One of the most frustrating aspects of living in Japan is being told constantly that just about any circumstance, no matter how illogical, unfair, or easily eliminated, “cannot be helped” (shikata-ga-nai or sho-ga-nai).

Now we get word that Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma has applied shikata-ga-nai logic to the end of World War II, saying that the atomic bombing of Japan by the United States during World War II was.

“I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn’t be helped,” Kyodo News agency quoted Kyuma as saying in a speech at a university in Chiba.

Though Kyuma comes from Nagasaki, he is able to find a silver lining the way the U.S. ended the war in that it prevented the Soviet Union from laying claim to a piece of Japan.

Kyuma’s remarks drew immediate criticism from Japanese atomic bomb victims.

“The U.S. justifies the bombings saying they saved many American lives,” said Nobuo Miyake, 78, director-general of a group of victims living in Tokyo. “It’s outrageous for a Japanese politician to voice such thinking. Japan is a victim.”

In America, the bombings are widely seen as a weapon of last resort against an enemy that was determined to fight to the death but instead surrendered unconditionally, six days after Nagasaki was attacked.

Two in five young Japanese women talk to their personal computer, according to a survey by iShare and Sega Toys reported in Mainichi Daily News. Highlights of the study included:

• 40.5 percent said they talk to their computer.
• 59.2 percent said they talked to themselves too.
• Stress was a frequent trigger for both.
• Many felt “lonely” or “disgusted with themselves.”
• 10.2 percent of women gave their computer a nickname like Mac-kun, Princess, or Pudding.
• 42.9 percent decorated their computers and work areas, usually with stuffed toys.
• 63.8 percent said they did so because the toys made them feel better.

410 women in their 20s or 30s were surveyed to coincide with the launch of Sega Toys’ Kokechii, a doll resembling traditional Japanese kokeshi dolls, except that it talks to itself without being prompted. [Source: Talk to Me]

Photo: From J-Box (hope I wasn’t supposed to ask first or we are SO sued…) where many other cute kokeshi dolls are available–perfect to decorate your PC.

According to Associated Press, the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth movie in J.K. Rowling’s series, had its world premier in Tokyo Thursday. The movie doesn’t play in the United States till July 11 and in Britain the next day.

Otaku were out in full force for the opening, many dressed up in witch costumes and holding magic wands. The hero, Daniel Radcliffe, remarked in simple language that “Japanese fans are the best!” No doubt.

And there is a new love interest in this one too since Harry Potter has his first kiss in it with fellow student Cho Chang (Katie Leung). You can barely make her out in the background of the poster… I think the swine is just toying with her affections…

But the fans must have been pleased with the whole thing, since the film opens as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is undergoing a gradual takeover by the bureaucratic Ministry of Magic and its emissary, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge. Pretty mysterious stuff…

But there is no word in English yet about how well the film was received by the Japanese audience and whether it was dubbed or subtitled or something like that. Maybe somebody knows?

But, in that connection, I have a friend in Saitama who is originally Chinese but has lived there for 15 years. Taking the opportunity to babble on about the many Japanese movies I can obtain from weird and wonderful sources, she only remarks:

“Oh, I never watch Japanese movies usually–I pay for the Movie Channel and they’re almost all in English.” Can this be true?

Members of a community association in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture blocked the purchase of a plot of land by a Japanese-Brazilian man who is employed and who speaks Japanese, claiming that the purchase would endanger the local community because Brazilians are “prone to crime.”

The third-generation Japanese-Brazilian had planned to build a detached house on the plot in the Nagamizo district of Fukuroi.

But before he could sign the contract, a group of local residents who are members of the Nagamizo community association raised objections to the purchase after they learned from the realtor that the buyer was of Brazilian ancestry.

The group, which at the time comprised 12 households, notified the real estate company of its intention to stop the man from moving in, the sources said.
One resident, citing a perception that Brazilians are prone to committing crimes, said, “I feared that something might happen.” The woman alluded to a number of reports about Brazilians fleeing Japan to avoid prosecution for crimes committed in Japan.

Miffed at the rejection the man complained to the Fukuroi branch of the Shizuoka Legal Affairs, claiming that his human rights had been violated, and the bureau agreed with his contention.

But. . . This being Japan, having the law on your side may not necessarily guarantee you much satisfaction. In this case, though the regional legal affairs bureau agreed that the man’s human rights were violated, the only action they took was to tell the neighborhood association and the realtor that if a similar situation occurred in the future they should handle it better.

It seems that even though the legal affair bureau has the authority to identify violations of human rights, there is nothing in the law concerning the punishment of violators.

“The bureau’s function is to educate the public about human rights issues by pointing out what constitute violations of human rights,” [an] official said.

The head of the Nagamizo community association stated bluntly that non-Japanese are not welcome in the neighborhood. “Honestly speaking, we don’t want (Brazilians) to move into the neighborhood if possible,” the person said. “We need to think about how we should deal with similar situations if a Brazilian wants to buy a plot of land here in the future.”

Bill Belew of Rising Sun of Nihon writes to tell us of a new manga feature on his blog.

Three times a week he will be publishing a manga by Kan Shinoy called Ello Bello, with the dialog presented in both Japanese and English.

Go here to find out more.

Bruce Wright, the commander of U.S. forces in Japan, said at a news conference in Tokyo earlier this month that “the leak of data on the [Aegis] missile defense system Japan shares with Washington is a “serious problem,” and both nations must work together to improve security”.

And by golly Japan is going to take action. So what’s the policy going forward? Are they going to insist that officers are a bit more careful about how they swap their digital pornography? Are they going to check that no one in the MSDF’s using Winny on their computer?

No. According to the Sankei Shimbun –

The Maritime Self-Defence Force plans to gradually transfer from August some 10 officers who are married to non-Japanese nationals and who have access to high-level military secrets.

The Mainichi went further, quoting an unnamed ’senior official’ who said -

The move [to transfer MSDF members with foreign spouses] was intended to reduce the possibility of information being leaked to other countries. High-ranking MSDF staff members decided on the move, and reported the plans to Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma.

A little concerned this could be seen as discrimination in the workplace?

Addressing such fears, ministry officials reportedly decided to move people with foreign spouses during regular personnel reshuffling, and avoid directly stating the reason as being that they have foreign spouses.

Remember that Michael Jackson fan appreciation event in Tokyo a while back (see here, here, and here) where you got to spend a few precious seconds with the Gloved One if you ponied up enough cash?

Well here’s a report from someone (Part 1, Part 2) who actually paid the $3,500 and got to spend 30 seconds with the King of Ped.

Finally they started calling numbers to meet the man. You weren’t allowed to bring a video camera, but I had a digital camera that actually shoots pretty high-quality video. I thought, “Well, I have no idea what’s going to happen when I walk through that door, so I’m just gonna start filming now and go for as long as I can.” I held my camera to my chest in a vise grip. The door opened. It was so intimidating. There were like 15 bodyguards and handlers inside. A woman shuffled me into the tiny, brightly lit room and immediately stripped me of my coat, my purse and my camera—like, she really wrestled the camera away from me. I tried to explain that I just wanted to take pictures of him myself (but secretly film him), but they didn’t understand. They were like, “Oh no, together, together!” and literally shoved me over to where he was waiting. He was just standing in the corner like a little lost dog confined in a cage at the pound. When they pushed me I tripped over the white tarp paper and tore it a little. You can see it in the picture.

I stumbled and kind of fell into Michael Jackson. The bodyguards gasped but Michael just caught me and was like, “Oh hi, are you OK?” We shook hands and hugged and he felt very frail and skeletal. I’m a size zero and I felt fat next to him. And I’ll tell you, being so close to that face, that nose, that skin… I was mesmerized. He said, “I really like your shirt,” and he touched my t-shirt. That felt strange. Then he said that he liked my vampire teeth necklace and asked me if he could have it! I thought I had misheard him, so I just mumbled something like, “Oh! You know, actually, it’s really sentimental. Sorry!” Right then the guy holding my camera said “OK, 1, 2, 3,” and took a picture of us—just one picture—and then they shuffled me out and that was it.

It was the fastest 30 seconds of my life. I felt like a piece of trash being blown in the wind. One of the rules was that we were allowed to ask Michael one question—like he was some kind of oracle. “Michael Jackson, who will I marry?” In all the chaos of it though, I didn’t even think to ask him anything. I barely even spoke to him. I barely even treated him like a human being, because everyone else in the room made him seem like such an object.

I left immediately afterward. There were going to be performances of dancers doing “Thriller” following the meetings, but I had to get out of there. I felt crazy. Since I was the first person to leave, when I got outside the paparazzi swarmed me, shouting, “Did you meet Michael Jackson? Did you shake his hand?” They trailed me for an entire block and I got so freaked out, I jumped in a cab and spent $70 getting back to the hotel. We had gotten gift bags containing a bottle of champagne and an autographed photo of Michael, and the next day the cleaning lady in my hotel either threw mine away or stole it.

Still, I definitely feel like I got my money’s worth. He was actually really nice. I feel bad for him. I feel bad that there’s this human life who has such a foreign, caged experience of the world.

Thanks to Timothy Dombrovskis.

SunShine Co. Ltd., a security firm in Tokyo, is planning to market a home earthquake warning device from this coming October.

The size of a paperback book, the EQGuard accesses data from the early warning system network maintained by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JAMA) via the Internet and sounds a loud countdown up to 20 seconds before an earthquake starts.

According to SunShine, the countdown should give people warning enough to allow them to duck under a table, turn off fires, etc.

The appliance sends alerts once it detects primary waves, or the first waves of an earthquake that do not cause major rattling but travel faster than the secondary waves that are responsible for the actual shaking.

The alerts could precede the shaking by 10 to 20 seconds, although the period would be much shorter — and in some cases absent — if the tremor’s center is near.

I don’t know. . . To me it sounds like that old George Carlin routine in which he imagines a two-minute warning before we die. Two minutes before you check out, a voice goes off in your head, “You’ve got two minutes. . . Get your sh*t together. . .”

Via The Raw Feed.

Profession glutton, Takeru Kobayashi, may struggle to mount a defence of his U.S. title at the annual Nathan’s Famous 4th July hot-dog-eating competition, at Coney Island, Brooklyn. It’s been revealed that he’s suffering from arthritis in his jaw.

Kobayashi reportedly said “There’s no pain only if I open my mouth about enough for one finger”, so while he presumably might be able to slip the dogs in, the buns would present a more painful problem.

Kobayashi fans, rest assured that ‘The Tsunami’ is “receiving treatment at a hospital and from a chiropractor”. His United Food Fighters Organisation (seriously) said on its website that Kobayashi had found a good doctor and was “creating an environment in which he can dedicate himself to healing”.

Kobayashi will be understandably desperate to get back into the fray after his hot-dog-eating record was broken by American Joey Chestnut, who recently consumed 59-and-a-half frankfurters in 12 minutes. The two were to go head-to-head at Nathan’s, but that is now looking increasingly unlikely.