English language press censorship in Japan

Announcement

Mainichi Daily News Begins Self-Censorship

In a long anticipated move, Japan’s Mainichi Daily News in English has imposed self-censorship joining the likes of Japan Times and Japantoday, the establishment controlled outlets. Regular visitors to Japanifik may have noticed that the links posted here to stories published by Mainichi are no longer active. This is because Mainichi have deleted any story that might be deemed even remotely embarrassing to the “empire” including news of child rape by government employees, murder and suicide.

The Disneyfication of Japan Continues

Time to retire the pathetic 80-year-old rat?

Mickey mouse from The Walt Disney Company logo. Image may be subject to copyright. See Japanifik Fair Use Notice!

Are you sick and tired of mouse droppings, too?

Nagano governor goes goofy over Disney drop-ins

(Mainichi Japan) July 5, 2008
NAGANO — Mickey Mouse and a host of other Disney characters visited Nagano Prefecture to greet its governor as part of their nationwide tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland.

Nagano Gov. Jin Murai looked delighted as one of the Disney characters hugged and kissed him during a courtesy call on Thursday. Murai was also presented with a magic key said to make wishes come true.

A Disney character hugs Nagano Gov. Jin Murai, right, on Thursday morning. (Photo courtesy of the Nagano Prefectural Government)

The prefecture has been suffering from a sluggish tourism industry, with the number of Nagano-bound skiers dropping to 40 percent of its peak figure, and Murai said his prefecture has a lot to learn from Disneyland.

“Disneyland is filled with repeaters. We, Nagano Prefecture, would like to learn from that,” he said.

[Why not open a Disney Temple, Murai san, or better still borrow "Elizabeth" the Penis from Kawasaki when they are not using it?]

The Disney characters are visiting 29 cities across the nation on the tour commemorating the opening of Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, a quarter century ago.

Do you want your kids to grow up to be intelligent adults, or zombies who would happily perpetuate the dumb Disney cult?

Related Links:

The deliberate dumbing down of Japan!

Japan’s Boards of Education - Part 2

Fruits of a Repressed Culture

When in Rome, don’t let the Romans mug you!

At the local Super, it feels like you have been mugged, everytime!

Gacuette has lived in many of the world’s major cities and a number of smaller places, too. But in no other place has he felt so totally “mugged” as he does in the local super market chain in the Japanifik area [with the possible exception of a supermarket in Westwood Village, LA, whose owner could easily be from Japanifik,] where the price of food products can swing violently by up to 110 percent, sometimes on the same day. Even the forex market isn’t so volatile!

Here is a brief story about yogurt and its price variations at the store:

Day 1:
The local supermarket chain [“loc-sup”] introduces its own brand of yogurt “OBY”at ¥100 [approx. $0.95 ] per 500g [1.1lb], while at the same time raising the price of a popular brand of yogurt [“pop-yog”] from ¥158 to ¥218 for the same quantity. Loc-sup yogurt sold out within hours.

Day 2:
Loc-sup’s OBY price jumps to ¥210;  pop-yog stays at ¥218. Bad move!

Day 3:
OBY down to ¥100 again. Pop-yog reduced to ¥180.  OBY is sold out again.

A few days later…
OBY goes up ¥180; pop-yog down to original price of ¥158 [pop-yog comes with a 10g pouch of sugar and is more delicious.] Another bad move! This time pop-yog is nearly sold out.

A week or so on and a few more price tricks later, however, the pop-yog mysteriously loses its taste and texture! Surely, they wouldn’t dare interfering with other peoples products. Would they?

Recently,  after a number of worrying incidents, Gacuette made a conscientious decision to minimize trips to “loc-sup” and only buy those products that were, (i) essential things, which he couldn’t find nearby, and (ii) tamper-proof items.

A couple of days ago, a brief inspection of the yogurt fridge revealed the following prices: OBY price was ¥180 and pop-yog was sold at ¥168. The OBY stack was half as small as the pop-yog’s. The taste-texture “trick” against pop-yog seems to have worked!

In the interest of integrity and fair play

Update # 2: Paying the price . . .

The local bike shop owner who saw Gacuette’s bike this morning said the tire had not been slashed, but the inner tube had burst because it wasn’t placed properly when the tire was replaced.

See original post: Paying the price for free speech in Japan!

and the follow up: The Samurai Swords and the Bike Tire

Convinced?

Most certainly NOT! Why?

1. The bike tire was replaced about two months ago at a reputable bike shop known to the author’s family.
2. This was the second incident in which the bike was vandalized since December 2007. See:

More Criminal Damage

Will wait and see!

Speaking of the U.S. Missionaries in Japan

What’s so divine about breeding 9 children like rabbits, and placing Colin Powell’s book on your Church[sic] altar?

We all commit follies and the author is by no means immune to lapses in good judgment. A while ago, while searching for English-speaking kids to befriend his then 3-year-old son, the author and his family inadvertently ended up in a missionary church on an otherwise uneventful Sunday, completely innocently.

It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Witnessing about 50 or so grown ups and their kids chanting biblical propaganda in Japanese, or in any other language, while pretending to do it out of “divine love,” never is!

But the worst was yet to come. First, Gacuette discovered in total horror that the resident missionary, an ex-military personnel, had 9 children. Nine children?

Nine Children!

How does a missionary manage to bring up nine children on what must surely be a puny salary? What extra-curricular activities must he undertake to earn enough money to support such unsustainable, un-ecological and “unholy” lifestyle?

Is the Pentagon Paying the Missionaries in Japan?

With the church selling the family silver to pay the victims of child rape, and settle all other abuse claims against their brothers and fathers, where do the missionaries get their money from? About 99 percent of the missionaries come from military backgrounds. Could it be that the US taxpayer is inadvertently footing the bill [missionaries' salaries, expenses ...] through the US Defense budget? Who is looking anyway?

Colin Powell on the Altar

Then, with another surge of horror, the author discovered a book by Colin Powell, which was prominently displayed on the bookshelf in the congregation area. Gacuette can’t quite recall the title: “How my little lie helped the military commit genocide in Iraq,” “How to kill a million plus ‘ragheads’ in three easy steps,” “How to decimate defenseless people with minimum canon fodder?” Or something along those lines.

Imagine having a Church of Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin or Ariel Sharon. Church of George Bush, anyone? What will the Japanese think of next!

Related Links:

• Japan Quake and The Duplicity of Baptist Church
• War Crimes, USA
• Missionaries: Top 10 Reasons Why Japanese Loathe Gaijin (Foreigners )

The Samurai Swords and the Bike Tire

Update #1: Paying the price . . .

See Main Entry: http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/you-do-this-to-the-japanese/
Follow up: http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/words-mightier-than-myth-of-samurai-swords/

When the author’s and his spouse’s bikes were vandalized in December 2007, the police said they wanted to see the damage before the bikes were fixed. They asked us to contact them before we repaired the bikes the next time (!) This time being the next time, we obliged.

After some huffing and puffing, coming and going, they said the type of damage was “unusual!!” [The rear tire was slashed. See Photo.] Now, they want to see a professional “damage report.” They want to know why the bike tire was slashed, if the author understood the message correctly, with the knurled ring that holds the inner tube valve core in place still tightly screwed. Let’s hope the bike shop mechanics are more up-to-date on forensic science than the police is. More on this story later.

Related Links:

• The words are mightier than even the myth of Samurai swords
• Paying the price for free speech in Japan!

• More Criminal Damage
• Foreigners Can Drive in Japan?
• Do Not Speak English in Japan!
  

• War Crimes, USA
• A Culture of Bullying, Sex, Suicide, Murder
• Fruits of a Repressed Culture

• A Culture of Bullying

The words are mightier than even the myth of Samurai swords

An Early Reflection: Paying the price . . . 

See Main Entry: http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/you-do-this-to-the-japanese/

Who did it?

The lowlife thugs who slashed the author’s bike tire were probably the local variety; however, they are too dumb to understand what is written here in English.

Conclusion:

• The event was organized.
• There was more than one thug involved.
• A thug in a position of authority who can read English sanctioned the vandalism.

Consolation:

• The words are mightier than even the myth of Samurai swords.
• The thugs have never won a war [let alone a war of aggression!]
• They let their mask of fear slip revealing to the world their deeply entrenched vulnerabilities characterized by a total lack of self-esteem.  

Paying the price for free speech in Japan!

Would You Do This to the Japanese Living in Your Country?

More Criminal Damage [Again]: Author’s bike tire was slashed.

Civilized people do NOT behave this way; savages do!

Related Links:

• More Criminal Damage
• Foreigners Can Drive in Japan?
• Do Not Speak English in Japan!
  

• War Crimes, USA
• A Culture of Bullying, Sex, Suicide, Murder
• Fruits of a Repressed Culture

• A Culture of Bullying

Japan Quake and The Duplicity of Baptist Church

Has the Southern Baptist mob apologized for the blanket bombing of Japan cities and the mass murder of the Japanese by a prominent church member?

The Duplicity of Baptist Church

“International Mission Board missionaries serving in Japan are asking Southern Baptist churches to pray for the victims of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook northern Japan on June 14.” (Source)

This is the same church whose prominent member, President Harry S. Truman, ordered the nuclear-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the fire-bombing of Tokyo and numerous other population centers across Japan.

Related Links:

• War Crimes, USA
• Missionaries: Top 10 Reasons Why Japanese Loathe Gaijin (Foreigners )

The Myth of Japanese Ingenuity

Who Said Japan Could Make Quakeproof Buildings or Bridges?

Iwate Quake: Shooting Another Big Hole Through the Myth of Japanese Technological Savvy

A highway bridge lies in ruins in Ichinoseki city, Iwate Prefecture, June 14, 2008. A powerful earthquake rocked rural northern Japan on Saturday, killing 10 people, with another 12 still missing, and injuring about 250 and sparking huge landslides that blocked roads and isolated residents. The 7.2 magnitude [JMA scale] quake struck at 8:43 a.m. (23:43 GMT Friday) in Iwate, a sparsely populated, scenic area around 300 km (190 miles) north of Tokyo, where buildings also shook. REUTERS/KYODO (JAPAN). JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. See Japanifik Fair Use Notice!

Japans Techno Savvy

Another earthquake, and more lives are lost! The death toll in the Mw6.8 earthquake (7.2 on JMA scale) that hit Iwate (northern Japan) Saturday morning rose to 10 Monday. Another 12 people are still missing (presumed dead), and about 250 injured.

This earthquake like the last major earthquakes in Kobe in 1995, which killed 6,434 and made 500,000 people homeless, and the 2004 quake that struck Niigata prefecture, killing 65 and injuring 3,500 people, Shot a massive hole in the myth of the Japanese technological ability to build quakeproof buildings, bridges … and flowerpots.

Our hearts go to the friends and families of the victims.

The main steam isolation valves, one of a unit of an emergency shutdown system, are seen inside the reactor containment vessel at No. 3 reactor of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki July 28, 2007. The TEPCO’s quake-hit nuclear power plant—the world’s largest nuclear power plant—could take longer than a year to resume operations if defects are found in key safety devices, media quoted an expert set to head an investigation team as saying. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN). Photo may be subject to copyright. See Japanifik Fair Use Notice!