Big in Japan: Israel crippled by spring roll strike

by Matthew Firestone on

If you turn on the news these days, it seems that just about every other story is about war, violence and suffering in the Middle East.

And of course, at the center of most of these news items is the Holy Land of Israel, the powder keg of religious tensions that the whole world is scrapping to control.

But in the hopes of kicking off your week on a decidedly more optimistic note, I’ve stumbled across this amusing little news item that I think you’ll like.

Israel has dealt with its fair share of problems since independence, but now you can add to the list one more hardship, namely a spring roll strike.

In an event that makes foodies like myself recoil in fear, Israel is currently being crippled by a spring roll strike that could eventually spread to (gasp!) noodles and (brace yourself!) sushi.

The horror! The horror!

While Asian food has long been the rage in cosmopolitan cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, restaurants are taking popular dishes off the menu in protest.

What’s the subject of contention you ask?

Well, you’ll have to keep reading to learn more about this debilitating news item from the Middle East!

Last Tuesday, nearly 300 restaurants in the Holy Land refused to serve their customers spring rolls in any form, from Chinese-style fried vegetable rolls to Vietnamese-style rice paper rolls.

And, the food strike is on the verge of spiraling out of control, especially since eateries are threatening to cut Asian staples such as noodles and sushi from their menus.

The decision to starve their hungry patrons came in light of the government’s plan to limit the number of foreign chefs permitted to enter Israel.

Currently, work permits for Asian chefs are being cut, and next year the government decided that it will not grant any new permits.

Needless to say, with a clearly divided Jewish and gentile population, Israel has a bit of an identity crisis in terms of the religious make-up of the country.

Anyway, the Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organisation (yes – this is a real organization) is currently waging a war against the government that may soon wind up in the Israeli Supreme Court.

According to Arnon Volosky, the head of the organization, “Customers say they are shocked and can’t live without Asian food. People have been asking to set up a petition to hand in to the government.”

Unfortunatley, the government is not keen on changing their stance, especially since they are committed to training more Israelis to become specialist chefs.

According to Shoshana Strauss, a government lawyer, “Everyone can make Chinese food, it’s not impossible to learn.”

However, the Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organisation is not convinced.

“Some things you have to grow up with” says Volosky. “These restaurants come from a culture that we Israelis don’t have the skills or know-how or cultural behaviour to do well. You have to respect this.”

Agreed. Mr. Volosky and the Israeli Ethnic Restaurant Organisation – you have certainly captured my heart, mind and stomach.

Big in Japan: Japan will send 66-yo Olympian to Beijing

by Matthew Firestone on

With the 2008 Beijing Summer Games right around the corner, I think I can safely say that Olympic fever is in the air…

Then again, with China hosting the event for the first time in the history of the games, maybe it’s safe to say that this year’s Olympic fever may be of the viral kind.

Indeed, it’s hard to turn on the news today without hearing about the impending implications of China’s economic and political coming out party.

But then again, it’s not hard to see why, considering that the Chinese government’s efforts to modernize Beijing haven’t exactly been, um, ethical.

Of course, if you consider massive relocation of the poor, strict media censorship and forced labor to be acceptable practices in the Olympic rulebook, then I guess it’s alright!

(There I said it – looks like Gadling will now be banned in China!)

Anyway, with the increased politicization of this year’s Olympic Games, it’s fairly likely that more and more news stories will slip past the Chinese filters.

Even Steven Spielberg jumped on the bandwagon this week, saying that he was boycotting the games in response to the Chinese government’s alliance with Sudan in light of the genocide in Darfur.

Of course, as this is Gadling and not Human Rights Watch, today I will bring you a decidedly happier news story about one of the world’s oldest Olympians.

This week in Tokyo, news agencies announced that Hiroshi Hoketsu, a 66-year-old equestrian rider, will be Japan’s oldest ever Olympic athlete.

Hoketsu, who will actually be turning the young and sprightly age of 67 next month, and will be competing in the team dressage event after a 44-year break from the Games.

(In case you were wondering, dressage, a French term meaning ‘training,’ is a form of equestrian competition that is centered on standardized progressive training methods to develop a horse’s natural athletic ability.)

Back to the story at hand…

Hoketsu was actually a member of Japan’s equestrian team at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, where he finished 40th in show jumping.

(As you’d imagine, dressage is slightly less potentially damaging to the body than show jumping, especially when you’re in your late 60s).

According to Hideki Yamauchi, an official with the Japan Equestrian Federation, “We are very happy he has been named to the team. It’s quite an accomplishment to return to the Olympics after 44 years.”

Prior to Hoketsu, the previous age record for Japan was set by 63 year-old Miss Kikuko Inoue, who also participated in an equestrian event at the 1988 Seoul Games.

Surprisingly however, Japan doesn’t hold the Olympic age record as the oldest ever competitive athlete was Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who won a gold medal at the age of 64 in the 1912 Stockholm Games, and then returned eight years later, aged 72, to win a silver in Antwerp, Belgium.

I guess that at 27, there is still time for me to win the gold!

(On a side note, today was my 100th posting for Big in Japan, so thanks to everyone out there for checking out my little column here at Gadling!)

** All images are trademarked by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Committee. Illegal use or infringement of these images will result in horrific violations of your human rights that are so depraved and immoral that I’m not permitted by common decency to mention them here **

Big in Japan: Origami planes to be launched into outer space

by Matthew Firestone on

Origami is awesome!

(If you agree with me, then you’ll love today’s posting!)

My obsession with all things Japanese started at a young when I started folding paper cranes out of notebook pages instead of paying attention in class.

Known as origami (????????, paper-folding), this ancient Japanese art seeks to transform a piece of paper into a 3-dimensional object, preferably without cutting or gluing.

So, while my teachers may have thought that I was goofing off, I was actually practicing a centuries’ old art form that dates back to the Japanese Edo period.

Anyway, according to The Times of London, origami is about to be taken into the final frontier, namely outer space.

Seriously.

In a bold attempt to bring increased global attention to this slowly dying art form (as well as the slowly dying Japanese conventional space program!), Japan plans to release a huge squadron of paper airplanes into the stratosphere.

Seriously – I’m not making this up!

These experimental origami space shuttles, which are estimated to number in the hundreds, will be launched into the heavens later this year.

Upon being released, they will be captured by the Earth’s gravitational pull, and glide down towards the surface like kamikaze bombers from the stars.

Keep reading…it gets even cooler!

The man behind the madness is Shinichi Suzuki, a professor at the extremely prestigious University of Tokyo (東京大学), which is something akin to the Harvard of Japan.

According to Professor Suzuki, astronomers will be given plenty of warning of the planes’ descents as he believes it will take several months for the space armada to glide from the upper atmosphere to the planet’s surface.

If successful, the planes would qualify for the longest ever flight by a paper plane!

If successful, each plane’s journey will have been around 250 miles or 400km!

So, how does one exactly fold origami planes capable of travelling hundreds of miles through the earth’s atmosphere without burning up into huge fire balls??

Good question!

First of all, the paper aircraft will be constructed from a special heat-proofed paper able to withstand the intense heat that stellar objects experience when they enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

And, the paper will also be chemically fortified to survive the enormous speeds that the planes will be travelling at during descent.

According to Professor Suzuki, the origami planes will each measure around 8 inches (20 cm), and weigh just one ounce (30 grams).

This compact size will enable them to be hurled into space by Japanese astronauts when they visit the International Space Station later this summer.

So, do we have to worry about being pelted from above by kamikaze origami? Most likely not.

Assuming the planes don’t disintegrate, they will probably splashdown in the deep ocean, much like the early Apollo space missions.

However, if one floats down to solid ground, the lucky finder can actually unfold the plane and discover the return address of the Japan Space Agency!

Just ask Professor Suzuki…

“It’s going to be the space version of a message in a bottle. It will be great if someone picks one up. We are thinking of writing messages on the planes saying ‘if found, please contact us’ in a couple of languages.”

Gotta’ love the Japanese!

** All of the photos in this article were taken by Kiyoshi Ota of the Asia division of Reuters News. They were originally published in The Times. **

Big in Japan: Cell phones don’t give you brain cancer

by Matthew Firestone on

In this day and age of modern convenience, it seems that just about everything can kill you…

Not surprisingly, we live in a culture of fear where everything from artificial sweeteners and egg yolks to acid wash jeans and hair dye can give you cancer.

And of course, there is no greater culprit out there than the cellular phone, which beams high energy waves directly into your brain causing irrevocable damage.

(Or, at least that’s what the media would have you believe.)

Although several studies in the past have suggested that extended cell phone use may lead to brain cancer, a new study out of Japan suggests otherwise.

According to a recent study at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, researchers found no increased risk of the three main types of brain cancer among regular cellular phone users.

In other words, extended cell phone use most likely does not raise the risk of developing brain tumors.

Shocked?
Skeptical?
Doubtful?
Intrigued?

Before moving to Japan, I used to be an epidemiologist in a former life (seriously!), so let me do my best to explain why you shouldn’t feel guilty about your ‘free nights and weekends’ cell plan.

In a study published in the British Journal of Cancer, Japanese researchers compared 322 brain cancer patients and 683 healthy people in a trial to determine the long-term effects of using cell phones.

The researchers rated each test subject to determine two important variables: how many years they had been using a cell phone, and how many minutes they spent talking on it each day.

In what is being described as a breakthrough research method, the researchers also studied the radiation emitted from various types of cell phones, and categorized them based on radiation strength.

(In layman’s terms, we’re talking about how zap to the brain each phone lets out.)

Are you with me so far? Hope so!

According to lead researcher Professor Naohito Yamaguchi, “Using our newly developed and more accurate techniques, we found no association between mobile phone use and cancer, providing more evidence to suggest they don’t cause brain cancer.”

So there it is.

(Well, sort of…)

You see, the problem with medical science is that you can never fully prove or disapprove an association.

But, you can provide evidence to suggest the likelihood of one way or the other, which is why popular opinion on whether or not something is good for you can quickly swing.

However, most studies to date have suggested that cell phone usage is not association with an increased risk of cancer. The largest study to date, which followed 420,000 people for ten years, failed to find any evidence of a cancer trend.

So do cell phones give you brain cancer?

Most likely not, though it is impossible to rule out the long-term effects as cell phones haven’t been around long enough to analyze the effects of lifetime usage.

So, hopefully we should all have an answer to this question sometime in the next few decades…

Isn’t science fun?

** Brain image sourced from the Wikimedia Commons Project. Keitai images were shot by me on Takeshita-dori in Harajuku**

Big in Japan: Drinking breast milk and other bizarre fetishes

by Matthew Firestone on

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, which means that a lot of people out there are searching for Mr. and Mrs. Right…

But, in this bustling modern day age of midnight deadlines and overtime-laden schedules, who has the time to put themselves out there and find true love?

Then again, for anyone keen on avoiding the trials and tribulations of the dating game, you can always take out a classified advertisement.

Although it may not be romantic, classified ads are certainly quick, easy and functional.

And, if you happen to be looking for something a bit more – how shall we say this – kinky, they’re also a great way of maintaining your anonymity.

In Tokyo, the much-loved Metropolis magazine runs what is perhaps the most famous classified ads section in Japan, especially for anyone out there with an unusual fetish.

In a special list compiled this week, Metropolis gave us all an insight into just how bizarre Tokyoites and resident foreigners can be.

Don’t believe me? Check this one out:

Breast milk wanted. British guy, 33, looking for a kind woman of any nationality, ideally under 40, who can feed a hungry boy. 100% confidential. My first time.

It gets weirder…keep on reading if you don’t believe me!

This Valentine’s Day, it seems that infidelity is in the air, especially since breaking the sacred bonds of marriage seems to be about as popular here in Tokyo as the new line of Luis Vuiton handbags.

Looking to put a bit of spice back into your married life?

Try having an affair!

Not sure where to start?

Here are some lonely people who can help you rekindle that old flame:

– Unhappily married man. Love humor, fun, relaxing, playing, thinking, sex, reading, learning, honesty, trust, really bad jokes, singing off-key. Hate vegetables, Bush, unhappiness.

– JM, married but tall, fit and very handsome, seeks woman for discreet meetings. I’m tired of marital days. Good-looking Caucasian or Asian girl preferred.

– Bored.in.my.marriage.com. Are you stuck at this address? If your husband doesn’t love, physically excite or listen to you, I’ll do it for him. For both of us. Lovers first.

– Fun sex friend. Seeking discreet sex friend for rendezvous in Shibuya. Ideally looking for a sex-starved married woman. I’ll bring the Viagra, you just have to bring yourself. Handsome, kind and fit American seeks married Japanese lady for nothing but good times! Remember, you only live once. So come on.

Of course, for those of us not into extra-marital affairs, there’s no shortage of strange fetishists out there looking for a special kind of love/lust this V-day season.

How strange is the dating scene in Tokyo you ask?

Let’s just say that the following classified ads certainly speak for themselves!

Kinky lady. Open-minded, uninhibited, wild, curious, humorous, good-looking, SJM, 30s, seeks female for kinky fun. Just licking and cleaning all her holes, and drinking and wearing her golden water!

Italian man, new in Kawasaki, wants chubby or quasi-fat lady to be with. Should enjoy eating. Any nationality.

(Here’s the kicker…)

A little different. 55-year-old Western businessman, into wearing diapers. Who wants to email me?

Wow – you know what? I think this Valentine’s Day, I’ll just settle for a cold beer and dinner for one at my favorite ramen noodle shop…

From all of us here at Gadling to all of you out there in cyberspace, hope you’ve found love this V-day season that doesn’t involve drinking breast milk, golden water (gross) and wearing diapers!

** All images sourced from the Wikimedia Commons Project **