Japanese TV Commercials are Amazing!

This TV commercial was just sent to me by my friend, James Honeycutt who helped me write the screenplay for the movie Ghostroads. (https://vimeo.com/197078048)

This is a commercial for a new computer sales or service company.

James writes: "Japanese TV Commercials are Amazing!"

Indeed.

If the video does not play, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtHugtXVWlI

Vote! Hot Sexy Babes and Hot Picks In the Japanese Local Erections!

"I'm lucky. You're lucky. We're all lucky!" - Magenta (from the Rocky Horror Picture Show)

I live in Tokyo. It's peaceful here; the cops never bash in people's heads; the Japanese police haven't shot anyone in 3 or 4 years and there's basically no crime to speak of. And, if you are a foreigner, then you are probably the most dangerous person within a 500 meter radius of yourself.

So it's pretty safe, quiet, chilled out and and nice place to live. Tokyo rawks! 

Poster Board thingy by my house that shows all the folks running for "guvner" of the local area as well as other cogs in the political machine.

Every once in a while, though, the locals get restless and they hold some rituals. Some of these rituals are contests for the central government that resides in a giant underground cavern downtown (kind of like the Morlocks) and then there's the local rituals where you see people standing around the train stations talking about something or another into megaphones to people who all walk by and seem to pay no attention at all to their antics.

These ancient rituals, whose beginnings are dark and murky and unbeknownst to the average local, are kind of the same as when you foreigners in the west hold your modern versions of Rain Dance to open the heavens and bring prosperity and a bountiful harvest in the coming year. 

These "Pagan rituals" (hereinafter referred to as: "elections") are organized and ran by the local witch doctors so the local herded mammals feel empowered to vote some people - people of whom they will never meet, nor would they even wish to - to rule over them; so, when it comes to tax time, they feel like they can't complain; for it is these very special individuals (who the herded mammalia 'voted' for), who have the right to spend other people's money lining the pockets of their friends for some reason or another. 

How lucky we are to be able to vote in these facades of democracy that modern societies hold! No bread and circuses for us! No! No! 

Anyhow, there's some sort of election going on. Since one politician ain't much different from another, I thought I'd share my insights with you, dear reader, on whom you should vote for... I mean, if you could vote, but you can't. What I mean to say is that foreigners are not allowed to vote. But we can look at sexy babes, right? 

Hey! Didn't we have a revolution about this "Taxation without representation" crap? We did! Never mind. Either way, I can't really imagine bothering to hold a revolution demanding the right to vote when:

a) I don't vote anyway.

b) Voting is a waste of time.

c) "It matters not who casts the votes, but who counts the votes." - Joe Stalin

What I want to say is that I don't vote. But I do look at hot and sexy babes. And if I did vote, the following is who I would vote for. So, get your "pencils" out guys. 'Cause I'm about to give you the "Hot Picks" in this erection!

OK. Let's get the rules straight: All of these people are politicians which means they are lying sacks of dog doo-doo. That being a given, then, we know that voting for some sort of 'moral character' seems a dodgy proposition, if not laughable, at best. And since most of my picks are hot women, we want them with questionable moral fortitude! Also, since politics are all a scam and a farce, the only beneficial part to the entire political process for the drinking man is the entertainment value. This being true, then I say we vote for the best looking or most interesting looking people.

As the great Will Rogers once wrote: "Politics is the best show in America. I love animals and I love politicians, and I like to watch both of 'em at play, either back home in their native state, or after they've been captured and sent to a zoo, or to Washington."

So now onto my recommendations on how you should vote! I only chose a few from the huge billboard because most of those people are olde pharttes and, like I said, "they's all 'bout the same."

Miss Fukuda (Miss Lucky Field). She wears the white jacket with the pink pink sides and is carrying an extra four pounds. She is also one of the older mares in today's race. But, what the hell, she's much easier to look at than the other guys who all seem to have evolved from male toads in the Pleistocene Period. Outside chance of surprising many. 8 to 1 odds. 2 1/2 votes.

Miss Sato is definitely a contender in this race. Get her all liquored up and I'll bet she could make most guys stand up and vote! Wow! Not bad! She's a hottie! 7 1/2 votes!

What's this? Some guy? You kidding me? Well, OK, Yamamoto gets a long shot 30 -1 chance. But he is in there because he is only one of two people in the race who have beards (well, some of these ladies might have beards too - haven't you ever heard of Photoshop?) I figure that since Yamamoto has a beard he must be kinda cool and likes Jazz Music. His minus points are because, for some reason, I suspect he might have been a hippie in his youth and wore flairs. 3 1/2 votes.

Ah? Hold the presses! Miss Hiuchi. She's still looks the same after all these years! My wife says she's been using the same photo for her posters for at least ten years or more. But, with the lights out, admit it, you'd still hit it! I still see her on these posters because I have no idea who wins or loses these elections, so I am assuming she is like a relief pitcher; you know, 8 wins and 6 losses with a 3.78 era. So what if she's much older than these photos show! I can still dream, can't I? Anyway, she's much easier on the eyes than 95% of the others, so she gets a nod and is currently at 12 - 1 odds.  7 votes.

What's this? Another stupid dude? Tell me it ain't so, Joe! But it is. Mr. Kuroki is here for two reasons: Not only does he have a lot of hair like our (suspected) former hippie, Mr. Yamamoto (above), but he's got a dammed human with him holding him up! Let me explain; everyone around here has a dumb dog. These dogs are treated in this area as the highest order of the animal kingdom. Humans second (back of the bus with you, stinkin' foreigner!) So, dogs in Setagaya are of a higher social strata. Dumb animals like humans, follow them around and wrap up their poop in plastic bags then take it home as souveniers (go figure!) So this is, I suspect, actually a trick poster. The dog is running for office, the hippie with the white beard is merely a handler and cleans up after him. That being the case, and this being Setagaya where dogs are of a higher social order than even the local landowners, then I give this dog a 3 - 1 chance of being elected. 8 3/4 votes.

...Folks, it is what it is. I didn't create society. I just live here.

Woah! This is it! Miss Shaku! Break out the baby oil! Hold the mayo!

♬Miss Shaku! Miss Shaku! ♬Miss Shaku! Oh, baby I love you!♬

Miss Shaku is hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!!!!!! 

Do I need to write more? Judge for yourself! Here's her qualifications:

1) I wouldn't kick Miss Shaku out of my futon for eating rice crackers in a million years! 

2) She is babe-licious! 

3) "If she were president of the United States, her name would be Babe-raham Lincoln!" - Garth

I'm in love with Miss Shaku! 

Can you tell that I dig everything about her platform? I'm voting for her to not only be my local representative, but mayor, queen and Dominatrix Sex Goddess of the entire nation of Nippon! 

Wow! She is the best! 

20 - 1 odds (because the people I like never win) but 10 out of 10 Stars!

Wow! Have you noticed how this room has gotten all hot and sweaty? Time to take a cold shower!

---------

Well, that's it for this time folks. I've picked the best of the field for you and hope you make the right choice if you vote (or be smart and just stay home because if voting could change anything, it would be made illegal.)

Like I said, it doesn't matter who wins, because nothing changes. The only thing I really care about is if the new people fix the pothole in front of my house. Besides that, I want them to just leave me alone... 

Or to make the next election cycle posters in bathing suits.

Pothole in road by my house. Been slowly sinking for months... Different sections of the local government have all come out to see it; they all claim it is the duty of a different section to repair this. Talk about a run around!

Only in Japan! Big Busted Sexy Japanese Girls in Bikini's Giving Golf Lessons! Boy, Does That Ever Make My Putter Stand on End!

Seriously? Yes. Seriously. Only in Japan. Big busted beauty queens in bikinis giving golf lessons. Real Player in Japan is really trying to gain market share here in Japan but 'm not sure the "Oyaji" (old men) way is the best way to do that.... But my friend Andrew says these videos give him "wood." I mean, he owns a wood and the videos made him want to get his wood out and play with it.

Yoko Matsukane

Sure, these girls are hot and I wouldn't kick them off the course for using a nine iron, but I'm not sure that golfers are heavy Internet users - especially in Japan where golf is a very expensive sport to pursue and is done mostly by older people! 

But never mind that! Watch Yoko Matsukane give her "lessons" here. I wish I could embed these videos, but I can't... Oh hell, I wish I could embed these girls, but I can't do that either! Life isn't fair!!!!!

Yukie Kawamura

Hello!? Sure, this does get me interested in golfing too, but I think I'd have a very "hard" time "driving" under these circumstances and would prefer that she holds my balls and waxes my putter and sloshes my balls.... See more Yukie Kawamura holding putters here.

No! No! You have it all wrong. You are supposed to be standing up and she is supposed to be holding the putter! Proof that professional sportsmen are idiots!

How many times have I told you that I LOVE Japan?! Well besides the usual; hot girls, sushi, temples, hot girls, Great Buddha, Shibuya, Shinjuku, hot girls, Osaka, Mt. Fuji, hot girls, traditional arts like Kabuki, Bunraku, hot girls, and freedom, there's also bikini golfing!

Remember to lean into the putt!

Er, I mean, Japan is a wonderful place...... for learning golf! Especially in the summer!


NOTE: It dawns on me just how dumb I am! Real Player doesn't care about getting golfers to use Real Player! I mean, what percentage of the population in Japan can afford to golf? This Real Player promotion is smart because they just want guys to use their service! Now... Let's see... What are most guys interested in?....

Destroying My Blog - I Don't Want to Be Dishonest Like Getty Images

The Internet was supposed to be this wonderful playground for us all to explore and make friends... But it isn't that at all. It's full of traps and minefields that one must be ever mindful of. If you blog, you must be particularly careful as, if your blog becomes popular (and that is the point of blogging, right?) then you will become a target.

Recently, I've destroyed my daily pages views numbers. A few weeks ago, I got a particularly nasty email from a lawyer representing Getty Images (insert booing here) who claims that they want to sue me for use of their images (well, no... That's not right. They want to sue me for use of one image). This is the trap.


Why is it a trap? Well, I guess I must be confused, but if you have something that you want protected, but you don't protect it, then you are negligent if someone else comes along, picks it up and borrows it. 


I certainly didn't steal it. They still have it to use as they wish.


Say you left a baseball bat on a baseball diamond and some kids came along and started using it... Then you come along and then you think you can claim that they owe you money for rental fee? Ha! 


If you go to Google image search and search for some particular picture (all blogs are nicer with pictures) then you will see lots of pictures that are watermarked, "Getty images" or the like. Many aren't. In fact, after I checked, you'll see the exact same images that have the Getty Watermark and some that don't.


Being stupid (or thinking like most people would think) then if they aren't watermarked, they aren't copyright protected. WRONG! You could get sued. As I was threatened with. I think that Getty's way of doing business is quite distasteful and disturbing (I can see them asking that you delete - but aggressively and threateningly - like Yakuza - screaming at you over the phone over court? And for one image on a freaking blog!???)

Two men playing Chinese Chess. This looks exactly like a Getty Image...

But it's not. I took it. Use it all you want!

So now there are no photos on this blog at all unless I or my wife or friends took them. No Getty Images at all... My company will never use Getty again and I will make sure our designers at the media and broadcasting section never do again either...


I think Getty is sneaky and dishonest... I do know that their way of doing business is very bad business and they are getting tons of complaints from people all over Japan. I don't like it. I especially don't like their lawyer (who talks with an Osaka Yakuza accent) screaming at my wife (who has no idea what they are talking about) over the phone. Sure, it's nice that someone is out protecting the rights of artists (well, hell, they're getting paid to do so)... But the tactics are deplorable.


Getty Images in Japan is run by a bunch of a*sholes... Poor public image will ultimately result in very bad business. You'll see, Getty. (Here is the horrifying story of someone who has dealt with this in Japan. Use Google translate: http://blog.livedoor.jp/kiku0319/archives/4314460.html)


That also means that if you see an image you like on this blog, then use it as you wish. Just call it my little war with Getty. Over time, I will have thousands of images (and I hope that you will do the same if you are a blogger) that people can use freely as they wish.

Businessmen at Tokyo intersection at lunchtime (use this photo free!)

Blogs need photos. It's no big deal to take your own as I do from now on. Please use any images on this blog as you wish.


This has also caused me to go through this entire blog and delete every single photo that I didn't take (and even some that I did because I wasn't sure)... That means the cheesecake photos of the sexy Japanese girls won't be appearing anymore.


And that brings me to the next part of this missive; I've written many times that this blog is an exercise and study in how the Internet and Google search works. I've pretty much figured most of it out until Google comes out with a new algorithm for its search engine.


And that's where I've destroyed my blog page views!


They say that 70% of all Internet users are guys. They also say that 70% of all Internet surfers surf porn. Well my research bears this out!


Before the hassle with the photo Nazi's at Getty Images (insert booing here) this blog consistently rated between 7,000 ~ 9,000 page views a day, every day. Now after deleting all the photos of sexy girls, as well as a few hundred others, where do we stand?


I'm down to about 2,000 a day... (But the number has been steadily rising these last 2 weeks.)


That's OK, though. This blog is about Japan, marketing and the media.... Guys sitting at their computer and looking at hot girls and masturbating are not exactly my target audience...


I mean, I don't look at this particular blog for that, I don't expect that my readers do either.


I've also found out how to turbo and "double" my page views simply by using a different format for the blog, but I find that sneaky and dishonest too. That's why I am now back to the old format (sort of) that I used for the first 1.5 years of this blog's existence.


Sexy Japanese girls photos and others do not exist on this blog site anymore. I do not use sneaky blog templates that double or triple my page views. I've bled lots of page views (readers?) because guys don't come here to masturbate to photos anymore.

Unless, of course, you like long, hard things like subway trains in tunnels (use this photo free!)

Making a blog and using tools to drive people outside of my target audience to this site is dishonest and sneaky.


I don't want to be dishonest and sneaky. I don't want to be like Getty Images. I don't need people masturbating to the images on this site.


If my writing can't make them feel good or feel like masturbating, then maybe my writing isn't good enough for 9,000 readers a day. That's OK. 


At least it's honest.

-----

Read the follow up to this article: Why Getty Images Cannot Sue You For Damages in Japanese Court and Win; Why Japan Doesn't Allow For Damages Claims in Court  

Photos of Japan's Top Sexy Actresses and Models for April 2012

SORRY GUYS! ALL PHOTOS REMOVED DUE TO PHOTO NAZIS AND COPYRIGHT PROBLEMS!

WARNING! PERHAPS THESE AREN'T SAFE FOR WORK!!! 

(Well, if you work at Victoria's Secret Catalogue, they're safe. If you work at the Baptist Church on the corner, they are definitely not safe!!!)

Kawamura Yukie (川村 ゆきえ)

Yesterday I put up a blog about how women in Japan were having problems finding enough eligible men for dating and marriage. At dating events in Japan, that ratio of women to men at some of these big dating events is about 7 women for every three men attending the events. It's gotten so bad for male attendance that a big company that runs these sorts of dating services told me that they are allowing eligible men in for free!


Incredible! If you want to read more on that, please refer to Japan's Dating Services Extremely Short on Men?! - Prearranged Marriages Making a Comeback in Japan!?


Anyway, in that article I put a couple of photos of some awesome girls in there and the peanut gallery started to complain that they wanted to see more sexy Japanese girls. Well, who doesn't and who am I to deny?


Once again, these photos are for research purposes only and, as my good friend Mark Davis wrote, "Another good reason for young American men to move to Japan. It's nice of you to try and help out Japanese women by advertising their plight of not enough eligible men. Your public service is inspiring Mike."


Yes, Mark. I know. And thank you for your kind words. You don't know how hard it can be looking at these pictures - of course, by myself.


Also, note, this is, in a way, my service to you guys who don't have Japanese fonts on your computer nor are you able to access Japanese sites so easily. I will place these girls names in Roman alphabet along with their names written in Japanese. If you see a girl you like, then just copy and paste her name (that's written in Kanji - without the parenthesis), into a search engine (Google, Youtube, etc.) and wallah! You're there in her living room!


Enjoy!

Diana Okuai (奥愛ディアナ)

Diana Okuai (奥愛ディアナ)

Yuri Hamada (浜田由梨)

Natsumi Ikeda (池田夏希)

Natsumi Ikeda (池田夏希)

Nanako Kodama (児玉菜々子)

Sayuki Matsumoto (松本さゆき)

Minami Matsuzaka (松坂南)

Minami Matsuzaka (松坂南)

Tama Mizuki (水樹たま)

Tama Mizuki (水樹たま)

Hitomi Kitamura （北村ひとみ) 

Yuki Mogemi (最上ゆき)

Airi Nagasaku (永作あいり)

Airi Nagasaku (永作あいり)

Anri Sugahara (杉原杏璃)

Anri Sugahara (杉原杏璃)

Anri Sugahara (杉原杏璃)

Wow! I don't know about you, but this has been a gala day! As Groucho Marx would say, "That's good because I don't know if I could handle more than a gal a day!"


See you in June!


(To see Feb 2012 Top Sexy Japanese Actresses and Models click here). 
(To see the top sexy Japanese actresses for Dec. 2011, click here). 

Japan's Dating Services Extremely Short of Eligible Men?! - Prearranged Marriages Making a Comeback in Japan!?

Yesterday I had a meeting with a couple of the top executives from Recruit corporation of Japan. One of the guys is the president of a Recruit subsidiary company. He introduced me to a young guy who he said is one of their top salesmen.

(Gratuitous use of cheesecake photo) Whatever she's selling, I'm buying!

Recruit is one of the biggest and most famous companies in Japan and specializes in Human Resources and job searches. If you go to any train, or subway station, in Japan you'll see tons of free magazines and papers. It's a pretty sure bet that most of those are Recruit owned publications.


For the fiscal year ending in March 2011, Recruit had over $97 million (USD) in annual sales (which is a 30% drop from the year earlier) so "one of their top salesmen" is making tons of money for them and is no joke. The guy is now being groomed for a top management position. So he was brought to our meeting to see how to steal our information.


He was telling me that, in one of their profitable businesses, dating services and online dating, there is a huge shortage of available men! I was dumbfounded.

Girls like this are having trouble getting guys to their parties???

He said that, "...at most events there will be about 300 people. Seventy percent are women. Sometimes the breakdown of percentages is so bad that I had to go and participate as one of the eligible men..." WTF!!!????


Actually, it is okay that he participated as an eligible bachelor because he's not married (hell, I'd be stoked if a top salesman at Recruit married my daughter! The guy makes huge bucks!) but it really surprises me that they can't get enough men to join these dating parties! He also told me that they've been trying all sorts of promotions to get more men and that it was one of the biggest challenges to that businesses' future success.


A room full of beautiful and available Japanese girls and they can't get enough men to come to the party? You kiddin' me? I thought he must have been joking or that was a temporary problem but it isn't it seems.

Yes. Marriage should be a deeply religious experience... Holy!

Seriously, guys, Japanese women are having a problem finding enough eligible and suitable men to get hitched to. Unreal! This country has so many beautiful and sexy women that it's hard to comprehend but true! 

Need proof? Well, I have it for you. It seems that the old Japanese tradition of pre-arranged marriages has made a comeback and that's okay with me. Why? Well, my third marriage was arranged! Really! I was so drunk all the time back then that don't know how my marriage got arranged but my wife just told me where to be at what time. And when I got there, it was all set up.

The Telegraph UK has a report about the comeback of these marriages in Arranged Marriages Make a Comeback in Japan:

Until 1945 they were almost universal. They started to decline during the post war American occupation, but as late as 1960 it is estimated that 70 per cent of weddings were arranged. 

Westernisation and the increasing independence of women led to a marked decline. By 1990 the proportion of arranged marriages is thought to have fallen to around 30 per cent of the total.

But things changed in the after a swathe of the country was devastated by the tsunami and earthquake.

"People felt so lonely in the big cities," said Sasaki Akiko, a tour guide. "After the earthquake, there was no public transportation and people had to walk up to 10 hours to get home." It was a time for reflection. "Many felt that if they died nobody would care, so they thought they should marry." With arranged marriages back up to 40 per cent, business has been brisk for photo studios, who prepare the portfolios which are shown to potential suitors.

Women pose in a kimono and also in informal attire; men wear a suit and tie as well as dressing down for the other picture. Anxious parents then circulate the portfolio, which also sets out the youngsters' interests and prospects, to work colleagues, friends and neighbors. Once a meeting is arranged the couple are normally accompanied by their mothers who act as chaperones.

Polite small talk is the order of the day. Afterwards it is a case of comparing notes to see if there are grounds for pursuing matters further.

At this point a professional go-between could get involved although they are scarcer now than a few decades ago.

Arranged marriages may appear anathema to westerners but, according to Ms Akiko, the divorce rate is lower than that for more modern partnerships.

"With an arranged marriage, you go into it with both eyes open, with love you always have one eye closed."

Seriously. Only in Japan, eh? This isn't the first time that I've heard that the divorce rate for prearranged marriages is lower than regular marriages, but wow!


My two older daughters aren't married... Maybe if they don't get married by 35, daddy (that's me) will have to arrange marriage for them...


I wonder if that Recruit salesman will still be available in a few years? He would be a great candidate... After all, it would be nice to have someone in the family who is making some money... Daddy (that's me) certainly isn't!

Quite Coincidental Results of Miss Universe Beauty Contests, Games and Sports After Japan Disasters

Now, that the Miss Universe Japan contest is over and my dear friend Andrew over at the "It's a Wonderful Rife" blog picked the winner (the guy does have good taste!) I have an observation that I'd like to share with you.

sexy Japanese girls

This observation comes from years of working in the mass media and in marketing. It is an observation on something that happens so repeatedly I am surprised that it seems that few others notice it.

In the seminal George Orwell book, 1984, the protagonist Winston Smith is at his office working. He gets up from his desk and heads to the restroom. There he is greeted by his boss. His boss asks Winston if he saw the 'big game' last night. Winston answers in the negative. Then the boss says something like,

"Wow! That was an exciting finish to a very exciting game! That's the best script we've written in a long time!" 

"I wouldn't kick any of them out of bed for eating sembei!"

I think most people can already get what I am implying here. What I want to say is not a negative comment, nor a positive one. I am merely making  an observation as to the way things are and run in this world.

It doesn't matter if it's sports, or elections, news or even beauty pageants; if big money is involved you can bet that a big factor of "entertainment" and "drama" is indelibly tied into the result.

Let me give you some recent examples:

Japan suffers the worst natural calamity in centuries.... That year Japan's Women's Soccer team wins the world championship for the first time in their history...

A year later, the winner of the Miss Universe Japan 2012 beauty contest comes from the prefecture that was worst hit by the earthquake and tsunami...

In 1995, Kobe was devastated by the Great Hanshin Earthquake... Quite coincidentally, I'm sure, the Kobe baseball team, the Orix Blue Wave, won the championship in 1995 and 1996.

There's a ton more of examples like this... Remember a few years back when Japan and Korea hosted the 2002 World Cup and Korea met powerhouse Spain? Yeah, Spain lost to Korea. In the final 10 minutes of the game, three goals by Spain were called back. Now, I'm not saying that game was "fixed" per say... But, face it folks, the World Soccer League is a business like any other. The Asian countries all had lots of money and any business knows that expansion into Asia is a smart and profitable move... The league knows that the local leagues must succeed and do well at home. This, of course, made for a situation whereby the league tries to arrange, how do you say? Better and more accommodating conditions for the Japanese and Korean teams.   

I think Japan finished in the top 8. Korea finished in the top 4. Neither of them have ever been in the top 16 (32?) before or since. You judge for yourself what that implies.

And don't think for a moment that this is confined to Japan and soccer... It happens in the USA and Europe for ALL major sports events. The bigger the money involved, the more corrupt the results will be. Please refer to Sumo is Fixed Like All Other Pro Sports

Take the example of CBS who used to do the Superbowl every year. CBS sells commercial time on the Superbowl for tens of millions of dollars. CBS wants to sell 4 or 5 hours of this commercial time to a sponsor.

If the games are blowouts and 70% the viewers turn off their TVs before the first half ends, sponsors are very upset. When sponsors are upset, the TV stations are very upset. Why? Because, if games are boring and people tune out, if this happens too much and too often then sponsors won't want to spend big money next year because they fear the same thing will happen.

If the sponsors don't pay big money, then who doesn't make big money? The league and team owners.

If you are an American, you might remember the Denver Broncos getting to the Superbowl in the early 1980s. They got blown out two years in a row. The games were basically over 1/2 way through the second quarter. The viewers turned their sets off. There haven't been any blowouts since then. Is it any wonder why?

Like I said, pro sports are a big business. The leagues have a product to sell. That product is supposed to be an exciting sports event that last for 4 hours and is profitable to their mass media partners too. When the game is over after 45 minutes, there are some very unhappy sponsors and media partners.

The league cannot afford to have that.

Now, many people will get angry at what I am saying here... But it's true. 

The girl who won the Miss Universe Japan Beauty Contest is a very beautiful girl and she deserves to win... I'm not taking anything away from her. But don't think for a moment that she didn't get special attention because of where she's from. I think it would be foolish to entertain the thought that she didn't.

In the case of this Miss Universe contest, the folks who run these contests also have concerns about public image and Corporate Social Responsibility. They also don't want to be seen as exploiting women so they want to put the best face forward and show that their contest is good and beneficial for society. Miss Miyagi winning this contest brings much good publicity and business to that devastated area. 

Miyagi needs good news, no?

It's good that Miss Miyagi won the contest but don't think for a minute that the disaster, pain, suffering and memory of March 11 didn't help the give the judges more consideration of her over the other girls.

The contest is, after all, run like a business.

Major Japanese Magazines and Writers Come Out Agreeing With You-Know-Who on Yakuza Legislation

Well, look at what we have here! It's not often that I get to blow my own horn so allow me the indulgence: 


Tokyo Reporter has the story that Nikkan Gendai as well as some very famous Japanese writers have come out publicly against proposed legislation that is supposed designed to curtail Yakuza activities:

Since its institution in October, the prefectural legislation has been called “overkill,” with critics calling it a violation of basic human rights since gang members and their families are first and foremost people.

“Laws should be enforced based on deeds and not on a person’s social status,” Sataka said.

Nikkan Gendai believes that police are aware that an opposition movement may spread, which would render the legislation to be ineffective.

I wrote at length about this in Legislating Morality. I also complained that carte blanche laws and rules that hurt people and their families due to guilt by association could not possibly be legal and is not up to standard in a so-called democratic nation that respects human rights. I also wrote that I was extremely suspicious of this sort of legislation. Refer to: Japanese Insurance Companies Stop Payments for Jews, Catholics, Cross-dressers, Left-Handed People, Club Members, Punks and Yakuza

The recent crackdown on the Yakuza in Japan is not motivated by any recent domestic developments or problems on the home front. I submit to you, dear reader, that this crack down is motivated partly by US government pressure and is just another of many scams being perpetrated by our government to steal money to help pay for the financial disaster that the western governments (Japan included) have engineered that is about to befall on all of us regular people in the working class. On top of that, it is just another boondoogle for a government agency (the Japanese police) to try to justify massive public tax expenditures and to try to avoid budget cutbacks next year... 


Well now we have the Nikkan Gendai and these writers agreeing with me but, as was expected, they have a bit more inside information that I do and accuse the government of hijinks on a different level. They accuse the government of creating these new laws to protect the Good Old Boys network in Japan whereby retired government workers (read retired police fat cats) get high paying jobs at private firms after retirement. They call it Amakudari here.


More from Tokyo Reporter:

According to Miyazaki, the real point of the legislation is the preservation of amakudari, or the process by which government officials assume positions at corporations upon retirement.

“At the time of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in 1970, many policemen were recruited,” Miyazaki said. “This is a big problem in guaranteeing them an amakudari positions upon retirement. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and, Tourism and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry are different. Retired police officials do not have any special skills that can be carried forward into the business world. However, if laws (related to organized crime) become more strict, companies would need former officers for consulting purposes.”

The article notes that the January 28 issue of Toyo Keizai magazine says that there are 83 listed firms, including Sharp Corporation, NYK Group, and the Chugoku Electric Power Company, that have former police officials on staff.

Therefore, the strengthening anti-gang laws at the prefectural and national levels would require more former police officials “to descend” into positions within corporations for compliance reasons, Nikkan Gendai says. 


Here, once again, as I have repeatedly stated; the government always has some sort of motivation (not the public good) for what it does. It is the goal of all governments, be they Democratic, Communist, Fascist, Socialist to use whatever crisis exists to expand upon themselves and increase the size of government. History shows us this to be true.  


This nonsense is a waste of our tax monies. Japan is up deep serious economic problems. We have debt at 229% of GDP. Total debt at 492% of GDP. A declining population which is destroying the savings rate and our productivity and these idiots in government and the police are concerned about ticket scalpers, hot young actresses, mutually consented sex between adults, and members only clubs... And they are concerned that the Yakuza are involved with all of the above and, heaven forbid, making TV shows?!

Obviously with criminal intent

Don't want to get off the point too much, but, as an example; what people need to realize is that the mafia are and have always been involved with entertainment business in the west too! In Japan the Yakuza have been involved in the entertainment business in Japan for easily over 400 years. Here's two choice tidbits from Wikipedia:

"They are very prevalent in the Japanese media..."

"Despite uncertainty about the single origin of yakuza organizations, most modern yakuza derive from two classifications which emerged in the mid-Edo Period (1603 – 1868): tekiya, those who primarily peddled illicit, stolen or shoddy goods; and bakuto, those who were involved in or participated in gambling."

If you want to see just how much more absurdist this entire thing gets. Here is the original Tokyo Reporter story that the - surprise! - Yakuza are involved in TV! Heavens! What will we ever do?  Hot Young Female Japanese Actresses, Yakuza Gangsters, Sex and Japanese TV and Mass Media - This Post Has it All!!! 


... In the meantime, drip drip drip... nuclear waste leaks at Tepco, our debt grows by the minute, idiots want to double sales taxes so that we can pay for government expenditures (such as chasing skirts on TV sets) the economy stumbles... And the Keystone Cops want to chase ticket scalpers and skirts?... Doomed, I tell you!