The next time you decide to take in a flick in Japan, it might be a good idea to leave your camcorder at home. Recording in a movie theater in Japan is now officially illegal, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 10 million yen.

Industry orgs — including the Japan and Intl. Motion Picture Copyright Assn., the Motion Picture Producers Assn. of Japan, the Japan Assn. of Theater Owners, the Foreign Film Importer-Distributors Assn. of Japan and the Japan Video Software Assn. — jointly lobbied the government for the legislation in January and pressed vigorously for its passage.

One would think that already-stretched-thin law enforcement could be put to better use, but. . .

Nothing to do with Japan, but good for a laugh is But I Could Be Wrong by Tim Wilson. Don’t click if you are offended by foul language.

For kids too lazy to blow their own bubbles.

Time was, the gold standard for hair in Japan was, well, some Hollywood celebrity.

But I was struck this past spring while in Japan to see a shampoo commercial not only featuring all Japanese women, but also taking a sort of “celebrate Japanese women in general” stance to the SMAP tune “Dear Woman.”

Japan Times has an article on this phenom, claiming:

“Westerners are saying Japan is cool, and that view is winning acceptance in a kind of reverse import,” she said. “Shiseido’s advertising didn’t even talk about the shampoo’s features. Its message, that Japanese women on the go are beautiful, was more about a feeling.”

Of course, if you are a regular reader of Japundit, then you know we’ve been harping on this “reverse import” business for a while. Then there’s this:

“Our message really appealed to Japanese women, who are starting to awaken to a sense of self-confidence,” said Hiroyuki Ishikawa, who oversees hair care at Shiseido. “Up to now, Japanese women haven’t generally been chosen as global symbols of beauty.”

Riyo Mori, anyone? Maybe Hiro’s future (er, past) girlfriend is already having an impact. (And on a somewhat related note, I was intrigued to learn that my entire Riyo Mori post is on Ines Ligron’s blog . . .)

Yamakawa Jozo, a soy sauce brewery based in Gifu prefecture, has been selling a type of Tamari soy sauce specially designed for use on ice cream, according to Pink Tentacle. The sauce is not regarded as disgusting but rather has proven popular and a growing number of restaurants are even using it on their dessert menus.

A small amount of the rich, dark brew is said to give vanilla ice cream a caramel-like flavor, while a more liberal dose apparently makes vanilla ice cream taste more like mitarashi-dango (skewered rice dumplings covered in sweet sauce). According to the president of Yamakawa Jozo, the company developed the soy sauce specifically for use with vanilla ice cream, but consumers have come forward with a number of unexpected recipes. In addition to claims that it goes well with other ice cream flavors like strawberry and chocolate, fans of the special sauce say it tastes great on kaki-gori (shaved ice) and on toast, and that it makes a great mixer for shochu.

Strawberry and chocolate are only the tip of the iceberg for Japanese ice cream flavors, of course. Pink Tentacle speculates about the potential combinations, many of which must be even more yummy than plain old soy sauce on vanila ice cream.

I took my first trip to Japan in 2004. When I got back to New York I found that I missed being there and seeing all the unique things about it, especially seeing what people are wearing on the street. Tokyo people really put themselves together well and you really notice it when you come back in the USA.

Anyway, when I got back I searched the Internet for websites about Japan and found a couple that were just pictures of everyday people on the street. One of them was Japanese Streets. At the time the website was a little difficult to navigate so I never really got hooked on it, but today I got an email in my Inbox stating that they’ve just relaunched the site with a new design and more content. I just looked at it and now it looks like a real website

They have pictures of regular people (not fashion models) on the street and they’ve kept their old archives online which could be interesting if you want to see what Japanese people were wearing in 2004. They even added videos and some other stuff, too. I don’t have any affiliation with the site and I don’t know the guys who run it, I just think it’s a cool website if you like this kind of thing.

The other day, I saw the broadcast of “24 Hour TV,” an annual charity drive broadcast by the Nippon TV network each year.

Like the big “Kohaku Red and White Song Battle” held on December 31st it’s quite a media event, and all the biggest names in entertainment lend their star power to help raise money from viewers for various good causes. Over the course of the broadcast the hosts put on many events, including a marathon and various other sports-related segments.

The theme of this year’s show was “An Event That Changed Your Life,” and former baseball star Shinjo (who played in the U.S. for three years) went on a “Darts Trip,” throwing a dart at a map of Japan then traveling to that prefecture to interview people while the cameras watched.

In one segment I caught, Shinjo visited a rural part of Okinawa to interview people about what events had changed their lives. One mango farmer told him it was when he tasted mangos for the first time thirty years ago; he knew people would come to love the exotic fruit, although at the time Japanese were used much blander fare. Considering that they now sell for up to $100 apiece (in special packages, for giving as traditional gifts in the summer), I’m sure he’s not regretting his decision to take a chance on growing mangos.

Here I am in the Big Shitty (Tokyo) with too much time on my hands just to sit around but not enough time to go to a movie or something, so I decided to duck into an Internet cafe.

I have to confess that this is my first foray into one of these joints (not too many of them up in the hinterlands of beautiful Tochigi Prefecture), and I really was a bit apprehensive about the whole adventure. I sort of expected to be surrounded by dorky sleep-deprived geeks, smelling of Cup Noodle and unwashed undergarments, perusing the latest in porn site perversions.

What I found was a pretty pleasant place with a clientele consisting of more young gals than guys.

If I was young and single (oh how my pockets would jingle), I know where I would start hanging out.

A JAPUNDIT reader who is also a long-term resident of Japan sends in the following passage by Helmut Schoeck in his masterpiece Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior:

In primitive societies, “No one dares to show anything that might lead people to think he was better off. Innovations are unlikely. Agricultural methods remain traditional and primitive, to the detriment of the whole village, because every deviation from previous practice comes up against the limitations set by envy.”

And then asks if it makes us think of any society in particular. . .

Here it is. A promotional video for Anne of Green Gables starring Hitomi Shimatani. It’s all in Japanese, but non-speakers can still get a glimpse of Shimatani with her red hair, and see the characters of Gilbert and Diana.

Around 2:00 you will see moments in the production, including Anne’s initial meeting with Matthew, and her distress at having red hair.

Yes–any chair may fell, and that should be a lesson to us all… But who broke this pretty expensive chair? They don’t mention who or what legs must be on the floor, though. Obviously a latter-day version of the Haye’s Code? I assume this is Chinese Chingrish–after many years of philological training–mainly due to the presence of Chinese food in the poster…

Source: Uploaded to Flickr 08/26/07 by evadedave. Some rights reserved.

A spokesperson for the Institute of Cetacean Research, an organization commissioned by the government of Japan to oversee whale hunting in the name of research, is denying claims that the whaling industry is in decline because of lack of demand for the meat among Japanese.

Earlier this week, Iceland’s Fisheries Ministry decided not to issue quotas for the season beginning in September, citing low demand for the meat in the domestic market and poor short-term prospects for export to Japan.

The move prompted New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter to claim it shows demand for whale meat is not as strong as pro-whaling nations like Japan continue to assert.

“It appears obvious there is almost no market for whale meat, so if the Japanese government will not listen to the conservation argument to stop whaling, perhaps Iceland’s official recognition that there’s no market for the meat could finally encourage Japan to stop its expanded ’scientific’ whaling program,” Carter said Monday.

Carter also claims that Japan’s whale stockpiles are at 40,000 tons because of a lack in demand, while the Institute of Cetacean Research says the actual number is closer to 4,000 tons. They say this level of surplus is maintained in order to ensure demand does not outstrip supply.

A municipal bus driver in Hyogo Prefecture was fired from his job recently for pocketing bus fares instead of placing them into the fare box.

His take for the crime that cost him his job?

800 yen.

As we reported last month they were getting set to do McDonald’s Japan has opened the first of their McDonald’s McCafe coffee shops in a direct challenge to Starbucks, Tully’s and major java chains.

McDonald’s Co (Japan) Ltd opened seven McCafe shops in Tokyo and eight in neighboring Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Ibaraki prefectures as well as Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan.

The menu for McCafe in Japan is all original, according to CEO Eiko Harada. It includes drip coffe and espresso beverages starting at 170 yen, 15 bakery goods for 100 yen each, baked pie for 180 yen, “Dobutsu pan” (animal bread) for 260 yen, pumpkin soup and vegetable & bean soup for 390 yen, and McDeli for 330 yen in Tokyo.

As I said last month, this will be interesting to watch. Though people in the U.S. rate McDonald’s coffee higher than the brew you get at Starbucks, most Japanese people I have talked with tend to say they don’t like the taste of McDonald’s coffee. Only time will tell if the McDonald promo machine will be able to overcome the bad image of McCoffee in Japan.

Despite years of tantrum throwing by Korea, the 9th Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names has ruled that the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan shall continue to be called the Sea of Japan, just as it has been for centuries.

“I encourage the three countries concerned to find a solution acceptable to all of them, taking into account any relevant solutions, or else to agree to differ and to report the outcome of these discussions to the next conference,” F.J. Ormeling, chair of the session at the ninth conference on the standardization of geographical names, said Monday.

Both North and South Korea have been lobbying to change the name to Sea of Korea or East Sea basically because they hate anything that has the name “Japan” in it, claiming Sea of Korea or East Sea has been the name used in Korea for more than 2,000 years and Sea of Japan is a product of Japan’s colonial past.

Japan’s position on the matter seems to be more logical.

“First, (the) Sea of Japan is the only name for the sea area concerned that has been established both historically and internationally,” Jiro Kodera, a member of Japan’s U.N. mission and its representative at the conference, said in prepared remarks.

He also argued that the term was in use in the late 18th and early 19th century, predating Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Kodera said the issue has been raised by North and South Korea as a “bilateral and political claim,” and it should be settled among the parties without taking it to the conference.

In addition to claiming the term has been authorized by the United Nations, he said, “My delegation firmly believes that it is high time for this issue to be put to rest and for us to turn our attention to the true aims of this conference.”

Korea is not at all satisfied with the result, claiming that Japan’s stance during any bilateral discussion of the issue is inflexible.

No doubt finger chopping, flag burning, self-immolation, screeching, and claims of worldwide disdain for Korea as a small nation are sure to follow.

I so totally do not know what to make of this recent report in the Mainichi Wai Wai, so check it out for yourself.

Here’s new product that just might come in handy for checking out your Chinese products and goods.

The X-MET3000TXR+ hand-held X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer by Oxford Instruments provides a simple method of screening toys and other products for lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, chrome, nickel and other hazardous metals. It works by measuring the intensity and quantity of reflected energy when a sample is excited by X-ray energy.

Via The Raw Feed