News Blast: South Korea Apology, Japan's Gay Pride, Japanese Reggae, Panda Babies, Lightning Mushrooms And More

Gay pride march in Shibuya via.

Japan’s Korea Occupation Centennial Sparks Conflict

In advance of the 100th anniversary of Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula, Prime Minister Naoto Kan addressed South Koreans in a public speech: "For the enormous damage and suffering caused during this colonial rule, I would like to express once again our deep remorse and heartfelt apology."

While such speeches have been made by previous Prime Ministers, the reactions from all sides on this historic occasion run a similar vein. Some South Koreans point to the Japanese government’s failure to acknowledge the extent of the brutality of their colonial rule. A Korean advocacy group for Comfort Women said, "The Japanese government comes out once again with more lip service," and is pushing for further reparations. The Japanese government maintains that reparations were paid in full in 1965 when relations between South Korea and Japan were normalized.

Though the occupation covered the entire Korean Peninsula, formal apologies have only been addressed to South Korea. Even though there are no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea, Japan Today reports the North Korean government slammed Kan shortly after the speech. "We can only judge that Japan wants to keep the division of the peninsula," said an unnamed North Korean official in charge of Japanese affairs.

Back home, many conservative Japanese feel tighter diplomatic ties with South Korea have led to an unfair bias for Koreans living in Japan. This week several members of a right-wing activist group, Zaitokukai, were arrested for harassing a Korean school in Kyoto. The alleged assaults happened December 2009, when activists disrupted classes by protesting with a loudspeaker against Korean schools, and cut power to some parts of the school.

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Anniversary

After last week's memorializing of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, this week marked the anniversary of the atomic bombing at Nagasaki. A ceremony was held at the peace memorial the southern coastal town, attended by survivors, foreign dignitaries and activists of many ages and nationalities. PM Kan says he’ll consider making three non-nuclear principles proposed by survivors and activists into law, as well as pressuring foreign countries, especially India, to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement.

To mark the occasion, Gizmodo has a collection of interviews with survivors from the Hiroshima attack, painting a harrowing picture of the day the bombs fell. Pink Tentacle posted graphic artist Isao Hashimoto’s new work 1945-1988--a mesmerizing video representation of every nuclear bomb detonated between those years. As of 1988, America led with 1,032; Japan: 0.

Japanese Gay Pride

With California's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex marriage grabbing headlines this week, people may have missed Reuter's report that Japan's LGBT pride parade returns this weekend after a 3 year hiatus.

Same sex relationships have a long, varied history in Japan, which has led to complicated contemporary social mores. Japan has little protection for discrimination based on sexuality, and the 2009 political shift gave hope towards equality. It's a long road to understanding let alone acceptance (such as being out in a Japanese the office), and some in Japan resist what they see as the West's 'Rainbow Imperialism'.

But times they are a changin'. Seminal gay tv blog AfterElton's commentary on how Japan's gay stereotypes play out in the media demonstrates a refining of gay representations in Japan, from early yaoi manga geared towards female readers, to the once wildly popular and bizarrely macho wrestler Razor Ramon HG, to more current (and sophisticated) anime such as Junjō Romantica. And if there's one thing we've learned, media trends pave the way to social acceptance!

Bite-size News

►Japan takes a break for the national high school summer baseball tournament, Koshien.

►The Times' Paul Krugman supports the idea that stagnation is responsible for effete young men in Japan.

►The governor of Okinawa rejected Japan's plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Nago.

►Why Hiroshima is a place where everyone should visit at least once.

►Examiner examines a slice of Japanese and Asian culture in small town North Carolina.

►According to Japanese folklore, mushrooms struck by lightning multiply faster. Zap: this was recently proven a scientific fact.

►Photo of the week: Giant panda gave birth to her second set of twins at Japan's Shirahama city Adventure World animal theme park in Shirahama city. (More Japan photos from the WSJ).

►JET Programme update: This week Japan assesses if the government's three decades old English teaching program should survive budget cuts. The program has long been considered a cornerstone of ‘soft power’ in Japanese democracy, and JET alumni are protesting the potential cuts.

►Japanese centenarian update: 200 of 40,000+ now missing.

►Show us the (ancient) money! A wooden tablet marked with the date "May 4, year 2 of Tenpyo" (730 C.E.) shed's light on Japan’s first mint in Yamaguchi and the 8th century wadokaichin currency.

►Wall Street Journal lists lessons from Japan for U.S. train operators.

►The New York Times style magazine profiles Japanese reggae, mon.

►Over at BoingBoing, Tokyo Vice author Jake Adelstein invites his Yakuza contacts to review the new videogame, Yakuza 3.

►Drama! Japan Society announced its 2010-11 season of music, dance and theater.  Broadway World has full details.

►In news roundups roundup news: Japan Times' JapanPulse Pulsations "links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy." You bet we will!

N.O., S.J.

News Blast: U.S. To Memorialize Hiroshima, Open Executions, Manhwa Vs. Manga And More

Watermelon love. Via.

U.S. Memorializes Hiroshima

Nearly 70 countries plan to attend the annual peace memorial service in Hiroshima on August 6, commemorating the atomic bombing of the city. For the first time in 65 years, the U.S. will send a representative, Ambassador John Roos. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku told Bloomberg-BusinessWeek: "the Japanese government welcomes this... The event will become an opportunity for major nations’ officials to deepen their understanding of our desire for nuclear disarmament and resolve never to allow the misery of A-bomb attacks to be repeated."

Also this week, the U.S.Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt M. Campbell testified before the House Armed Services Committee, discussing the political and economic drama unfolding in Asia:

"The U.S.-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of our engagement in the Asia-Pacific. The alliance has provided a basis for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific for a half-century and has -- in many ways -- underwritten the 'Asian economic miracle' and the spread of democratic governance throughout the region. This year the United States and Japan are celebrating the 50th anniversary of our Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, a historic milestone that offers both an opportunity to reflect on the successes of the past and, perhaps more importantly, to chart a forward-looking course for this relationship to ensure that it is well positioned to manage issues of consequence both in the region and beyond."

Foot-and-mouth Contained

Big news in Japan this summer has been the outbreak of Foot-and-mouth Disease in southern Miyazaki Prefecture. While hundreds of cows have been infected and put down, causing consternation with farmers, the disease has not spread to humans yet. After about three months, it seems to have run its course, with the last remaining ban on transfers of livestock in foot-and-mouth affected areas lifted on July 27. Public and sporting facilities are re-opening, and the state of emergency, called May 18th by prefectural governor Hideo Higashikokubaru, has been called off.

The causes of the disease in Miyazaki Prefecture are unknown. The first case was confirmed in late April on a small cattle farm. Scientists have identified the gene sequence of this particular strain of Foot-and-Mouth as similar to recent outbreaks in South Korea.

Japan's Executions Open to the Media

Japan conducted its first executions since the DPJ took power over a year ago. Two hangings were presided over by Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, who has long been an opponent of capital punishment. Many accuse her of political wrangling: she lost her seat in the House in last month’s elections, but retains her position in the Cabinet. Chiba "never signed executions while she was a lawmaker. But now as a private citizen, she quickly gave the go-ahead. I don't understand it," opposition Your Party Secretary General Kenji Eda said. She defends herself though by stating that she "thought long and hard about the death penalty and felt strongly the need for thorough deliberations about capital punishment among the public."

Two days after the executions, the Justice Ministry announced it will open the execution chamber to the media, to address the secretive nature of Japan's capital punishment system and stir debate over the death penalty.

Bite-size News:

►A '111 year-old' man thought to be alive was found dead in Tokyo an estimated 30 years after his death. His family, who recevied pension payments as recently as this year is under investigation on suspicion of fraud and negligence.

►Japanese women had the longest life expectancy in the world for the 25th straight year in 2009.

►Police earlier in the week arrested a truck driver suspected of illegally dumping 2 metric tons of discarded gravestones in a remote, abandoned seafood processing plant.

►Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi talks to CNN about 640 he took from space and posted on Twitter.

►With China's soft power strides and South Korea's manhwa competing with manga, Asahi asks if Japan is slipping in the 'cool' culture battles.

►With rural Japan seeing decline, incredible rice paddy art keeps one region on the map.

►A robot that can help people find their glasses is the toast of a Japanese expo.

►The JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program) accepted 4334 young people from 36 countries to spend a year (or more) for paid positions teaching English to Japanese elementary and middle school students. The program has long been a cornerstone for Japan-US exchange.

►PM Naoto Kan wife's published a book entitled What on Earth will Change in Japan After You Become Prime Minister?--a scathing list of her husband’s failings.

►From now until November, New York City’s IFC Center holds a Yasujiro Ozu retrospective. This weekend, it’s Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family. The film came out in 1941 at the height of World War II, and the Japanese occupation of China. It’s a subtly political and rigorously humanistic response to those troubled times.

►Boing Boing’s Mark Frauenfelder is vacationing in Japan this summer, and he’s blogged pictures of some seriously strange watermelons. They’re grown in confined spaces, therefore taking the shape of their containers: hearts, pyramids and boxes. And yes, you’re reading those prices right: 9,450 yen for a watermelon is roughly equivalent to $100.

N.O., S.J.