Random Japan

So that’s what they mean! SWAT hand signals as explained by a working Japanese mother

Preston Phro 

If we had a 100 yen for every action movie that showed scenes of SWAT teams sneaking around waving hand signals at each other, we’d probably have, um, a lot of yen. At least enough to buy a Happy Meal or something. But have you ever looked closely at those hand signals? For most of us, they could be making it up on the spot and we’d probably never know! Fortunately, this is the Internet and everything you could ever want to learn about anything is probably available online.

And that includes hand signals! For a few years now, charts explaining the hand signals that sneaky tactical groups use to communicate silently have floated around on the web, though their explanations have always been a bit…straightforward. “Stop.” “Look over there.” “Holy crap, they’re shooting at us!” All pretty standard fare, we suppose. But standard fare is never good enough for the Internet, and thus “Hand signals commonly used by mothers with babies” was born!

stats

• 83.6Percent of Japanese people who say they read printed newspapers, according to an industry association survey
• 7.7Percent who read newspapers online, according to the poll
• 36Number of pedestrians or bicyclists taken to Tokyo hospitals in 2013 due to accidents that involved fiddling with their smartphones, according to the fire department

HOW DO YOU SPELL “NIMBY” IN JAPANESE?

• It was reported that residents of the resort town of Yufu in Oita areobjecting to the construction of a new solar power plant because they’re worried it will “wreck the area’s scenery.”
• A ban on off-base drinking is being credited with a drastic fall in the number of crimes committed by US military personnel in Okinawa.
• Officials say the number of crimes reported last year was the lowest since 1972, when Okinawa reverted to Japanese control.
• Bottom Story of the Week: “Photos Depict History of Saw-Tooth Roofs” (via The Japan News)

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Photos, illustrations in school textbooks altered to make activities look safer

Several images for new Japanese school textbooks showing children doing potentially dangerous activities -- such as climbing a tree in short sleeves -- were edited during screening to make the activities appear safer, it has been learned.

One principal says the changes were necessary, as an increasing number of teachers lack outdoor experience and don't know what is dangerous.

One photo planned for a third-grade science textbook published by Kyoiku-Shuppan Co. showed a boy grabbing a tree and trying to catch a stag beetle. It was criticized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's textbook department because the boy appeared to be climbing the tree in a T-shirt and shorts, when long-sleeves would have been safer. The publisher altered the photo to show the boy's foot planted on the ground, and it passed.