Suginami Ward is looking for Animes and Mangas relavant to Fukushima

Source:Tokyo Shinbun

Suginami Ward is collecting Animes and Mangas under the theme of Fukushima incident for a festival which will be held this autumn.

This festival has been annually held by people who are involve in Anime in the same area. The purpose of which is to find younger anime creators and then train them. There are usually no themes. However, for this year they have decided to use a theme called "Fukishima Animation" in addition to general collections. They are collecting local short films and mangas , as well as international ones. This is in response to the Fukishima Daichi nuclear disaster.

The organizer said that, "We want this activity to be an opportunity for thinking over what animes and mangas can do for the nuclear accident” This event is open for prospective professional and amateur applicants alike. They are accepting works until the end of August. Here is the contact info for inquiries.
HP:Laputa International Animation Festival
Tel:+81-3-5327-3786 

Fax:+81-3-5327-7655
Email: n-workshop@laputa-jp.com

If you like creating animes or mangas, this is an ideal chance for you to showcase your arts to the public. Unfortunately, they did not provide any English information even if they are also looking for works from abroad. You need to fill out the application form and then send it, but it's only available in Japanese...

Fan spent about 8.8 milliion Yen($109.000US) to buy 5,500 CDs of an idol group, AKB48.

AKB48, which is consisted of a 56-japanese-girl-idol group, is known as a national icon of Japan as of now. At the start of their career, their popularity was limited on their male fans who frequently visited AKB48's own theater in Akihabara, also known as the Mecca of Otaku (Japanese term for a sacred place of geeks). However, they quickly started attracting a wide range of people with their charming appearance and delightful music which were written by a famous Japanese record producer, Yasushi Akimoto. Now, their activity is not only performing live in the theater but you can also see them in many Japanese TV programs like dramas, movies and commercials.

They are called AKB48. The number "48" doesn't indicate the amount of members. It fluctuates seasonally.

AKB48 has been in an election since May 24th to choose the top 21 members who will be featured to sing the next AKB48 song and also appear on TV shows, while others working on the supplemental songs in the album. Buying their new song “Everyday、Katyusha(Everyday、カチューシャ)” , entitles you with a right to vote for your favorite member. The mechanics is that, you need a serial number which can be found in every CD of the said song, and then enter the number in their official website. However, this voting system has driven some of their fans crazy. A fan allegedly bought 5,500 of their CDs which cost presumably about 8.8 million Yen($109.000US) so that his favorite member will be able to win. Another fan spent about 4 million Yen($50,000US) to buy 2,000 CDs.

This is the guy who bought 5, 500 CDs. At first glance, he doesn't look like a man who has such a large amount of money. 

Who are going to win? Will the fans who shelled out buckets of money, be able to win? The result of this election will be revealed on 9th of June.

Thief stole, "A Reader on Restarting your life”

Source:Yomiuri Shinbun

On May 21st, a 55 year-old unemployed Japanese male who lives in Oshibedani-tyou, was brought to Hyogo prefectural Kobe Nishi police station. He was alleged with stealing a book from a book store, since he was arrested.

The stolen book is entitled, “A Reader on Restarting your life” (人生やり直し読本)” which is written by the nonfiction writer, “Kunio Yanagida”

The report said that, a security guard saw the man leaving the bookstore while putting the book in his backpack, upon seeing this, he then decided to turn the old man to the police.

Apparently, he failed to restart his life.

Popular virtual singer from Japan debuts in Toyota’s CM for the Unites States

Popular virtual singer from Japan debuts in Toyota's CM for the United States. The Japanese car company, Toyota, has decided to use a virtual idol, "Hatsune Miku(初音ミク)", who is adored by some net users, especially those who watch NicoNico Douga - a popular video sharing website in Japan - in their new CM for the United States. She is a Vocaloid that sings songs which are created by users of the voice synthesizer software where her name had been copied. There are some other vocaloids like "Miku" but Toyota chose her because she is the most popular one, with her cuteness among them.

Miku's voice is still somehow mechanical but her cute, animated appearance and voice which is sampled from a Japanese voice actress, Saki Fujita, continue to attract wide range of people. As of now, Miku has released at least more than 15,000 songs which are created by its users including some professional composers. Her popularity is mainly in the internet but few of her music albums debuted at number one on Japanese weekly album chart. Her activity is not only singing songs but also performing live. You may wonder how on earth can a virtual idol play a live show? Here, you can check the movie out and a part of it is used in the CM.

In the commercial, a portion of her live performance was used. In there she is singing, World is Mine(ワールドイズマイン), which is one of her most poplular songs.　

Toyota has launched a special site for their new car, COROLLA, which is tied up with Miku. Her picture can be found on the top of the page.　However, there was an outcry from her fans when they saw that she seemed different, compared to the Miku that they knew.

Original Miku

This different Miku made her fans cry

Toyota says, “Corolla and Hatsune Miku have two very important things in common – big dreams in a compact package.” Miku's appeal is now being widened through singing, live performances, and a commercial. What will she do next? We can’t take our eyes off this new type of Japanese diva.

Devouring passion of Kagawa prefecture for Udon

Zaru Udon

Udon is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle and one of the national food of Japan. This cuisine, which reasonably costs from 300 to 600 Yen on average, is served in several ways. The most common style is to eat with noodle soup and several ingredients as toppings. The other one is called “Zaru Udon”, which dips Udon, served on a zaru (a sieve-like bamboo tray), into chilled noodle soup. The taste varies from region to region. For example, West area uses bland soup but East uses stronger and darker soup. On top of that, each prefecture has their own flavor and quality. So, you can't decide whose Udon is the best.

The red area show the location of
Kagawa prefecure

However, Kagawa Prefecture of Japan which is located on Shikoku Island has an unrivaled passion for Udon. They have one of the most popular Udon brands in Japan, called "Sanuki Udon", which uses relatively tough-textured noodle and the soup based on dried sardines. Here, I will introduce some of their frantic enthusiasm for their soul food.

•  They eat Udons 3 times a day, even 8 times. It's natural.
•  They often face a water shortage because of boiling too much Udon.
• They were imposed a cut on water intake because of boiling Udons too much.
• They think Soba (a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour) is a miscreation of Udon.
• There are no Soba shops in Kagawa prefecture.
• They eat Udon as toshikoshi noodles (Japanese traditionally eat soba on New Year’s Eve. It’s called toshikoshi noodles) on New Year’s Eve.
• They can do an Udon taste test blindly
• The elementary school kids, in Kagawa prefecture, go home if there is no Udon in the school lunch.
•  They treated Udon to a kid, who was in front of a burger store and looked like wanted to eat burgers.
•  McDonald’s were disappeared from Kagawa prefecture.

This is "Sanuki Udon",
which kagawa prefecture is
proud of

Some people address Kagawa prefecture as Udon Ken(prefecture); Are they just merely trying to throw an insult?　No, they also love there and so do I. Unfortunately, I've never been there but if you will understand the passion of the Kagawa citizens for Udon, then you would also like to visit and have a taste of what they love.

Fantastic catalog of HONDA portable gas generator

Last year, HONDA which is a famous car company released a portable gas generator “Enepo” which can produce electricity by a gas cylinder of outdoor camp stoves.

You can find Enepo's catalog in Honda's official web page. It's actually fantastic since its appearance is like that of a fashion magazine giving one the impression that it is convenient and portable. Included in this catalog are phrases like: "You can bake bread outside” “You can use a hair iron downtown” “You can drink a cup of fresh coffee outside with a coffee maker”

The bottom-left sentence says
"Enepo makes your picnic fun"

There are indexes like a fashion magazine on the bottom picture. Future: It becomes Paris wherever I walk♪Extravagant picnic with Enepo. Enepo’s multi-coordination. Why your wish is realized? Tell me the secret of Enepo.

 Enepo is at her feet. It could even look like a carrier bag. But don’t forget Enepo has about 20kg.

The bottom-left phrase says "The welcoming drink is orange juice♪ Birds, butterflies, flowers, glasses, sky, the sun, and everything else is in celebration because of me" I don't even know what the welcoming drink is.

 You can keep your fresh bread hot outdoors through the use of Enepo. You can use Enepo with 2 gas cylinders at convenience stores.

Enpo is not only useful for cooking but also for fashion. “I have always been dedicated to fashion but strong winds ruin my hairstyle. Can't I walk downtown under strong winds? Don’t worry. I have Enepo. Look, if I attach a hair iron, my hairstyle will be restored as perfect as before”

Perfection is the word for me. Even if my hair is a mess, my fashion style won't be.

If you connect a coffee maker to Enepo, you can have a fresh coffee. The top-right statement says “It is good to drink coffee anywhere and anytime, isn't it?　I can always have open-air cafes”　But how was she able to carry the coffee maker, water, and coffee beans?

Enepo can meet appliances with up to 900W of power consumption. The declared power is 900VA. The weight is 19.5 kg.　The fuel is 2 gas cylinders of outdoor camp stoves and they can keep generating for 2.2 hours. The sticker price is 104, 790 Yen (about $ 1,280US). You must not use it in closed-air places such as rooms, cars and warehouses because it emits high levels of carbon monoxide.

Enepo’s strength is that you can carry it conveniently, house it easily, and change the fuel without your hands dirty.

There are some weired things on the catalog, but enepo itself is useful. You can access to the official catalog from here.

Honda/enepo

http://www.honda.co.jp/power-catalog/enepo-book/index.html

Please purchase local specialty products in order to support Fukushima.

Akabeko (赤べこ, red cow) is a traditional
toy from the Aizu region of Fukushima. 

Recently, Fukushima prefecture in Japan has become well-known, now dubbed as the tragic city because of the nuclear power plant’s accident which has still been going on since the 11^th of March. Long before the nuclear power plant accident, Fukushima is already famous for the abundant variety of food products like fruits which are typified by peaches, cherries, pears, and strawberries. And it also has some brand-name rice like Koshihikari and marine products such as bonitos. Also, in case that you are an alcohol-enthusiast, you probably won't miss the many kinds of Sake available there.

If you want to help Fukushima prefecture and the people living there, donation must be the one of and the most efficient ways. Another way will be to purchase its local specialty products like the aforementioned examples.

The red area show the location of
Fukushima Prefecture

However, visiting Fukushima prefecture which is about 250km north away from Tokyo may not be easy because of the distance and concerns of radioactive elements. So, I want to introduce JA Zennou Fukushima(JA全農福島) where you can buy them online.

Unfortunately, this site is written only in Japanese. And probably it won’t ship internationally. However, if you are in Tokyo or nearby, visiting Fukushima Yaesu Tourism and Exchange Center(福島県八重洲観光交流館 address:2-6-21 Yaesu Thuo-ku Tokyo) located near Tokyo station will be an alternative way.

I actually went to Fukushima Yaesu Tourism and Exchange Center. To my surprise, the store was full of customers and there was a line outside of it when I got there on Saturday. I guess there are many people who want to support Fukushima as well as me. 

I bought them. Everything was yummy!

It is certainly a must-visit place and you will not be disappointed. So what are you waiting for? Schedule a visit now and invite more people to do the same.

Thanks, but it’s too much. A ranking of annoying etiquettes

Source:Goo Ranking   

Do you follow some etiquettes pertaining to women, like opening a door for ladies? It can be sometimes annoying for Japanese ladies who are not familiar with it. We asked through internet polling about what the annoying rules of etiquette are.

The first place is, “Putting down a handkerchief on a puddle in order to protect a ladies’ cloths from dirt.” It’s like a story of a shojo manga(Japanese comic books for ladies). If you really did that, all Japanese ladies would escape from you. The second place is, “Blowing on ladies’ hot food to cool it down”  Your kind will think that ladies don’t want to get burned. However, if you try that to a Japanese lady’s hot food, you would also blow off her feelings toward you.

Rules of etiquette come from the United States and Europe. Not a small number of Japanese women may be happy when they experience it while traveling. However, since it's not well-established in Japan they get confused instead. But if you show   appropriate etiquettes to ladies, they will probably appreciate your actions. If you will examine the ranking, you might have second thoughts before you follow the etiquettes.

1.      Putting down a handkerchief on a puddle in order to protect ladies’ cloths from dirt

2.      Blowing on ladies’ hot food to cool it down

3.      Giving ladies a piggyback ride when she's tired of walking..

4.      Lifting up ladies to go over bumps.

5.      Doing ladies’ shoelace.

6.      Carrying ladies’ bag which has their important stuff.

7.      Putting down a handkerchief on a bench when ladies sit down.

8.      Holding ladies in your arms when they get injured.

9.      Ordering all sort of food in a restaurant.

10.  Watching ladies until they disappear from your sight at her leave.

11.  Drafting a chair when ladies sit down in a restaurant.

12.  Lending your jacket when it’s cold.

13.  Gibing ladies a hand when they go down stairs.

14.  Putting on a jacket on a lady

15.  Presenting to eat the food that ladies don't like, instead of them.

16.  Sharing food with ladies when we have big portions of the food.

17.  Locating an empty seat on a train and giving it to ladies.

18.  Opening a car’s door for ladies.

19.  Letting ladies go ahead at elevators or stairs.

The original Japanese site has the ranking until 30^th but I’m tired of translating. Japanese addresses these rules of etiquettes as “Lady First”. Some of the Japanese think that these are the manners how to deal with ladies and they come from the North America and Europe.

“Welcome back, Hachi.” Reunion of a pet dog after 11 days.

Source:Iwate Nippou

Hideko and Hachi celebrated the
reunion after getting over the
tsunami.

On the 22nd of March, a Shiba Inu who was taken care of by an animal hospital when it was still weak in Miyako city, Iware prefecture, was taken back to the owner. It was engulfed by a tsunami which happened on the 11th of March, but somehow it managed to survive. Then, after 11 days, the dog got reunited with its owner and the reunion brought so much happiness to the family's owner whose house was washed away.

The Shiba Inu, Hachi, is owned by Naoshi Iwata, a local official of Kuwagasakishimomachi, Miyako city.

Desperately, Hideko tried to pull Hachi and escaped, but they were swamped by the tsunami. Hideko managed to hold a nearby wire mesh and got out of trouble, but Hachi’s collar came off and he was swamped.

After that, Iwata’s family looked for Hachi, but they couldn’t find him. However, On the 22^nd, they knew that he was receiving care in an animal hospital and they brought him back.

Iwata said, “He often becomes ill recently. Therefore I almost gave him up.” “I’m relieved he was able to hang on.”

Hideko was the happiest among the family for this reunion. She lived in a new rented house through her relative but her sorrow grew when she was alone and she remembered him.

Hideko said, “It is the greatest happiness.” “Even if I lost all of my money because of the tsunami, Hachi would make me energetic.” She strongly held her pet dog.

One in four people are Dekichatta kekkon. Dekichatta kekkon’s ranking by prefecture in Japan.

Source:NicoNicoNews

One out of four people in Japan are in a Dekichatta kekkon (a marriage necessitated by an unplanned pregnancy). The data was gathered by prefecture. According to the statistics regarding birth released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2010, the national average on the percentage of Dekichatta kekkon is 25.3%.

When we look at the nationwide level, the figure is high in Tohoku and Kyusyu region but low in Kanto and Kinki region. The Dekichatta kekkon’s ranking by prefecture is shown below.

< Dekichatta kekkon’s ranking by prefecture >

1.  Okinawa-----38.2%

2.  Saga--------33.3%

3.  Aomori------32.4%

4.  Kumamoto---32.0%

5.  Fukushima---31.2%

6.  Nagasaki----30.5%

7.  Akita-------30.1%

8.  Miyazaki----29.6%

9.  Yamagata----29.2%

9.  Iwate-------29.2%

11. Ibaraki-----29.0%

12. Kochi-------28.2%

12. Fukuoka-----28.2%

15. Ooita-------28.1%

16. Miyagi------27.8%

17. Tottori-----27.4%

18. Shimane-----27.2%

18. Yamanashi---27.2%

20. Fukui-------26.9%

21. Gunma-------26.6%

22. Niigata-----26.5%

23. Ehime-------26.3%

24. Hokkaido----26.0%

24. Wakayama----26.0%

26. Ishikawa----25.8%

27. Tochigi-----25.6%

28. Tokushima---25.4%

28. Mie---------25.4%

31. Nagano------25.1%

32. Shizuoka----25.0%

33. Yamaguchi---24.6%

34. Osaka-------24.3%

35. Tokyo-------24.2%

36. Gifu--------24.1%

37. Saitama-----24.0%

38. Chiba-------23.9%

39. Hiroshima---23.5%

40. Toyama------23.4%

41. Kyoto-------23.1%

42. Nara--------23.0%

42. Kagawa------23.0%

44. Hyogo-------22.9%

45. Kanagawa----22.7%

46. Aichi-------22.2%

47. Shiga-------21.6%

Is it true that more than one third of Okinawan people are in aDekichatta kekkon? There is a 16% gap from Shiga, the lowest in rank.

We can think that this is ranked by prefectures that don’t care about public images. Does that mean that those prefectures’ environment, which are over 30% such as Okinawa, Saga, Aomori, Kumamoto, Fukushima and Nagasaki, are natural behavior,  little interruption from parents, and free love?

Well, we also can suppose that this is ranked by prefectures that are responsible because they get married after discovering the pregnancy. We can treat it's various interpretations.

What do you feel about this ranking that Tohoku and Kyusyu areas are high, but Kanto and Kinki areas are low?

Old lady’s pet dog saved her life.

Source:Yomiuri Online

Akanuma lives with her pet dog who 

saved her life in an evacuation area. 

Taken by Tetsuya Kikumasa.

There is a lady who was saved by her pet dog in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, which was damaged by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that happened on 11th of March.

Her pet dog seemed upset then jerked the lady to a higher place which led to an evacuation area for 30 minutes before the tsunami attacked. 

Her name is Tami Akanuma. She lived at about 200 meters away from the coast. She was hit by the earthquake when she was relaxing in the living room with her dog, Babu, a female Shih-tzu. When the fluorescent light turned off, Babu bustled running around and wagging her tail strongly with her nose whimpering.

The community wireless system went on a big tsunami alarm while AKanuma was attaching a leash to her dog, though, she thought it was not yet time to go walking for her dog.

When Akanuma opened the front door, Babu flew out and headed for a hill which is an opposite direction of their usual walking way.

When Akanuma slowed down, Babu turned around and gestured as if she was urging her to walk faster. When Akanuma caught up with Babu, she vigorously moved forward. As they repeated that, they climbed up to a steep slope without stopping until reaching the evacuation area which is 1 km away from their house.

When she looked back, the way she had been walking through was swallowed by the tsunami and her house was also washed away. She wondered that Babu might have felt the tsunami would come, in light of Babu's unusual behavior that Babu usually hated walking.

Babu is living with Akanuma and 60 other residents in a neighboring public hall. On 23rd, when Babu tuned 12 years old, Babu got her favorite pink cloth washed and looked happy.

Leave repairing bicycles to me. Osaka to Sendai.

Source: Nikkansports

"I can't stand doing nothing!" Norio Gotou, who owns the mobile bicycle repair shop "Shin Kitajima cycle" in Osaka City, spent 16 hours by car to travel Shichigo Elementary school, a designated evacuation area in Sendai City. He encouraged the victims of Tohoku earthquake and tsunami by repairing their bicycles and bikes, fixing flat tires and wheel chairs for free as soon as he got there.

"I couldn't help doing nothing." Gotou drove a car by himself all night. When he arrived at Shichigo elementary school where 1, 200 victims are living, he took out his repair tools and started to ask passing people after another.

"I came here to fix flat tires. If there is something wrong with your bicycle, bring it to me. “ “Osaka City is also cheering up for you guys."

Gotou got an emergency vehicle permit on the 18th from the local police for his car.

Then he left his house in 0saka at 10:30pm. He travelled north until he reached Niigata prefecture through Hokuriku highway all night then went through Yamagata prefecture. He finally reached in Sendai city on the 19th at 2:30pm. Goto said, “My family was worried about me but I thought I had to help while I watched the news about the disaster. I didn't sleep at all but I’m OK.”

He was concerned of running out of gas so he refilled 10 times when he passed by a service area along the highway. With only 2 rice balls to eat, he went on with his journey

After he reached the school which was designated as an evacuation area, he announced that he would repair bicycles. Then people came rushing with their flat tired bicycles for him to fix. He smiled and said, “Don't worry I would sleep in my car so I wouldn't  annoy anybody.”

Gotou's mobile bicycle repair shop in Osaka has been running for 30 years already. He was also a victim of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that happened in 1995 in Osaka. Fortunately, he didn't get heavy damage, but he regret that he didn’t know that there were victims who were had trouble with flat tires. Due to this incident, He said, “I promised I would definitely help the people when the same tragedy happened”

Vulgar Japanese comedian went to Iwaki city by himself to deliver supplies.

Source:nikkansports

Yutaka Ookawa, the president of Ookawa Kougyou, told that Egashira 2:50, a member of the same group and a Japanese comedian who is well-known for his rough, dirty and extreme behavior, went alone to Iwaki City, which was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that happened on the 11th of March in Japan, not so far from the Fukushima nuclear power plants which scattered radiations, to deliver aid supplies.

According to the President ookawa, Egashira negotiated with some supermarkets right after the disaster, and paid for aid supplies such as water, food and batteries out of his own pocket. He also arranged a rental truck by himself as transport. He delivered aid supplies, too, when Chuestsu Earthquake happened in the year 2004. from this experience, he told Ookawa that, "There must be isolated evacuation areas somewhere by this earthquake."

Delivering supplies to those isolated areas in Fukushima was not easy in terms of the issues regarding the nuclear power plant accident and the traffic restrictions. Nevertheless, he volunteered to deliver aid supplies. The president Ookawa said, "He would deliver again to some devastated areas and it would be his personal decision, not our company's."

Compliment regarding Egashira 2:50

Egashira(江頭) 2:50

A 2005 Oricon and 2002 - 2008 Nikkei Entertainment! poll named him as the most annoying comedian in Japan because of his obscene and vulgar comedic style. His performance heavily relies on shock value, much like that of GG Allin, Dane Cook and the cast of Jackass.

Contrary to this image as an annoying, shocking performer, it has been remarked on shows like Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! that he is extremely polite and humble when the camera is not rolling. He is known for extremely good manners when dealing with TV staff, which may be part of why he is still on TV. Additionally, his frequent co-stars Yusuke Santamaria, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Ninety-Nine etc. are declared fans of Egashira.

Egashira 2:50 is featured in the Internet Meme "No U" image

-Quote from Wikipedia-

Donation in Taiwan for the victims of Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.

Source:Tokyo Shinbun

The Red Cross in Taiwan and Taiwanese TV stations hold a charity event during the 18^th  to support the victims of Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami happened last 11^th of March. Celebrities who represented Taiwan, President Ma Ying-jeou, Hidetoshi Nakata a former national Japanese soccer team player, and a singer Judy Ongg who is originally from Taiwan were the ones who gathered it. The total amount of the donation was more than 2 billion yen.

While this event was broadcasted live, it received donations from the viewers. The song “Believe”, which supports the victims, was created in accordance with this event.  President Ma Ying-jeou implanted his word “Believe in love, hope, futures…” in the opening of this song.

Hidetoshi Nakata, a former national Japanese soccer team player, said, “I appreciate the efforts of this event, which sends the messages of hope and cooperation to Japanese people.”

A similar event also happened during the 17^th in Taiwan and it was able to collect a donation of 300 billion yen.


Here are the links to some part of the TV program.
「相信希望Fight & Smile」主題曲 Believe 相信愛(錄音室配唱畫面 完整版)

「相信希望Fight & Smile」中田英壽(帶來SMAP的感謝信) 義賣簽名球鞋

Kindergarten child donates money while giving up buying “Nintendo 3DS”

Source: Gadget Tsushin 

A Japanese young boy who might be kindergarten gave up buying "Nintendo 3DS" to donate ￥5,000 -about $62US- to the devastated area by the big, fierce earthquake and tsunami which happened on 11th of March in Japan. This heartwarming story was posted on "Twitter" and became a hot topic. ￥5,000 is big bucks not only for kindergarten children but elementary school kids.

This story was posted by a Twitter user who witnessed the situation. The kindergarten and his mother discussed in front of a collection box, then, the boy chose using the money for the donation instead of Nintendo 3Ds. The whole story, which was posted on “Twitter”, is as follows.

<The episode about the kindergarten kid, who donated>

The conversation between a boy looked like kindergarten child and his mother at a collection box

Mother: "Are you OK to use your saved money?

The boy: "I put it up for 3DS but the victims can build their houses with it."

Then he donated ￥5,000 from his Otoshidama – The traditional Japanese culture that Japanese kids get money from their relatives when a new year comes – envelope.

Mother: “You are admirable. The victims will get away from coldness with it.”

The boy cried and I, who was behind him, also cried.

Quoted from Twitter.

80 percent of young Japanese don’t have lovers!?

Source:Tokyo Shinbun

According to a questionnaire, which ends with the young japanese who turned 20 this year, 80 percent of young Japanese don't have lovers. Does Herbivorization of young Japanese - an expression which describes a social phenomenon that appears to young people who are less aggressive than they are supposed to be when in love -  is progressing up to here? We asked an analyst.

The marriage information service company O-net conducted a surver to which targeted  the new Japanese adults every year. This year, 77 percent of the respondents  answered “I don’t have a partner”. The first questionnaire conducted in 1996 showed 50 percent response and it increased year after year. Those who responded that they don't have partners grew by 27 points in 15 years.

Associate Professor Kazuyo Habuchi who specializes in communication theory at hirosaki University said, "By academic research, I estimated that two-thirds of 20 year-old Japanese don't have lovers but I am not sure if the 77 percent is true."

The survey of O-net for the monitored 800 users who registered on the research company, Rakuten, which provides online shopping sees that "the people who are fanatic about the internet are bad at associating with the opposite sex. That's why the figure was slightly high."

According to Habuchi's explanation which is based on the academic research, the people who have lovers in the past had increased but it hit its peak in the mid-2000s. The recent study says that students among the middle and high school tend to decrease their interests to romantic overture and sex. Furthermore, the study assures that current young people don't hope to have any more romantic relationships.

The marketing writer Megumi Ushikubo, 43, who is knowledgeable to teenage romance, analyzed the current trend. She said, "Young people can't have fantasy towards love and romance because of the economic depression."

When Ushikubo surveyed young people, she heard their thoughts that, "love is a hassle", and that, "I get more excited when I see Arashi's -a famous idol group in Japan- DVD." some young people prefer to have a close relationship with their parents who are still young at heart rather than to spend their time with their lovers.

Ushikubo remembers that when she was young, everyone was embarrassed not to have lovers, but modern young people are not embarrassed to have no lovers.

Japanese women are kidnappers?

Source:Sankei

The American major television company, "ABC news" featured the custody problem regarding the divorced international marriage between Japanese female and American male, and it caused controversy in Japanese administration official.　ABC news called Japanese women as criminals. Because despite being a civil issue, they still brought their children back to Japan.

This issue was even brought up during the foreign ministerial conference between Japan and the US, and it may develop into a diplomatic problem between them.

During the TV show, an American man came on stage and said "When I came back from my overseas  deployment of troops, my wife and children were gone." Another participant tearfully pleaded to meet his child.

The TV show broadcasted that they researched in Japan a boy using a picture as clue provided by an American man.

An ABC newscaster followed the Japanese woman who carries her son ridden on the rack of a bicycle, and asked her that if you were a kidnapper in English. She said "I had to either kidnap my son or commit a suicide so I couldn't live in the US.

During the foreign ministerial conference between Japan and the US on February 1st, Clinton US secretary of State requested Japanese Foreign Minister Maehara to finalize early the Hague Agreement concerning taking back children Japan. He responded “We are considering this seriously”.

Allegedly, the reason why Japanese women took their children back is to escape from the domestic violence, though the truth is still unclear.

The background of this problem might be the difference between Japan and U.S law of custody.

In US, if you get divorced, both you and your spouse may be able to get the custody if you have the agreeement while in Japan, either you or your spouse get the custody by the civil law.

ABC news cited that the FBI is considering this case as an abduction case. The nation-wide issue may become a flash point of a new Japan-bashing that follows the issue with the Japanese major car company, Toyota, which faced a barrage of criticism about the recalls of their cars. japanese officials of America anxiously quoted, "we can't avoid deterioration of feeling”