Japan's NHK Fee

Through the Kitchen Window: Salmon Chirashi-Zushi [Jiyu Gakuen]

 

Japanology Watches And Clocks

 

People’s engagement with time is long, and it is considered that time has understood by the position of the sun long time ago. Sundials are assumed to be used as a tool to measure time more than 10,000 years ago according to literary materials.

Begin Japanology Lake Biwa

 

Japan's biggest lake: Lake Biwa. It is 4 million years old, a source of water for 14 million people, and home to over 10 aquatic creatures that are only found there. Lake Biwa contains rare freshwater pearls, its scenic landscape has captivated artists for centuries, and it also has spiritual significance.

Japanology Plus "Wasabi"

Wasabi is a plant that grows natively in Japan's mountain valleys. It's used to make a condiment with a distinctive green color and an eye-watering impact

 

Japanology Plus Wood Culture

70% of Japan's land is covered in forests and woodland. For centuries, wood has been used for furniture, buildings, and tools. This time on Japanology Plus, our theme is the cultural significance of wood.

Japanology Plus Season 2 EP 114 : Frozen Food

Frozen food exists all over the world, but Japan is at the cutting edge of research and development. Modern products are almost identical to fresh goods both in texture and nutritional value. This time on Japanology Plus, our theme is frozen food.

BEGIN Japanology - Parcel Delivery

Japan Times Caves To Shinzo Abe

The Japan Times joins NHK, Asahi Shinbun and the Yomiuri Shinbun  in capitulating  to Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic party in reporting on the many controversial policies and war crimes committed by the imperial government and the imperial army.  Shinzo Abe Japan's current Prime Minister has worked diligently to alter how the Japan's war time history is portrayed.  From out right denial to historical revisionism.  Perhaps, that's due to his grandfather (His hero) former Prime Minister Kishi, who was a member of Tojo's wartime cabinet. Serving as Minister for Arms Procurement.  

At the bottom of an article the Japan Times published following a court decision on forced labour in Seoul which ruled in favour of the plaintiffs. 

In a decision that critics said aligned it with the conservative agenda of the prime minister, Shinzō Abe, the Japan Times said it had used terms “that could have been potentially misleading” when reporting on the contentious subjects.

It was the latest media row about how to define notorious parts of the country’s wartime record.

The Japan Times said: “The term ‘forced labour’ has been used to refer to labourers who were recruited before and during world war two to work for Japanese companies. However, because the conditions they worked under or how these workers were recruited varied, we will henceforth refer to them as ‘wartime labourers.’”

The explanation appeared at the foot of an article about the South Korean supreme court’s decision this week to order Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate 10 former forced labourers. The ruling, and a similar decision last month, have soured ties between Tokyo and Seoul, with Japan’s foreign minister, Tarō Kōno, calling them “totally unacceptable”.

History Of Sushi

In Tune with Time - Watchmaker Masahiro Kikuno

Masahiro Kikuno is a master craftsman who belongs to an exclusive international group of independent watchmakers. These consummate artists create timepieces that reflect their deepest ideals, with no connection to commercial watch manufacturers. Kikuno's creations are deeply influenced by traditional Japanese culture. He's fascinated by a masterpiece called the Myriad Year Clock, which was built by a 19th-century Japanese mechanical genius. Containing over a thousand hand-made parts, the clock is a marvel of complex and precise engineering. Kikuno seeks to transcend that old master's achievement by giving the clock a modern rebirth in the form of an elegant wristwatch. This program documents Kikuno's exacting methods of designing and hand-machining all of the delicate parts needed to create a modern masterpiece.

The Government of Shinzo Abe Is Working Hard To Silence Its Critics

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have been using subtle threats to silence its media critics since their return to power in 2012.

Last week a member of Abe's cabinet had this to say about TV. broadcasters.

Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi has decided that the best way silence critics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is to rescind the licenses of TV. broadcasters.   

From June of last year

A friend of Shinzo Abe's Naoki Hyakuta and a former board  member of public broadcaster NHK suggested in a speech to Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) backbenchers that two Okinawan newspapers be forced to cease publication over their criticism of government policy concerning Okinawa and the U.S. bases there.

      The furor erupted on Thursday when novelist Naoki Hyakuta—a former NHK board member and close friend of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe—said during his lecture that the Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shimpo should be put out of business, Fuji TV reported. Other lawmakers present suggested the government put pressure on the Japan Business Federation to urge members not to advertise in the two Okinawan newspapers.

 On Friday in the Diet, opposition lawmakers questioned Abe. “Don’t you feel ashamed or sorry as the LDP leader? Is there anything you want to say about it?” asked lower house member Kiyomi Tsujimoto of the Social Democratic Party. Abe said that freedom of the press is a fundamental part of democracy and called the remarks regrettable, if that is what was actually said. However, he said it was not up to him to apologize but the speakers, because the attendees at the gathering were just putting forward their personal opinions.

From April of last year 

Shinzo Abe And The LDP Work To Stifle The Press And They're Succeeding

Recently their efforts have focused on individual reporters and commentators appearing on various news programs.

 It was an unexpected act of protest that shook Japan’s carefully managed media world: Shigeaki Koga, a regular television commentator and fierce critic of the political establishment, abruptly departed from the scripted conversation during a live TV news program to announce that this would be his last day on the show because, as he put it, network executives had succumbed to political pressure for his removal.
“I have suffered intense bashing by the prime minister’s office,” Mr. Koga told his visibly flabbergasted host late last month, saying he had been removed as commentator because of critical statements he had made about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Later in the program, Mr. Koga held up a sign that read “I am not Abe,” a play on the slogan of solidarity for journalists slain in January at a French satirical newspaper.

Now there's this

Supporters of the three news broadcasters say prime minister had private dinners with top media executives before the departures

That is the fate that has befallen what could loosely be described as their counterparts in Japan – Ichiro Furutachi, Hiroko Kuniya and Shigetada Kishii – three respected broadcasters with a reputation for asking tough questions.

Their imminent departure from evening news programmes is not just a loss to their profession; critics say they were forced out as part of a crackdown on media dissent by an increasingly intolerant prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and his supporters.

As the host of Hodo Station, a popular evening news programme on TV Asahi, Ichiro Furutachi was at the centre of a row last spring over claims by one of the show’s regular pundits, Shigeaki Koga, that he had been forced to quit under pressure from government officials angered by his criticism of the Abe administration.

Shigetada Kishii, who appears on News 23 on the TBS network, angered government supporters last year after criticising security legislation pushed through parliament by Abe’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP).

Perhaps most striking of all is the departure of Kuniya, the veteran presenter of Close-up Gendai, a current affairs programme on public broadcaster NHK.

Her “crime” had been to irritate Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary and a close Abe ally, with an unscripted follow-up question during a discussion about the security legislation.

NHK Goes All Street Fighter For U.S. Elections

“NHK’s 2014 United States Election page’s top banner is ridiculously cool, like something from a beat-‘em-up game.”

 Japanese netizens reactions

“I’d go vote if they did this for Japan too.”
“American elections look fun.”
“Looks like something from Marvel Comics.”
“NHK are putting more effort into this than for Japan’s double elections.”
“The Democrats: Hillary’s there but her husband Bill Clinton isn’t lol”
“Unlike Japan, America hypes up their elections. It’s stupid ‘cos even though Japanese people don’t have any interest in politics there are loads of people who talk like they know about it. Japanese people should be more active in politics!”
“I don’t know any of their names except for President Obama and Hillary.”
“I don’t know the names of any of the Republicans. Who are these people?”
“Looks like a movie poster.”
“I want to see one where Obama’s completely beaten up by the election results lol”
“And Obama was so popular when he became president…”
“USA! USA!”
“It’s kinda like all these white gangsters have shown up and are beating up Obama and then the camera’ll move to a shot of the white house and the logo ‘STREET FIGHTER II’ will come up.”

And The Stupid Flows Like a Mighty River

North Korea calls Abe 'Asian Hitler' This from a country that imprisons hundreds of thousands of people accused of various crimes. Also imprisoned are entire families and extended families.  So, who's the New Hitler?


NHK management committee member Naoki Hayakuta has decided after listening to records played backwards, consulting a magic 8 ball and a ouija board that the Nanjing massacre never took place.   Naturally the fools which populate the government of Shinzo Abe have no problem with this.

What's more important how textbooks are presented in the United States, specifically the state of Virginia or in your own country?  The governments of Japan and Korea have been waging a public relations battle in the U.S. state of Virginia over what name should be used to designate the body of water which separates the two nations.

Not knowing how textbooks are approved for students in America a group of Korean-American's created a petition on the White House website.  Never realising that textbook approval comes from the states.  



The mayor of Davao city the Philippines  Rodrigo Duterte  has threatened to kill  Davidson Bangayan if he were to show his face in the city because he's a known rice smuggler.  Mr. Duterte stated he would be happy to kill Mr. Bangayan.  How else does one resolve such problems. America's NRA would love this guy