The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an international organization whose goal is stop whaling. They do this primarily by sinking whaling vessels. In January, their new “stealth” speed-boat, the Ady Gil, was split in two when they parked it in front of a moving whaling ship (the Japanese 第二昭南丸 Shonen Maru 2). A month later, Peter Bethune boarded the Shonen Maru 2, claiming to be making a citizen’s arrest of its crew. Bethune is currently held in a maximum-security prison in Japan. Whether or not you agree with whaling, these guys are more a bunch of eco-terrorists than they are “activists”. Bethune only seemed to forcibly board the Shonen to get revenge after they destroyed his Ady Gil (which was a rather expensive racing boat before being used as a weapon).

The Cove – Controversy in the Theaters

The Cove is a documentary on the killing of dolphins in Japan that has had trouble reaching theaters. The film highlights the atrocities against dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama. Since its release in the United States in 2009, its producers have tried to get it shown in Japan and mostly failed. The controversy concerning the film is not just about where it has (or, as the case may be, hasn’t) been shown. The film’s producers falsely presented its premise to many of the Japanese fishermen that appeared in it. The film will, hopefully, finally be showing in Japan in a few theaters sometime soon. With recent studies showing dangerous levels of mercury in dolphin meat, supporters of the film hope that its message will have a deeper impact.

International Whaling Commission

The IWC is an American organization established by the US Government in 1946. It exists to set international policy and rules on whaling, but has no real power to enforce its rules. The IWC is a bit of mixed bag: it exists to allow whaling to continue, but in a restricted, monitored manner. Through the IWC, Japan has given millions of dollars in support money to developing countries.

The Tokyo 2

Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are two anti-whaling activists, who, in June of 2008, intercepted a box of whale meat from a delivery company. Their goal? To expose a massive system of fraud in the Japanese whaling industry. Trouble is, they were arrested and held for 26 days in 2008 and have been facing trial until now. Their verdict is due on September 8th. The two men retrieved the meat samples from a delivery center in Aomori and turned it in to the police. After a short investigation, the meat was found to be “souvenirs” and, purportedly, not meant for sale. The two were then arrested for trespassing and theft and have been awaiting trial for two years.

I realize this post is a bit late, but I was sick yesterday and today and have been spending all of my free time sleeping and taking cold medicine.

Robby’s can be summed up in one word:

かわいい

Cute stuff is everyone in Japan, from advertisements to clothing to the warnings on the sides of train tracks telling you not to do stupid things on them.

Eun Ki’s was about food. And I’m still hungry from reading it. Eun Ki showed foods from all over Japan, many of which we’ve enjoyed as a group. Seriously, I’m still hungry… where are my hashi…

Andrew presented the cleanliness of Japan… or not. Japan is an urbanized nation with pockets of rural-ness. While clean and sanitary, its cities are still filled with sky scrapers and power lines. Still, you can find peace in gardens and rice fields.

Arguments approving of the Bombing

The arguments for the bombing are primarily based on the idea that the bombings were the primary cause for Japan’s surrender.

Preferable to Invasion

The first argument presented in the article is that the bombings were preferable to an invasion. An invasion force would have been met with a particularly defensive Japan. On the Japanese side, millions of casualties (both military and civilian) were expected. Japan had made preparations to resist a major invasion by extending draft requirements to allow for an additional 28 million troops. If an invasion took place, Japan also planned to execute all Allied PoWs.

Saved lives

The second argument is not specific to the bombing, but rather the swift end to the war that they provided. Without a prompt Japanese surrender, it had been determined that there would be a continuous loss of life in China and throughout the Pacific. The total numbers were calculated at around 250,000 dead each month that the war continued.

“Total War”

Members of the US Military argued that Japan was engaging in “total war” – forcing its citizens, including women and children, to work and fight its enemies (the National Mobilization Law, 国家総動員法). Attacking a major port city was a “key offensive decision” by the US under these circumstances. Additionally, it was argued that, at the time, there were no laws or treaties declaring any protections for civilians during wartime.

Refusal to Surrender

To my knowledge, this is the primary argument for the bombing in retrospect. It has long been argued that the Japanese government – primarily, its military leaders – refused to surrender to the United States. The concept of “bushido” is often considered the source for this view of surrender as dishonorable. Even after the bombings, many of the conservative leaders in Japan still refused to accept the terms of their surrender.

Arguments against the Bombing

War Crimes

Many argue that the bombings were war crimes because they targeted cities with civilian populations rather than military installations. Even Albert Einstein is noted for having this view, and a quote by Leo Szilard explicitly states his view on the matter. Most of the scientists responsible for creating the atomic bombs were against their use.

State Terrorism

Others go further to argue that the bombings were state terrorism. This argument links the forced surrender of the Japanese to the mass murder of their civilians and claims that the use of civilian casualties to force a surrender is an act of terrorism. A number of historians and scholars are quoted.

Militarily Unnecessary

Another argument in the article is that the bombings were “militarily unnecessary”.  Many in the US Military considered the Japanese army to already have been defeated. Japan was considering surrender, though with much higher conditions than those that the United States wanted. Admiral Nimitz is quoted as saying, after the fact, that the atomic bombs “played no decisive part” in the defeat of Japan.

Some of the arguments aren’t well developed in the article. There is limited support for the bombings being out-right immoral, but it is more a matter of the article being a collection of quotes rather than an analysis of either side. The belief that the Japanese were dehumanized by the American government is also presented with quotations but limited analysis. There is an extensive debate on whether the bombings were significant in forcing the Japanese surrender, especially with Russia’s entry into the Pacific war. Many researchers and scholars believe that it may have been Russia’s entry that brought the Japanese to surrender, rather than the aftermath of the atomic bombings.

My first entry is a drawing by someone who appears to go by “も。” – an ink and colored pencil sketch of Hatsune Miku by a member of the AIC hanging on the fourth floor of Nexus21

Vocaloid doujins in a manga shop (Animate). The two at the bottom left are 4-koma’s about “Hachune Miku”, Hatsune Miku’s stand-in `chibi` character. The ones at the top are unofficial mangas about Hatsune Miku as a singer.

Sonika, Hiyama Kiyoteru, Kaai Yuki, Megpoid and Gackpoid, all sitting next to a copy of AutoTune at a music store. Three different developers are represented here: Zero-G, AH-Software, and INTERNET. Yamaha makes the underlying software and other companies, most notably Crypton Future Media (creators of Miku) create the voice packs.

The reason I went to said music store was to pick up the voice set on the left, “Append”. Pictured are Miki and the original Hatsune Miku. Also seen is FL Studio, which is a sort of honorary member of the Vocaloid ‘world’ – FL-Studio is represented by “FL-chan”.

Hatsune Miku Nendoroid figure. More interesting is the bottom shelf which has two Kagamine Rin figures and another Hatsune Miku figure. In the background is the box for the voice synthesizer.

Black★Rock Shooter is a character from a Vocaloid music video that will appear in an anime OVA in the fall.

4′-tall cardboard cutout of Miku in front of the Teito Game Station in Hondori, inside of which was…

… a Miku crane game. There were two other similar machines, but no sign of the rhythm game Project Diva: Arcade. I’m not entirely sure what was in this thing, but I believe it was a small figure in a ball.

Project Diva 2nd advertisement board at a game store in downtown Hiroshima City. The game, the sequel to Project Diva and in the same vane a rhythm game for the Sony PlayStation Portable, is set for release on July 29th.

As if the ad at the game store wasn’t enough, this massive booth at an electronics store in Shoko Center was nestled in a corner of a rather bleak game section. It was the most prominent display on that side of the store.

And I’ll end with more PVC figures and phone charms. Except for the two Strike Witches figures, this entire cabinet was filled with Vocaloid merchandise.

Bonus picture: Vocaloid on my laptop, because I own the software.

So that’s that, a short album of Vocaloid pictures from my time so far in Japan. From college art projects to video games, crane games and PVC figures, Vocaloid products are really popular in Japan. One thing I don’t have a picture of is the cashier at the manga store in the SkyMall in Hondori, who was wearing a Hatsune Miku pin when I went to buy the Re:Mikus CD (I had a different cashier also wearing a Miku pin when I bought the Angel Beats! CDs this past weekend).

1. Part I: The Japanese Language and Computers
   1. Early Japanese Computers
      1. How was Japanese rendered?
         1. Katakana
         2. Hiragana
         3. Romaji
      2. How was real Japanese encoded?
   2. The drive for better displays
      1. Kanji
      2. Input methods
2. Part II: Portable Electronics
   1. Language + Portable Electronics
   2. Portability – how the Japanese People liked their Gizmos
      1. Memory cards and Internet access
   3. Why the iPod failed in Japan
      1. Early iPods were tied to computers
      2. No memory card readers (still)
   4. The iPhone – Why Japan loves an American Product
      1. Display → Language
      2. It’s a phone. → Portability
      3. Japanese people open up to “anchored” devices → Computer requirement is OK

Sony recently unveiled a flexible OLED display. It can be rolled up while still displaying full-color video. The total resolution is 432×240. The interesting thing to note: Outside of the linked source above, most other news sources are toting the display as a “video wall scroll”.