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”