tigris comments

@davidattokyo

You seem to be well informed. Maybe you can answer a question for me. Some (most) news reports speak of 2,300 dolphines killed in a year, others talk of 23,000. What is correct?

@Jaegger They count killed dolphines and whales, Afghans are not counted. They don't.

nonsense: bad publicity stopped them from leaving the port.

That's indeed nonsense. Can you give us one example where the bad publicity have had any impact on Japanese fishing practices in the last 30 years? That movie will not save one dolphine - if that is really the intend. It will make fame and fortune to the makers. They can also congratulate themselves that they have done something. Indeed the movie and its followers have been instrumental in severing the friendly relation between Taiji and Broom. Are the hate mails and racism experienced by innocent residents of Japanese heritage in Broom really worth the cause? Ah, that's collatoral damage. Fomenting tension will bring nothing but grief to people. It probably feels good to follow the war drum "to do something" about anything, but this won't save one dolphine in Taiji. After the whale wars and all the other wars and being 'intelligent' beings we should have worked out by now that this approach doesn't work.

The Russians deployed almost 110,000 troups in Afghanistan. They had a huge strategic and logistical advantage considering the proximity of the location and being able to walk in overland. They still couldn't control the place. When will the US ever learn?

Poorly researched article with some ludicrous comments thrown in at the end. The sampling of 10 families by Pierpoint - 38 persons, to be exact - is not near enough to draw any conclusive evidence of a specific problem with all wind farms. One would want to know if there are similar complains in countries where wind energy is most common and technology is most advanced - namely Denmark and Germany. To throw in the argument of the tobacco debacle is ridiculous. Apart from comparing energy issues with a bad habit there is the issue of respiratory problems caused by oil and coal based energy - worldwide. It is a difficult balance between benefits and risks. And throwing in the sights of wind turbines - poetry in motion for some - in a country like Japan where the landscape is covered with electrical overland power lines and masts and more masts and cables everywhere is laughable.

sf2k - excellent posts, interesting information.

No surprise. Looking at Afghanistan's history the only surprise is that anybody would have wanted to invade again. Many tried and were smashed or couldn't control the country. Among others the Persions tried. The English tried twice and left humiliated. The Russians - ditto. All of them with superior numbers and weaponry than the locals. Just a matter of time till the US and its allies get out of there too.

My posts are on topic. The underlining suggestion is that there wouldn't be such a big dispute or fuzz if all victims were non-Americans. History shows that there is no such thing as "justice for all" in the American psyche.

urufuls

I wrote ...mere "oriental human beings" not "mere oriental human beings". Visually easy to overlook but big difference. I suggest that you google "oriental human beings" to learn where this phrase comes from. Don't forget to include the quotation marks. The origin of this phrase also explains my "slight if not full out bias" when Americans count non-American victims of terrorism and war - if they count them at all.

The film maker is getting flack here from everybody because of his naive amateurish approach, I-can-do-anything-I'm-a-film maker attitude and utter lack of knowledge (gee..what's a war criminal?) and qualification to be making a "documentary" on the subject.

Yep, that's about it. Nothing to do with Yasukuni shrine whatsoever.

Why would someone filming non actors in a documentary film shout 'action'?

He bought a camera and now stands around like Look-at-me-I-am-a-filmmaker.

it's not revenge, it's justice. A civilised country has a judicial system where the punishment meets the crime. [...] So in retrospect, compassion was shown towards this man who was convicted of the deaths of 189 people

270 people were killed. You only count 189 people - the Americans. As usual. Where is your justice when the US shoots a civilian airliner out of the sky killing 290. Oh I forgot, they are not people, but mere "oriental human beings".

I have a feeling that even if Yasukuni Shrine was public property, they'd still find some way to kick film makers out

Wrong feeling. You just have to go through the proper channels, procedures and get accredited. Search "Yasukuni August 15th" and you get dozens videos. A good example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQVBZ3CcOUE

There are much more difficult places to get a media permit and you would be surprised about the examples. Hachiko square is notoriously difficult for example. But Japan is still relatively easy (and cheap!) compared to for example New York and Washington. That's for documentary film makers or photographers. Not movies where you might have to close down roads - a big no-no in Japan.

The skill to get things done, get the arrangements and permission is what makes a producer. That takes tremendous skill with people, tenacity, and patience - all qualities Jesse Veverka obviously doesn't have. You also have to be very well informed about your subject. Research can take years. Jesse is - as he described himself above "a pretentious wannabe" with an attitude. Ignorance and arrogance won't get you far - in any business.

@ Jesse Veverka

Don't try filming with that approach anywhere!

Reading your essay you seem to be an amateur blessed with naivity or you simply choose to ignore the procedures of film making and media productions. Both will result in exact the experience you describe almost anywhere. If you try to build up a tripod on any shrine or temple grounds - or Hachiko square for that matter for film/media productions you need a permission. Just like most other places in the world including and especially in New York. Try to walk into a church or a synagoge with your attitude and start filming.... You will be thrown out immediately, no matter your 'good' intensions. You know, there are film commissions even in Tokyo who will tell you about the procedures to follow - just like at home. This is why professionals use a location manager or fixer. If you want to avoid that because it is alot of paper work and often costs time and money to get the permits you have to work guerilla style with a minimum of equipment. That's what real pros do. Getting permissions is the key in todays media business and that needs effort, tenacity, lots of time and patience. Anybody can buy a HD camera and start filming. Your lament has nothing to do with the Yasukuni issue in particular. It just describes a 'film crew' with an attitude whose members don't know what they are doing.

naming the correct beer...drinking the correct amount of beer.....judged on their lady-like drinking skills....

out of plastic cups...

when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood.

So the Land of the Free is now a Stasi state.

Last of my posts (2:25) is addressed to herefornow.

Have you been to Bangkok lately or other cities in the neighborhood there? Ask young people there... it is a real eye opener. Maybe that can convince you. Anything Japanese - current Japanese trends mentioned above, including cute fashion - not Japanese traditional stuff - is what it's all about. My Japanese lady can't believe it herself and in the meanwhile she is enjoying the popularity. (Just that you don't misunderstand: she's a bit older and herself not much into Japanese pop art.) Quite a change from 20 years ago when there were strong anti Japanese feelings. Taxes well spend. What you, or for that matter I think (anything kawaiiiiii gives me the shivers) - or our taste, is irrelevant. It's these kids who count.

@herefornow

I think you misunderstand the purpose of these 'ambassadors' There isn't a word about promoting tourism to Japan in this article. It is about soft power - the power to attract and shape the preferences of others. If you figure in J fashion, J make-up, manga, anime, J music, J movies, J TV programs, J food, J motor bikes.....Japanese whatever, it is a billion dollar business. And not just big business: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4290.html

@abrofomo Excellent post(s). Maybe some people have a generation problem - as old as Adam & Eve. In my time it was the hippies, long hair, rock music. The negativity here tells more about the posters than the kids. Unhappy souls with too much time.

7 to 8 year olds dressed in skimpy tight skirts and stilletos,

Really? This is one I haven't seen yet.

Me neither. My guess is that it only exists in the warped phantasies of some posters.

Don't understand the love affair with Koizumi on these pages. People are so easily manipulated by style. that guy is responsible for the fingerprinting on entering Japan and laid the foundation to the new immigration law. He's an Ishihara in sheep skin.

Most Japanese don't have any problems with gays. The author says it himself:

One of my students was telling me the other week about his dad having gay friends; I couldn’t see a boy of 16 in Wales doing the same thing without someone making jokes about the father or the kid. It just doesn’t occur to them to make fun about it.” Having previously worked at two senior high schools myself, I too have witnessed this seemingly more accepting nature.

He obviously has no problems in Japan working in a high school and talking about gays with his students. I know quite a few countries where the school administration and the parents would be up in arms. If you are discreet as in not creating a fuzz, people in this country don't care about your sexuality, religion or other private matters.

That he now quotes Dr Tadanobu Tsunoda, an utter crackpot whose research has been firmly repudiated across the board, is reason enough to dismiss this book as a load of crap. I've lost all respect for this 'respected' Japan veteran.

Agreed. At best his books are totally outdated. The Nihonjinron authors were popular in the early 80's when Japan was painted as economically invincible. This was debunked by harsh reality in the 90's. At worst De Mente succumbs to 'fuzzy' logic:

De Mente attributes the special knowledge and skills of the Japanese to the premise that they are primarily right-brain oriented as a result of their vowel-heavy language — a linguistic circumstance they share with only one other group of people: the Polynesians of the South Pacific.

That's plain BS and if true the Thais with 32 distinctly different vowels would be way 'superior' (whatever that means) to the Japanese.

So far many of the comments prove De Mente has a point:

This is why they win so many Nobel Prizes and other international awards and are in great demand at the Academy Awards ceremonies and pro wrestling events.

Hey presto, his bank acoount sewlls up.

it means the US is outperforming Japan with half it's brain tied behind it's back

but then again, he's french so what do you expect

De Mente is American (worked as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency...)

Entertaining, but I think if you want to prove him wrong you have to do better than above.

Maybe a modest maid costume would have been better than the Hooters ...ehrr hookers fashion for representing modern Japan.

TokyoHustla

Not if it's your wife, or girlfriend.

Spousal rape is also called marital [...]. It is a crime in most parts of the Western world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spousal_rape

Moderator: All readers back on topic please.

tigris, I think it rather says "there's nothing cheaper than free"

I think you should check on your Japanese. Just in case you don't read Japanese:

One of many catchphrases that has turned into a proverb is tada yori takai mono wa nai. Literally this translates as "Nothing is more expensive than something that's free." In other words, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ek20070522a1.html Please scroll to the end of the article.

Take what's yours, by force if need be.

Wow. That's rape, plain and simple.

SwissToni

The words of a realist. There is a saying in Japan: Tada yori takai mono nai Roughly translated as "Nothing is more expensive than for free."

If you think marriage isn't a business contract wait till you got a divorce.

By law the Japanese police needs a search warrant to inspect your bags. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090707ad.html

I carry the mobile number of a Japanese lawyer at all times. He always complains about the ignorance of Japanese people concerning their rights. Seems foreigners are no different. If you don't like it get informed.

Boy, amazing how one tiny altercation stirs up the proverbial "racial shitstorm" in the US.

How does he know? Completely outrageous for the president of the US to make a statement like this when there's been no formal investigation of what actually happened. But I'm not surprised either since the left needs to perpetuate racism in order to garner money and votes

This kind of stuff is commented on on any given day at this site. Think gaijin and J police. A foreigner is racially profiled by the J cops and acts up. Some of you should take a serious look into the mirror.

tell me if i'm wrong but aren't proportionally more crimes committed by black people?

More black people are convicted of crimes than white people - law of the privileged nothing to do with justice.