Nieuws van Japan

[Chrisse]

Japanese fisherman shot dead by Russian coast guard near disputed island

Mitsuhiro MoritaNEMURO, Hokkaido -- A Japanese fisherman died after the Russian coast guard fired shots at a fishing boat operating near a disputed island Wednesday morning and seized the vessel, Japan Coast Guard (JCG) officials said.

This is the first time in 10 years that the Russian coast guard has shot at a Japanese fishing boat operating in the sea near the disputed islands. It is also the first fatal incident since 1956.

The victim has been identified as Mitsuhiro Morita, 35.

The JCG has received information that the incident occurred in Japan's territorial waters. If the information proves to be true, it could develop into a diplomatic dispute between Japan and Russia.

The Russian coast guard fired shots at the 4.9-ton Kisshin Maru No. 31 operating off Kaigara Island, part of the Russian-held Northern Territories, and seized the vessel. The fishing boat is now heading to Kunashiri Island, JCG officials said.

In response to a telephone inquiry by JCG's First Coast Guard Headquarters, the Russian coast guard acknowledged that it seized the Kisshin Maru and that one fisherman died in the shooting.

The Nemuro Coast Guard Office has dispatched two patrol boats to the scene following the incident.

The Kisshin Maru is owned by Noboru Sakashita, 59, head of a local fishermen's cooperative.

[Chrisse]

3 Japanese fishermen face Russian charges of poaching

Russian public prosecutors on Thursday filed charges of poaching and violation of Russian territory against three Japanese crew members of a fishing boat seized by a Russian border patrol ship in disputed waters on Wednesday, according to ITAR-Tass news agency.

The action marks the launch of a full-fledged investigation and the three, including captain Noboru Sakashita, 59, are expected to be indicted.

The fourth crew member of the 4.9-ton No. 31 Kisshin Maru was shot dead by the border patrol before the boat was captured in waters off Kaigara Island, part of the Habomai group of islets that are among the Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan.

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev told Yasuo Saito, Japanese ambassador to Russia, that Russia will return the body of the dead crew member, Mitsushiro Morita, 35, to Japan on Friday.

But ITAR-Tass quoted an official of the Russian Far East region of Sakhalin as saying that there has been no consultation about the return of the three fishermen.

The three are being questioned in Yuzhno-Kurilisk, known as Furukamappu in Japanese, on Kunashiri Island, also part of the disputed island territories.

According to the news agency, they have refused to testify on the charges of poaching.

The Russian authorities concluded that they were poaching because they tried to escape into Japanese territory, ignoring an order to stop and throwing their catch overboard

[mauron]

Japan tackles widening waists
Aug 18, 2006

Burgers and booze have bloated waistlines so much in Japan's southern island of Okinawa that authorities in the capital have launched a slimming competition.

Girths are growing across Japan as lifestyles and diets have become more Westernised and a Health Ministry report reveals 29% of men aged 20-60 are overweight compared with 24% in 2000.

But the problem is at its worst in the far-flung island of Okinawa, said a spokeswoman for the city of Naha, where 45.4% of men in their 40s and 50s are obese.

The spokeswoman said Okinawa, which has tumbled down Japan's longevity rankings, could partly blame burger-munching Americans who ruled the islands from the end of World War II until 1972 and the thousands of US troops still stationed there.

"In the past, we had a plain and healthy diet, but ever since the American rule, our diet has become Americanised," she said.

And then there is the alcohol.

"Here, we don't have trains," she said. "It's all cars so you can go out drinking on and on without worrying about the last train. Years of this has led to obesity."

Those who join the Naha city competition will have their bellies measured before and after their slimming efforts.

But anyone hoping to win a fabulous dinner for two, or perhaps a stash of chocolate will not need to enter. The prize will be recognition by the mayor and health club vouchers.

Source: Reuters

[Chrisse]

Russia on Saturday handed over to Japan the body of a Japanese fisherman who was shot dead by a Russian border patrol boat in disputed waters off Hokkaido this week.

Senior Japanese lawmaker Akiko Yamanaka, who serves as vice foreign minister, took delivery of the body of Mitsuhiro Morita, 35, in Furukamappu on Kunashiri Island, one of the Russian-held islands claimed by Japan.

Before the return of the body, she met with three crew members of the fishing boat now detained in the town, including captain Noboru Sakashita, 59. In the 10-minute meeting, Yamanaka is believed to have sought their accounts on the incident.

The fishing boat, the 4.9-ton No. 31 Kisshin Maru, was captured in waters off Kaigara Island, part of the Habomai group of islets, while fishing for crabs on Wednesday.

The Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands, including Kunashiri and the Habomais, are at the center of a decades-old territorial row that has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty to formally end their World War II hostilities.

Yamanaka left the port city of Nemuro, Hokkaido, Friday afternoon, aboard a Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel, Saroma.

Delivery of the body was delayed from Friday because of bad weather. The Japanese patrol ship stayed anchored off Kunashiri overnight.

[Chrisse]

Junior high teacher busted for peeping
TSU -- A junior high school teacher caught peeping into a man's home was arrested Saturday, police said.

Kota Wakabayashi, a teacher at Toyosato Municipal Junior High School in Tsu, was arrested for trespassing.

Wakabayashi, 26, of Tsu, admits to the allegations.

"I went in because I wanted to peep," he told the police.

Police said Wakabayashi climbed over a fence and trespassed on the Tsu property of a 44-year-old company employee in the early hours of Saturday morning. The owner of the home heard a noise and raced outside to find Wakabayashi at the front entrance to his home. He collared the junior high school teacher and held him until the police arrived to arrest him.

The home is located some 200-300 meters from Wakabayashi's home.

Wakabayashi teaches math and is the homeroom teacher of a first-year class. He also coached the school volleyball team. School officials were surprised by his arrest.

We only hired him in the spring this year, but he was a good worker and we had expected big things from him," Atsushi Misono, Toyosato Municipal Junior High School principal, said. "We're really surprised by this. We'll hold an emergency meeting for parents on Saturday night to discuss how we're going to go on from here. We'd like to apologize."

[mauron]

10 percent of Japanese men in their 40s still virgins

Haruka is a 38-year-old temporary employment agency worker. She met her 41-year-old boyfriend through an online matchmaking site. Judging by his e-mail, he seemed to be kind and was certainly mature. After exchanging mail for about a year, the pair finally agreed to meet. The boyfriend shocked Haruka on their second date, Yomiuri Weekly says, when he suddenly blurted out a proposal.

"Marry me," Haruka says, recalling her boyfriend's words for Yomiuri Weekly. "I've kept my body clean all my life while I waited to get married. I'm still a virgin."

Haruka didn't know what to say, but kept on seeing her 41-year-old boyfriend and thinks they'll probably tie the knot some day.

While many around the world may have chuckled at the American comedy "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," a complete dearth of sexual experience well into the 40s is a very serious matter. In fact, according to a survey by Dr. Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association (and Mainichi columnist), 7.9 percent of Japanese men from the ages of 40 to 44 are still to have sex. And Kitamura says the real figure is probably worse.

"There were another 5 percent of men who didn't give an answer," he tells Yomiuri Weekly. "If you consider that most of these men have probably not had sex, either, I'd say the real number of virgin men in their early to mid-40s is probably closer to 10 percent."

Mayumi Nimatsu, a marriage counselor who has dealt with the problems faced by many couples, thinks she knows the reason why Japan has managed to produce such a large number of chaste middle-aged men.

"This generation reached adulthood just as Japan was in the middle of the bubble era. Matchmaking parties started to become popular and there were plenty of opportunities for the sexes to mix," Nimatsu says. "But, on the other hand, it was also the time when women began insisting any men they would show interest in have the three 'highs' (a high income, a high academic background and height). This really polarized the situation, with men who'd be popular with women standing out above those who wouldn't be and probably did a lot to contribute to the high rate of virginity amongst 40-somethings now."

Ironically, in a Japan where the lack of sex between married couples has reached epidemic proportions, this same demographic producing so many virgins is also the same group with fewer sexless marriages than any other, the weekly says, quoting figures from a government survey on marriage.

Seiji Okada thinks he knows why.

"Society has become more Americanized and people are now valued more for speaking their minds. This applies at work and in the home. People developed a dislike for arranged marriages and love marriages were dictated to by market principles, with women the party given the choice," Okada tells Yomiuri Weekly. "Some guys lack the ability to speak out on their own behalf and it becomes a handicap that sees them weeded out (of the love game) through the process of natural selection."

Copyright 1999-2006, Mainchi Daily.

[mauron]

Crown Prince and family fly off to Holland

Crown Prince Naruhito, Crown Princess Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, left for the Netherlands on Thursday for a two-week trip aimed at helping the Crown Princess recover from her stress-induced illness.

This is the first time a member of the Imperial family has gone abroad to recuperate.

The Crown Prince, 46, and the Crown Princess, 42, last traveled overseas together in December 2002 on an official visit to New Zealand and Australia. This foreign trip is the first for their 4-year-old daughter.

After arriving in Amsterdam on a Japan Airlines plane, the family will travel by car to Apeldoorn in the eastern Netherlands, where they will stay at a castle as guests of the Dutch royal family.

Yutaka Ono, Crown Princess Masako's chief doctor and professor at Keio University Health Center in Tokyo who treats her for stress-related adjustment disorder, is accompanying the family.

Masako's doctors say her stress has resulted mainly from her status as Crown Princess and issues related to pregnancy and miscarriage. She has relinquished most of her official duties since late 2003.

Her doctors said in a statement when the Crown Prince's household announced the trip to the Netherlands in June, "It is therapeutically useful to rest in a quiet environment, especially for the three of them to spend a peaceful time together."

Since her marriage to Crown Prince Naruhito in June 1993, Princess Masako, a former diplomat, has been under pressure to produce a male who would be in line to inherit the throne. No male has been born into the Imperial family since the Crown Prince's younger brother, Prince Akishino, was born in November 1965.

Princess Kiko, Prince Akishino's wife, is expecting a third child, stirring the possibility that a male may be born for the first time in 41 years. The princess entered a Tokyo hospital Wednesday to prepare for a Caesarean-section delivery in early September.

The Imperial House Law allows only males who have emperors on their fathers' side to ascend to the throne.

The Crown Prince and family will meet with Queen Beatrix and other royals.


The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved

[Deguchi]

Een kooi van goud

Japanse kroonprinses Masako zoekt rust in Nederland

Masako en haar gezin brengen twee weken door in Nederland. De prinses moet er tot rust komen. Het lijkt meer op een vlucht voor de spanningen aan het Japanse hof.
De vakantie van het Japanse prinsenpaar is uitzonderlijk. Het is al vier jaar geleden dat het paar nog eens samen naar het buitenland trok. Nooit eerder verliet een lid van de Japanse keizerlijke familie het land voor ,,medisch herstel''. De plotseling aangekondigde vakantie lijkt dan ook meer een vlucht. Een vlucht voor het strenge protocol en voor de grote druk die het Japanse hof kroonprinses Masako oplegt.

Masako en haar man Naruhito, de toekomstige keizer van Japan, gaan op bezoek bij koningin Beatrix. Ze gaan uitrusten in de bucolische omgeving van het kasteel Het Oude Loo in Apeldoorn. De Japanse media volgen massaal en minutieus de ontwikkelingen in Nederland.

Masako is al jaren een big story. Voor ze de Japanse troonopvolger huwde, was Masako Owada een vrijgevochten en ambitieuze vrouw. Toen Naruhito haar in 1986 ten huwelijk vroeg, weigerde ze. De succesvolle diplomate vreesde haar onafhankelijkheid te verliezen binnen de paleismuren. Vijf jaar later ging ze toch door de knieën. Masako moest een frisse wind door het Japanse keizerlijke hof laten waaien. Ze zou daarbij al haar kwaliteiten als diplomate kunnen gebruiken.

Al op haar huwelijksdag bleek hoe moeilijk die opdracht zou worden. De modieuze carrièrevrouw stapte preuts en verlegen naar het altaar. Even na het huwelijk verbood de keizerlijke hofhouding Masako om haar man op buitenlandse reisjes te vergezellen. De kroonprinses had rust nodig, zodat ze haar voornaamste taak -- Japan een troonopvolger schenken -- kon vervullen. Na een miskraam kregen Masako en Naruhito in 2001 een dochter, Aiko. Hun vreugde werd snel overschaduwd door de bemoeienissen van de media en van het Japanse hof. Die druk werd Masako te veel, ze raakte in een depressie.

Naruhito nam het voor zijn vrouw op. Ze had alles gedaan om zich aan te passen aan het strenge Japanse protocol, maar ze kreeg van alle kanten tegenwind. Zijn optreden, heel ongewoon voor een Japanse prins, veroorzaakte een crisis binnen de Japanse keizerlijke familie. Maar de politieke wereld leek wel geluisterd te hebben. Om het voortbestaan van de monarchie te redden, zou de wet voor de troonsopvolging worden aangepast, waardoor prinses Aiko later de troon zou kunnen bestijgen. Maar een nieuwe zwangerschap stak daar eind 2005 een stokje voor. Prinses Kiko, de vrouw van Naruhito's jongere broer Fuhimito, bleek in verwachting, en dan nog van een zoon. Kiko zou in september bevallen, maar de prinses werd woensdag opgenomen in een privé-ziekenhuis in Tokyo.

Allemaal erg pijnlijk voor Masako. Zij heeft gefaald. Als Kiko's baby inderdaad een zoon is, wordt hij tweede in lijn voor de troonsopvolging, na prins Naruhito, maar voor Aiko en eventuele andere kinderen van het kroonprinselijke paar. De Japanse pers speculeert dat de kroonprins zijn vrouw naar Nederland meeneemt om haar af te schermen van de feestelijkheden rond de geboorte van een prinsje.

Bron: De Standaard vrijdag 18 augustus 2006

(Om ook de Nederlandstalige variant te hebben )

[Deguchi]

Russische kustwacht schiet Japanse visser dood bij Koerilen

TOKYO (AFP). De Russische kustwacht heeft gisteren een Japanse vissersboot beschoten nabij het eiland Kaigara. Eén visser werd in het hoofd geraakt en stierf onmiddellijk. Drie anderen werden opgepakt.
Het incident vond plaats in een gebied dat door beide landen wordt opgeëist.

De Japanse regering reageerde fel op het voorval en eist dat de drie vissers onmiddellijk worden vrijgelaten.

Rusland zei dat de bemanning naar krabben viste wat daar verboden is, en wees elke verantwoordelijkheid af.

,,Het slachtoffer werd geraakt door een waarschuwingsschot, nadat de vissers een gevaarlijk manoeuvre hadden uitgevoerd en hun vangst en visgerei overboord gooiden'', aldus het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken.

Tussen 1994 en 2004 controleerde de Russische kustwacht 47 vissersboten in het gebied. Daarbij raakten elf vissers gewond. Het is de eerste keer sinds 1956 dat er een dode valt.

De Koerileneilanden vormen een twistpunt tussen Japan en Rusland. De Sovjet-Unie bezette de eilanden na de Tweede Wereldoorlog en Moskou weigert sindsdien ze terug te geven.

De Russische president Poetin heeft voorgesteld twee van de vier eilanden terug te geven, maar dat is onaanvaardbaar voor Japan. De betwisting heeft ertoe geleid dat Rusland en Japan nog steeds geen vredesverdrag hebben ondertekend na de Tweede Wereldoorlog.

Bron: De Standaard donderdag 17 augustus 2006

[Kitsune]

Japan wil toetreden tot Strafhof


Gepost door Redactie - Bron: ANP
Gepubliceerd: zondag 3 september 2006 @ 22:07
De Japanse regering heeft besloten het Statuut van Rome te ratificeren, het oprichtingsverdrag van het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC). Dat heeft de Engelstalige Japanse krant The Daily Yomiuri vandaag gemeld. Het parlement in Tokio moet er nog mee instemmen.

Japan zou bij toetreding tot het ICC meteen de grootste contributiebetaler worden. Nu is dat nog Duitsland. De Japanse toetreding zou enige verlichting brengen in de financiële noden van het ICC, dat nu nog in een te klein provisorisch gebouw vlak bij station Voorburg zit. Al jaren is sprake van getouwtrek om de kosten van een dure nieuwbouw op het terrein van de Alexanderkazerne in Den Haag.

Het ICC is geen VN-organisatie, maar past de contributiepecentages per land toe die zijn vastgesteld bij de volkerenorganisatie. Bij de VN zijn de VS de grootste contributiebetaler, gevolgd door Japan en Duitsland. De VS zijn als fel tegenstander niet aangesloten bij het ICC.

[mauron]

Japan welcomes imperial baby boy

A man and a woman smile as they read newspapers announcing the birth
The pregnancy and birth have attracted considerable attention
Japan is celebrating news that Princess Kiko, wife of the emperor's second son, has given birth to a baby boy.

The birth of a boy, the first in the imperial family for more than four decades, potentially resolves the country's succession crisis.

Women are not allowed to take the throne and the baby is the first boy born to the current emperor's children.

The baby becomes third in line to the throne, after Crown Prince Naruhito and his own father, Prince Akishino.

Both mother and baby were doing well, officials said.

Princess Kiko's pregnancy has attracted enormous media coverage.

The 39-year-old princess, who is married to Prince Akishino, the emperor's younger son, already has two daughters.

She had been hospitalised since mid-August because of complications and gave birth by Caesarean section two weeks early.

Her son, born at 0827 local time (2327 GMT Tuesday), weighed 2,558 grams (5lbs 10oz).

Emperor Akihito and his wife, Empress Michiko, who are on a tour of Hokkaido, welcomed the birth.

"We would like to convey our sincere congratulations to the couple, who now face a happy day after quietly enduring the anxieties of the past 10 months," they said in a statement.

Debate

The birth has been particularly keenly anticipated because of debate over the succession issue.

Japanese law forbids women from ascending the throne, but prior to the baby's birth there was no male heir among the emperor's grandchildren.

Prince Akishino and his two daughters on the way to the hospital
Prince Akishino and his daughters went to visit Princess Kiko

The present heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, and his wife, Princess Masako, have a young daughter, while Princess Sayako is married to a commoner, so if she were to have children they could not be considered.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had been advocating constitutional reform to allow women to ascend the throne, but the debate, although supported by the public, was shelved when news of Princess Kiko's pregnancy was announced.

It is not clear where the debate, opposed by many conservative lawmakers, goes from here. Mr Koizumi said the birth was "good news", but did not comment further.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who is likely to become Japan's next prime minister, said the revision debate should continue in a "careful and calm" manner.

"Reforming the Imperial Household Law is an important issue that concerns the stability of the imperial family," he said.

Sword

Across Japan, many people were celebrating the birth.

Newspaper put out extra additions to cover developments and television stations broadcast special live programmes on the birth.

A small group of people gathered at the Imperial Palace to wave flags, while a troupe of women performed a traditional dance in the Tokyo district where Princess Kiko grew up.

While some were particularly pleased about the arrival of a boy, others were simply happy with a healthy baby.

"I guess it's a relief for the Japanese family that they wanted to have a boy," one man told the BBC. "But for me, I think, I guess I'm more girl or boy is okay. I don't think there should be such a fuss about it these days."

The baby will be named next Tuesday, seven days after his birth, by his father. Princess Kiko will choose a symbol to mark his belongings, according to tradition.

But first a messenger from the emperor is due to deliver a protective sword to the baby and place it on his pillow, Kyodo news agency reported.

[Deguchi]

Japans prinsje heet Hisahito

Het pasgeboren zoontje van de Japanse prins Akishino en prinses Kiko luistert sinds gisteren naar de naam Hisahito. Dat meldde het Keizerlijke Huishoudagentschap.

Hisahito, die vorige week woensdag geboren werd, kreeg zijn naam tijdens een traditionele ceremonie ,,Zijn ouders kozen de naam, die ,,positief, rustig en eeuwigdurend'' betekent, met de wens dat de prins een lang en bloeiend leven zal leiden'', aldus een woordvoerder van het Japanse hof.

Het prinsje is derde in lijn voor de troonopvolging, na kroonprins Naruhito en prins Akishino.

Bron: De Standaard woensdag 13 september 2006

[Deguchi]

Japanse premier Koizumi heeft zijn werk niet afgemaakt

De liberalen kiezen een opvolger voor eerste minister Koizumi, die Japan grondig heeft veranderd.

,,Eindelijk zal ik tijd krijgen om meer opera te beluisteren en me te verdiepen in het wereldkampioenschap voetbal'', zei de Japanse premier Koizumi onlangs op een receptie. Vandaag kiezen de Japanse liberaal-democraten zijn opvolger. Dat zal zonder twijfel Shinzo Abe worden. Abe zal hard moeten werken om uit de schaduw van Koizumi te geraken. Want Junichiro Koizumi heeft de Japanse politiek grondig veranderd.

Met zijn lange haren en zijn korte hemdsmouwen maakte hij snel duidelijk dat hij geen man van tradities is.

Hij is een fan van Winston Churchill en Elvis Presley en hij was niet te beroerd om bij zijn bezoek aan de woning van Presley in Graceland een nummertje luchtgitaar te spelen.

In zijn column Lion Heart , berichten van premier Junichiro Koizumi kan het Japanse publiek zijn mijmeringen wekelijks volgen.

Junichiro Koizumi is geliefd bij het Japanse publiek. Zo erg, dat zijn politieke tegenstanders pr-bureaus onder de arm hebben genomen om hun stoffig imago op te poetsen.

In de vijf en een half jaar dat Koizumi aan de macht is geweest, heeft hij Japan een andere gedaante gegeven. Het land had tevoren in twaalf jaar tien premiers versleten, de fut was eruit. Maar de radicale boodschappen van Koizumi schudden het land weer wakker: de markt hervormen, de staat ontvetten en risico's nemen. Met zo'n plannen toog hij in april 2001 aan de slag.

Hij omringde zich met technocraten en economen, die de stagnerende economie wilden liberaliseren. In het eerste jaar daalden de uitgaven voor openbare werken met tien procent, het daaropvolgende met drie procent. Hij hervormde de banksector die na de crisis, op het einde van de jaren tachtig, tegen een berg leningen aanzag die nooit zouden worden terugbetaald. Hij wilde de wegenbouw en de post privatiseren, omdat Japan Post de ongebreidelde groei van het wegennet niet kon blijven financieren.

Toen duidelijk werd dat zijn partijleden de privatiseringsplannen voor de post niet slikten, waagde Koizumi een gok. Hij schreef verkiezingen uit en gaf zijn tegenstanders in de partij geen plaats op de lijst. De schoonmaakoperatie leidde tot een klinkende verkiezingsoverwinning. In het parlement kwamen jonge, ambitieuze politici die op de lijn Koizumi zaten.

Consensus is een begrip dat Junichiro Koizumi vreemd is. Zijn jaarlijkse bezoeken aan de Yasukunitempel, waar Japanse oorlogsmisdadigers worden geëerd, zorgen telkens weer voor polemische reacties. Zeker bij de Aziatische buurlanden, die de wreedheden van de Japanse militairen nog niet zijn vergeten.

Koizumi schoffeert Rusland, China of Noord-Korea voor het minste. Zijn buitenlandse politiek is immers gericht op de Verenigde Staten, die in zijn ogen de enigen zijn die het tegen het snelgroeiende China kunnen opnemen. Japan heeft zelfs soldaten geleverd voor de oorlog in Irak.

Zijn opvolger, Shinzo Abe, heeft al laten weten dat hij de buitenlandse politiek van Koizumi zal verderzetten. Hij zal dezelfde ferme houding aannemen tegenover China en Noord-Korea.

Vraag is of hij het binnenlandse beleid van Koizumi zal aanpassen, want de liberale koers van de afgelopen vijf jaar heeft vele slachtoffers gemaakt. De kloof tussen arm en rijk is groot geworden, meer dan 16 miljoen werknemers hebben precaire arbeidscontracten en de zekerheid van levenslange arbeidscontracten bestaat niet meer.

Bovendien zijn vele ambitieuze plannen van Koizumi nog niet uitgevoerd. De privatisering van de Post is voor oktober 2007 gepland, de hervormingen van de gezondheidszorg en de pensioenen werden afgezwakt door zijn oudere partijgenoten.

,,Je kan Japan niet zomaar veranderen'', zei een vroegere minister van Financiën aan de International Herald Tribune . ,,In het post-Koizumi tijdperk zal Japan zijn oude waarden weer binnensmokkelen in het systeem.''

Bron: De Standaard woensdag 20 september 2006

[Chrisse]

typisch japan zeker


Japan's air sex world champion licks himself into shape
Japan has recently claimed the world air guitar championship, but Weekly Playboy (10/2) notes that less well known is that Japan already had a world champ in another virtual sport -- air sex!

Just like air guitar pits competitors prancing around on stage empty handed but acting as though they were playing a hot riff, air sex requires players to simulate sauciness as though with a partner, but actually while alone.

"Air sex was originally invented by guys who couldn't get girlfriends, but desperately want to have sex," J-Taro Sugisaku, the self-professed creator of air sex, tells Weekly Playboy.

Sugimura tells the weekly that air sex began when a mostly male group gathered at a theater in the trendy Tokyo district of Shimo Kitazawa earlier this year. They began talking about sex techniques, then started demonstrating them. Soon, a competition developed to come up with the most outrageous display of faked fornication.

"You must be warned, though... air sex can be very dangerous," Sugisaku says. "Normally what happens with a display is that you perform the same way you normally would when having sex. I've seen guys who put on air sex shows that clearly display they're still virgins. I've also seen other guys perform such incredibly authentic fake fellatio that nobody has been left in any doubt that they could only be bisexual. Let me reiterate: Air sex can be dangerous."

Japan's reigning air sex world champion is a fella who goes by the name of Cobra. His theory for successful air sex is that it involves more than just blowing.

"On the day that I reached the top, the day I became world champion, I was thinking of my girlfriend. No, my ex-girlfriend. She'd just dumped me two days before the contest," Cobra tells Weekly Playboy. "The air sex display I put on that day was, in my mind at least, supposed to be the farewell fling I really wanted to have with my girlfriend. It was the best possible condition I could have been in going into the competition."

Cobra then proceeds to put on an 8 1/2-minute display of air sex for the weekly, with moves including ear nibbling, sphincter licking, attaching a condom while kissing, ejaculation and afterglow. Cobra says that the knack of bogus bonking lies in openness.

"You can't care about what women watching your performance are thinking about you. When you get down to air sex, you've got to immerse yourself in the air sex world," Cobra says. "Air sex can't be performed in half-measures. If it is, you're only asking for trouble."

Air sexpert Sugisaku agrees.

"If you get nervous, air sex is impossible," he tells Weekly Playboy. "A good start is understanding your own sexual habits and going on from there

[Nanyate?!?!?!?!]

Train Cafe, an adult's club in the basement of a seedy building in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, claims to be combating the crime of molestation by getting chikan, or gropers, off the streets.
Groping remains a painful fact of life for Japan's female train commuters, even with most cities now having Women Only carriages to combat the heinous issue, but molesting addiction has recently started attracting headlines, according to Weekly Playboy (10/9).

Celebrity economist Kazuhide Uekusa's arrest last month for groping -- his third sex charge in eight years -- has thrown the spotlight on the scores of train molesters who simply cannot help themselves.

Train Cafe is a members' only club and is staffed by young women dressed in school uniforms or aprons. Membership costs 5,000 yen and there is a 2,000 yen payment for a cup of tea levied with each visit. A subsequent payment of 3,600 yen for 20 minutes permits members to partake of Train Cafe's services.

Those services are carried out in a room refurbished so that it looks exactly like the inside of a carriage on the Yamanote Line, the train that loops the central Tokyo area. Young women stand at strategic points in the carriage and patrons are permitted to fondle them in whatever way they please. An extra payment of 5,000 yen gives patrons the option of selecting the woman they want to ride with for a 15-minute period.

Male customers, of who the club says there are 4,000, are not allowed to ejaculate in the establishment.

Train Cafe members are offered a virtual reality trip on the Yamanote Line.

"During the 20 minute session, the trip takes you from Ikebukuro to Meguro (about one-third of the Yamanote Line's 60-minute complete loop). With each stop, the doors of the carriage open and the girls get on and off the train. We use actual recordings of the conductors' announcements and LCD screens outside the window display actual footage of the trip along the Yamanote Line," Train Cafe's operator tells Weekly Playboy. "We cannot be beaten when it comes to reality."

Train Cafe's operator tells the weekly that the club's membership is largely based on men in the early to mid-40s. He adds that many customers enter the establishment saying that they had just ridden trains and been driven almost mad by temptation, but made it to the club before tackling an innocent woman commuter.
We have a crime reducing effect," the operator says.

Far from feeling demeaned, women working at the club say they enjoy it.

"I loath real chikan. But if I'm attacked by one, I'm too scared to do anything and just shut up. I really, really hate it," 20-year-old Rin tells the weekly. "But here, all the customers are members. You know you're going to be felt up and it's a good place to make friends, so I enjoy it."
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/ne ... 8000c.html

Here is a Link to there web site
All Aboard!
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http://www.pinkboxjapan.com/