Episode 020 of the Japundit Podcast is now available on the Japundit Podcast website and at FeedBurner.

* Japundit joejobbed again
* Japundit hits 1,000,000 visitors!
* Miyoko Kawahara
* Crapman
* Coffee shop for female otaku
* Police ordered to pay for failure to help man
* Phishing catches big one in Japan
* Ginza honeybees
* Luxury items making a comeback in Japan
* Loan company trouble spells trouble for Chihuahua sales
* Musician loses and finds valuable flutes

Japundit Contributors:
Danny Bloom in Taiwan, David Weber in Tokyo, Marie Mockett in New York, Sylvain Bouchard in Sendai, Mike Plugh in Akita, Tubbypaws in the U.K., Tokyoid in London, Bill (Ampontan) Sakovich in Kyushu, JP in Tokyo

Music
Podsafe Music Network
* There’s So Many Ways I Can Kill You by Madsumo
* Blackheart Blues by Melissa Forbes
* Wandering by Plastic Soul Band
Garageband
* Nice Neighborhood by Chad Steward

Inspiration:
Phil Hendrie

Brought to you by J-LIST

Japan is locked in a debate over revision of the nation’s Fundamental Law of Education, which has been in place and unchanged since it was enacted during the U.S. postwar Occupation.

Some in Japan say that the revisions are necessary in order to eliminate Occupation rules that were designed to destroy Japanese nationalism, while critics in China and South Korea say that a rise in Japanese nationalism has the potential of setting off a new round of Japanese militarism.

The revision would make it a goal of education policy to cultivate “an attitude that respects tradition and culture, loves the nation and the homeland that have fostered them, respects other nations, and contributes to peace and development of international society.”

The phrase is the result of a compromise between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which sought stronger wording on patriotism, and its junior coalition partner, the New Komeito.

Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is claiming his reforms have accounted for Japan’s improving economy.

“When I came to office, the economy was in a slump and I was blamed for that,” said the maverick 64-year-old leader with his silvery mane of hair and passion for rock-and-roll.

“However, now we see the real growth rate of 2.7 percent in the last fiscal year, compared to a minus growth when I first assumed the post.

“The unemployment rate has also improved to 4.1 percent from over five percent in the beginning of my term,” he told a parliamentary committee on administrative reform.

When Koizumi came to office five years ago, he pledged to institute revolutionary reforms, even if it led to the destruction of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Despite Japan’s improving economic conditions, there are critics who are claiming that Koizumi’s policies are also causing inequalities in Japanese society, which had long prided itself it providing a comfortable living for all of its citizens. In fact, this topic has been getting quite a bit of face time on TV shows and in newspaper editorials.

Asked about the disparity between the rich and the poor, Koizumi suggested that a wealth gap was not always a bad thing.

“There used to be false egalitarianism, where there is no difference between those who work hard and those who don’t. Many would agree with me that hard-working, competent people should be rewarded,” he said.

I’ve always been one to leave the Rough Guide/Lonely Planet in the hotel room (especially in South America) as you might as well wear a t-shirt with ‘Mug me’ written on it… but the MSM has got in on the whole reader generated content thing with the UK Guardian’s ‘Been there’ section.

As far as Japan goes, Tokyo has a whopping 128 tips for a nicer stay while Kyoto manages only four (‘Avoid English bars’ speaks the voice of bitter experience), though these range from family-orientated to boozy (why not have sections for different classes of reader?). If this is to work then Japundit readers ought to get in on the act or leave gaijin perceptions moulded by this kind of site.

Speaking of the MSM treatment of Japan (‘Not just ritual suicide and manga porn’, apparently), this Beeb story about government funding of speed dating has a veritable checklist of cliché, though if I was a Japanese male I’d seriously think of heading to China and avoiding the awkward embarrassment. There’d be no need for such ‘novel’ measures if the system actually let employees have the time outside of work to meet members of the opposite sex. But that wouldn’t make for amusing journalism.

Have you ever wondered, as I often do, whether anyone really falls for all those hokey phishing schemes that often are said to originate out of Nigeria?

Apparently a sucker is indeed born every minute, and so the phishers know that if they spread theirs nets wide enough chances are they will be able to catch enough to make their efforts worthwhile.

This morning’s Daily Yomiuri had a story of a how the former president of the Japan Skating Federation got into trouble when he embezzled 9 million yen of organization funds in order to cover personal losses he suffered “in a fraudulent asset management proposal that originated in Nigeria and which was widely circulated on the Internet.”

Frank Gibney, a former reporter and editor at Newsweek magazine, reported for many years from and about Japan. He recently passed away at age 81, with Newsweek carrying this brief note:

Gibney dedicated his life to bridging the gap between East Asia and the United States.

He was one of the few military officers trained to speak Japanese in WWII, and later wrote and edited several books on Japan and Asia. Gibney also worked as a speechwriter for US President Lyndon Johnson. He was once described in [Newsweek] as a “man almost constantly in motion.”

Rest in peace, Frank Gibney.

The Yokohama District Court has ordered the government of Kanegawa to pay 5.5 million yen to the survivors of man who claim that police incompetence may have contributed to his death.

Back in July 1997, police received a call that a car was stopped in the middle of an intersection in Yokohama. Officers who arrived on the scene found the man unconscious in the vehicle, but left him there after they deduced that he was probably drunk. Eleven hours later, the man was taken to a hospital where he died.

“The man might have survived if the officers in charge had rescued him,” Presiding Judge Fumiaki Tsuchiya said as he handed down the ruling.

The family had also demanded further compensation from a doctor who apparently falsely claimed to have performed an autopsy on the dead man and forged a medical certificate. During the trial, DNA tests showed that tissue samples that the doctor had claimed were from the dead man actually belonged to someone else.

Just checked the Site Meter counter in the ower left of the page and noted that we have surpassed 1 million visitors.

Thanks to all who have come and especially those who keep coming!

Some media wag recently said: “We all know those mythical days of corporately untainted music are over and have given way to overly commercialized, manufactured pop groups.”

Was he thinking of Morning Musume? Or, God forbid, SMAP?

No, he was referring to British advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi “packaging” four sexy women in their 20s to “perform” as a girl group who will “completely give themselves over to the whim of the advertiser who chooses to cough up the dough to sponsor them.”

There’s more, according to the press release from London: “Everything from the name of the band, musical style, lyrics, clothing, the food they eat and the liquid they drink will be under control of the advertiser.”

This inspires a media pundit to write: “So…here come the iPodders, the Cokettes, the McDonald’s Munchers, the Trojans, Victoria Secret, the Scions, the Dunkin’ Double D’s, the Hummers, Krispy Kremers, Subway Girls, Hot Wheel Honeys, Billabong Babies, Taco Bell Tease, the Coors…oh wait…that’s already a girl group, the Juicy Girls, Prada.”

He forgot to mention the Mr. Donuts Doppelgangers, the Doutor Drippettes and the Ometesando Christmas Lites!

A new coffee house named “Swallowtail” has opened in Tokyo for the specific purpose of catering to female otaku. When a woman enters, she is greeted by a young “butler” dressed in tails who leads her to a room done in the décor of a British country house.

Swallowtail has been a success, drawing more than 3,000 customers — roughly 100 a day — in the month since it opened March 24 in Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward, according to Ayako Abe, executive managing director of K-Books, which manages the coffee shop.

More than 80 percent of the customers are women, with those in their 20s and 30s forming the core group, she added.

“We didn’t expect to have such a large number of customers,” Abe said. “We’ve asked customers to make reservations on our Web site. All tables have been reserved until May 12, and weekends in May are fully booked.”

It is estimated that the male otaku market has reached 88.8 billion yen. Though comparable data is not available for female otaku, there are those who say that a comparable market may exist to cater to their needs as well.

According to the people who run the Swallowtail coffee shop:

Women have no one to serve them. In a virtual reality environment (at the butler cafe), I think many women want to spend some time when they can feel relaxed, drinking tea elegantly, and want to have a sense of superiority.

Thanks to Es for the pointer.

Check out this report on a study and claims to determine which countries are most (and least) satisfied with their sex lives.

The bottom line is this:

Most Satisfied

• Austria
• Spain
• Canada
• Belgium
• United States
• Australia
• Mexico
• Germany
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Least Satisfied

• Thailand
• China
• Indonesia
• Taiwan
• Japan

I wonder if any correlation can be drawn between the above study and this study that um. . . sized up males in different countries around the world.

Thanks to Morgan and Raymond S.

Remember Miyoko Kawakara? She was the Nara woman who spent 2-1/2 years harassing a neighbor she did not like by playing loud music and by screaming insults at the top of her lungs at all times of the day.

Click here to see a video of this wild woman in action.

The neighbors finally got authorities to act and she was arrested.

A few months later the Nara District Court ordered her to pay 2 million yen in damages to her neighbor.

Now we get word that Kawahara has been sentenced to one year in prison for her actions.

Presiding Judge Tetsuya Okuda said the crime was persistent, insidious and shocking. He also said Miyoko Kawahara, unemployed, had not shown any remorse and could commit similar crimes again.

Kawahara had been charged with inflicting injury on her 65-year-old neighbor, who suffered tension headaches and sleep disorders from the music. Prosecutors had demanded Kawahara be sentenced to three years in prison.

According to the ruling, almost every day from November 2002 to April 2005, Kawahara blasted loud music on a stereo placed near her kitchen door, causing her neighbor across the street to suffer health problems that took a month to recover from.

Problem is that police have had her in custody already for around 250 days since her arrest, which means she will be out in only about 100 days. People in the area have expressed concern about what will happen once Kawahara returns to the neighborhood.

Say. . . Come to think of it, I wonder what ever happened to the feces cooker?

Episode 019 of the Japundit Podcast is now available on the Japundit Podcast website and at FeedBurner.

* Japundit forums closed
* T-shirt giveaway/Bart survey results

* Unchi and beauty
* Pampered pooches
* Smell-0-vision comes to Japan
* David Weber climbs the Great Pyramid
* California library bans Manga reference
* Mitsubishi Motors ducks punitive damages
* Tamagotchi are back!
* Doctor Fish in Hakone
* Japanese TV cleans up its act, no one watches
* Japan moving to copyright wagyu

* Listener feedback

Japundit Contributors:
Danny Bloom in Taiwan, David Weber in Tokyo, Marie Mockett in New York, Sylvain Bouchard in Sendai, Mike Plugh in Akita, Tubbypaws in the U.K., Tokyoid in London, Bill “Ampontan” Sakovich in Kyushu, JP in Tokyo

Music
Podsafe Music Network
* Stress by Jim’s Big Ego
* Sparkling Woman by Daiki and Little Wings
* Kaiprinya No Moto by Tsukiakari Yonin Gumi

* Caiprinya receipe!

Special Thanks:
* Tokyo Dan, What’s Happening In Tokyo
* Shay, Sparkplugged

Inspiration:
Phil Hendrie

Brought to you by J-LIST

Japundit Posting Schedule

I’d like to pass on some new in order to give everyone advanced warning so you don’t start wondering about what is happening around here.

Starting from today, I will no longer be posting articles on Japundit over weekends (Saturday and Sunday) or on Japanese national holidays. In addition, I will probably start cutting my daily posts back or around one or two per day.

Until now, we have tried to post at least four articles per day. This is pretty easy when everyone has enough time to write, but all of our writers also have real jobs as well. I have been covering all regular posting times as required, but my own real-job increased workload and private commitments make it impossible for me to continue to do this any longer.

Note that this posting policy pertains to me (JP) only. Other contributors will continue to post as they see fit.

Also, the above does not affect the Japundit Podcast, which will continue to be produced weekly.

Japundit Forums

Due to a total lack of interest and participation, the Japundit Forums have been discontinued. Thanks much to those of you who did sign up and participate.

A man named Toshiyuki Kita sometimes says, when he is feeling pessimistic about Japan’s future, that “Japan is breathing its last, because people believe that there is something better over there [in Western cultures]. They will sail away. And when they come full circle, back to Japan, it will be gone.”

But the optimist in him wins out.

Kita visited craftsmen in villages around Japan, designed pieces for them to produce that were viable in the international marketplace, and then stationed himself overseas in Italy as a marketing maven selling Japanese tableware and selling furniture.

Quite the maverick.