26 (July 4)
Issue #27 (July 31)
Issue #28 (Sept 17)
Issue #29 (Oct 2)
Issue #30 (Oct 25)
Issue #31 (Nov 11)
Issue #32 (Dec 10)

2003
Issue #33 (Jan 11)
Issue #34 (Jan 26)
Issue #35 (Feb 16)

Modern Japan
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JAPAN ZONE - June 2 2001 - Issue #2
Newsletter of the Japan Zone website

https://www.japan-zone.com/

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Well, the newsletter is still going. The biggest news of the last month has been in politics, with a new top man and cabinet rocking and rolling the Nagatacho world.

If you'd like to help out with site promotion, you can do so very easily - just drop on by the Topsites Japan rankings page.

http://www.japanref.com/cgi-bin/in.cgi?id=tokyoguy

That's it - your visit counts as a vote for the Japan Zone and they don't spam you afterwards. Topsites Japan is part of the useful Japan Reference directory site, a good place to look if, Kami-sama forbid, you can't find what you want on my site.

Thanks,

Mark McBennett
Webmaster, Japan Zone

Contents

1. What's going on in Japan
2. True crimes
3. Just between you and me...
4. Sports News
5. Websites we like
6. What do you spend on pubic works?
7. Japan Zone updates
8. I stiiiiiill haven't found what I'm looking for...
9. Unsubscribe

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1. What's going on in Japan
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Yanai Tadashi, president of Fast Retailing Co which operates the hugely popular Uniqlo clothing chain, ranked 31st on the annual list of Japan's 100 wealthiest taxpayers. More attention is usually paid to the celebrity lists. The top sportsman for the fourth year running was Suzuki Ichiro. Number one and two entertainers were the Tunnels comedy duo of Ishibashi Takaaki and Kinashi Noritake, with actress Matsushima Nanako storming up the rankings to No. 3. The top two slots for musicians were held by members of the rock band B'z.

The man promised sweeping changes, and during the month since prime minister Koizumi Junichiro took over the reins, the world of Japanese politics has indeed undergone something of a revolution.
His cabinet is still enjoying a record-high popularity rating of over 85%; he impressed many - and upset a lot of bureaucrats - with his decision not to fight a court ruling that the government pay compensation to former leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease) sufferers; his short, heartfelt speech as he presented the Prime Minister's Cup to sumo Yokozuna (grand champion) Takanohana on his victory in the summer tournament (see below) was a radical departure from the norm; he is pushing through legislation that will shake up how road-related taxes are spent and central government grants are allocated to the regions - both huge pork-barrel areas; broadcasts of afternoon parliamentary sessions have achieved viewing figures normally associated with popular dramas; Koizumi posters and a video on the making of the LDP's current TV commercial are selling like hotcakes. Sony Records are even reported to be making a CD of Koizumi's favorite songs, crediting the prime minister as producer.

The government has stated that it will, unlike the US, stick with the framework of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change. With it being named after the Japanese city where the agreement was written, I guess it's a bit difficult for japan of all countries to back out.

On May 30, 34-year old Nakamura Noboru became the sixth member of the Aum Supreme Truth religious cult to be sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in several crimes in 1994 and '95. Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty.

Plans for the Emperor to visit South Korea next year have been cancelled. Reasons given included security concerns and the current strain in relations due to Korean objections to what they see as historical distortions in this year's batch of history textbooks in Japan - something of an annual 'event' to be honest.

A bill to grant voting rights to permanent foreign residents looks likely to be shelved yet again. It is not popular with many LDP politicians but is sometimes discussed to appease their Komeito party coalition partners. The bill is seen mainly as giving the right to the tens of thousands of Japan residents of Korean descent. Many were born into families that have never set foot in Korea and speak only Japanese but are still viewed as foreigners.

Showing that politeness is still very much part of the Japanese social structure, a man who robbed 40,000 yen at knifepoint from a convenience store, apologised profusely the whole time, saying "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

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2. True crimes
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There has been a lot of media attention recently on murder cases in which the people involved met through so-called 'de-ai kei' sites. These sites are primarily accessed by mobile phone and visitors are able to commun- icate directly with each other. The murders have occured in locations all over Japan and some have involved people from opposite ends of the country. These include the murder of a housewife by a minor who travelled halfway across the country to stalk her, and several cases of forced confinement of young women by older men they met through telephone messaging services. Others include:
25-year old Nishijima Hiroaki was arrested May 15 for the murder of a 19-year old student at Kyoto Women's University. The two met through an online dating service, or 'de-ai kei' site. Police are investigating whether Nishijima was involved in a similar case early in the month.
On May 19, a 43-year old Tokyo High Court judge was arrested for paying for sex with a 14-year old girl. He met the girl late last year through her classmate, whom he had met through an Internet dating service. Muraki Yasuhiro is alleged to have paid the first girl 15,000 yen to touch her up in a Kawasaki-city karaoke box and the second girl 20,000 yen for sex.

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3. Just between you and me...
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Rumor about the true nature of the recent marriage between heart-throb Kimura Takuya and pop-idol Kudo Shizuka: it seems that the founder of Kudo's agency Burning, which has an impressive satble of female talent (including Fujiwara Norika, Uchida Yuki, Hamasaki Ayumi) has long had his eyes on Johnny's, the agency that has churned out all the top male stud muffins for the last few decades, including of course Kimura and the rest of SMAP. And with Kudo rumored to have been the main squeeze of Burning's main man, the Machiavellian implications are obvious.

Tokyo Sports newspaper revealed in a May article that Nippon Television Corporation (NTV) issued a top-secret internal memo that US Major League baseball news was to be blacked out. NTV owns the hugely popular Yomiuri Giants team and are seemingly worried about the contrast between the huge attention stars like Suzuki Ichiro and Nomo Hideo are receiving for their ML exploits while the ratings for the Giants have fallen badly. The hugely anticipated showdown between the Seattle Mariners' Ichiro and the Boston Red Sox pitcher Nomo was not even mentioned on NTV's "News Plus 1" show. This all came as no surprise to "anti-Giants" like myself who are constantly irritated by the media adulation of "Japan's Team". It also came just after the Giants suffered the worst defeat in their history, a 17-0 drubbing at the hands of the Chunichi Dragons. Happy days!

Oricon CD chart ranking
1. Inoue Yosui - United Cover
2. Suzuki Ami - FUN for FAN
3. The Great Escape - Judy and Mary
4. My all... - Koyanagi Yuki
5. Looking Back 2 - Oda Kazumasa

To be honest, I'd never heard of Inoue Yosui until his - actually not bad - music was heavily featured in TV commercials recently as part of a 'comeback'. Only a few years back, he was the most financially successful musician in Japan for several years running. You can check out some of his music at his site (Japanese only):
http://www.forlife.co.jp/inoueyosui/

Suzuki Ami is just another one of those cutesy young idols who make it big every couple of years. But her mysterious disappearance from the scene last year (due to some 'trouble' with her agency) was put behind her with the successful release of her new album. Yawn...

Two weeks ago, Oda Kazamasu (http://www.fareastcafe.co.jp/) at 53 years and 8 months, became the oldest artist to enter the charts at No 1.

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4. Sports News
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Japan got off to a good start in the FIFA Confederations Cup with a 3-0 win over Canada on May 31. Bigger hurdles await in the forms of Cameroon (tonight) and Brazil next week and qualify for the semi-finals.

MLB star Ichiro is still wowing fans and announcers alike in the US. He continues to impress with his batting and has made several amazing fielding plays. Superlatives like "absolutely incredible!" and "is this guy something, or what?" seem to be the norm. His performances look like being rewarded with a place in the upcoming AllStar game.

In a sporting first, the starting pitchers in a May 28th baseball game between Tokyo University and Meiji University were both women. The Tokyo Six Major Collegiate League game saw a solid outing for the Meiji hurler, 19-year old Kobayashi Chiro, whose team beat 20-year old Takemoto Megumi and her 'Todai' teammates 10-0.

The citizens of Osaka are still reeling from an International Olympic Committee report on its evaluation of the bids by cities for the 2008 Olympics. While Osaka, and Istanbul, are still in the running, their chances are considered extremely slim after their bids were found to be less than excellent. This has put Osaka Governor Isomura under a lot of pressure as he promised to make Osaka a "sporting paradise".

In May, TV personality Hanada Masaru (former sumo Yokozuna Wakanohana) made two announcements: one was the birth of this third daughter, the other that he was planning to pursue a career in American Football in the NFL!
On a related note: his younger brother, Takanohana, proved that he is still a force to be reckoned. Despite carrying an injury to his left knee that made him limp and with people recently saying that he'd lost his edge, the Yokozuna showed what he's made of on the fifteenth and final day of the Tokyo natsu basho (Summer tournament). He was easily beaten in his last bout by rival Yokozuna, the Hawaiian giant Musashimaru, to force a playoff between the two. Limping and bloodied, it seemed likely that the once almost-invincible King of Sumo was going down again. But he put up an impressive show of determination to take the bout and the Emperor's Cup. His expression of pure grit and "take that, you motherf***er!" was a bit of a sumo no-no, but you could hardly blame the guy. Intense.

Okay, I'm taking the sage advice of whoever it was said that you should always listen to your customer feedback. I've been surprised by the number of people who've asked me what a Race Queen is/does. Well, as far as I can make out, to be a successful Race Queen you have to know how to hold an umbrella and be sharp enough to know when a racing driver is in danger of fainting from heat stroke, and ideally you should have the kind of physical appearance that will appeal to guys who like noisy cars and bikes. Actually I think you could probably get in without meeting the first requirement. Still can't quite grasp the idea? Here's some current Race Queens strutting their stuff:
http://www.zakzak.co.jp/midnight/gal/movie/gal_movie.html

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5. Websites we like
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The latest Hollywood star to jump on a very lucrative bandwagon, Jennifer Lopez made her Japanese TV commercial debut promoting the Subaru Legacy Touring Wagon. You may already know that most Hollywood actors and sports stars, like Tiger Woods, have clauses written into their TV-slot contracts stipulating that the ads can't be aired at home. But sure enough, you can find info on them on the Internet. Some samples:
http://www2.gol.com/users/jhoadley/stars/starssecrets.html (a list with a couple of Quick Time movies - way out of date but still of interest to anthropologists)
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Teahouse/5555/commercials.htm (some photo ads)
http://www.gaijinagogo.com/ (has videos featuring big names but set up mainly to generate some Amazon revenue)
http://www.cm-watch.com/ (if you really want to see a whole bunch of TV commercials)

Understanding Japan
http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/understanding_japan.htm
Tom Coyner's site has hundreds of articles from newspapers and magazines, mostly from the last couple of years, on all aspects of Japan, where he lived for several years before moving to Seoul, Korea.

TIME Magazine Always includes features on Japan in its Asian edition. Some of the recent ones I enjoyed: Nagano Governor Tanaka Yasuo - 'The Grooviest Guv'
http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/magazine/0,9754,127303,00.html
Foreign Minister Tanaka Makiko off to a shaky start.
http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/daily/0,9754,127645,00.html

Japan Today
http://www.japantoday.com
A relative newcomer to the news scene, this site is run by the hardened pros who have been churning out the Tokyo Classified free magazine since the early 90s. The top page is chock full of up to the minute news and features, which makes it a bit slow to load. Okay, I'm just jealous!

Japan Reference
http://www.japanreference.com
An English-language directory site that lists thousands of Japan-related sites. Well organized and pretty comprehensive.

Absolute Japan
http://phototravels.net/japan/photo-gallery/
A guy called Frantisek Staud has a site to show off the photos he's taken on his travels. This section has tons of wonderful photos of Japan.

2002 Upfront
http://www.2002upfront.com/
As you probably know, the World Cup is coming to Japan (and Korea) next year. This fairly new but growing site is in English and run by members of the Tokyo-based British Football Club.

ELT News: the site for English teachers in Japan
http://www.eltnews.com/
I have to be honest and say that I'm an investor in the company that runs this website! But that having been said, it is the best site of its kind. If you're an English teacher in Japan or one of the thousands thinking about becoming one, this site is an invaluable resource.

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6. What do you spend on pubic works?
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Most people who've been to Japan have been struck by the bizarre usage of English here, whether it's in restaurant menus, ad copy or product names. Some weirdly-named products even manage to stick around for years and survive all attacks of ridicule. Here are some old favorites with some newbies added:

A soft drink that doesn't sound too appetising...'Calpis'
A sports drink that sounds even less inviting...'Pocari Sweat'
So-called 'Angel sweets' chocolates..'Asse'
A chocolate bar for you maternal types...'Mother stick'
And one from no less a source than the front page of the venerable Daily Yomiuri (June 1):
"Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, presented a draft Thursday that emphasizes structural reform in four areas - economic revitalization, pubic works spending, social security and the relationship between the central and local governments."
Hmm, I know massage parlors account for a serious chunk of the GDP but I'm not sure that second one is really going to help sort out the economy.

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7. Japan Zone updates
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Recently added content includes:
A section on the Imperial family:
https://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/imperial.shtml

Some info for newcomers on meeting people:
https://www.japan-zone.com/new/meet_people.shtml

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8. I stiiiiiill haven't found what I'm looking for...
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The site has such a wide variety of content that there's most probably lots you haven't seen. If ever you don't find what you're looking for, let me know. It might be on the site somewhere or I may be able to help you track it down. I've recently been able to help out a lady in Singapore who was looking for a map of an address in Yokohama. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be of much use to a US sports agency who were looking to promote their client, a swimmer entered in the upcoming World Championships in Fukuoka. All I could do was send some info on sporting swimwear manufac- turers. I also got the following request:

Hi! My name is Emily R****** I am a 12 year old school girl. In class we are studing japan. if you would not mined would you e-mail me some infomation please.

Hmmm, well you could always take a look at the site I guess, Emily-chan.

Another visitor claimed that the red background and page transition on the main page were "annoying, unprofessional and slow me down". If you feel the same way, let me know and I'll axe them (maybe).

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9. Unsubscribe
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Hopefully you've been able to get something out of this newsletter. If not, or if you ever want to stop receiving it temporarily, you can unsubscribe easily. Just click the link below.