For those needing another statistic indicating that the Japanese population is aging, the National Police Agency (NPA) has revealed that people 65 and older accounted just about half of all traffic fatalities last year.

The poll showed there were 2,727 elderly people who died in traffic accidents in 2007, making up 47.5 percent of all traffic accident fatalities across the nation, which stood at 5,744 in total. The figure was the highest since records started being kept in 1967.

Meanwhile, traffic fatalities involving young people aged between 16 and 24 stood at 670 in 2007, about one-third of the figure reported in 1997.

Before giving the impression that demented geezers are dying because they are running into brick walls in their Toyotas, it should be pointed out that half of the fatalities involved seniors being killed while they were on foot.

Looks like the Americans may be gearing up to challenge the Japanese in innovative toilet technology. . .

Thanks to Mr. Pink

With the government looking determined to push through a tax reform bill that JP reported on last week, it might come as something of a surprise to hear that it’s being reported tonight that they have agreed to drop the bill, or at least the clause concerning “road-designated tax revenues”, which has been facing stiff opposition and causing the oft-stated ‘confusion’ in parliament.

That Mainichi article linked above might lead you to believe that consumers in Japan can now look forward to cheaper gasoline at the pump. But I for one won’t be holding my breath.

Kyodo reports rather fuller details, including -

The withdrawal comes after the ruling and opposition camps accepted [House of Representatives Speaker Yohei] Kono’s offer made earlier in the day to resolve the tense confrontation over the bill in the lower house, a senior opposition lawmaker said. The offer calls for withdrawing the stopgap bill and seeking “some kind of conclusion within this fiscal year” through March on a separate bill to maintain the special taxes for 10 years beyond their expiration on March 31.

There’s no suggestion of nixing the gas tax, or lowering the rate. All this does is free up parliamentary time, by postponing a spat that sounds like it was beginning to get out of hand -

Prior to the deliberations at the financial committee, about 50 DPJ members blocked the passage near the committee room, holding up signs which read ”Road interests versus people’s lives.” In the committee meeting, opposition lawmakers protested against holding a vote, seizing the committee head’s microphone and slamming desks.

There’s clearly other pressing business the government wants to get round to (keep your eyes open) and could do without such strident hindrance. But it can only be seen as a postponement - the government will resubmit the issue in a bill in some other form in the near future, and in the face of further opposition, are likely to force it through.

Ten people in Japan have become seriously ill after eating gyoza (dumplings) imported from China that were later found to contain high levels of an agricultural insecticide.

Five family members in Ichikawa, Chiba, were taken to hospital suffering from vomiting and diarrhea after they ate the dumplings, while another two women from Chiba and three family members from Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, also reportedly ate the dumplings.

One of the family members from Ichikawa, a 5-year-old girl, was left unconscious in serious condition, while the other family members fell seriously ill after eating the dumplings, which were sold frozen through a consumer cooperative.

The gyoza were tested by Ichikawa health officials who found the insecticide methamidophos in amounts that far exceeded allowable levels in Japan

I saw a TV report on this story this evening during which a reporter called the company whose factory produced the dumplings. When the reporter asked the woman on the other end of the line for a comment, she became quite irate and said something like, “I don’t know what is being reported in the mass media in Japan so I don’t know what you are talking about.” The news show also said that a company representative told them it was impossible for such a thing to happen with their products.

Developing. . .

If you thought you’d seen the last of the Kameda family, I’ve news for you. They’re back. I know. I’ve missed them too.

The demure, urbane and modest Koki Kameda, it has been announced, will return to the ring on March 22 for a non-title bout with Spanish flyweight Jose Lopez Bueno at Makuhari Messe in Chiba.

Koki’s been in ‘media exile’ since the whole family’s shameful display during younger brother Daiki’s now infamous fight last October.

Have to say it doesn’t sound like exciting fare, more like target practice. Don’t know much about Jose Lopez Bueno, except that he’s 33 (12 years older than Kameda) and doesn’t have what you’d call a sparkling record (42 fights, won 29, lost 9, drawn 4). Is he one of these “washed up palookas” that JP was referring to?

Daddy won’t be ringside of course, he’s still banned, but whether we’ll see return of the media circus that inevitably ensued whenever a Kameda was present, well that’s another matter entirely and remains to be seen.

When I was growing up, I remember thinking that they had arranged marriages in Japan, probably something I got from watching the episode of Happy Days where Arnold gets married in a traditional Shinto ceremony. In reality, the Japanese custom of omiai is more like an “arranged meeting,” a kind of formal get-together between prospective partners, usually organized by busybody aunts who can’t stand the thought of their being any single people around them.

Omiai can take place with all family members in attendance, or just the prospective couple. Interestingly, you’re supposed to bring a Japanese resume form on which you can record your school and work background as well as interests (horseback riding and tea ceremony are recommended hobbies for prospective brides), just like applying for a job, which strikes me as a little odd. If the young people hit it off, they’ll go out on more conventional dates to see where things lead.

Before my wife met me, she had had omiai with a few men, including the son of a sake distributor that her parents have a business relationship with, hence she couldn’t refuse. Fortunately for me, all of the men were quite bowled over by her extensive travels and ability to speak English, and she was still available when I came along.

On gaining respect for Japan’s oldest sport

Two titans squaring off

Sumo — quivering mounds of flesh set into sudden motion that is at once jarring and engaging. It’s the sport of gods, literally. However, it took me some time to appreciate sumo. Long before I made my way over to Japan, my image of sumo was not a very flattering one. To me sumo was a match where two nigh-immobile mountains of flab come together with all the speed of erosion to push one or the other slowly out of the small ring they were in. In short, fat guys in diapers having a shoving match — not exactly my cup of tea.

Impact!

The erosion of my entrenched stereotype began with my first encounter with sumo. This encounter came from the TV broadcasts of the January tournament during my first month in Japan. At that time I was waiting for my new job to start up so I was lean on funds. My entertainment was limited to cheap beer, Doritos and whatever was on TV in my cramped little gaijin house. I just happened to stumble upon the broadcasts of the sumo tournament in mid-January. I couldn’t understand anything on Japanese TV at this point (and I still don’t; but for different reasons). Sumo, though, was simple enough to follow.

A great handful of salt tossed high to purify the ring

What surprised me right away was the speed of these seemingly slow behemoths. They were shockingly fast and agile. Their speed dispelled the notion I once held that overweight Americans could compete in sumo tournaments. I used to think there was no reason to go to Japan to see a sumo match when similar sport could be had by throwing a free bag of potato chips on the floor of the local Wal-Mart. How wrong I was.

Sumo Wrestlers despite their bulk are remarkably flexible at times

For one thing, despite appearance, most sumo wrestlers actually have less fat than their average working countrymen. What lurks under the deceptive rolls of flab is muscle — a lot of muscle. Sumo wrestlers “work” hard to get big, unlike my rotund countrymen who accidentally get big by eating cheese doodles all day on the sofa while watching TV. The wrestlers want this bulk for two reasons — (1) to give their thrusts more power and (2) to cushion the impact of their opponent’s blows.

To achieve their dual goal of fat and muscle, sumo wrestlers keep to a strict regimen of exercise and eating. They start exercising early in the morning between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. and do this for several hours. The wrestlers only eat twice a day but these are large meals after which they sleep. Lunch is the biggest meal and they sleep for two hours afterwards.

Chanko-nabe is one of the main staples of a sumo wrestler’s diet. Chanko-nabe is a stew with no rigid ingredient list but a little bit of everything. It’s high in protein and consumed in great quantities to add the necessary girth a sumo wrestler needs.

Ahem! ….well, now!

Not all sumo wrestlers though are the gargantuan titans of blubber that may spring to mind. In the 1990s, this type of image was enforced by Akebono (235 kilograms/520 pounds) and Konishiki (264 kilograms /580 pounds) both huge wrestlers in their own right but not Japanese. The current yokozuna (champion) are two relatively lightweight Mongolians — Asashoryu and Hakuho. Both of them have put on the necessary weight and tip the scales at over 300 pounds but their bodies still look relatively in proportion.

David and Goliath Sumo-style

The strength of these portly wrestlers is not to be underestimated. Over the long history of sumo, there has been tales of incredible strength by these stout giants from lifting huge heavy bales of rice to cannon balls weighing several hundred pounds. It’s no wonder that for many Japanese at a time when the average body build was smaller than today that they looked upon sumo wrestlers as superhuman.

Getting rolled in the ring

Agility is another surprising aspect of sumo wrestlers. Anyone who follows sumo knows these wrestlers will not only use their bulk and strength to win a match but their agility as well. Sometimes, this can be simply moving out of the way at the last moment and letting their opponent go sailing out of the ring on their own steam. Other times, an agile wrestler will quickly move to the side at the moment of contact and bring his opponent crashing down to the ground with one quick thrust.

From my first initiation into the world that is sumo, I have since acquired a great appreciation for this sport that is not only a sport but a religious ritual as well. I try to catch at least one day of sumo whenever the tournaments come to Tokyo, which is three times a year. As interesting as it is to catch sumo on TV, nothing beats the excitement of watching it live.

Ooooffff!!!!

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If you thought sumo a sport of slow moving fat guys in thongs engaged in an aggressive shoving match, guess again.

As any follower of Sumo knows, Sumo wrestlers are fast, strong, and agile. They also know how to take a fall real well. And they get tossed around a lot.

The following is a series of falls, tumbles, and throws from several tournaments: Sept ‘06, May ‘07, July ‘07 in Nagoya, and Sept ‘07. There’s also scenes from an outdoor exhibition in April ‘07.

I went early in the day for the Nagoya Basho and caught some of the junior wrestlers so this vid has wrestlers from the very top to the very bottom of the sumo hierachry.

Music by Seven Cycle Theory

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Young golf star Ryo Ishikawa marked the New Year by turning professional last week, thereby becoming Japan’s youngest ever pro.

Still only 16, Ishikawa set off for Australia today to make his professional debut in a tournament that would see him qualify for this summer’s Open Championship (British Open) if he secured a top four finish next week in Sydney.

Ishikawa has barely been out of the headlines since winning the Munsingwear Open (and being presented with that penguin) last year as a 15-year-old amateur. Since then he’s developed quite a following. Middle-aged ladies, it seems, are particularly taken not only with his boyish good looks, but his manner and his style too.

The ‘hanikami oji’ (bashful prince), as he’s known to fans, revealed to reporters that if nothing else, the trip will give him a chance to practise a bit of eikaiwa…

“I’m happy that I’m going to an English-speaking country. It’s something that not many of my classmates can experience and hopefully I’ll get used to English as much as I can,” he said. “As for my pro debut, I’m feeling nothing special, really. I just want it to be a wonderful memory for me.”

Japundit will report on Ryo’s progress.

Fourteen year old Mirai Nagasu has won the senior Ladies Free Skate at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul. She was the leader after her short program.

And despite an early fall in her long program, went on to capture the gold.

Congratulations to Mirai Nagasu!

Found in Kumamoto (Kyushu) train station while on my way to say hello to Overoften.

Sumo fans will remember 2007 as something of a low point. Record low numbers of recruits, diminishing media coverage of actually wrestling, and instead of scandal after scandal - first the death of a young rikishi attributed to a brutal training regime, and then the rather strangely larger row that blew up when Asashoryu (朝青龍) was spotted running around a Mongolian football pitch when he was supposed to be injured.

The story ran and ran to an almost tedious length in the Japanese media, but as 2008 started, it seemed that the old adage - “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” - was to some extent true. Asashoryu had served his two-tournament ban and was back. Meanwhile, compatriot Hakuho (白鵬) was waiting for him.

And the two yokozuna met yesterday in an all-Mongolian finale to the New Year tournament.

Rather more detailed ‘match reports’ available here and here.

A former supervisor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Bureau of Transportation has been arrested for forging train passes in order to accumulate cash to by model railroad equipment.

“I needed money to buy a model railroad and repay loans to consumer finance groups,” he was quoted as telling police.

Police suspect that the man was able to steal as much as six million yen over an eight-month period, and only became suspicious when it was found that a number of train passes with his name on them had been turned in for cash.

Japanese toy giant Bandai Co. has become the effective owner of one of Japan’s most beloved superhero with their purchase of 33,400 shares of Tsuburaya Productions, the company that created Ultraman.

The share purchase gives Bandai the rights to produce merchandise and services under the Ultraman name, as well as 42 other properties.

Xinhua is reporting that the Silk Street Market in Beijing, famous for its cheap knockoffs of international designer goods, has registered the name SILKSTEET as a tradmark and issued a warning to counterfeiters that abusers of the brand will be prosecuted to the full extent of trademark laws.

The first items to bear the SILKSTREET name, displayed on Wednesday, include apparel such as neckties, shirts and scarves, as well as a few household items such as tablecloths. They are marked “quality guaranteed” with a label that tells buyers that “the goods are certified by the Silk Street Market. If any quality problems are found, the market will bear the responsibility of compensation.”

“SILKSTREET products are sold exclusively in the market. Anyone using the brand outside will be held liable,” the Beijing Evening News quoted Wang Zili, general manager of the market, as saying.

It is hoped that establishment of the SILKSTREET brand will become an important step towards protecting intellectual property rights in China.

Here is something a bit different for your weekend viewing pleasure. . . It is the trailor for a new soap opera out of Thailand titled War of Angels.

The new soap opera focuses on the sexual scandal of a handsome married pilot, and a group of jealous air hostesses fighting for his love. The stewardesses can be seen cat fighting while on duty and wearing their uniforms.

It seems a trade union that represents air crews has filed a complaint with the Thai culture ministry and the TV station that broadcasts the show, saying it demeans their profession.

Though the producers of the show have apologized, and have promised to lengthen the skirts worn by the flight attendant characters and to stop depicting them having cat fights in uniform (which I guess means they will have them wearing something else when they cat fight), they have ruled out cancelling the show as demanded by the union.

Via Asian Pop With Yien Jee