Thursday, September 27, 2007

China banned sexually provocative sounds or tantalizing language

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has banned "sexually provocative sounds" on television and pulled the plug on a show reconstructing infamous crimes by women ahead of a major Communist Party meeting next month.

"Commercials containing sexually provocative sounds or tantalizing language as well as vulgar advertisements for breast enhancement and female underwear are banned, effective immediately," said the SARFT notice.
The watchdog also ordered an end to programs with titles including the names of "sex-related drugs, products or medical institutions."Reutercash



What is the tantalizing language in Chinese letter? 欲欲?


[北京 26日 ロイター] 中国の国家ラジオ・映画・テレビ総局(SARFT)は26日、5年に1度の共産党党大会の開催を来月に控え、「性的に挑発的な音」のテレビ放送を禁止した。また女性が犯人の破廉恥な犯罪についての再現番組を打ち切った。  

 SARFTはウェブサイトで「性的なものを連想させる広告やシーン、女性がいかに犯罪に手を染めるかを見せることは、社会にとって有害である」と指摘。犯罪ドキュメンタリー番組「Red Question Mark」の打ち切りに言及した。

 また、性的に挑発的な音や、欲求をかき立てるような言葉を含むコマーシャル、豊胸治療や女性の下着などについての低俗な広告も即時禁止すると発表した。link

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Korean ultar-nationalist organization VANK is pissed off by kimchi insulting youtube

Naver(Korean)

If you want to look at the videos in question, here they are.

Of Kimchi and Tapestries (English)


South Korean food culture.(Japanase)

UPDATE

Marmot and Foreign dispatches picked up the vide. Look at the commment section of Maromot.See how exciting to live in Korea?


(ソウル=聨合ニュース)世界最大動画シェアリングサイトであるYoutube(www.youtube.com)
にキムチを侮辱する内容の映像が広がって問題になっている。

26日サイバー外交使節団バンクによればYoutubeで検索語「キムチ(kimchi)」を入力した後、
一番多く見られた動画のヒット数(再生回数・ViewCount)をクリックすれば「Of Kimchi
and Tapestries)」というタイトルの動画が出る。

この動画は日本に住んでいるアメリカ女性が、日本を説明しながらキムチに対して否定的
に世界の人たちに紹介する内容だ。動画では「日本に住む韓国人たちは、キムチを食べる
けど、私はキムチが嫌い。臭いがひどくて気分が悪くなる、臭いを嗅いだら拷問を受けて
るようだ」(01:24-01:40分)という侮辱発言がつながる。

この映像は2007年8月21日登録され、一月後の現在、ヒット数が13万6千351件に達して'キ
ムチ'関連ヒット数1位に登録されている。またYoutubeに上げられている動画の中で、「韓
国、腐った材料で食べ物を製造」も韓国の食品文化を侮辱している。

この映像は2004年、韓国のごみ餃子騒動を報道した日本の放送ニュースを編集したものだ。
この動画はYoutubeで'Korean food'で検索する場合、もっぱら下の方に載っており、ヒッ
ト数も2007年8月14日の登録後、2千90件を超えた。

検索エンジン会社であるGoogleの運営するYoutubeは利用者が作るコンテンツという意味の
新造語'UCC'を作り上げたほど、Web2.0時代の先頭走者に数えられている。朴起台(パク・
キテ)バンク団長は「全世界の人の生活に莫大な影響力を及ぼす代表的なUCCに、韓国の食
べ物文化が奇形的に広報されている。拒否感を与える映像より親しくて好感のある映像を
製作して積極的に広報する必要がある。」と述べた

Monday, September 24, 2007

Fukuda has something to learn from Merkel


herald tribune
Cashe Tribune via 今日の覚え書き集めてみました
Spiegel Online [September 18, 2007]
by Andreas Lorenz in Beijing

His Holiness the Dalai LamaAngela Merkel has invited the Dalai Lama to engage in a “private exchange of thoughts” at the Chancellery. The Chinese authorities are not pleased and German businessmen are worried too.
Tibetblog


The situation is the same here in Japan. Japanese businessmen are worried not tojeopardizes Japan business interests but not worried about human rights.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Xenophobia? Foreigners 'commit fifth of crime.......in London, reports Telegraph

More than one crime in five in London is now committed by a foreign national, raising fresh fears over the impact of immigration.
Telegraph:23/09/2007
cashe


I guess Debito has something to say about it.


via 今日の覚書、集めてみました。

Friday, September 21, 2007

U.S. embassy instigates hate-Korea wave among Japanese?

Update
A commenter kindly told me that she was not a fervernt supporter of DPJ. She was just thought by many to be a supporter of DPJ. She herself thinks she supports social democratic party.
そんなワケで、未だに、あたしのことを「民主党の関係者」だとか言ってる大バカもいるみたいだけど、これほど何度も何度も何度も何度も「あたしはオムライス党を支持してる」って書き続けて来て、みずほたんとのメールの内容まで公開してるってのに、どこをどうしたら、あたしが「民主党の関係者」ってことになるんだろう?link

And the comment reads,
She supports Socialist Party.
This makes you look like a real fool.

Thank you (^_-) I have corrected it. How do I look now? (^_-)

[The original post]

The one of the most popular Japanese blogger,Kikko's blog reports that U.S. embassy instigates the hate-Korea wave among Japanese by rewriting the article about Korean history;IP identified as U.S. embassy deleted the title "Korean history" and wrote that Korea has no history it has been a client state of China or Japan or barbarian states.

Supposing that U.S embassy wrote that, I don't understand the logic why it means U.S. embassy is instigating the hate-Korea consciousness among Japanese.
BTW. Kikko is a fervent supporter of DPJ.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Aceface' insigt on foreign journalists

If I had to do a report on defense policy of the U.S,I probably would not to go to Noam Chomsky or Michigan Militias to ask them what they think threatens America’Microsoft,Black choppers from UN).But when it comes to Japan,foreign people do just that,and they call themselves serious journalists,and mouthfed public would accept that.Aceface/Ampontan


Well said.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Comfort women; How was it Korean parents sold their daughter





 July 16 1934 Donga Daily
Korean girl of 11 years old asked for help, crying. She claimed that she was sold by
her adoptive father.
2 May 25 1939 Donga Dailly
The governenment prohibits adoption by Chinese in Korea to prevent human traficking.
3 March 23 1932 Donga Dailly
Korean former police man was arrested for kidnapping, working with the agent.


via 杉野洋明 極東亜細亜研究所
杉野洋明 極東亜細亜研究所

see also how a Korean woman became a comfort woman

Saturday, September 15, 2007

why can't the U.S. say no to China?

"As a leader in the community of democracies, why can't the U.S. say no to China?" he asked. "Why can't the U.S. openly say that you can't hold a gun pointing at the head of the 23 million people of Taiwan and use the other hand to choke Taiwan?"

It is simple. The U.S. has been playing the power game .
"For past decades, the U.S. has supported the people of Taiwan, but now our democracy is being locked in a birdcage,"

"I'm convinced that the United States would rather improve relations with North Korea than Taiwan," Chen said. "The U.S. also believes Kosovo will be independent eventually. If you support Kosovo, why can't you support or at least care about Taiwan? Are we that unworthy?"CNNcashe


Yes, people are watching how the U.S. acts toward the voice of deomocray and liberty from the world.
Keep it up, Taiwan!!

update
Speaking via video to an audience in New York, Chen Shui-bian said he believes the U.S. opposes the referendum because of China's opposition, intimidation and threat of military action.

Chen said the referendum is the best way to show the world that the majority of Taiwanese favor the island gaining a U.N. seat. While polls show three-quarters of people support U.N. membership, he said, opinion surveys cannot substitute "a formal democratic procedure."



(Xinhua

Friday, September 14, 2007

Korean soul seraching on education

chosun.com(Korean)/cashereports that the rate of rape in Korea is twice as that in the U.S. and ten times as that in Japan. The report attributes the cause to the inappropriate education in Korea.


米FBIと日本の国立警察学校、我が国の最高検察庁が2000年から2005年まで5年間の10代青
少年強姦の発生推移を調査した資料によると、2000年には日本が人口10万人当たり2.1人、
アメリカが6.4人、韓国が7.3人の発生頻度を見せた。2002年には日本が1.7人、アメリカが
6.7人で似た水準だったが、韓国は14.5人に急増した。2005年には韓・米・日共に減少した
が、日本が1.1人、アメリカが6.0人の一方、韓国は11.5人で日本の10倍、アメリカの2倍を
越えることが明らかになった。

どうして我が国でばかり、強姦事件がたくさん発生するのだろう?これは、何より公開的
で持続的な教育の不足が原因である。まだ我々の社会は性の問題を歳月が経てば自然に分
かるようになる事で、公開的に討論するには不便な主題だと思っている。我が家庭と学校
では、学生の学業成績だけ最優先して単に‘気を付けなさい’と被害者の立場でばかり教
育が行われている。

同時に被害にあった人を被害者と見るのではなく、身体の障害を負ったかのように見る社
会の雰囲気のせいでもある。未熟な人間関係で、相手の心を正しく読めずに発生するセク
ハラと、個人はもちろん家庭や社会を病ませる性暴行の予防のためには、学校や職場で使
い捨ての特講を脱して、持続的な教育が行われなければならない。

少なくとも無知の招いた結果から、セクハラと性暴行を行う場合は、消えなければならな
い。そうするためには、人間尊重、人格尊重の文化、他人に迷惑をかけない礼節教育とと
もにセクハラ・性暴行に対する教育が家庭で、学校で、そして職場で討論され、教育され
なければならない

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The next PM =Fukuda

Fukuda is getting the largest support among LDP factions, and reading the following blogs, I have a strong feeling that he will win.
Okuma
Ban
Abiru

But he is extremely boring and the way he deal with politics is the old LDP way, and that will not get support from Japanese citizens. I don't think the next election will work in favor of LDP.

How the U.S. see Japan's role as an ally

"Japans reliability as an ally" would also be questioned if the anti-terror law was not renewed, warned Michael Green and Kurt Campbell, Asian experts who had served in the Republican and Democratic administrations respectively.

The point is what will happen if it is not renewed.

But some experts believe the US-Japan alliance is rock solid and cannot be shaken by a single issue.

"Japan's retreating from a mission like that will be very unfortunate, sends a bad signal and certainly be a disappointment to the US but with continued engagement between the close allies, I think they will find a way to move ahead," said Nicholas Szechenyi of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"My sense is that Japan in the long run will continue to maintain its leadership role," he said.

Bruce Klingner, a Northeast Asian expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, cautioned against using Japan's military mission in Afghanistan as the sole benchmark to gauge bilateral ties.

"Although it certainly is an important test, I think if the US places too great an emphasis on it, given the DPJ's opposition, that overemphasis may hurt the relationship more than the legislation itself," he said.

"Washington needs to be cognizant of the new political paradigm in Japan and realize that securing a victory in renewing the legislation may come at a cost of straining relations with Japan," Klingner warned.

P. Parameswaran Thu Sep 13,

I am inclined to think that the U.S. consider Japan an essential ally in the East Asia.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

South Korean strong candidate for the next President

Lee Myung-bak one of presidential candidate in South Korea says,
Japan hasn't done to amend the past as the economic giants should do.

Compared with German, I think Japan is tight-fisted

I think South Korea can build an new relation with Japan if Japan shows the sincere attitude toward amending the past.nocutnews/Koreancashe


In a nutshell, for Japan, the next South Korean Presindent is as wonderful as the present President Roh.

viaThe truth of Asiaアジアの真実
李明博「日本、経済大国らしい歴史清算すべき」ノーカットニュース(韓国語) 

 李明博(イ・ミョンバク)ハンナラ党大統領候補は韓日過去清算問題と関わって「これまで韓国と日本の歴史清算において、経済大国らしい措置をしていないと思う。」と述べた。

 李明博候補は10日、ソウル新羅ホテルで開かれたJ-フォーラム基調演説に続いた日本側記者の質問に対して「日本は世界第二の経済大国で、そんな日本が極東アジアにあるという点は誇らしく思う」とこのように言った。

李候補は特に「ドイツが被害国家にしたことを見れば、日本は歴史清算問題においてちょっとけち臭くないか思う」「日本が過去の歴史を清算する真摯な姿勢を見せれば、次期政権は日本との新しい関係を開いて行くことができる」と強調した。

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Hatoyama on foreing nationals

“Cutting the number of illegal immigrants in half is also a goal for this administration. We must tighten up immigration management to achieve that,” he said, referring to the growing perception that more crimes are being committed by foreign nationals.

But he disagreed with some of Nagase’s proposals to open the market and accept manual laborers and unskilled workers.

“Considering Japan’s culture, I must question whether that is a good idea,” Hatoyama said. “This may not be the right thing to say, but that could provoke an increase in crimes by foreign nationals.”


via Debito
I have expressed an disagreement with Debito several times, but this time I agree.
I agree with Hatoyama that we need to create a brain drain into Japan with encouragement of skilled labor. But he’s barking up the wrong tree (as is the JT article’s claim of a “growing perception” of rising foreign crime, which is unsubstantiated and debatable given last season’s quietly-announced drop in NJ crime) when it comes to claiming that bringing in foreigners will result in more illegals and proportionally more crime. The historical record suggests the opposite.


I thought Hatoyama of LDP looked stupid compared with his elder brother of DPJ---his elder brother looks intelligent like E.T. I was right Hatoyama was stupid.

BTW Debito's newest post, to be exact, the comment to it, is interesting.
feitclub Says:
I have an opposite problem regarding my identity. I did go to Hebrew school and I had a Bar Mitzvah, but since I no longer practice I don’t identify myself as Jewish, much to the confusion of other people who insist I’m a Jew. I suppose I might be “culturally Jewish” if I had some idea of what that meant. Does that make my friends who grew up celebrating Christmas but not going to church “culturally Christian?” How does one separate the culture from the practice of a religion?

That’s one of things I love about Japan. No one seems to care about any religion one way or the other. Sometimes people ask me about how I celebrated Christmas in America and I explain that I didn’t, and the biggest reaction I might get is naruhodo. Meanwhile, I’ve had Americans look at me like I’m a monster when I tell them I don’t celebrate Christmas.

Monday, September 10, 2007

The three traits of Asahi

I am not necessarily against Asahi shimbun, but I've found this author's perspective on Asahi's article intereting. He says there are three fundamental principles on which Asahi's articles are written.
They are, roughly,

The socially week is always right. Defend them no matter what.
Don't offend other countries (probably except for the U.S.) no matter how their claim is wrong.
Blame Japan every time you have a chance.


It is not exactly true, but can't say it is totally wrong.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Princess Masako

It seems a controversial book,Princess Masako was translated into Japanese and published finally.
According to Ikeda, reading the book, there is nothing new, nothing controversial, nothing scandalous.
If you have to pick up somehow scandalous,

Masako's family was not happy with the marriage.
She is depressed disorder.
There is an alternative that she might leave the royal family.
Akishinomiya, the brother of the prince, had an affair with two women, and one woman pressed him to take the responsibility. That is his present wife.

But these are, as it were, an open secret.

Though Imperial Household Agency blames the book, saying there are mistakes in every page, in fact there was only one substantial mistake, the author claim the royal family are not concerned with a controversial event such as seeing the patient of Hansen's disease, which is false.

Ikeda attacks the Imperial Household Agency for the violation of Masako's human right; she is depressed because she has been "imprisoned" by the Imperial Agency, and still the people concerned are only worried about not losing face and an inheritor.

Asian excutives will be increasing in Japan

Koube shiunbun/ 2007/09/09
The article says the reason is the population of Japanese are decreasing and that they are essential in the trade strategy abroad.

The necessary and important condition for them to be the would-be executive, of course, is that they can speak Japanese fluently.
It is great that Japanese companies begin to employ Asian people as a executive. I hope they will also bridge the cultural differences.

...............................................................................







 日本経済と密接な関連を保つアジアからの留学生を将来の幹部候補生として採用する企業が目立ち始めた。人口減の日本で確保しづらくなった技術者や、海外戦略に不可欠の人材を確保する狙いで、各国の“頭脳”を集め国際競争力を高める狙い。政府も留学生の採用増を国家戦略に位置づけており、兵庫県内の企業でも同僚や上司が外国人という職場が増えそうだ。(西井由比子)

 神戸大学(神戸市灘区)は二十九日、外国人留学生向けの就職説明会を初めて開く。「優秀な外国人を求める企業が増えている」と担当者。当日は情報技術(IT)、化学系企業など十社が集まる予定だ。

 神戸製鋼所系のシステム開発会社・コベルコシステム(神戸市中央区)もその一社。成長事業のITだが、国内では開発技術者が不足気味。人件費が安い点も考慮して、同社は将来的にはアジア各国での開発も検討している。その際、本社との橋渡し役になる人材を確保する狙いだ。

 現在、中国や台湾から日本に来た社員が七人おり、最高位はプロジェクト支援部長を務める趙永健さん(48)。「日本人と違い、問題点をはっきり指摘する。発想もちょっと違うし、いい刺激を受ける」と周囲の評価も高い。酒井哲夫社長は「世界レベルで競争するには、人材も世界レベルで確保する必要がある」と話す。

 二月に中国に進出した化粧品メーカー、ノエビア(神戸市中央区)も、神大の説明会に参加する。「今のうちに留学生に会社の概要を知ってもらい、将来の採用につなげたい」(国際管理部)という。

 採用の数値目標を掲げたのは家電首位の松下電器産業。二〇〇八年度から三年間で、計百人の外国人を幹部候補として採用する。三年間で海外売上高を10%以上伸ばす計画で、「国籍に関係なく活躍できる組織風土であることを明確にするため」と同社広報グループ。

    ◇

 経済産業省と文部科学省は今年秋、国内企業にアジア留学生の採用を促す「アジア人財資金構想」を始める。

 全国で千人程度の留学生を対象に、各地の大学が企業と合同で日本語会話や日本の商習慣などを二年間教える。インターンシップも実施し、参加企業が採用の受け皿となる。近畿では京都大と立命館大が核となり、各十社・団体、七社・団体が参画する。

 さらに十月には、「初めて外国人の就業促進を明文化した」(厚生労働省)改正雇用対策法が施行される。

 日本で就職する留学生は増え続けている。法務省の調べでは、二〇〇六年に就職目的で在留資格を変更した留学生は八千二百七十二人と、前年比40・7%の増加。十年前の三倍に増えている。

 経済産業省の「アジア人財資金構想」担当者は、「日本の人口が減れば国内需要が落ち込み、企業の海外進出は不可欠。加えて、優秀な人材は地球規模で移動する時代だけに、もっと留学生を採用しないと世界競争から取り残される」と力説する。

    ◇

 コベルコシステムは近く中国人留学生三人、韓国人留学生一人に内定を出す。外国人採用は今後も拡大する方針だが、重要な条件は「日本語ができる」ことだ。

 英語を操れる社員が豊富な企業は一握りだけ。国際化を急ぐ企業にアジア留学生が人気なのは、日本企業の海外現地法人がアジアに多いのに加え、日本語を使える人の比率が高い点も要因と言えそうだ。

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Multipolarization

People often talk about multipolarization and endorce the similar concept.
What is the multipolarization? Googling it, we find
multipolarization is the contemporary phenomenon that various regional arrangements take shape and interact with one another. The days are gone when a couple f mighty powers decided the destiny of the rest of the world. link

The analyst Tanaka claims,
The United States' power is declining militarily, diplomatically, and economically. It is predicted that the international system will be established in which the countries such as China, Russia, and India will be key players, resulting in multipolarization. .....The multipolarization is necessary for the world to keep
developing:It is necessary to replace the existing system in which the United States subordinate Europe and Japan.


アメリカは軍事的、外交的、経済的に衰退する傾向にあり、アメリカに代わって中国、ロシア、インドなどが台頭する国際体制の「多極化」が進むと予測される。....先進国以外の国々の経済成長を誘発するには、アメリカが欧日を従えて形成している従来のアメリカ中心の体制を壊し、世界を多極化する必要があるlink

masa_the_man agrees that the multipolarization will take place in the domain of economic and politics, For instance 6-way talks with North Korea is the case in point.But he argues that the multipolarization is buck passing in disguise and in view of military, the US dominance will continue.
I find Masa's argument more convincing:The US needs to back up economic stability (the free market and the stability of dollar as a key currency etc.) with its strong military and she will not allow the regional hegemony.

The multipolarization is all right:for instance, Japan should welcome China's economic rise. But the we should not disregard the fact Masa pointed out; The US primacy in military will continue. Besides, Japan needs to keep saying to China that Japan upholds the liberal democracy in which an individual right has priority and that we can not support the policy of whatever country that will violate the individual rights.How and how much we use the political power to influence China's oppressing policy is another story, though.

..................................................................................
references
Back to the Future/Mearshimer
バックパッシングの応用Masathe man
米軍撤退論Masatheman
多極世界と門戸開放
Asia's future seen in Sydney/observing Japan

Friday, September 07, 2007

Finally---the end of Korean war?

the two leaders agreed that depending on the progress made in North Koreas nuclear disablement, the idea of signing a peace treaty between the two Koreas could be considered.
Chosun Ilbo
Actually some analysists have predicted it.
Tanaka
Edajima
Edajima

I am not convinced of Tanaka's argument, but North Korea as a pivotal point in relation to China and Iran in the U.S. strategy is an interesting and persuasive perspective.

Sato

update
Bush's talks with Roh focused on the six-nation negotiations to get North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. Soon after the mini diplomatic incident, Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy handling the talks with Pyongyang, announced that nuclear experts from the U.S., China and Russia will travel to North Korea next week to survey nuclear facilities due to be shut down.

Bush said that during his talks with Roh, he reaffirmed the U.S. position that Washington will consider the war formally over only when North Korean leader Kim Jong Il actually dismantles his nuclear program.

Whatever Roh heard Bush say through his translator, it wasn't good enough.

``I think I did not hear President Bush mention the - a declaration to end the Korean War just now,'' Roh said as cameras clicked and television cameras rolled.

Bush said he thought he was being clear, but obliged Roh and restated the U.S. position.

That wasn't good enough either. ``If you could be a little bit clearer in your message,'' Roh said.

Bush, now looking irritated, replied: ``I can't make it any more clear, Mr. President. We look forward to the day when we can end the Korean War. That will end - will happen when Kim verifiably gets rid of his weapons programs and his weapons.''

The White House immediately downplayed the testy exchange and said the meeting went smoothly.

``There was clearly something lost in translation,'' National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a rushed e-mail to reporters.

``I really think the interpreter must not have conveyed the president's comments entirely clearly,'' Johndroe said. ``The president made clear in his opening remarks that he told Roh that the U.S. is committed to a peace agreement once North Korea complies.''

The photo-op began with the usual diplomatic pleasantries.

Bush said he and Roh had a ``friendly and frank'' discussion. He thanked South Korea for providing support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and spoke optimistically about negotiations that the United States, South Korea, Russia, China and Japan are having to pressure the communist regime in Pyongyang to end its nuclear programs.

The president noted Roh's upcoming meeting with the communist leader and urged him to tell Kim that he needs to honor his agreements. link


Probably I was wrong. It was Roh who was willing to make the US to cut the deal and it seems Bush is ambvalent on this issue. It seems Korean media like even Chosun Ilbo welcomed it. Does that mean it was Roh's political show for domestic viewers?

Thougts on Mr.Idubor' case.

I blogged on the criminal procedures and trial in Japan, but I didn't examined the case in detail. I googled Indubor but there is none in Japanese.
So I have to rely on Debito's description of the case.
What is said is the defendant's account of the case, but what is lacking is the account of the case given by the victim and prosecutor.
According to his wife, he is denied the media cal treatment, but there is no report on it by his lawyer despite its serious violation of human right.
According to his lawyer, the testimonies are inconsistent, but the victim was not given a chance to account for the inconsistency.
As it is, all we can say so far is that he deserves the speedy trial, in addition to the fact that Debit account is one-sided, unfair.

If the case is just the rape without involvement of the minority, their account might have been even labeled as a chauvinistic account defending the rapist filled with the bias.
I am not saying that their account is not true , but I am saying that you can not judge the case based on the story told by one party.Since the defendant's claim and the victim's claim are at odds, one of them must be false. But if that is the case, it is only fair that they present both sides of the story. Besides, since this is the case of rape, it needs to be dealt with care; it is well known that the victim of the rape receive multiple insults in the process of the investigation and its reports.

What is interesting is that Debito and TPR were for the resolutions for the comfort women despite the facts that the the direct testimonies made more than 50 years later were inconsistent and that there are official Japanese document to show the contrary.
Aren't they biased?


Anyway I approve of their effort to help the defendant, but I don't like the way they argues the case.

Suppose someone is mistakenly wronged because the prosecutor mistaken him for another person; it is the prosecutor's fault.
Suppose further he is a foreigner.
That itself does not show that he is unfairly discriminated because he is a foreigner:you need another argument to prove it.


In Mr, Indubor's case, he was denied the bail.
Mr. Idubor has been imprisoned since his arrest, the court denying him bail based on his Nigerian citizenship, which, they say, makes him a high flight risk.TPR

If you look at the condition the court can not give him the bail, you will find;
1. 死刑、無期又は短期1年以上の懲役・禁錮に当たる罪を犯した場合(同条1号) 「短期1年以上」とは、「2年以上の懲役に処する」(非現住建造物等放火罪)など、法定刑の刑期の下限が1年以上であることをいう。
2. 過去に、死刑、無期又は長期10年を超える懲役・禁錮に当たる罪について有罪判決を受けたことがある場合(同条2号) 「長期10年を超える」とは、「15年以下の懲役に処する」(傷害罪)のように、法定刑の刑期の上限が10年を超えることをいう。
3. 常習として、長期3年以上の懲役・禁錮に当たる罪を犯した場合(同条3号)
4. 罪証隠滅のおそれがある場合(同条4号)
5. 被害者や証人に対し、危害を加えるおそれがある場合(同条5号)
6. 氏名又は住所が明らかでない場合(同条6号)

Strange, the high flight risk is not the among the conditions.
Probably someone misinformed the reason.

*1 The short sentence of quasi-rape is 3 years in prison, and if the crime in question is more than 1 years in prison, the bail is denied.
But I am not sure how it is working in practice.
*2It might be somebody is confused with US bail law

Suppose for the sake of the argument that he is denied the bail for the reason TPR says.
The rate of the bail is 13%.
All you can claim is the rate is too low,citing other country's case, but if it is equally unfair even for Japanese, it is not the case of the discrimination;It is just the case of injustice. Their favorite conclusion does not follow.

Sometimes some people want to draw the conclusion they want to draw no matter what, but to draw the conclusion you need a sound argument.

Anyway I hope the justice will prevail over this case.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Pleasure


Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign master, pain and pleasure.

.....
Contemporary utilitarians...talk of the maximizing the extent to which people may achieve what they want;we should seek to satisfy people's preferences, page 62 "philosophy of law" Raymond

The pleasure principle and the reality principle are two psychoanalytical terms coined by Sigmund Freud.

Respectively, the desire for immediate gratification versus the deferral of that gratification. Quite simply, the pleasure principle drives one to seek pleasure and to avoid painwiki


Nothing is wrong with seeking pleasure, but something is lost when their concepts of pleasure and preference govern our life.

An older understanding that goes back to Aristotle holds that pleasure is not itself an experience, but something that supervenes upon experience. What this means is that the pleurae we derive from an activity is not an after-effect of the activity in the way that being slightly drunk is the after-effect of a few glasses of wine. Pleasure, rather, is the manner in which we engage in that activity. If I play a game for pleasure, this is to be contrasted with playing for money, or because I am compelled to , or because I can think nothing else to do, and it means I am playing it for the sake of the game itself. page 12 "philosophy of the arts" Gordon Graham

This concept opens up the possibility of our finding the pleasure out of tedious or stressful daily work.

A dangerous game

Korean media reports a dangerous game is spreading across Korea. I've seen the similar photos about China;The difference is that in China, people are tied for punishment, in Korea for fun.
I am relieved that Korean media is critical of this game.







...................................................................................

若者たちの危険な‘誕生日パン(センイルパン)’が論難になっている。誕生日パンと言う
のは‘誕生日を迎えて友達同士ふざけて叩く’と言う意味の俗語だ。

去る2日にインターネットのポータルサイトには衝撃的な写真が一枚上げられて来た。

写真の中では10~20代に見えるある若い女性がテープで全身を縛られたまま電柱に
括り付けられている。顔と頭には卵と小麦粉をたくさん被っていて、周りの人々はこれを
見ながら笑っている。珍しそうに携帯電話を取り出して撮影する人々も捕捉された。

写真をあげたネチズンID‘ガラムアボン’は「先月25日、富川(プチョン)駅近くの路地を
通ったら酷い光景を目撃した」「誕生日パンみたいだったが殺伐で言葉では言い表せ
なかった」と語った。彼は「甚だしくは自分の息子が‘あのおばさんは何か悪いことしたの’
と私に聞いて来た」「本当に不快な気持ちを隠すことができなかった」と語った。

写真を見たネチズンたちも驚愕を禁じえない。

当時現場を目撃したというID‘ブルーナイン’は「人々が群がって写真を撮っていて、最初は
芸能人が来たのかと思っていたが全身を縛られたまま泣いている女性を見てびっくりした」
「(一緒に誕生日パンをしているつもりは無くても)笑って写真を撮る人も悪い」と語った。

一部ではこのような危ない誕生日パンが全国的に広がっているという憂慮の声も出ている。
他の地域でもこれと似たような姿がたびたび目撃されているというのだ。

‘ジヒョン’は「危険な誕生日パンを楽しむのは高等学生だけでなく大学生も同じ」として「春川
(チュンチョン)地域の大学街で二日に一回位似たような現場を目撃している」と伝えた。
彼は「小麦粉に卵、食用油、酢まで動員されたら翌日朝の路頭は完全な乱闘場」として
「ぜひ思慮の足りない行動を慎んで下さい」と語った。

これ以外にも「原州(ウォンジュ)の某大学前でもこのような姿を目撃した」「天安(チョナン)
でも似たような場面を見た」と言う目撃談が続いている。

▲国民日報クッキーニュース(韓国語)2007/09/06 14:52
온몸을 묶어 전봇대에 매달아…젊은이들의‘위험한’생일빵
全身を縛って電柱に吊り下げて…若者たちの危険な’誕生日パン
http://www.kukinews.com/news/article/view.asp?gCode=soc&arcid=0920653771&code=41121111
WEB翻訳後に記者が辞書で修正

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Yasukuni and Thanksgiving

'Thanksgiving' did not begin as a great loving relationship between the
pilgrims and the Wampanoag, Pequot and Narragansett people. In fact,
in October of 1621 when the 'pilgrim' survivors of their first winter in
Turtle Island sat down to share the first unofficial 'Thanksgiving' meal,
the Indians who were there were not even invited! There was no turkey,
squash, cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie. A few days before this alleged
feast took place, a company of 'pilgrims' led by Miles Standish actively
sought the head of a local Indian leader, and an 11 foot high wall was
erected around the entire Plymouth settlement for the very purpose of
keeping Indians out! Officially, the holiday we know as 'Thanksgiving'
actually came into existence in the year 1637. Governor Winthrop of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaimed this first official day of Thanksgiving
and feasting to celebrate the return of the colony's men who had arrived
safely from what is now Mystic, Connecticut. They had gone there to
participate in the massacre of over 700 Pequot men, women and children,
and Mr. Winthrop decided to dedicate an official day of thanksgiving
complete with a feast to 'give thanks' for their great 'victory'....
ISSUES MISTAKES LIES & MISCONCEPTIONS
cashe

On occasion, we pay a more direct cost; censorship. In 1970, for example , the Massachusetts Department of Commerce asked the Wampanoags to select a speaker to mark the 350th anniversary of the Philgrims' landing. Frank James "was selected, but first he had to show a copy of his speech to the white people in charge of the ceremony. When they say what had written, they would not allow him to read it.
James had written:
Today is a time of celebrating for you...but it is not at time of celebration for me . It is with heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my people.....The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors, and stolen their corn, what and beans....Massasoit, the great leader of the Wampanoog knew these facts; yet he and his people welcomed and befriended the settlers..., little knowing that ,....before 50 years were to pass, the Wampannoags....and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them ...Although our way of life is almost gone and our language is almost extinct, we the Wampanoags still walk the lands of Massachusetts.....What has happened cannot be changed, but today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important.
(page 96 lies teacher told me, James W. Loewen


A horrible history distortion is going on about Thanksgiving.

But let me relate this distortion to the issue of Yasukuni..

Are people cerebrating the massacre?
Does people have no right to cerebrate the Thanksgiving because history has been horribly distorted?
Does President have no right to cerebrate Thanksgiving in private capacity because history has been distorted offensively?

It is one thing to tell the accurate story, it is another to respect the practice people are committed to. In this respect I think this Indian American person shows the mature judegement:
I see nothing wrong with
gathering with family to give thanks to our Creator for our blessings and
sharing a meal. I do, however, hope that Americans as a whole will one
day acknowledge the true origin of this holiday, and remember the pain,
loss, and agony of the Indigenous people who suffered at the hands of
the so-called 'pilgrims'.Mistakes, Lies & Misconceptions
about American Indian people

Criminal procedure and Trial in Japan

Just as civil litigation in Japan is not noticeably slower than its U.S. analogue, so too, with criminal litigation. If anything, Japanese criminal litigation may be a bit quicker than at least federal criminal litigation. In U.S. federal courts in 1995, the median time from prosecution to final disposition for the total 54980 cases was 5.7 months. If a defendant pleaded guilty(as he did in the vast majority of cases), it was 5.4 millions; if he demanded a jury trial , it was 9.6 months. Japan is a bit quicker. ..in 1994 Japanese courts disposed of most of their cases in two to six months, with the median time in the two -to three-month range.
page 172

Japanese court convict defendants. As most reader have heard, they convict with a vengeance. In district court criminal cases (excluding those in summary court), they convict 99.9 percent (in 1994, 49598 out of 4643) of the defendants. In murder cases, they convict 99.7 percent(587 our of 589) In the United States, federal courts convicts only murder cases, only 85.1 percent(for 1995, 46773 out of 549800) of the defendants and in murder cases only 83.3 percent 265 our of 318). page 178"Japanese Law J. Mark Ramseyer & Minoru Nakazato


Prosecutors have broad discretionary powers to decide whether to prosecute or not. ....
In 1997, while 68040 people were indicted for offence provided the Criminal Code, 39072 were eventually not prosecuted. ....Public prosecutors claim that from a criminological point of view, this discretionary power to the prosecutors contributes to the rehabilitation of the offender and facilitates his correction by liberating him fro the procedure at at early stated. ....page 426 Japanese Law second edition Hiroshi Oda.


Conviction rates in Japanese trials have been running at around 99.9% in recent years(Horiuchi 1995), but prosecutors and Ministry of Justice officals are quick to point out that there are sound reasons for this astonishingly high conviction rate and that it does not reflect weak legal defense. Tsuchiya(1980) has claimed that only when the evidence is strong are cases prosecuted. Furthermore he and other Ministry of Justice officials argue that many offenders are diverted from the criminal justice system at various stages.
Another factor influencing both the low crime rate and high conviction rate is that many crimes that are still "on the books" in Western nations, including the United States, are not treated as crimes in Japan. As examples, Tsuchiya offered vagrancy, homosexuality, and public drunkenness, which have never been considered crimes in Japan. Without the worries caused
by these prevalent but victimless offenses, law enforcement authorities have been freer to pursue the solution of what most people would consider more serious crimes. As noted, earlier, Japanese prosecutors actively consider the rehabilitation prospects of offenders in deciding whether to prosecute or not. This factor is also taken into account at the sentencing stage, should the defendant be convicted.(The Japanese Police System Today: A Comparative View L. Craig Parker page 140

Some claims that the high conviction rate is due to the fact that "if the prosecutor is to prosecute he has to be fully convinced that the offender is actually guilty. therefore, once a person is prosecuted, there is a high probability that he will in fact be found guilty."

Others argue
When a judge issues a accquital , the faces of his superiors and the displeased faces of prosecutors with whom he's become friendly will appear in his mind. Those sorts of psychological pressure exist at the subconscious level,, and there is a psychological brake at work that leads judges to issue as few acquittals as possible.


Setsuo Miyazawa is among the more radicals; "forces confessions to false charge are endemic to Japanese police tactics.
page 178



I have no statistics to prove which view is correct. Do you have any?

While I agree that Japanese system of criminal procedures and trials has problems such as 代用監獄 and numerous other things, I would like people to argue based on the facts.

It seems some of the arguments are either radical, or unfamiliar with Japanese laws, and/or hasty generalizations from a paricular case.
It often happens when what you read happen to be a translation of what a Japanese radical says but you don't read Japanese books to see how it is located among Japanese intellectuals. But when there is a controversy in Japan, that means there is a controversy among Japanese , I am sure you can find several pros and cons articles and book on the issue. Let's not be lazy about searching them. Otherwise that will just add up to another stereotype.
( There are tens of books on the issue in Japanese, and the books from which I cited are the most common books on Japanese law in English;It is not even for a specialist. )
UPDATE

Why Is the Japanese Conviction Rate So High?
..................................................................................
BTW
Some have argued that it is offensive that Japanese newspaper list the criminal rate based on race---which I agree to some extent---but FYI, notice the U.S. crimanal
reports also cites the data based on races.
For instance,
Japan......Murder rate 0.49 %
U.S. white Murder rate 1.01 %
U.S. total Murder rate 1.34 %
(the data about Japan is based on Japanese police, of course)
(page 177 Japanese law J.Mark Ramseyer & Minoru Nakazoto)



UPDATE


nigelboy said
Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 3:11 am


“Take Japan’s 99% conviction rate. I think it’s shocking and bad for Japan, but it has been like that for donkeys years, shows little sign of changing soon (despite the jury changes), and most crucially has no impact on the lives of people overseas. Like it or not, it isn’t news. Ergo, it’s little reported.”

If you did a little research on your own, the reason for high % can be attributed to the following:

1) # of prosecutors are very low per capita compared to, let’s say U.S.

http://www8.cao.go.jp/kisei-kaikaku/old/minutes/wg/2005/1109_2/addition051109_2_03.pdf

2) Low % of people/cases actually going through criminal trial versus # of people/cases prosecution receives. According to the MOJ material, roughly 6% of those who are indicted actually go to a trial while a whopping 55% gets dismissed.

http://www.moj.go.jp/HOUSO/2008/hk1_1.pdf

In other words, the prosecution will go to court on slam dunk cases.

But my question to you Tony is why is 99% shocking and bad? Are you implying that the lower the %, it’s “good”? How about 5%? Is that good?






nigelboy said
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 12:37 am


Thank you Ampontan for allowing my post to go through even though I failed to address the relevance to your story.

Looking at the statistics from the Ministry of Justice, it seems to be that the high conviction rates is completely justified and that decreasing the % would mean the prosecutors will go ahead with a trial on cases which they would deemed in the past would be “dismissed”. To me, that’s more scary.

And I don’t expect Tony to answer my question because he probably has the fixed mindset that conviction rate should equal to that of his own country and that anything higher or lower to that fixed amount would be construed “shocking and bad”. In other words, anything that deviates from his country’s perspective is in fact deviating from a “global standard” and therefore, should be condemned.



Update

Why Is the Japanese Conviction Rate so High?, by J. Mark Ramseyer and Eric B. Rasmusen © 2001 The University of Chicago.
Abstract
Conviction rates in Japan exceed 99 percent. Because Japanese judges can be penalized by a personnel office if they rule in ways the office dislikes, perhaps they face biased incentives to convict. Using data on the careers and opinions of 321 Japanese judges, we find that judges who acquit do have worse careers following the acquittal. On closer examination, though, we find that the punished judges are not those who acquit on the ground that the prosecutors charged the wrong person. Rather, they acquit for reasons of statutory or constitutional interpretation, often in politically charged cases. Thus, the apparent punishment seems unrelated to any pro-conviction bias at the judicial administrative offices. We suggest an alternative explanation: the high conviction rates reflect case selection and low prosecutorial budgets; understaffed prosecutors present judges with only the most obviously guilty defendants.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Exporting the baby and the myth about blood

According to NPR, the Korean government encourages inter-Korean adoption but now some 19,000 children live in orphanages.
Korea sends the world's fourth largest number of babies abroad. Some 1,376 Korean babies were adopted to the U.S. last year. China took first place with 6,493 babies sent to the U.S., followed by Guatemala with 4,135 and Russia with 3,706.Aug.28,2007

via 木村幽閉記
It is intereting that a Korean person blame the myth about the blood as a factor for this "exporting babies"