Hina-matsuri

On March 3, many Japanese celebrate Hina-matsuri, or dolls festival, by displaying Hina-ningyo, or Hina dolls, in their rooms.

Today, I hang a scroll of a Japanese painting of tachi-bina, or standing hina dolls, in the tokonoma of the living room.

The hanging scroll was painted by Kunii Ōbun (国井応文, 1833-1887) who was the leader of the Maruyama school painters in the late Edo period and in the early Maiji period as a grand grand son of Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795).

Anna inspi' Nana (Blackstones) - Rose

One more Anna Tsuchiya's clip.

The Daily Telegraph called Japanese Japs in the headline

The Daily Telegraph published an article with the headline, "Japs turn backs slaughter". The term "Japs" has already been removed from their website.

The followings are from Propaganda Buster.

This is the 21st century and we have a newspaper using racist terms. The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper in Australia on their online website used a racist and offensive term in reference to the people of Japan. A Japanese person complained to the newspaper about that term. The Daily Telegraph removed the term from their article headline, but not entirely from their website. Proving once again, racist are stupid.

Take a look at the screenshots in the Propaganda Buster's video.
日本語字幕付きは、こちら. (HT to lovewhale1)

Update: The Daily Telegraph is still displaying the term.

Click the above thumbnail to see the screenshot.

Propaganda Buster talks on Japanese whaling

The following videos by Propaganda Buster are now popular in Japanese blogosphere.

From the first video.

People from all over the world, mostly euro-trash from northern Europe swarm down on a tiny to town in Japan, the town of Tiji to protest the Japanese in their dolphin hunting.
(...)
How come they only protest in Japan? Because the people in Japan are polite and the Euro-trash take advantage of the polite Japanese culture. How come this same Euro-trash can not be found in a Texas steak house protesting a Texas trying to eat his or her steak? Where are the protested in Little Italy in lower Manhattan, New York City, when an Italian is eating veal parmesan? Veal, the meat from a calf. Where are these brave protesters when Native Americans in Alaska go on a whale hunt?

From the second video.

A ship (Arctic Sunrise) belonging to the radical conservationist group, Greenpeace rams into the Japanese whaling vessel (Nisshin Maru) and then blames the Japanese ship. Also the international insurance company located in London, the United Kingdom, Lloyds of London, accused the Japanese of ramming the Greenpeace ship. Seeing the photographs and video, clearly demonstrate that the Greenpeace ship here was the aggressor in purposely ramming the Japanese ship. However world opinion sided with Greenpeace. Proving once again the round eyes are the racist selecting an Asian nation to harass.

America has great people!

日本語字幕付きバージョンは、こちら と こちら. (HT to lovewhale1)

Akihiro Miwa - Yoitomake's song

Japan Probe showed the ranking of photos that older Japanese people take with cameras on their cellphones. Akihiro Miwa's picture was ranked 5th in the survey. They say it's lucky to have his picture. Who is Akihiro Miwa?

Akihiro Miwa (1935- ) is a transvestic celebrity in Japan. He started his carrier as a professional cabaret singer in the 1950s. It is said that in those days Yukio Mishima told to Akihiro Miwa: "You only have one flaw. That you don't love me."

While he was very popular in the 1950s, people soon lost interest in him. By the early 1960s, he was an almost forgotten singer. Anyway, he continued shows in suburban cabaret. Japan was still a poor country in the 1960s. He was distressed in those days, asking himself: "What am I doing wearing gaudy dresses taking money from poor people? Am I just a clown wearing peacock-like costumes?" One day, he wrote rylics for poor laborers based on his own experience in his childhood. Putting a melody to them, he started to sing the song wearing plain clothes. His song touched the audience's heart and moved them to tears every time he sang the song. The song became a smash hit in 1966. After that, he returned to the major stages in show business.

Title of the song is "Yoitomake's song". The word Yoitomake that is not used today was a slang for day laborers or navvies that was often used as a derogatory term. The following is the rylics of the song.

------

ヨイトマケの唄 / Yoitomake's song

父ちゃんのためなら　えんやこら /For the sake of my husband, ENYAKORA!*
母ちゃんのためなら えんやこら /For the sake of my wife, ENYAKORA!
もひとつおまけに えんやこら /One more time additionally, ENYAKORA!

*) "Enyakora!" is a shout that laborers make when they pull or push heavy loads.

今も聞こえる　ヨイトマケの唄 / I can still hear Yoitomake's song.
今も聞こえる　あの子守唄 /I can still hear that lullaby.

工事現場の昼休み /During the lunch time in a construction site,
たばこふかして　目を閉じりゃ /When I close my eyes, smoking a cigarette,
聞こえてくるよ　あの唄が /I can hear that song,
働く土方の　あの唄が /That song of muscular laborers,
貧しい土方の　あの唄が /That song of poor laborers.

子供の頃に小学校で /When I was a child, in a school,
ヨイトマケの子供　きたない子供と /"Yoitomake's son! Dirty child!"
いじめぬかれて　はやされて /So I was bullied. I was teased.
くやし涙にくれながら /Shedding tears in my mortification,
泣いて帰った道すがら /I returned home crying. On the way home,
母ちゃんの働くとこを見た /I saw my mom working.
母ちゃんの働くとこを見た /I saw my mom working.

姉さんかぶりで　泥にまみれて /Covering her head with a scarf, getting muddy,
日にやけながら　汗を流して /Being burned by the sun, being drenched in sweat,
男に混じって　ツナを引き /With male navvies, she was pulling a rope.
天に向かって　声をあげて /Letting her voice out toward the sky,
力の限り　唄ってた /She was singing a song at the top of her voice.
母ちゃんの働くとこを見た /I saw my mom working.
母ちゃんの働くとこを見た /I saw my mom working.

慰めてもらおう　抱いてもらおうと /Wishing to be consoled and hugged by my mom,
息をはずませ　帰ってはきたが /I was returning home, but
母ちゃんの姿　見たときに /When I saw my mom,
泣いた涙も忘れ果て /I forgot that I was crying.
帰っていったよ　学校へ /I returned to the school,
勉強するよと言いながら /Muttering "I'll study hard in the school."
勉強するよと言いながら /Muttering "I'll study hard in the school."

あれから何年たった事だろう /How many years has it passed after that?
高校も出たし大学も出た /I graduated high school and finished collage.
今じゃ機械の世の中で /Now, it's an age of machinery.
おまけに僕はエンジニア /Moreover I am an engineer.
苦労苦労で死んでった /You lived and died in hardships.
母ちゃん見てくれ　この姿 /Please see my present status, mom.
母ちゃん見てくれ　この姿 /Please see my present status, mom.

何度も僕もぐれかけたけど /I almost went astray many times, but
やくざな道は踏まずに済んだ /I fotunately didn't fall into evil ways.
どんなきれいな唄よりも /More than any other beautiful songs,
どんなきれいな声よりも /More than any other beautiful voices,
僕を励ましなぐさめた /That song encouraged and consoled me.
母ちゃんの唄こそ　世界一 /My mom's song is indeed the best in the world.
母ちゃんの唄こそ　世界一 /My mom's song is indeed the best in the world.

今も聞こえる　ヨイトマケの唄 /I can still hear the Yoitomake's song.
今も聞こえる　あの子守唄 /I can still hear that lullaby.

父ちゃんのためなら　えんやこら /For the sake of my husband, ENYAKORA!
子供のためなら　えんやこら /For the sake of my children, ENYAKORA!

--------

I believe this song encouraged many people in the 1960s helping the start of the rapid economic growth of Japan afterward.

(HT to ganbaganba)

You can also watch his performance in the 1950s that Mishima loved here on Youtube.

Anna Tsuchiya - Taste my skin

One more clip of Tsuchiya Anna.

TPR

This entry is just for my personal note.

TPR is an abbreviation of 'thermo plastic rubber' that has most of the desirable properties of rubber, e.g. flexibility, while at the same time they can be injection molded like a plastic. Shown in the photo is an example of a consumer goods that utilizes TPR.

Detailed Product Description (from the manufacturer's webpage)
Children's sock shoe, very cute style and fashion design.
Upper Sock:100% cotton
Outsole: Transparent TPR Rubber

References: here, here and here.

Anna Tsuchiya - sweet sweet song

I'm a big fan of Tsuchiya Anna (土屋アンナ) since I first saw her in a film "Shimotsuma monogatari (aka. Kamikaze Girls)". She is an American-Japanese who has a Russian-American father and a Japanese mother.

Kinkakuji, or the Golden Pavilion, in snow

This photo was taken on February 2nd of 2005.

Kinkakuji was constructed in 1397 as one of the buildings of the residence for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the third Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate. This residence was called Kitayama-dono, or the Residence in the Northern Mountain, at the time. When Yoshimitsu was the ruler of Japan, this residence was considered to be another palace by samurai and court nobles even though there was an imperial palace in the central part of Kyoto where the Emperor resided; Yoshimitsu surpassed the Emperor in authority at the time.

Some historians argue that Yoshimitsu had a plan to make his second son the emperor of the country who would govern religions and court nobles and at the same time to make his first son the next Shogun who would govern politics and samurai. However, Yoshimitsu died before realizing his plan.

After Yoshimitsu's death, all of the buildings but the Golden Pavilion were dismantled by his first son, the 4th Shogun Yoshimochi, who disliked sharing his power with his younger brother. The Golden pavilion was converted into a Buddhist temple. The younger brother, Yoshitsugu, losing his power, tried to rebel against Yoshimochi, but failing in the rebellion he was killed in 1418.

The original building of Kinkakuji had been a National Treasure of Japan. However, a trainee monk set fire to the building and it was burnt down to the ground in 1950. After setting the fire, the monk committed suicide on the hill at the back of the building. This incident stimulated the creation of several novels and films. The most famous one would be Mishima Yukio's work, 'Kinkakuji (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion)'.

The present Kinkakuji is a reconstruction in 1955. However, since gold lieves of standard thickness were used at the time to cover the building, it became messy-looking after several decades. By the early 1980s, the undercoat of brown urushi, or Japanese laquar, was seen from the outside in many parts of the outer walls. So large-scale repairs of the building were made in 1987 using gold lieves of 5 x thickness that weighed 20 tons in total. Thus the glitter of the present building would remain for centuries this time.

A good move to keep security in the public sea

Today's Sankei Shimbun reported that the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau has started the investigation on the forcible obstruction of business, inflicting bodily injury and other suspicions to Japanese whalers commited by anti-whaling activists. After identifying suspects, they will request the country where the suspects reside to hand over them based on the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA). According to the report, one sailor attacked by the activists last february got his face
burned by butyric acid.

On the toxic nature of butyric acid

Sea Shepherd threw glass bottles filled with butyric acid onto a Japanese whaling ship on the 15th of January. Paul Watson confirmed that the group launched butyric acid at the Yushin Maru No.2 as reported in The Australian.

Whale activists admit to stink bombs
By Melissa Jenkins | January 19, 2008

ANTI-whaling activists admit to throwing about 12 stink bombs onto a Japanese whaling ship after two of its crew were released, and are planning more attacks.

Two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, who were being detained on the whaling boat Yushin Maru No. 2, were yesterday handed to an Australian customs' vessel then returned to their ship, the Steve Irwin.

The Japanese Whaling Association (JWA) has accused the activists of throwing acid onto the sister vessel of the Yushin Maru No. 2 -- the Yushin Maru No. 3 -- overnight.

Captain of the Steve Irwin Paul Watson denied any attack on the Yushin Maru No. 3, saying he had not even seen such a boat.

But he confirmed the group launched a “retaliatory strike” of butyric acid “stink bombs” at the Yushin Maru No. 2, about one hour after activists Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane were transferred to the Australian customs boat, the Oceanic Viking.

Butyric acid is a non-corrosive substance and smells like rancid butter.

“We sprayed them with butyric acid, which is a noxious stink bomb, and the smell stays there for a few days. While it is on the deck it is pretty hard to do any work, like kill a whale,” Mr Watson said.

In the above report, the reporter Melissa Jenkins described that butyric acid is a non-corrosive substance and smells like rancid butter. According to her description, butyric acid is just a foul-smelling, non-corrosive substance that can hardly injure people, which echoes the view of Sea Shepherd. The following is a comment posted on www.news.com.au by a person who professed himself to be a strategist for Sea Shepherd.

As a strategist for Sea Shepherd I wish to bring to the public and media attention that the "ACID" used is an organic acid - Butyric Acid...a flavouring used in the Food Industry. It is more commonly known / identified as rancid butter...it is thrown on the flensing decks (not at people) where it permeates the timber. When whale meat is cut up on the deck it contaminates it rendering it unsaleable / useless. The other feature is that it stinks. Exageration and misrepresentation that it is "Acid" infers that it is akin to dangerous ionic acids such as Sulphuric or Hydrochloric acids which it is not. It is consumed daily by human beings and approved for food use & is biodegradeable. It is not in our charter to harm human beings or other creatures of the world we have a clean record on this account, IF the weak Gov't stood up to their election promise we would not be there.

Posted by: Tim Horwood of Belgrave 9:45am January 16, 2008
Comment 79 of 262

According to his description, butyric acid seems to be a harmless substance that is not so highly acidic as sulphuric or hydrochloric acids, consumed daily by human beings, and biodegradable.

These descriptions by Sea Shepherd and Australian media looks to be scientific. However, contradicting these notions, Japan Whaling Association claimed that two Japanese crew were injured when Sea Shepherd members threw the acid at Japanese sailors on Nisshin Maru last February.

Not only did Sea Shepherd deliberately ram the Kaiko Maru this year as well, they also threw acid at Japanese sailors and shattered glass bottles on the Nisshin Maru deck, resulting in injuries to two Japanese crew.

Other Japanese source says that butyric acid from a broken bottle splashed the face of one of the sailors. Fortunately, he did not injured heavily since he could soon washed the acid away. But his whole face was inflamed after the incident. He should have been blinded if he had not promptly closed his eyes when the acid splashed his face.

These comments from Japanese side sharply contradict the report and comment in the Australian media. Are the Japanese whalers deliberately exaggerating the fact?

When something is uncertain, bloggers usually search information on the Web. However, those who are working with chemical substances know that MSDS is the best source to consult first on the toxicity of chemical substances. MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) is a form cantaining basic data regarding the properties of a particular substance.

MSDS for butyric acid says the follwoings.

Harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Corrosive. Extremely unpleasant smell may cause nausea. Liquid may burn skin and eyes. Readily absorbed through the skin. Severe skin, eye and respiratory irritant.

Although the reporter of The Australian wrote "Butyric acid is a non-corrosive substance", MSDS tells us that it is "Corrosive".

Also, MSDS says that acute dermal toxicity (LD50) of butyric acid is 530mg/kg [rabbit], which roughly means you can kill a rabbit that weigh 1kg by administering 0.53 g of the substance onto the skin. By simple calculation, it is roughly estimated that a human who weigh 70 kg can be killed by administering about 37 g of butylic acid onto the skin. It is obvious that the amount of butyric acid thrown onto the Japanese ship is enough to kill more than several people.

MSDS says that butyric acid is readily absorbed through the skin and then degraded into other substances and that the biodegradation products are more toxic than butyric acid itself.

The high toxicity of butyric acid seems to be conferred by the toxicity of the biodegradation products rather than its acidity.

MSDS also tells us that CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) in the US classifies butyric acid in "Hazardous substances".

During the piracy attack by Sea Shepherd, many of the bottles dropped on the sea failing to reach the ship. Those bottles will arrive at the seashore somewhere someday. If a child opened the bottle, what would happen?

The Australian government must know the toxic nature of butyric acid since MSDS is available to anyone. Purchase, storage and usage of harmful substances are usually regulated by law. The fact that Australian government has not detained the Sea Shepherd members might indicate that she is supporting Sea Shepherd to attempt murdering Japanese sailors and polluting environment, as Japan Whaling Association suggested. But I still hope the Australian government and media to cope rationally with this issue.

NOTE: MSDS is distributed in many places. I obtained one from www.sciencelab.com. Search "butyric acid" using the search box on the top page. You can find a link to the PDF file below "n-Butyric Acid, Reagent". Also, you can see a shortened version of the MSDS here.