News Blast: Hostel Hotels, Dogged Champ, Dutiful Dads, Obama's Matcha Mouth And More!

For hot politics and hot days: matcha ice cream! Image via.

Some Japanese Hospitality Biz is Anything But

In his regular column in The Japan Times, controversial American-born Japanese civil-rights activist Debito Arudou (AKA David Schofill) alleges racial discrimination in the hotel industry. He points out that "Japan has no national civil or criminal legislation outlawing and punishing racial discrimination, meaning businesses with 'Japanese only' signs aren't doing anything illegal." A minority of ryokan (traditional-style Japanese inns), as well as modern hotels, insist on only serving Japanese clientele. Stated reasons for this vary. A manager of a ryokan points out that because foreign guests may be unfamiliar with Japanese customs and amenities (for example lack of Western-style beds and toilets) they could be uncomfortable. Other hoteliers' excuses are more xenophobic, claiming that foreign guests "steal hotel goods or cause trouble for other guests, thus making it a crime issue."

Arudou has made it his business to call out these hotel managers, and many of them have changed their policies after protests from activists and other guests. In a related article, the travel resource CNNGo reveals statistics from a survey conducted by the Japanese government where 27% of hotels did not want foreign guests staying with them.

Hot Dog Eating Champ Arrested

Citing contractual dispute, onetime six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi didn't compete in Coney Island's annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest this year. He then spent a night in jail after rushing the stage to try to compete at the last minute.

This is all very sad news, as Kobayashi was a gracious and amiable guest at our j-CATION fest a few month back.

Bite-sized News

►The invaluable Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, which subsidizes people from around the world to study Japanese in Japan, may go to the budget cuts chopping block.

►Kumiko Makihara's International Herald Tribune op-ed tells how being tall and tan in Japan can lead to racial profiling.

►Japanese fathers, who reportedly spend less time on domestic duties than any other developed country's dads, are encouraged to "swap their desks for diapers" with new government initiatives.

►A new play, staged in replica 1945 streetcars in Hiroshima, commemorates the courage of female operators and conductors when the atomic bomb struck. Actual operators, who served during and survived the attack, were invited to the premier. Naoko Hata, 81, said: "I am pleased that young people will pass along what we did then."

►After a record year of on-the-job attacks, Japanese railway companies offer staff martial arts training.

►The diplomatic ties between President Obama and new Japanese PM Kan were strengthened by Kan’s promise to prepare some matcha (green tea) ice cream for the American head of states’s next trip to Japan this November. Apparently, matcha ice cream is one of Obama’s favorites.

►About a dozen monkeys escaped a Kyoto University research center in Aichi Prefecture on Monday. They climbed up trees and "used the branches as slingshots to propel them over the fence." Since the escape, seven have been apprehended and five remain at large.

►Author superstar Haruki Murakami has gone on the record to say that there is a slight possibility for sequels to his newest novel, IQ84. The wildly popular novel, published over the past year in three parts, spans over 1,500 pages, though Murakami says that there are still stories left to tell with the characters. The first two parts of IQ84 are due next fall in the U.S. In the meantime, appetites can be sated with Neojaponisme's in-depth, thoughtful review.

►Teachers Gone Wild! Follow the exploits of the Japan Society Educators’ Study Tour to Japan on tumblr or at their Twitter page.

►A rave for Lincoln Center's presentation of the Japanese play Musashi from The New York Times.

►It was a hot one in NYC this week, which means it’s time to try some Japanese summer recipes! Cold somen noodles are great and super quick, or make your own  diplomacy-strengthening matcha ice cream.

►Osaka celebrated Tanabata (Star Festival) with 50,000 water-tight lights. The Japanese annual fest takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month (July 7),  but Japan Society invites families to celebrate Sunday, July 11.

►We missed this in-depth article from April featuring kamishibai storytelling, as well as the work of master storyteller Tara McGowan, who appears at our weekend Tanabata festivities.

►Everything you wanted to know about four months at Japan Society, but were afraid to ask!

N.O., S.J.

News Blast: Kickin' It With Samurai Blue

Artwork via Vanity Fair , ESPN and the AM I Collective.

World Cupdate

Japan's men's soccer team (affectionately nicknamed the Samurai Blue) landed in South Africa on Sunday to gear up for another warm-up World Cup match for 2010. Japan faced Zimbabwe on Thursday and came to a tie 0-0. Fans at home geared up too by holding a screaming competition in honor of their team. Whoever screamed the word 'GOAL!' the loudest got unofficial bragging rights. Norio Nakayama won (32 seconds) and said in regards to Japan’s fate in the World Cup the "The ball is round and everything may happen." But added: "Of course I'd like them to do their best and be hell-bent on winning." Watch a video of his winning scream here.

Naoto Kan Chosen as Next PM

The Democratic Party of Japan chose ex-PM Hatoyama’s Finance Minister, Naoto Kan, for Japan's next Prime Minister. Kan, 63, was elected last Friday by a wide margin in an internal Party vote. He has a reputation as a whistleblower and a civil rights activist. Early in his career in the 1970s, he served on the election campaign of Fusae Ishikawa, a major figure in the Women’s Rights movement. Also, while serving as a Health Minister in 1996, when his political party formed a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, he exposed and apologized for his government’s accidental distribution of blood tainted with HIV. His frankness and candor won him many allies both within the political sphere and in the public’s eyes.

While Hatoyama’s Cabinet resigned en-masse to make way for Kan’s picks, Kan re-instated most officials in the same positions they previously held.

Kan will continue many of Hatoyama’s policies – most notably on the U.S. military base on Okinawa. He telephoned President Obama to discuss Futenma, saying  both the U.S. and Japan should do more to resolve the base issue. In his first press conference as PM, he said he wants to "drastically rebuild Japan" and that fiscal challenges are "the biggest issue the country must tackle and must be discussed beyond our party’s boundaries."

Almost immediately following his formal appointment earlier this week, a number of fake Twitter accounts purporting to be Kan himself cropped up, though they were quickly shuttered.

Beard Burn in Isesaki City

In Isesaki City, about 60 miles north of Tokyo, the municipal government has banned beards on all city officials. The ban follows a number of public complaints that found beards on some workers to be "unpleasant." Local barbers and 'beard advocacy groups,' such as the Hige (Beard) Club are trying to work within the confines of the ban: Minoru Fujii, a Tokyo member says "I am designing beards for my customers that are considered acceptable in the company workplace." According to The Japan Times’ 'Views from the Street' public opinion column, most people agree that public officials should be neat and tidy, but that banning all facial hair is going a bit too far. Isesaki is the only municipality in Japan to instate such a ban.

Government Adds 'Sexy' Kanji to Everyday Use List

The Council for Cultural Affairs added 191 new characters to the jōyō kanji list, the list of kanji approved for everyday usage and taught to elementary- and middle-schoolers. Most of the new kanji had been omitted when the last list was compiled in 1981, because they were considered too complex to have to write longhand on a regular basis. However, because most people nowadays write on computers or cell phones, there is no longer as much need to write by hand. New kanji includes: 額 (ton – stop or pause), 藤 (fuji – creeper plant), and 艶 (en – sexy/ voluptuous) .

Bite-Sized News:

►Construction on a golf course in Japan’s ancient capital Nara disturbed some ancient tombs. We're hoping nobody picked up a curse!

►The spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan’s livestock center, continues.

►Japanese and American manga publishers fight scanlations.

►Japanese construction conglomerate Shimizu, Corp. unveiled plans to build a floating eco-city. It’s a joint project between 14 Japanese universities and the corporation to be completed in 15 years. "We would like to make it a utopia that belongs to no particular state," says Makoto Kajitani, director of the Super Collaborative Graduate School project director and president of the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo.

►A UK vet will publish a book about his experience as a prisoner of war during WWII, detailing his resulting lifelong friendship with one of his Japanese prison guards.

►A moving memorial for butoh legend Kazuo Ohno by Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons.

►NYT profiles director Shu Matsuri, noting "contemporary Japanese theater remains by and large terra incognita" around the world. The paper also profiled vernerable Japanese dance duo Eiko & Koma.

►Arthur R. Miller, one of America's top legal minds collects the ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Utagawa Kuniyoshi because of the artist's championship of free speech.

►Kuniyoshi in closing: "Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters… is part history lesson, part barometer of Japan's political climate of the day, part manga precursor. It is all exquisitely created, boldly rendered, and remarkably preserved."

►Asahi reports "wacky candy says 'Japan' like no other gift"

►Finally, Japan Society launched a Japanese-language Twitter feed @js_desu  in addition to @japansociety, @Education_JS, @Innovators_JS, and @JSNY_Film. Happy following!

N.O.

FPA Event of the Week Video

Good news! 

Our event on March 19th, Obama's Internet Initiative & Social Reform in the U.S. & Japan was declared as The Foreign Policy Association's Event of the Week Video, a video series that highlights the most critical and influential lectures, discussions and gatherings in New York City related to U.S. foreign policy and global affairs.

Be sure to check out this enlightening lecture!

Obama Mixing it Up

Probably in response to the growing competition, Mixi.jp, by far the largest social network in Japan, is no longer an invite only service.

Led by Japan’s 40th richest man according to Forbes, Mixi boasts over 25,000,000 users, a revenue per member 3 times bigger than Facebook, and attracts several times more visitors than Bebo on a worldwide basis. It has a quasi-monopoly among similar services in Japan (crushing international giants like Facebook or MySpace) and has recently started to diversify it’s offerings with new features such as iPhone apps and a micro-blogging platform similar to Twitter.

Mixi is just one of many Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that have the power to improve productivity, help create internationally competitive businesses and that represent a key to social and organizational reforms. President Obama used ICTs effectively during his presidential campaign. Now in power, his administration makes aggressive use of the social networking tools to develop stimulus policies and other governmental operations. Here, ICTs are not just tools for election campaigns, but for realizing civic participation and transparent policy-making.

Also important is the vibrant blogosphere where discussions about the future of media industries and Internet firm business models are influencing corporate strategies. A pattern is emerging where corporate and policy decision-making is shaped by open Internet-based discussions. Japan has advanced broadband infrastructure and excellent entertainment services. However, comparable progress in reforming business and society is lacking, a problem the Democratic Party of Japan seems keen to address.

Friday, March 19th, Japan Society is hosting a panelist discussion to discuss these topics that's completely free to the public:
Obama's Internet Initiative & Social Reform
in the U.S. & Japan