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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Do Not Follow Maiko In The Streets

Apprentice Geisha are called "Maiko" the Mai meaning "Dance" and ko meaning "child". Most of the Maiko and Geisha left reside in Kyoto, mainly in the Gion district. Maiko with their white make up and beautiful hair styles are tremendously popular photography subject with tourists in Kyoto. They are so popular in fact that they have turned to the Kyoto city government for help.

The Daily Yomiuri reports that foreign sightseers and amateur cameramen surround the Maiko as soon as they leave their homes. The situation is becoming so bad the Maiko can hardly go about their daily tasks and have asked the city of Kyoto for help. City officials have asked people to not follow the Maiko in the streets or interfere with their dances or tea house work.

Last year, the number of city sightseers was around 49,440,000, the foreigners who rented hotels rooms in the city was around 920,000 person one of the highest counts ever.
Kyoto is a beautiful and historical city and was formerly Japan's capital. Roughly 20 percent of Japan's "National Treasures" and 14% of Japan's "Important Cultural Properties" exist in the city. UNESCO World Heritage Sites "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto" and 17 other locations are around the Kyoto area. The site was designated as World Heritage in 1994. It is also possible to easily visit Nara, the capital city of Japan from 710 to 784.

Kyoto is one of the best preserved city in Japan and I highly recommend a visit. If you do plan a visit, please treat the inhabitants of this fine city with respect and Do Not Follow Maiko In The Streets.

You can learn more about travel and tourism in Kyoto here Kyoto Travel Guide . Also the image on this page is credited to Kyoto Travel Guide. You can also mail me if you want more information on this topic or travel advice.

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Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Wierdness that is Japanese Crime

I have long held the belief that Japan has some of the oddest crimes of anywhere in the world. To help back up my claim here is a recently reported crime in the Nagoya area.

Knife-wielding man cuts two schoolgirls' hair in Nagoya

AICHI — Police said Thursday that two schoolgirls had been attacked by a man who cut their hair with a knife in Nagoya on Wednesday. According to police, one of the victims, 16, was suddenly assaulted by a man and had her hair cut while she was walking through a park on her way to school around 7:20 a.m. The second attack occurred about 4 p.m. In that case, the victim, 14, said she was attacked from behind.

Police said the attacker used a 20-centimeter-long knife. Both girls said the man appeared to be in his 30s and was about 170 cms tall with brown hair. He was clad in black. The crime scenes were about 700 meters apart.


I think I will keep this space open to add more as I read about them. There are some unbelievable ones. Japan is rated as one of the safest places to visit, makes you wonder why the crimes that are committed can be so unusual. Perhaps when someone snaps here, they completely go off the deep end.

Take this one for instance, this is so silly. High speed "Scooter chase"

Four youths arrested after scooter pursuit in Chiba

CHIBA —

Police arrested and charged four teenage boys with dangerous driving and other violations of the Road Traffic Law on Thursday.

According to police, the boys called police from a public phone in Kisarazu City at around 3 a.m. on Nov 16, and reported that motorbike gangs were making a lot of noise. The four boys waited for the police, and when they arrived about 10 minutes later, took off on two scooters and played a game they called “Real Chasey.” The game involved one boy driving the scooter, zig zagging about while the other boy on the back provoked police with words and gestures.

The boys led police on a pursuit which included national roads and the boys ignoring traffic signals, and police lost them after five minutes. But they were able to identify the boys as all of them have been taken into custody before.

The boys – a welder, 17, a plumber, 16, a first year high school student, 15, and a second year junior high school student, 14, knew each other through the junior high school.

One of the boys was quoted by police as saying: “I love the thrill. I’ve done it more than 10 times this year.”

The first year high school student doesn’t have a license, and drove at speeds of only 10 to 30 kilometers per hour.

The boys claimed they came up with the name for the game, but there is a novel in the same name by Yusuke Yamada, which was made into a movie this year.

Been a Long Time

since I have been able to post. Went and had a baby of all the surprises. Kept me very busy! I will try to get some updates in.