It seems as if golfer Michelle Wie is finally growing up.

To try to earn her 2009 LPGA Tour card, Wie has entered the first stage of tour qualifying next week at Mission Hills Country Club.

Score this as a first step in the direction Wie should have been following all along.

Time will tell whether this is a genuine epiphany or just another one of those phony self-discovery stunts that are so popular these days.

In any event, let’s just hope we don’t get any more of this:

After turning pro the week of her 16th birthday, Wie has stuck to a game plan that she said was always her design, even though her parents appeared to be behind the wheel far more often than she was. And along the way, Wie drove very far off track.

In her first full year as a pro, she held at least a share of the lead in three majors in 2006. Then after she injured her wrists, Wie’s fortunes changed, her game faltered, her missteps increased and her image started taking hits.

And the fact remains that Wie hasn’t won any kind of tournament since the U.S. Women’s Public Links Championship, when she was all of 13.

Almost from that moment, her peers and others have suggested that Wie learn how to win against female players, instead of constantly loading up her playing schedule against the male pros, experiences that gained her almost nothing except more notoriety. Most of that negative, by the way.

Good luck, Michelle.

Via The Marmot’s Hole

Blaine Harden of the Washington Post penned a thought-provoking article about modern Japanese women that touches on many topics which have been raised here on Japundit. It asks why women are postponing or even eschewing marriage and children; a trend which I, too, have seen. Off the top of my head, I can name about 10 single Japanese women friends in their mid-to-late thirties; far fewer than the number who are married.

Takako Katayama has not closed the door on marriage and children. When she meets girlfriends for dinner, they ask each other, “Where are the good guys?” But she refuses to settle for a man who works long hours, declines to share in child-rearing and sees marriage mainly as a way to acquire lifetime live-in help.

“I want a mature, equal-partner kind of marriage,” she said. “Anyway, there are complete lives without a baby.”

Therein lies a dismal prognosis for Japan and for many of the other prosperous nations of East Asia. In numbers that alarm their governments, Asian women are delaying marriage and postponing childbirth. In Japan, the percentage of women who remain single into their 30s has more than doubled since 1980.

“We need to organize our society so that women and families will be able to raise children while working,” Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said in an interview in May. “I think we still lack adequate efforts on that front.”

This year, Fukuda’s government is pushing a “work-life balance” program that addresses the country’s famously punishing work ethic. It pressures companies to shoo workers (primarily men) out of the office at night. The intent is to improve the quality of family life and, in the process, make more babies.

The stakes are high here in the world’s second-largest economy, which now has the world’s highest proportion of people over 65 and lowest proportion of children under 15. According to a recent forecast, population loss will strip Japan of 70 percent of its workforce by 2050.

We all have heard of how foot binding was (and apparently still is in some areas) practiced in China, but these are the first photos I have ever seen of this gruesome practice.

More here.

AskMen.com writes in to alert us to the results of their survey Top 10: Japanese Models, which focuses on Japanese “gravure idols.”

Other AskMen.com links that may be of interest are their Top 10: Playboy Japan Centerfolds and their Celebrity Profiles.

A longtime Japundit reader alerted me to an important beauty treatment now available at New York’s Shizuka salon, a place I went to once in search of a Japanese-style manicure.

a high-end Japanese spa in midtown, has just introduced a new “Geisha Facial,” which promises to cleanse, brighten, and exfoliate a patron’s face—thanks to a secret ingredient: bird poop. For centuries in Japan, both Kabuki actors and geishas used uguisu no fun, or nightingale droppings, to clean off their thick white makeup and soothe their faces; apparently, guanine, found in the droppings, helped their complexions.

Hopefully the bird droppings are not collected from the upper reaches of Hokkaido.

Vanity, after all, can make you sick.

Spam emailers have discovered that eating seaweed can miraculously rid women between the ages of 25 and 54 of the roll of fat around their middlesection.

Just take a couple of sea-weed tablets every day, and perhaps you too will see your weight plummet, so you too can join the ranks of women who enjoy the lowest rate of obesity in the world!

Personally, I’ll stick to weekly misoshiru and some nice sunomono with wakame.

Uguisu photo via.

Being a healthy male, I’m naturally fascinated with the opposite sex, and I find the subject of Japanese females to be an especially complex and interesting one.

Over the years I’ve known many Japanese females, from students I taught English to, to girls I dated, and of course my wife, and while each of them is unique, I have noticed some patterns.

Japanese females are often very concerned with how they appear to others, wanting to be chanto shiteru (roughly translatable “doing things properly, as they should be done”) in all things, and when it comes time to, say, split a lunch bill, out come the calculators so they can accurately compute the amount that each person must pay.

Often, Japanese girls feel the need to cultivate a certain kawaii character about themselves, and it’s not that difficult to find a girl in her high teens or twenties who thinks its cute to hold her coat sleeves in her hands to make herself look “super deformed,” to refer to herself in the third person or to spontaneously channel a “catgirl” without warning.

While there are exceptions, most Japanese girls are extremely slender, and I’ve known grown women here who, when visiting the U.S., need to shop at Gap Kids if they want to find their size.

Thanks to eating rice three times a day, Japanese females are constipated more often than not, and spend great quantities of money on exotic Chinese herbal remedies, when all they need to do is eat a little less rice.

I could go on, but I wouln’t want to ruin the mystique of Japanese women for anyone, and besides, they confuse me, too.

May Day in Kyoto not only involves a parade honoring International Worker’s Day, but also marks the opening of verandas in restaurants in Pontocho along the Kamogawa River.

A pair of maiko (apprentice geisha) shoes at the entrance of a Pontocho restaurant.

The restaurant where I ate had a little screen separating our area from the veranda next door. When I looked over, I spotted a camera crew setting up equipment. A little later, it became clear why the cameras were there.

A little breeze hit the screen, and in the opening, I could see a smiling maiko.

I’m pretty sure this was some kind of news crew documenting the start of the May and the opening of the verandas, which will be accessible till September 30th.

May is also the start of the Pontocho geiko dances at the Kaburencho.

Someone managed to catch a snippet of the dances last year, and upload it onto Youtube.

We also enjoyed some tea, made by a maiko.

Caught a special on TV on Tuesday about The Candies, which was a female super group in Japan in the 1970s, and it reminded me of a time when girl groups in Japan were more than just the music.

I’m currently in love with this watch by LA based designer Tokidoki. The designer, Simone Legno, is actually from Italy, but with a keen eye, and a sense of humor (not to mention a Japanese girlfriend), he’s created a world of charming characters that remind one of the playful sensibility pervading the world of anime. No wonder he has a devoted cult following.

This summer is supposed to see the launch of several new Tokidoki products, including a special bag for Sportsac and a collaboration with Onitsuka Tiger. I’m really curious to see what the items will look like!

Mainichi Wai Wai has a report from a Japanese weekly magazine about a woman who has been arrrested for attempted murder of her future father-in-law over a misperception of his views on her upcoming marriage to his son.

[The woman] admits to the allegations, saying she attacked the old man during a drunken fit because she thought he was going to speak out against her plans to marry his son.

“Both my fiance’s parents had told me off before about how bad my housework was, so I figured they were opposed to our marriage,” [she] told the police.

Unfortunately for the suspect, though, she’d got it wrong.

“There was never anything like that,” says [the] victim, who sustained serious stab wounds but is expected to make a full recovery.

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy Car race by winning the Japan 300 in Motegi. I’m not a huge motor sports fan myself, but it is certainly a historic first and worth noting. Here’s ESPN’s take on the event.

Patrick finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Helio Castroneves on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval after leader Scott Dixon pitted with five laps left and Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan came in a lap later.

The 26-year-old Patrick won in her 50th career IndyCar start, taking the lead from Castroneves on the 198th lap in the 200-lap race.

Which of the following photos is of real maiko, and which is of fakers?

Photo A.

Photo B.

Answer after the jump. Please do post your response. (No cheating).

There’s a report in the Mainichi entitled Booming popularity doubles accident rate at Tokyo’s Mt. Takao, which tells that “there were 43 reported accidents on the mountain last year, almost double the average number from each year from 2004 to 2006.”

Those who go unprepared come in for a roasting from Kenichiro Maruyama, head of the Takao Police Station’s Alpine Rescue Taskforce who says, “OK, so it’s only a small mountain, but it’s a mountain nonetheless. Not thinking enough about what’s needed for mountain climbing is inviting trouble.”

Quite so.

Police are urging anybody visiting Mt. Takao to take appropriate preparations beforehand, including having a plan on how to get down the mountain, preparing sufficient equipment such as water, rain gear and flashlights, understand that mobile phones won’t always work in the area and make reports on planned hikes on Mt. Takao before setting off.

To further underline this point about lack of preparedness, the report states that “many accidents are reported among [...] women going to the mountain while wearing high-heeled shoes.”

A group of Japanese mountaineers setting out on an expedition, yesterday

I’ve been fascinated by new pop-singer Alan Dawazhuoma’s single “Ashita He No Sanka” which I’m assuming means “Song for Tomorrow.”

Alan hails from Tibet, but studied at the China National Chinese Opera and Dance Drama Company. She was scouted by Avex, the Japanese label for which Koda Kumi sings, and released her first single at the end of last year.

You have to get through the very J-pop beginning to the song, and then, when she wails (starting around 2:25), she really goes for it in that chilling, classical Chinese opera way (the effect of her voice at 5:30 and onward is almost visceral). The blog Channel-Ai gives a lovely, detailed review of the track. In the opening, she invokes the elements—-land, sea, nature—-then proceeds to point out disasters—-global warming—-before pointing out that music is shared by all people.

Yes, she has an accent because he is just learning Japanese. And frankly, she’s a hell of a lot more talented than that other foreign import, Leah Dizon. Lest you think Alan’s high notes are fully processed, here she is live.

Considering the struggles between China and Tibet, perhaps you’ll consider supporting Alan’s music in some way. Yes, I know it’s a very small thing to do in the face of a life and death struggle. One suspects that with her dual heritage, she’ll be in agony over the violence.

A blogger has won Japan’s top literary award, the Akutagawa Prize. Her name is Mieko Kawakami and she started her blog to try to promote her music, but soon found herself writing about more personal matters. She wrote her first novel entirely online; her third book won the prize.

But here is the interesting part; the article referenced above notes that there are more blogs in Japanese than in any other language. Further:

Kawakami is unusual in the extent of her success. But Steve Weber, an American who has written about marketing books online, said Japanese writers are far ahead of Americans in making their work available on the Internet. Many have had successful books published after producing novels intended to be read on mobile phones, for example.

In the U.S., publishers are just starting to understand the market power that writers with hit blogs can wield, Weber said.

“Popular bloggers are definitely being targeted by smart publishers because the publishers realize that the authors have already done the hard work of book marketing,” he said in an e-mail from Falls Church, Va. “They’ve attracted the audience.”

I fell in love with the Internet as soon as I found it. It never occurred to me that it would take so long for it to catch on with traditional industries. I’m glad to see that there is more room for bloggers and that older media outlets are starting to understand the benefits of the online world. And I think it’s cool that there is a kind of example in Japan to follow.

Laurel posted a great story over at A Rinkya Blog, just in time for next week’s White Day (March 14).

If you’re not familiar with ‘White Day’, and if you don’t live in Japan, there’s no reason you should be, it comes a month after Valentine’s Day and it’s a day the guys have to reciprocate for all the chocolate they received the month before from nearly every female they know.

Well gents, depending on the ladies you know, and how much money you have burning a hole in your pocket, this year there’s a gift that really represents modern Japan.

This White Day, French fashion designer Louis Vuitton has white monogrammed roses for 4000 yen each (approximately $39 USD each)

The special Louis Vuitton rose is available for a limited time only and looks great paired with a purse!

hmmm…

NSFW

The mayor of Meiwa in Gunma Prefecture and seven other members of the town’s municipal assembly have filed a lawsuit against a female Meiwa Municipal Assembly member for defamation, because she is pressing indecent assault charges against another assembly member. The group says that the 52-year-old women implied that they also were involved in the assault and thereby defamed them.

“We tried to talk to her about it, but couldn’t come to a conclusion so had no option but to take the matter to the courts,” [the mayor] said.

The woman was baffled by the litigation.

“I don’t understand what they’re trying to do by suing me,” she said. “It’s sad.”

According to the suit, the woman gave a press conference at which she claimed to have sexually harrassed. She told reporters that she screamed, but all of the other municipal assembly member who were present acted as if nothing had happened.

The mayor and assembly memebers are demanding 100,000 yen each plus an apoloy to be printed in the newspaper. The woman in the meantime has filed a criminal complaint against the other 49-year-old assemblyman who she says fondled her breast.

Your worst nightmare. You are waiting in the International terminal at an agreed upon time to meet a flight from Tokyo. Your wife has been gone in China for 6 months (SIX MONTHS!) visiting her family. You wait and wait and she never shows up. You are going nuts! You go on national TV to talk about your missing wife, whom you met on an internet dating service. You are worried because, well, she isn’t exactly equipped to be independent when she gets back.

Sumei Hu, 38, has no money, no credit cards, no cell phone, no way of being reached and speaks limited English, Frasch said. The couple has been married since November 2005, after meeting on an Internet dating service.

There is video footage of her clearing customs, so you know she was one the plane. She just seems to have gotten “lost.” Then comes word that she’s alive! She just doesn’t want to see you or ever go back to Sheboygan again.

in what is one of the more disturbing trends in contemporary japan, the maid cafes and other perverted male otaku hang outs have spawned a new branch of cafes for female otaku, ones based one gay comic book porn. that’s right, women who want to indulge their childhood fantasy of young effeminate men dressed in high school uniforms flirting with each other, engaging in oral sex, or brutally anal raping each other finally have an outlet for their fetish.

now if you’re anything like me, your fist reaction to this article might be, oh say, wtf? but apparently in japan’s never ending quest to cater to every possible kink, they have stumbled across a sizable subset of female otaku that just can’t get enough of yoai manga and doujinshi. as a consequence proprietors sensing an opportunity for profit have created bars and restaurants much like the one featured in this article. run by a woman by the name of emiko sakamaki, the place goes by the name of edlestein (named after a yoai comic set in a german high school) and features a staff of young cosmetically enhanced men. according to her and others the market is driven by the atmosphere of female indulgence that has been of which japan has, until this time, been bereft of, combined with the popularity of anime and manga, complicated by the desire for relationships which transcend traditional gender roles, all united by a sample population of young to middle aged single women who appreciate the unparalleled beauty of a fragile young teenager being raped by other men (preferably in groups).