Monthly Archives: June 2008

Japanese vampires and some neat photos

Posted on June 12, 2008 | Leave a comment

We at The Hawaii Herald hope you all enjoyed Kamehameha Day – that is, if you were lucky enough to get the day off. If you did, welcome back to work. If you didn’t, well, the weekend is just around the corner. Need help passing time until tomorrow? Try these two stories:

  • Jenny Haworth writes in The Scotsman that Japanese “vampire” bugs could be let loose on the Japanese knotweed, which is wrecking havoc over Scotland and the UK. The bug, which sucks the sap from the plant, is needed in the country because the knotweed has no natural enemies in Scotland.

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Posted in Art, Science

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Today’s bullets

Posted on June 9, 2008 | Leave a comment
  • The war of words between directors Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood on the role of African Americans in the fight for Iwo Jima is heating up. From this Time article by Alex Altman: “‘Clint Eastwood made two films about Iwo Jima that ran for more than four hours total, and there was not one Negro actor on the screen,’ Lee said at the Cannes Film Festival. ‘In his version of Iwo Jima, Negro soldiers did not exist.’ Eastwood’s counter: ‘Has he ever studied history? [African-American soldiers] didn’t raise the flag,’ he said. ‘If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, they’d say, “This guy’s lost his mind.’” Eastwood also told Lee to ‘shut his face,’ prompting Lee to amplify the racism charge: ‘[Eastwood] is not my father and we’re not on a plantation, either,’ he fumed. ‘I’m not making this up. I know history.’”
  • The Contra Costa Times describes how a life-planning class for Japanese-speaking seniors in El Cerrito is thriving and looks to continue well into the future.
  • Roger Shimomura, a former internee turned artist, will have his work displayed this summer. From the Joplin Independent: “[The exhibit] showcases a selection of works that illustrate Shimomura’s uniquely bicultural style and penchant for integrating images from ukiyo-e woodcut prints with images from American popular culture. It’s been described as ‘Pop Art with a Japanese twist.’ Using humor as a weapon, his artwork moves from ironic constructions of cultural identity to biting denunciations of racial prejudice.”

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Posted in Art, Entertainment, Japanese American internment, Japanese Americans, Sports

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The six thousand dollar watermelon, Eastwood and Takei

Posted on June 6, 2008 | Leave a comment

It’s Aloha Friday and what better way to prepare for the weekend than by reading about Star Trek alumni, Clint Eastwood and high-end watermelons?

  • Star Trek alum George Takei speaks to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on his interment experience. Want more news on the soon-to-be-wed Takei? Check out Wednesday’s post on him here.
  • What does a $6,100 Densuke watermelon taste like? wonders the Daily Dish blog from the Los Angeles Times. Or better yet, what IS a Densuke watermelon? From said blog: “The 17-pound black melon is considered the cream of the crop, one of only 65 from the first harvest of the season. The fruit is only grown on the northern island of Hokkaido, adding to its value.”

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Posted in Entertainment, Food, Japan news, Japanese American internment, Japanese Americans

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The big batch blog post

Posted on June 5, 2008 | Leave a comment

Lucky you, Hawaii Herald faithful. Today’s post is a big batch of links to amuse you at work. Read on and enjoy!

  • Is the cultural identity of Southern California’s Little Tokyo in danger because of non-Japanese residents? This blog in the Los Angeles Times has the answer – or is it the question?
  • Mark Brown tells us why Japanese baseball players have little incentive to remain in Japan in this article in The Arizona Republic. Here’s a hint: It has little to do with baseball, and lots to do with advertising.
  • From The Yomiuri Shimbun: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that denying Japanese nationality to children born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and foreign mothers is unconstitutional, overturning a lower court decision.”
  • The team behind Casino Drive, the Japanese favorite to upset Big Brown’s triple crown bid this weekend, doesn’t seem to mind the trash talking going on behind the scenes at the Belmont Stakes, says Tom Luicci of The Star-Ledger.

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Posted in Updates

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Star Trek’s George Takei and his partner set the date

Posted on June 4, 2008 | Leave a comment

George Takei, best known for his role as Mr. Sulu in the popular television series Star Trek, has set a wedding date with Brad Altman, his partner of 20 years. The Sept. 14 wedding will take place at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The announcement comes on the heels of the California State Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.

Takei says that the event will be a star-studded affair, with Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov on Star Trek, serving as best man and Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on the series, will be the matron of honor. Also in attendance will be Leonard Nimoy, who is famous for his Spock character. William Shatner, however, looks like he will be left off the guest list at the 200-seat affair.

If you, like Shatner, are one of the many who will not be attendance at the wedding, fear not, you can still catch the 71-year-old Takei in the new Adam Sandler movie You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.

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Posted in Entertainment

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Poetry boxing and the art of the verbal jab

Posted on June 3, 2008 | Leave a comment

It’s no secret that technology has grown exponentially over the past decade. But has human interaction suffered because of that growth? There are some in Japan who say yes.

A decade ago, as a response to lessening face-to-face interactions, the Japan Reading Boxing Association founded a new “sport” called poetry boxing. It’s just as competitive and brutal as regular boxing, but with an added, intellectual, twist: The competitors use words, not fists, to crown a champion.

From an interesting article by David McNeill in The Independent:

Anything is fair game, as long as it stays within the three-minute time limit. Competitors come armed with haiku poems, manga, fairy-tales, mini-dramas, dance and hip-hop set to monologues about everything from politics to natto – Japan’s famously smelly fermented bean paste.

The competition draws verbal gladiators from across the nation, and from every layer of Japanese society: students, housewives, the disabled, teachers, salary-men, pensioners. The youngest is 15, the oldest so far was 93, though he never got past a local heat. Some compete year after year.

So if you are in Japan today, you might want to head over to Yokohama, where the top-16 competitors will square off. And if you are too far from Tokyo to make it, fear not, the national champion will not be crowned until November. Hey, these boxers need time to heal.

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Posted in Entertainment, Japan news, Sports

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