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The long, hot summer is finally over. Kids are back in school
and life goes on as usual. Unfortunately, in many senses that's
not a good thing. More scandals have further added to the public's
feelings of unease towards big business. The seemingly never-ending
bad news stories may explain why the media has been so keen to
give so much on-air time to a seal spotted in Tokyo's rivers.
The prime minister was in the US for the September 11 anniversary
and he is currently on an historic trip to North Korea.
A Japan Series clash between the Giants and the Lions looks to
be a safe bet. J-League exports to Europe have started the soccer
season in good form. And a sumo superstar has made a tentative
comeback after a prolonged absence.
Mark McBennett
Webmaster, Japan Zone
Contents
1. Japan Zone Updates
2. What's going on in Japan
3. Sports news
4. Gei-noh news
5. Unsubscribe
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1. Japan Zone Updates
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Profile: Amuro Namie may be past her best but she is determined that,
at 25, her career is far from over. She refuses to let motherhood,
divorce or death stand in the way of recapturing her crown as
the Queen of J-Pop.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/amuro_namie.shtml
Our new Japan Forum system is leaner and meaner than the old BBS.
You can create your own profile with photo or avatar, and there
is a ranking system depending on how many messages you post. The
Forum also has its own internal email system, and you can leave
instant messages for other members. Anyway, it's all pretty cool
so check it out:
https://www.japan-zone.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi
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2. What's going on in Japan
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General
If you want to have a fuzzy warm feeling about Japan, skip this
and go on to the showbiz stuff below. It's not that I'm down on
the place, but good news seems to have been in short supply recently.
It's not the end of the world for Japan just yet but the feeling
is definitely that things are sliding in the wrong direction.
Until recently, the big business scandals of the year mostly involved
food companies ripping off the government and pulling the wool
over the eyes of consumers. But Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)
has outdone them. It was revealed that the company knew of faults
in its nuclear reactors over the last ten years but did nothing.
What's worse, they hid the facts. With nuclear incidents in recent
years even involving the deaths of several people, this latest
revelation is another real blow to the public's long-held trust
in the major corporations that hold together the fabric of society.
Hopes for a government capable of introducing actual reform have
faded, though the jury is still out on how effective the Koizumi
government has been. The forces aligned against it are immensely
rich and powerful but they run an economy that stubbornly refuses
to pull out of its prolonged slump. The reformers are caught between
battling to bring about change and just keeping the economy afloat.
Things aren't helped when the Nikkei index drops to a 19-year
low, breaking the psychological 9,000 yen level. The stock index
has since recovered slightly but economically things are not getting
any brighter.
But what about the people? For half a century, Japan was a country
for all intents and purposes made up of a single, financially
secure middle class. But the recession, growing unemployment and
uncertainty about the future have eaten away at that security.
Could the long period of public complacency about how the country
is being run from day to day be coming to an end? Perhaps not.
Though the general public are increasingly sceptical about big
business and government, there's little sense of people doing
anything about it. Japan may be a democracy which is "of the people"
and "for the people", but it is debatable to what extent it is
really "by the people".
And there is also little sense of the younger generation turning
their contempt for the status quo into something productive. They
seem happy to feed off the wealth created by their parents. Many
drop out of the system, others withdraw from society and a few
(though the numbers are growing) finally go over the edge. The
Japanese word "kireru", meaning to snap, is becoming more and
more common. I teach at a private high school, where in the past
discipline problems have been relatively rare. But over the last
couple of years, I've seen a steady increase in the number of
students who snap like this. I just hope that things don't disintegrate
to the point where we'll be looking back ten years hence and saying
"That's when it all started."
When all is doom and gloom, the public turn to the world of variety
shows and cute pets to cheer themselves up. This summer's "happy
story" has been about a seal that found its way upstream from
Tokyo bay along the Tamagawa river. It was duly nicknamed "Tama-chan"
and sightings were reported daily on all the news shows. Concern
for Tama-chan's health grew as the seal moved to the Tsurugawa
river, the third-filthiest in the country. I saw no calls whatsoever
for something to actually be done about the river itself.
Another man worried about the nation's rivers is Nagano governor
Tanaka Yasuo. Best known for his fight against white elephant
dam projects, Tanaka resigned in the face of a revolt by the prefectural
assembly and let the public decide who was right. He was easily
re-elected. It's not in Nagano but I noticed during the summer
that one of the rivers due to be radically affected by one of
the literally dozens of ongoing dam projects nationwide - the
Kawabe River in Kyushu - is also the cleanest in the country.
PM Koizumi is currently on an historic trip to North Korea. While
the ground-breaking nature of the visit might yet become part
of his political legacy, failure to resolve several disputes would
be seen as unacceptable by some. The main one is the issue of
Japanese citizens allegedly kidnapped by North Korean agents during
the 70s and 80s. Relatives of the eleven people on the list insist
that all abductees must be returned. So far, there has been talk
of three people coming home while others have been confirmed dead.
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3. Sports news
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Baseball
Japan's US-based MLB stars have not been having it so easy lately.
LA Dodgers pitcher Ishii Kazuhisa had his skull fractured by a
ball and needed surgery to remove bone chips from his nasal passage.
Seattle Mariners star Ichiro had a long hitless streak that knocked
him a couple of places down the batting average table. He and
his struggling team look unlikely to take any honors this season.
But Ishii's teammate Nomo Hideo has had a turnaround season and
today notched his 15th win of the season..
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/suzuki_ichiro.shtml
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/nomo_hideo.shtml
The Yomiuri Giants and Seibu Lions have both narrowed down their
"magic number" to ten or less and look to be on course for a Japan
Series showdown. Whoever wins, we can look forward to big department
store sales in October.
Soccer
Inamoto Junichi last week became the first Japanese soccer player
to score in the English Premier League. The ex-Arsenal player
has been in excellent form for new team Fulham and has already
become a fan favorite. A hat-trick in the final of the Intertoto
Cup secured Fulham a lucrative place in this year's UEFA Cup,
a first for the club. In his second season with Feyenoord in Holland,
Ono Shinji has been a key player, adding to his midfield support
role with several goals of his own.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/inamoto_junichi.shtml
Other Sports
Yokozuna Takanohana has made his comeback to the sumo ring after
an absence of more than a year, the longest ever by a wrestler
in sumo's top ranks. The decision put before him by the Sumo Council
was fight or retire. He was a little shaky on the first few days
but, rusty or not, he has shown that he's still a force to be
reckoned with. He guaranteed himself an overall winning record
today and currently is at 8-2.
https://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/hanada.shtml
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4. Gei-noh news
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The big news story has been the surprise wedding of Princess of
J-Pop Utada Hikaru (19), who married photographer and video director
Kiritani Kazuaki (34). Kiritani is based in New York, where Utada
was born. The two hit it off a couple of years back when he took
photos and directed a video for one of her early singles. The
local media has been cynical of the new hubby, describing him
as "little-known" (and therefore untalented) and referring to
the timing of the wedding, so soon after Utada had a cancer scare.
He certainly wasn't after her money, as his father owns a multi-billion
yen business.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/utada_hikaru.shtml
Arai Miyako (50), a company president who claimed she was the
daughter of Tokyo governor Ishihara Shintaro in order to scam
people out of huge amounts of money, commited suicide this month.
She also made false claims that she had connections with many
celebrities with the agency set up by Ishihara's late brother,
actor and singer Ishihara Yujiro.
"Kita no Kuni Kara" (From the North Country), a hugely popular
series that started on Fuji TV 21 years ago, came to an end this
month. The series had aired only once every few years and always
achieved very high ratings. It had a very good reputation so I
decided to check it out. The acting by a star-studded cast was
good but it was severely overloaded with melodrama.
More Bits and Bobs
Hirai Ken is set to become just the third Japanese artist to appear
on MTV's Unplugged.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/hirai_ken.shtml
Actress Mukai Aki, whose effort to have a child with a surrogate
mother in the US recently failed, is to try again.
Khalili Far Ebrahim (35), the Iranian actor best known as the
"Asupara Man" was sentenced to 2 years eight months, suspended
for five years, for overstaying his 3-month tourist visa by eleven
years.
In a poll by watchmaker Citizen, SMAPer Kimura Takuya and Kudo
Shizuka were chosen as "Best Couple" over second-placed Sorimachi
Takashi And Matsushima Nanako.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/smap.shtml
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/sorimachi_takashi.shtml
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/matsushima_nanako.shtml
Watanabe Ken is to appear as a samurai leader in the Hollwood
movie "The Last Samurai".
The agency of musician Matsuyama Chiharu, a vocal supporter of
disgraced politician Suzuki Muneo, was reported to have hidden
earnings of around 60 million yen over five years.
Rock band The Alfee broke a record previously held by SMAP when
their song "Taiyo wa Shizumani" (The Sun Never Sets) became their
35th consecutive Top 10 hit.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/the_alfee.shtml
Comedian Tamori's manager has died of a brain hemorrhage.
Former sumo star Hanada Masaru is said to have been involved in
affairs with up to five different women. His wife is said to be
considering divorce.
Busty TV personality Anzai Hiroko (22) says she has broken up
with Kawabata Kaname (23) of pop duo Chemistry.
Morning Musume member Goto Maki (16) is to leave the group later
this month. Fellow member Yasuda Kei (21) is to quit next spring.
The weekly manga Shuukan Shonen Jump is to make its US debut in
November.
A weekly magazine reported that actress Koizumi Kyoko and her
husband Nagase Masatoshi have separated.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/koizumi_kyoko.shtml
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/nagase_masatoshi.shtml
In the Heat of Passion
Sayaka (15), daughter of pop diva Matsuda Seiko, is said to be
romantically involved with a dancer 19 years her elder. Similarly,
former child star Adachi Yumi (21) is invlolved with 42-year old
Kuroda Arthur. Serie A soccer star Nakata Hidetoshi was photographed
with a local beauty at a 200,000-yen a night hotel in Italy.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/nakata_hidetoshi.shtml
There are rumors that divorced Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro
may remarry. TV personality Yamada Mariya and Akiyama Jun of the
boy band Arashi have made their romance official. Judo star Tamura
Ryoko and fiance Tani Yoshitomo of the Orix Blue Wave baseball
team plan to marry within the year.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/tamura_ryoko.shtml
Actress Kanno Miho was reportedly seen shopping for an engagement
ring in Tokyo's high-class Ginza district. It's thought that she
and SMAPer Inagaki Goro may marry this December. Foreign TV personality
Thane Camus married his pregnant girlfriend, a graphic designer,
last week.
Oricon Daily Single Chart (September 12th)
1. Hirai Ken - Okina Furudokei (Big Old Clock)
2. Amuro Namie - Wishing On the Same Star
3. BoA - Valenti
4. Gaphia - I Love You, Sayonara
5. Uehara Azumi - Muiro (Colorless)
Okina Furudokei is an old, simple children's song that could really
only be a hit in troubled times like these and sung by someone
with a voice like Hirai Ken's. Amuro Namie's career has seen better
days but her recent high-profile divorce from dancer Sam has given
her a timely publicity boost. BoA is the first Korean artist to
achieve real success in the Japanese pop charts. TIME magazine
called her the Britney Spears of Asian pop.
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/hirai_ken.shtml
https://www.japan-zone.com/modern/amuro_namie.shtml
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