News items from Japansugoi, Everything Cool About Japan

If you aren’t familiar with the issue, the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute is an international political territorial conflict between the governments of South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo/Takeshima Island. (Dokdo is the Korean name for the island, Takeshima the Japanese name. The English name is “Liancourt Rocks”.)

The issue appears in the Korean national media on a yearly basis, especially when related incidents, especially ones that seem to intentionally agitate, make headlines.

There is a huge disparity in the public awareness of the issue in each country, though. In Korea, everyone knows about it, and they discuss it passionately. There are images of the island on t-shirts, the sides of shoes, and even in Dunkin’ Donuts:

Text under “Do you know?” reads:
Dokdo is territory of the Republic of Korea!
(T-shirts cost ~$2.99 USD)

On Naver.com, the most popular Korean website, the header is displayed as follows:

The small image of an island next to the Naver logo reads, “Defend Dokdo!”

Meanwhile, in Japan, as I wanted to spark a heated discussion in an advanced-level course, I presented them with the topic and recent history of the Dokdo/Takeshima Island dispute. I had hoped they’d be able to logically discuss the issues and present their opinions of both national medias. “What’s Takeshima?” they asked.

      

Can you guess how old the pretty model in the photos is? Her name is Rika Tomita 冨田リカ, a Tokyo Eiwa University graduate 東洋英和女学院大学, housewife and former kindergarten and cram school teacher turned...

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Jpop queen Koda Kumi has teamed up with Fergie for a new song released in early June called Aint That Cool. The video featurs Koda Kumi with new look short black hair.  The song was not well...

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From 1958 to the late 1960s, Suntory Whisky サントリーウイスキー created an advertising character called Uncle Torys. The well known animated character was created by Ryohei Yanagihara 柳原 良平 who was the...

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You can’t go wrong when you combine global superstar Mariah Carey and Japanese superstar Jpop group SMAP. Here’s a video clip of Maria appearing on SMAP’s TV variety show...

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Did you know the original Elecom Egg mouse is now 20 years old? In mid May, Elecom launched the newest series of Egg Mice, the M-EGUR series available six colors white, grey, blue, orange, black and...

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According the folks at Visionofhumanity.org the organisation that complies the Global Peace Index or GPI, Japan is the 5th most peaceful country on earth. The GPI ranks and grades countries on...

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Beautiful Japanese fashion model Nozomi Sasaki is making every otaku happy today. In the following video she is dressed as a schoolgirl and visits a maid cafe in geek heaven Akihabara. She is having...

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In the dark days before video games, good eye and hand coordination could be gained by playing ball and maze games. No fancy graphics, sounds and explosions, just a lot of concentration, balance and...

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Another social custom or rule for living in Japan is understanding the “sitting etiquette” when inside a Japanese home. Even though many Japanese homes are now furnished with western...

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Not enough Japanese Star Wars gadgets for you? From the Japanese company Strap-ya, there are 2 Star Wars USB hubs, one with R2D2 and the other with Darth Vader that should appeal to all Star wars...

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After World War Two in 1948, British Airways began operating flights to Japan. In those days a flight starting at Poole in England to Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture took around 143 hours!!! The...

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Is there no stopping Jpop star and former import model Leah Dizon? Despite the usual criticism about idols are poor singers, she released her fifth single “Vanilla” on June 25th which...

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Haruka Nanami 名波はるか is another former race queen turned Chakuero gravure idol. This 30 year old Tokyo native started as a race queen in 1998 under the stage name Haruka Asakura あさくら はるか before...

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Hula Girls フラガール is an award winning Japanese film by director Sang-Il Lee based on true events and starring Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Yū Aoi, Shizuyo Yamazaki, Ittoku Kishibe, Eri...

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The Japan Red Cross Society JRCS 日本赤十字社, is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross headquartered in Tokyo and with offices in all 47 prefectures of Japan. Founded in 1877, it has...

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If you are in the greater Tokyo area this month, there are 2 major Fireworks Festivals you can check out. The Yokohama International Fireworks Festival (45 mins from Tokyo) is held on July 20th and...

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When traveling to Japan this summer, make sure you stay in a Japanese Ryokan, a traditional Japanese style inn popular with locals and foreign travelers alike. First time visitors to Japan will...

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If you live in Japan or are learning Japanese, one thing you’ll pick up very quickly is the Japanese fondness and common usage of onomatopoeia. This is especially true if you are a manga...

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More animals on Japanese TV shows. The following clip features a Japanese celebrity panel learning about about a Southern White Faced Scops owl from South Africa nicknamed “Popochan”. ...

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