Tuna, 金枪鱼，まぐろ，好吃，Delicious

Whatever you call the fish, Tuna, 金枪鱼，まぐろ; whatever way you cook it, Sasimi, Sushi, salad, raw, cooked, baked, steamed, stir fried, Tuna is delicious.

However, as even trendy Chinese start eating Tuna fish sasimi and sushi rolls, the delicacy becomes a problem. (thinking about how much fish will be needed to feed 1.3 billion people...), International Tuna Association held a meeting in Japan today, in a aim to reduce fishing amount for Tuna. Out of 23 counties attended, every country, including Japan and China, agreed (forcibly) to reduce fishing Tuna by 11%.

It seems that everything is good until everyone in the World, especially people in China agree so and act on it.

How much else more can I say? poor Tuna,金枪鱼，まぐろ..

Japan's minister is asked to step down

Following the Mr. Yanagisawa's statement that women are reproducing machines, a big uproar is stirred up in Japan's politics. Today, three opposition party leaders jointly asked him to step down, otherwise, congress members from the parties will boycott Japan's undergoing Diet sessions.

Even inside his own party, Mr. Yagagisawa faces harsh criticizes, request him to step down is growing louder. How this drama will play out? Will he step down? And what's your take on this?

Japan's Health Minister:Women are reproducing Machines

Mr. Yanagiyawa, Japan's minister for Labor, Health and Welfare, said women are machines for reproducing during a public speech appearance. His words have stirred up a shock wave around Japan's politics.

Amid Japan's ever reducing population and births, a severe social problem facing Japan as I profiled before, there is no surprising that politicians are eager to encourage women in Japan to give more birth, however, with such a cabinet level speech, it is no doubt that Japanese women felt insulted.

If you want to encourage people, give them more money and less insulations.

Movie: Rape of Naking is ready for release

AOL Business executive turned Movie director Ted Leonsis is rubbing shoulders with film distributors in Utah, where annual Sundance Movie Festival is being held. Leonsis's first movie, Nanking, based on the famed book-Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang.

Costing him 2 millions to make, Nanking is edited in Hongkong and in mainland China. After viewing the movie a dozen times, Mr. Lenosis said to Washington Post, "It is really hit me. It's the first time that I can't believe I had an idea, and now we're in a movie theater watching a movie I made."

Can the movie be the Chinese version of Steven Spielberg" Schindler's List"? You can hear a introduction of the movie by Ted Leonsis himself in the following video.

Yomiuri War Responsiblitity Project

Takahiko Tennichi, editorial writer for Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, came to George Washington University in DC this week to talk about "Reconciliation between China and Japan: a search for solutions" .

Tennichi's report is conclusion of a year long campaign to clarify responsibility for the World War II. In his word, "As for China, Japan must accept the fat that is actions there... ocnstitued an acto of aggression.", however, "looking at apan as the sole villain is too biased a viewpoint from which to judge Japan's history."

Yomiuri Shimbun itself is considered to be a leaning towards right media in Japan. Nevertheless, Yomiuri campaign is the first attempt by a media to clarify the responsibility of the war leaders. Read the text of presentation here.

Rinko Kikuchi-Oscar Nominee

As Academy Awards nomination announced this morning, only Asian actor/actress that is nominated to compete the little gold men is Rinko Kikuchi, who is nominated for best support role at the movie Babel. Kikuchi is a rising Japanese star that I profiled here.


Besides Kikuchi, "Letters from Iwajima" is also nominated for best picture. However, in my opinion, Japanese actor-Ken Watanabe, deserve a seat for best actor, his performance as a Japanese solider is excellent.

China Japan News Roundup

1.Japan's own-Shinkansen (bullet train) starts running in China. As China and Japan's rail tracks share same distance, a train MIJ(Made in Japan) will be handily fit in. Currently 3 rails routes that connecting Shanghai with Hangzhou, Shanghai with Nanjing and Beijing with Qingdao will be using Japanese train cars. If the trains run well, it is likely that Chinese will use them to connect Beijing and Shanghai.

2.Chinese primer Wen Jia Bao will give a speech to Japan's Diet(Congress) when he visits Tokyo in April. The agreement is reached between Chinese top diplomat Tang Jiaxuan and Japanese side.

3.China and Japan's tour industry delegates agree to exchange 20,000 people from each county every year.

China is pissed off by Japan, Again...

Just when I am celebrating the coming of a early Spring in Sino-Japan Relations, and a possible summer for Chinese tourist industry, Japan's Shinzo Abe went to Europe and told everyone to not sell weapons to the Chinese, no wonder Beijing is angry again.

The decade long arms embargo to China, is a result of 1989 Tiananmen massacre, when EU and Americans rushed to put sanctions over China. However, the no more pressures on democracy, this time, Japan's concern(also shared by Americans such as Condi Rice)is all about China's military buildup, which worries Tokyo a great deal. No top of the North Korea's nuclear tests, Beijing seems to be a bigger threat to the Japanese leaders.

China lushed out against Abe's "bad mouth", even with his photogenic pose with Germany's Merkel, a popular figure with China, it didn't help too much. China MoFA(ministry of Foreign Affairs) spokesman said, the arms sells has nothing to do with japan, and China's buildup won't hurt Japan, China has strongly protested.

Japanese Tourists Wanted

China use to be a popular destination for cash rich Japanese tourists, just a short 4 hour flight away, China is huge, with many kinds of varieties. However, since the anti-japan riots took place in April, 2005, in which the strong sentiments against Japan clearly stunned many Japanese. On top of that, Japanese people is not known for risk taking, a hostile China is just too much a hassle for many Japanese senior/retired people, who consists of majority of tourists to China each year.

With the spring is coming, ices between Tokyo and Beijing is also melting away, many see a certain surge of tourists to China from Japan。 According to Xinhua's this story, Sun Yulong, mayor of city of Dunhuang(敦煌), where a World Heritage listed fiasco is located is one of the people. Mr. Sun is in Tokyo to promote his city to Japanese's tour industry.

Maybe after the icy politics is melting away, the spring will come to tour industry, too?

Spring has come for China Japan Relations-News Roundup

1. Spring has come for Sino-Japan Relations? At today's East Asian Summit being held at an island resort of Philippines, Japan's Abe met with China' Wen, North Korea is their topic of the day. Even they differ in how to deal with Pyongyang, They agree to deal with Pyongyong.

2. One of China's newspapre, International Herald, features a special report on reconstruction after the anti-Japan riot in Shanghai in April, 2005. The newspaper's editor told Japan's Yomiuri that since Abe's visit to China last September, things in China have changed in favor of Japan, under such environment can a story like this able to be published.(Yomiuri Japanese version)

3. Poison milk from Yukijirushi, outdated cake from Fujiya, Japan's food is not safe anymore, "Kingdom of quality" is turning into another China, where poison rice wines and fake drugs kill hundreds of people each year?

This time, the maker of the western style cakes-Fujiya, is a wellknown brand and has been around since 1802, however, "A day after acknowledging it shipped thousands of cream puffs that were produced using milk that had passed its expiry date, Fujiya Co. said it also distributed cakes that were not fit for human consumption" (Asahi English)

Japan's UN bidding war starts again

Japan's Premier Shinzo Abe is visiting Germany and held talks with Sekai Ninki(Worldwide popular)German Chancellor-Angela Merkel. Instead of talking Iran or North Korea as Abe did with his British counterpart Tony Blair, he asked merkel's support for Japan's bid for a seat in UN's security council. Both Japan and Germany are bidding for a seat, and both countries are part of failed Group-4 in which four countries(India and Brazil are the other two) worked together to gain a seat.

While Merkel received warm welcome and blessings from Beijing, and she smoozed so well with China's Hu and Wen, Germany is well positioned to get a seat under Ban Ki Moon's UN. While Abe's Japan is a different story, with the ice between Beijing and Tokyo is dissolving, Wen is due to visit Japan in 3 months, and IF Abe indeed restrains himself and his cabinet members visiting the Yasukuni Shrine,Tokyo may will be blessed by Beijing in no time, soon.

Breaking News: United is fly Direct from DC to BJ

Just announced on the United Airlines website, that U.S. Department of Transportation has approved United's application to open a direct flight linking two most dynamic capitals together, a nonstop flight from Washington DC, USA to Beijing, China.

It is a certainly a good thing for both business and government, but most beneficial party will be common Chinese and American Joes, who have been increasing dramatically in recent years.

I am happy too, because I wrote a letter in favor of United's proposal, and it worked!
Yeh!

The new flight will be officially start on March 25th, and the as everyone is concerned, the price is not set yet. I hope the price will not be shooting out of the roof so we consumers can actually use the flight.

The United's Press Release on the flight is here.

After Wen, Hu is visit Japan, too

It seems this year will be a ice breaking year for both leaders of Japan and China, during yesterday's meeting between China's top diplomat Tang Jiaxuan and Japan's Komei Party president Oda, an agreement has be reached that After Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Japan in April, President Hu Jintao will go to Tokyo in June. Wen and Hu's visits will mark the first visit from Chinese top leaders in over 6 years. And Hu's visit will also draw worldwide attention, last time when Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Japan, his harsh criticize over Japan's World War II wherever he went was so unpopular with Japanese people that even today he was partly blamed for the frozen relationship between the two most important countries in Asia.

Certainly, the Chinese are smart at bargaining,too. Even without a media report about weather Japanese Primer Shinzo Abe will have to agree to visit China some time this year and not to visit Yasukuni Shrine publicly and Officially, As Tang Jiaxuan requested. I am certainly in exchange Abe will have to visit China and say NO to Yasukuni for the time being. (weather Abe will visit Yasukuni sneakily and unofficially like he did last time in April, 2006 will be a different story, as long as no media reports and no Chinese leaders know)

Wen is to visit Japan in April-SinoJapan News Roundup

Today is Coming of Age day in Japan, Good luck to all new adults (anyone that reaches 20 years birthday in Japan).

1.China's Premier Wen Jiabao is scheduled to visit Tokyo in April, told by Chinese top diplomat, Japanese speaking Tang Jiaxuan to visiting Japan's Komei Party president Oda. The Chinese message is more clearer than Yellow River, from now until April, Shinzo Abe is not going to visit Yasukuni, otherwise, Chinese will still have plenty of time to either reschedule or completely conceal the trip. Besides Wen's visit, Tang Jiaxuan also asks Shinzo Abe to visit China again some time this year(2007)? Maybe the Chinese are still not sure about his lighting speed visit to China right after his election to be Japan's Prime Minister, too symbolic?
(Asahi Shimbun)

2.Education of Confucius is coming back in Shanghai. During the Cultural Revolution, Red guards burned all Confucius books and took down Confucius statues. However, as currently Chinese society is losing confidence in communism and people are desperate for any beliefs to hang on, the traditions such as Confucius has a huge coming back.

"中国では、共産党政権の下で「封建的な考え方」だと批判されてきた儒教が今、再び見直されています。上海には「論語」を教える教室も登場しました。

　４歳から１５歳の子供たちが朗読しているのは、「論語」の教科書。毎日３時間みっちり授業は続きます。

　「楽しい気分で読むと自然に（論語が）好きになれます」（生徒）

　急速な経済成長によって社会の格差が広がり、多くの若者が価値観を見失っている今、中国古来の道徳が役に立つというのです。

　「論語が説く教えによって、複雑な時代にも平常心を保つことができます」（先生）

　文化大革命の時代には、「封建的な考え方だ」と攻撃された儒教ですが、上海の下町にある孔子廟（びょう）は市民の手で守られてきました。

　このほど同じ敷地にある図書館が３０年ぶりに復興しました。当時、蔵書はすべて焼かれてしまいましたが、市民の家で眠っていた「論語」などを根気強く収集したのです。

　「ここには中国伝統文化の傑作があります」（上海市民）

　毛沢東思想の限界を２５００年前の孔子が補う。中国ならではの奥の深さです。"（TBS 08日08:57）

Masi Oka-a rising star in Hollywood

Staring the NBC's hit TV show, Heroes, Masi Oka plays a supermen type-Nakamura. He was born in Tokyo in 1974, however, from his interview on Jay Leno's Tonight show, you can't tell that he has any accents.

Oka is also scheduled to play a leading role in the movie-21, a story based on the Bestseller-"Bring down the house", about 6 MIT graduates to count cards and beat the Las Vegas Casinos millions of dollars.

Oka seems to be a smart, intelligent and calm, however stereotype he may represent, he is no doubt a rising Asian American star in Hollywood.

Year of Boar-Today in China and Japan

Oldest lady in Japan celebrates her 114 year birthday today. Yoneko Minakawa has five childeren, seven grandchildren, and tweleve great great-grandchildren.

China allows foreign journalists to cover China without obtaining a official permit first. The new rule will be a step forward and will be only available from January 1 of 2007 to October, 2008, right after the Beijing Olympics.

The year of Boar kicks off in Japan, while in China, it is still two and a half months away, the lunar New Year of Boar in China will start on Feb. 18th.

Regarding the year of Boar, in China, it is said that it will be a lucky year for a baby birth, as every baby will be a Pig Baby, with blessings of abundance, properity and health. There is a wedding rush going on in China, check out my previous post here.

In Japan, history shows that after the World War II, every year of Boar result in a up in Tokyo stock market, so are you ready? Set and Go, delivery a baby and invest in stocks.

China Japan News Roundup

Facing a declining rate of new birth and population, Japan is set to put out a new policy to encourage couples to have more babies, including monetary compensations to parents with a young kid from under 2 years old, etc. (Asahi Shimbun)

Today's the last for the New Year Holiday week long celebration in Japan, major roads surrendering Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka are seeing 10-15 mile long traffic jam. Called U-Turn Rush in Japan, it is a returning traffic from visiting families outside of the metropolitan areas. (Yomiuri Shimbun)

A tug of war is breaking in China, Should restaurants charge fees for opening bottles brought in by consumers? As Chinese New Year is coming, more restaurants are looking for ways to increase revenue, however, a western habit that charges to open wine or champagne bottles is not readily accepted in China, currently it seems that public opinions are against such a fee. (Xinhua)