Wednesday 26 August 2009

24 Hour Television yearly Japanese telethon charity drive

If you are out and about in Japan on August 29th and 30th (Saturday and Sunday) you might see people wearing yellow shirts holding up small boxes and asking for money. These people are volunteers for the annual 24 Hour Television – Love Saves the Earth charity drive sponsored by the Japanese Nippon Television Network Corporation and its affiliates.

This year marks the 32nd annual telethon traditionally held around the end of August. During the event Nippon Television and affiliated networks countrywide air a series of special programs aimed to promote the charity drive. One of the main events this year involves a famous Japanese TV personality, Ayako Imoto, running three full marathons (126.585 km or about 78.65 miles).

Other promotional events include a 42 km (26 miles) relay swim across the Tsugaru Strait (the waters connecting Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan), an attempt at a record-breaking eight-hour long ping pong rally, and other TV programs with special host NEWS - a Japanese pop group.

There are also fundraising drives for 24 Hour Television at numerous stores around the country. AEON, one of Japan’s large shopping mall chains, is a main participate. For those in the Tokyo area, there will be a special event at the Nissan Global Headquarters’ Gallery in Yokohama.

Tuesday 11 August 2009

Japanese comic superhero drawn to Tokyo Olympic bid

Japanese comic strip football superhero Captain Tsubasa is facing the most challenging match of his storybook career by trying to capture the 2016 Olympic Games for Tokyo.

Bid rivals are Chicago, who have been backed by President Barack Obama, Brazilian football legend Pele has thrown his weight behind Rio while Real Madrid skipper Raul supports the Spanish capital in the race to be host city.

"I'm happy if this can help," said Yoichi Takahashi, the Captain Tsubasa creator, as he drew the comic's main characters in the centre of a huge flag of the Tokyo 2016 Olympic bid committee.

With more messages from top athletes and celebrities, the flag will be displayed in Copenhagen, where the International Olympic Committee will choose the 2016 host city on October 2.

"At the moment, I am drawing a story about an Olympic team and I feel personally attached to the bid," the 49-year-old Takahashi said.

Aside from their 1968 Olympic bronze medal, Japan have struggled in world football. They debuted in the World Cup finals in 1998 and their best result was a last-16 spot in 2002 on home turf.

Captain Tsubasa was launched in a Japanese boys' weekly magazine in 1981. It featured midfielder Tsubasa Oozora (whose name means "big-sky wings" in Japanese) and goalkeeper Genzo Wakabayashi. It has spread around the world in cartoon books, animated films and video games, read and watched avidly by superstars like Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Francesco Totti and Fernando Torres.

AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso admitted that when he was a child he'd always stop a game of football with friends to be in front of his television in time to watch "Holy e Benji," the Italian title of Captain Tsubasa.

Japanese star Hidetoshi Nakata, who retired after the 2006 World Cup, used to mimic one of Tsubasa's trademark overhead kicks. When Shunsuke Nakamura joined Espanyol from Celtic last month, the 31-year-old was asked if he had watched "Campeones: Oliver y Benji," the animated series' Spanish title.

Captain Tsubasa is "Captain Majed" in Arab countries, "Super Campeoes" in Portugal and Brazil, and "Supercampeones" in Spanish-speaking Latin America. North American viewers know him as "Flash Kicker."

Captain Tsubasa boasts a combined Japanese circulation of 900,000 copies; in book form, the stories have sold more than 70 million copies in the country.

Thursday 6 August 2009

Japantown: A taste of culture in San Francisco

A stroll through San Francisco's Japantown takes you past exquisite Victorian homes that escaped the urban-renewal wrecking ball, significant historic sites and elegant temples.

Today Japantown - generally comprising an area between Fillmore and Laguna to the east-west and Geary and Bush to the north-south - is only a remnant of its pre-World War II self. This is because Japantown was emptied during the war when its citizens were forced into internment camps. After the war, some Japanese returned, creating the core of today's Japantown, or Nihonmachi. The area suffered a second blow during the '50s and '60s, when block after block of Victorians were razed to widen Geary Boulevard and create the Japan Center malls.

At Post and Buchanan, the heart of Japan Center, look up at the five-tiered Peace Pagoda. Rising 100 feet over Japantown, the pagoda was designed by Japanese architect Yoshiro Taniguchi and presented as a gift to San Francisco from sister city Osaka. Flanking the pagoda are indoor malls filled with restaurants and shops. Near the entrance to the Kintetsu Mall is an interpretive sign for the first stop of the Japantown History Walk, a self-guided tour through Japantown focusing on history and culture.

From the pagoda, cross Post to walk through Osaka Way (Buchanan Street), the outdoor pedestrian mall. Look at the circular benches and lotus-blossom fountains (now waterless) designed by sculptor Ruth Asawa. Wonderful shops line the mall. Step into the Paper Tree (1743 Buchanan St.), an origami store with a gallery of intricate origami works.

At Sutter, turn right and walk past gorgeous Victorians to the Japanese American Citizens League headquarters (1765 Sutter St.). The JACL works to ensure civil and human rights for Japanese Americans. At Sutter and Laguna, you will find two of Japantown's many religious institutions: the Buddhist Soto Zen Mission Sokoji (1691 Laguna St.), where students of Zen come to meditate, and the Christ United Presbyterian Church (1700 Sutter St.).

Turn left on Laguna and walk north one block to Bush to see the Konko Church of San Francisco (1909 Bush St.). "Konko" means "teaching of the golden light" and teaches Tenchi Kane No Kami, the parent of the universe existing in all things. Open the door and walk inside to feel the room's peaceful simplicity.