“Your Fingers Bleed, and You Enjoy the Suffering”

Novak Djokovic (born May 22, 1987 in Belgrade) embraces Rafael Nadal (March 6, 1986, Manacor, Spain) after the match. Photo by Aaron Favila of the AP.

“Your Fingers Bleed, and You Enjoy the Suffering”
The winner and loser coincide in emphasizing the beauty and intensity of the longest final in Grand Slam history
El País: “Te sangran los dedos y disfrutas del sufrimiento”
J.J. Mateo reporting from Melbourne January 30, 2012

While the drinks were handed out in the dressing room, with bags and more bags of ice arriving to fill the baths in which the tennis players would recuperate, the Serbian Novak Djokovic melted in an emotional embrace with his girlfriend, the beautiful Jelena. The champion took off the gold medal hanging on his neck and, in a sweet gesture, put it on her. “They give the same kind in the Games,” he said to hear in Serbian, as if in the couple’s minds London 2012 were already there.

Nole [Novak's Spanish nickname, which rhymes with ole] had won his fifth major tournament, his third in succession. He was demolished. Beside him, his agent searched for the Serbian ex-basketball player Vlade Divac, who had lost his credentials [to be in the room], while techno music played in the background in anticipation of the party to come. “I’m ready for all of it,” he said, laughing, while he was directed to the fiesta with the clock already reaching four in the Australian morning: “A tennis player lives for matches like this.”

Rafael Nadal had left the dressing room before Djokovic arrived there. If the measure of a man is how he takes defeat, it’s clear that the Spaniard just not just any other man. “First of all,” he opened, with his emotions still fresh, “Congratulations to Novak and his team, who are doing something fantastic.” “This is one of the happiest defeats of my career,” continued the Mallorcan, pensive and surprisingly positive after losing the final. “I’m not trying to beat Djokovic; I’m trying to exceed myself. During this tournament, I played much better than I did in 2011. This might be the lost final that hurts the least because I did everything I could. I fought with everything I had. I ran as far as I could run. I competed with a player who, today especially, is brilliant. I took him to the limit, something I didn’t do in 2011. The passion, the hope, are here, and when someone has done everything he could, he isn’t obligated to anything more…I’m satisfied with myself. After a time in which I suffered without enjoyment, I enjoyed suffering. That is the path.”

In assessment of his play, Nadal recalls that less than a month ago, he wasn’t even practicing because his shoulder hurt; he arrived in Australia without time to work on the subtle change in the weight of his racquet head; 15 hours before his debut in Melbourne, he was crying in his room because he believed a knee injury would force him to abandon the tournament. A defeat after 5 hours and 53 minutes, after being up a break in the fifth set (4-2 and 30-15), should be a bitter pill to swallow. Nevertheless, he metabolized it in public like it was something positive and put on accent on something that is very much his: enjoying suffering.

“I absolutely agree with him,” noted Djokovic later, albeit with a face marked with strain and a cup within reach. “I’ve never felt anything like it. Everything hurts. You suffer. You try to wake up your legs. You try to push them one more point. Your fingers bleed. It’s already too much, and yet you continue, enjoying the suffering. That’s why I agree with Rafa,” he added. “To play almost six hours is incredible, simply incredible,” he said with surprise. “Hearing that it was the longest final in the history of the major tournaments [5:53] made me cry. I could have won in the fourth set, and Nadal made some serves and some incredible points. The match deserved to go longer. In the fifth set, either one of us could have one,” he continued. “I felt like my energy was dropping, but I knew that he was feeling the same thing as the time passed. I tried to maintain myself mentally. To control my emotions. When I saw I was down 2-4, I pushed my body to the limit. The two of us used all the energy in our bodies, down to the last drop. I believe that the title was decided by a little luck and a little desire. There should have been two champions,” he concluded.

There was only one, and it was Nole, a fearsome competitor and perfect communicator, a tennis player without limits who can dream of winning his own Grand Slam in the spring when he assaults Roland Garros [for the French Open], the only major he doesn’t have. Nadal left the court signing autographs, ready to devour a hot dinner waiting for him in the dressing room and leaving a word of farewell that reflects how he understands sport and life. The clock has already passed 1:30. He took the microphone before the people that packed Rod Laver Court and said, “Thank you for all the love that you have shown us and for supporting me in a match that I won’t forget, even though I lost it. I’m looking forward to returning here for many years and…continuing the fight.”

My Autistic Brother John’s Essay about “Of Mice and Men”

Of Mice and Men: a Report by John Smyth

Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck in the 1930s about the sad conditions of the poor migrant farm workers who ate and slept at apartments made for them on farms.  This was called a “bunkhouse” in the book.  When they didn’t have an apartment at a farm, then they slept outside and quietly experienced the weather for better and worse. A way of seeing what they were was as performers who always played a bit part in the farm economy and died in a poverty that was all-encompassing personally, economically, and emotionally. Even when they were successful, they were tragic figures. And this was the setting for Lennie and George’s self-destructive experience.

Lennie and George early saw each man as a complement to the other.  George was small and smart. Lennie was autistic and big and strong. He was raised by his aunt and abandoned when she died.  George became a brother to Lennie who had no family. They always were together and Lennie followed George’s advice. Sometimes Lennie’s intuitive side let him appreciate that something was not right, but George’s logic always trumped it. Really, the very plot of the book revolves around the demonic mental side of man’s existence and his spiritual intuition to surrender to the way of the heart. As the plot unfolds, a choice is made to betray brotherhood and friendship for convenience and the will of a misunderstanding mob. Everyone loses innocence except Lennie, who gives his life but keeps his heart and goodness.

 

From the beginning, Lennie is taken advantage of. Sometimes he knows it and sometimes not. He is always surrounded by smarter, more worldly people. Sadly, they attempt to use him for their advantage. This is the world he lives in. Even his friend George is like this.  Always self-centered and successfully controlling, George is the world. The story compares the simplicity and purity of Lennie’s world to the sophisticated dirtiness of George and every other person’s cheap angle on life. I am impressed by the contrast and see it as a biblical allegory even Christ-like except Lennie has no mission to redeem.  But he is a lamb led to slaughter.

 

The story was so sad that I wanted to cry and I passionately wanted to scream and yell that it wasn’t fair for Lennie to die. Everyone else ends up ok but Lennie and his ignominious way end. I learned that horrible things happen to autistic people.  Our world desperately needs the goodness, simplicity, and pure, child-like intent of Lennie.  There is a Lennie in each of us.  Everyone’s Lennie wants to express itself and our George and the crowd kills it.  We need to care for our Lennies in the world and in us.

 

This book released many fears in me, especially the fear that if something happened to my family, I would be vulnerable like Lennie. And I am more motivated to educate and help people understand about autism. Everyone thinks we can help what we do and we can’t. When we do what we do, we never intend the bad consequences. Autistic people like Lennie need understanding and help. For all of us, we need to do more. A succinct statement is that Lennie could be anyone. All of us are in need of understanding and love. 

“I’m the Ambassador from North Korea,” Says Grinning DPRK Envoy When Berlin Police Ask to See His Fishing License

“I’m the Ambassador from North Korea,” Says Grinning DPRK Envoy When Berlin Police Ask to See Fishing License
Yomiuri Shimbun: 「私は北朝鮮大使」ほほ笑んだまま無許可の釣り
Sorihide Miyoshi reporting from Berlin January 22, 2012

German media are reporting that the ambassador from North Korea was caught fishing in a Berlin river without a license.

According to reports, Ri Si-hong was fishing on the banks of the Havel River when waterfront police asked to see his permit. The ambassador produced neither or a license nor a passport; he just smiled, said he was the ambassador from North Korea, and kept on fishing. The police took photographs and later confirmed he was indeed the ambassador.

Unlicensed fishing merits a 200 euro fine, but because the ambassador has diplomatic immunity, he will not be punished.

Original/原稿:

Spanair Collapses So Quickly, Boarded Passengers Forced to Deplane

A passenger needs information from a Spanair ticket booth in Barcelona El Prat Airport. Photo by Carles Ribas.

Spanair Grounded by Grave Financial Problems
The end of a dream for an airline under the Catalonian flag
Its search for investors failed
The Generalitat declined to use more public money to save the company
22,771 affected by cancellations of this weekend’s flights
El País: Spanair se queda en tierra por sus graves problemas financieros
Cristina Delgado reporting from Barcelona January 28, 2012

Spanair could not convince Qatar Airways to support it, so at ten o’clock last night, it ran its final flight. Finding a new investor was its final hope to escape its financial problems. The Qatari company did not have a clear view of the business, and according to the Generalitat [Legislature] of Catalonia, a joint proprietor with the City of Barcelona of the majority of company shares, it feared that the European Union would demand the return of all public funding injections in the future. The failed search for investors precipitated the most feared outcome yesterday: the administrative council of Spanair met at about six in the afternoon, and from then they began preparing the annulment of all company operations. Up to 22,771 people will be affected by flight cancellations this weekend alone – 212 flights for that time frame have been cancelled.

At eight in the evening, a flight arrived to Barcelona from Bilbao. When passengers deplaned, company workers informed them that their return tickets would be annulled. “They’ve told us they won’t fly anymore, but they haven’t explained anything,” complained Martina Jiménez. She was directed to company counters, where the scene began to heat up. The airport monitors began to take red tints.

There will be a creditors’ meeting, according to company sources. Company president Ferran Soriano did not want to go into details however; instead, he evaded the question in an exercise of calculated ambiguity. “I can’t clarify at this time because this is not the matter I’m worried about at the moment. I’m focusing on operations. The legal measures and techniques we take will be decided in the coming hours,” he explained at about ten o’clock at night. He left the company administrative council to attend to the media for a few minutes, then returned to the meeting. He did not clarify what will become of the company’s some 2500 employees, nor the hundreds of others whose businesses indirectly depend on Spanair.

Spanair, founded in 1986, passed in 2009 from the Scandinavian SAS investment group to Catalonian businesses. It closed 2010 with €607 million in invoices and losses of €115 million. It had already lost €186 million in 2009. “Given the lack of financial visibility over the coming months, the company has opted to cease operations of its flights as a measure of prudence and security, and it will take all the appropriate legal measures,” read its announcement yesterday.

AENA (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation) and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport have initiated a plan to hurriedly relocate affected passengers. The airline’s competitors, including Ryanair, Easyjet, and Vueling, have begun to organize with Ana Pastor’s department to take on the passengers Spanair cannot transport. The company had planned 91 flights for today alone; 8695 people will be grounded if other companies to not find room for them. Last year, Spanair transported the fifth most passengers of any Spanish airline, 12.5 million.

€115 Million in Losses:
2010 Invoices: €607.9 Million
Pre-Tax Balance: -€124.9M
Losses: €115.7M
Company Funds: -€168.2M
Airplane Fleet: 33 crafts (19 Airbus A320, 5 Airbus 321, 9 McDonell Douglas)
Passengers Transported in 2011: 12.5 million in Spain; of those, 4.3 million in Catalonia
Stockholders: IEASA (84.7%) and SAS (11.6%) investment groups; others (3.6%)

Collapsing Airline Spanair Obliges Boarded Passengers on Flight to Madrid to Deplane
The affected passengers protest the lack of information and alternatives to the suspension of flights
El País: La aerolínea obliga a desembarcar a los viajeros de un vuelo a Madrid
Anthony Coyle reporting from Barcelona January 28, 2012

“They told us that they had cancelled all operations, and we had to get off the plane.” Catalonian airline Spanair’s cease of operations hit Luis Miguel Casas while he was sitting on a 20:55 flight from Barcelona to Madrid. Like the rest of the affected, the only instruction he received from Spanair was to be directed to the company’s client service windows in Terminal 1 of El Prat.

Gabriel Aparicio was one of the first to go there. While there was still no line. The cease of operations did not even affect him. His flight to Denmark was already ruined because he had forgotten his National Identification Card. But after he was directed to the company window, he was informed that “the company is not flying to Copenhagen anymore.” They did not give him credit.

Half an hour later, as the line began to extend across the airport, Spanair distributed a note to affected passengers with an information number (902-131-415). It also told them an it had created a rest area with children’s and breast feeding rooms.

Luciano Días flew to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands today at eleven in the morning. “They’ve told me to sort it out for myself, more or less, because they didn’t know anything,” he said with indignation while he waited in line.

Martina Jiménez, from Bilbao, had been thinking she’d spend the weekend in Barcelona. As soon as she stepped off her plane, she was told that her Sunday return flight “wasn’t going to take off anymore,” in her words. “They didn’t let me know anything about what was happening, and they didn’t offer to return my money either.” She was lucky enough to recover the €80 she spent on the round trip, though.

Others had to fill out a claim form. This was the case for Josefina Domínguez: “They haven’t given me any options. They told me the system was blocked and nothing more.”

The players for L’Hospitalet’s water polo team did not have the option of waiting in El Prat. They had a game at one in the afternoon the next day in Las Palmas on the Canary Islands. “They’ve offered us a morning flight with Air Europe, but that won’t do because we won’t arrive in time.” The game, which had already been postponed, was cancelled.

While complaints were processed, the line of passengers – stuck to their mobile phones – was grouchy. There were tears as well. Others, like 29 children and two monitors who were returning from a ski trip at La Molina, took it with humor: “Do you guys have something to do tomorrow?” one shouted.

The cease of operations also obligated scheduled flights from Las Palmas at 21:55 and Valencia at 23:30.

Twitter Will Block Messages in Certain Countries if they Violate Norms or Beliefs

A 12-year old boy departs from a court in Manchester, where he participated in robberies coordinated on social networks. Photo by Nigel Roddis of Reuters.

Twitter Will Block Messages in Certain Countries if they Violate Norms or Beliefs
El País: Twitter bloqueará en algunos países los mensajes que violen normas o creencias
The company announces its social network has entered some countries with different ideas about the “countries” of freedom of expression and should be coherent with them.
El País staff report from Mexico City, January 27, 2012

Full liberty no longer fits inside a tweet.

A tweet is a message of 140 characters or less that can be written on Twitter if the user is a member of this social network, which counts for more than 100 million tweeters throughout the world.

But these 140 characters cannot include – or will no longer include – all the liberty in the world, because Twitter has just announced that as of now, it is willing to block messages that “authorized entities” of certain countries consider offensive or illegal.

Twitter has announced the new measure on its corporate blog. It is a short, generic message with a basic idea: “Almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right. Many countries also agree that freedom of expression carries with it responsibilities and has limits.”

The social network explains that it has expanded to many countries, some of which have different ideas about the “contours” of freedom of expression.

The company, in this public note, does not define very clearly what kind of content could be blocked, who qualify as “authorized entities” (an expression included in its usage policy), and finally, what requirements Twitter will establish for hypothetical petitions from these “entities”, be they governments or other organizations, to block messages in certain territories.

Until now, when Twitter censured a message, it could no longer be seen anywhere in the world. Now it has refined its process, so it can vet messages in only the countries that ask for vetting, leaving them visible to the rest of the world. For the moment, the measure has not been put into practice. The business has announced that when it vets a message, it will inform the affected user, and those who cannot access the content will be informed of the blockage and the reason for it.

The only example the social network gives of a censurable message is pro-Nazi content in countries where the National Socialists ruled, like France or Germany, which now have laws prohibiting this kind of message.

In its user policy, Twitter specifies that it is trying to respect “local laws”, but it does not let users know what local laws will prevail over users’ freedom of expression.

Scientific Research on Bigfoot Begins in Earnest

A sample of a 40 cm (4/3 ft) footprint that might belong to Bigfoot. Photo of Idaho State University Professor Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum’s collection taken by Tetsurō Yamada.

Scientific Research on Bigfoot Begins in Earnest
Yomiuri Shimbun: 未確認大型類人猿「ビッグフット」、真剣に研究
Tetsurō Yamada reporting from Washington, DC January 24, 2012

“Bigfoot”, a large humanoid ape species said to reside in the northern U.S. whose existence has never been confirmed, has become a subject of scientific research: Idaho State University has debuted the first online scientific journal about it and other such hominoids.

Bigfoot is thought to be bigger than a gorilla and to walk on two feet. There have been reports of footprints and sightings in the North Pacific United States for years on end. However, many of these calls have been pranks or cases of mistaken identity, so the scientific world has long ignored the subject, putting the species in the same category as UFOs and ghosts.

Recently, however, there have been discoveries of prints from huge feet that slipped on the earth, complete prints with ridges akin to fingerprints, prints from not yet fully developed skeletons, and prints with evidence of wounds. A group of researchers is researching the possibility that Bigfoots exist, stand more than 2 meters tall, and are the descendants of the Gigantopithecus, a 3m tall giant hominoid ape that went extinct about 100,000 years ago and which may have crossed the Bering Strait while it was still above land and dispersed throughout northern North America. This would make it a cousin of Asia’s “Snow Man” (or Yeti).

The e-journal is called the The Relict Hominoid Inquiry and like other journals prints articles by professional researchers. The first edition includes folklore and pictographs of the Mayak Datat, or “Hairy Man”, which once lived in California.

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Japanese Parliamentary Counsel Presents Legislative Amendments Necessary for Country to Join Hague Convention on Custody of Children from Failed International Marriages

Japanese Parliamentary Counsel Presents Legislative Amendments Necessary for Country to Join Hague Convention on Custody of Children from Failed International Marriages
Yomiuri Shimbun: 国際結婚破綻時の子供の扱い、日本でもルール
January 24, 2012

A set of legislative amendments that would be necessary for Japan to join the The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which sets international standards for the custody of children from failed international marriages, was released by the Parliamentary Deliberative Counsel (an advisory organization) on the 23rd.

The proposed legal plan establishes the process and guidelines for a non-Japanese person to request the return of a child his former spouse brought back to Japan with her. If the Japanese parent rejects a family court order for the child’s return, the court could empower an executive officer to seize the child and return her to the other country, according to the third item regarding refusal.

The Deliberative Counsel will report to the Justice Department in early February. The executive branch plans aims to bring the new set of bills to the floor of Parliament in mid-March.

If both parents of a child under age 16 from a failed international marriage are from countries that participate in the Hague Convention, then if one parent takes that child to a foreign country without the other parent’s permission, the other parent has the legal authority to force the child’s speedy return to his country of residence.

Japan is the only G8 country that does not participate in the convention. Last November, Prime Minister Noda told President Obama in person that he would propose the necessary laws to change this during the coming parliamentary session.

The Hague Convention Process for Returning a Child from a Failed International Marriage
[This is what would happen if a Japanese parent took a child back to Japan. The left column shows the parent in the foreign country, and the right column shows the participating agencies in Japan.]
1. Parent from Foreign Country A requests assistance from Japanese Foreign Affairs Department’s central office
2. The Foreign Affairs Department confirms the child’s residency and tries to help reconcile the situation.
3. The parent files for a request for the child’s return with a Japanese family court. He can also do this directly, skipping steps 1 and 2.
4. The family court orders the Japanese parent to return the child.
5. The child is returned.

[Translator's Note: The article doesn't mention that the convention allows a family court to refuse to order the child's return if doing so would endanger the child's welfare.]

Original/原稿:

10 Months After 84 Died or Disappeared at Ōgawa Elementary Following Tōhoku Earthquake, School Takes Responsibility for Emergency Response Failure, Apologizes

Principal Teruyuki Kashiwaba and Chief of Municipal Education Sakai bow their heads in apology at a noon press conference in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. Photo by Naoki Maeda.

This graph shows the path the students and teachers took to high ground following the tsunami. They moved west, directly approaching a river and dike. There was a mountain south of their school.

10 Months After 84 Died or Disappeared at Ōgawa Elementary Following Tōhoku Earthquake, School Takes Responsibility for Emergency Response Failure, Apologizes
Yomiuri Shimbun: ８４人が死亡・不明の大川小、責任認め謝罪
January 23, 2012

After holding another investigation into the response to the Great Tōhoku Earthquake at Ōgawa Elementary School (Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture), where 74 children and 10 staff went dead or missing after March 11′s earthquake and tsunami, the Ishinomaki Board of Education held its first meeting with parents on the issue in 7 months yesterday, and for the first time, it acknowledged problems with its disaster response instructions and apologized.

The roiling discontent of parents who lost their children for the school’s failure to take responsibility and insufficient explanation of what happened lead the municipal board of education to declare at a press conference after its last meeting with the parents that it would gather those with knowledge of the events and conduct another investigation.

This was the third meeting between parents and the board; the other two were in April and June. Today’s conference was held at another elementary school, and about 80 parents and guardians participated. This was the first of the conferences to be open to the press.

The chief of municipal education, Naohiko Sakai, apologized to parents in his opening statement: “We sincerely regret that children suffered at a school we managed. We should have done the utmost to ensure their safety, and we should have taught crisis response measures in the event of a tsunami.” Ōgawa Principal Teruyuki Kashiwaba then apologized as well: “This was the consequence of my incompetence as principal. We had not prepared a manual, and we did not teach our staff crisis response measures. No matter how much I apologize, I cannot be forgiven, but I will continue to apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

Original/原稿:

Probability of Magnitude 7 Earthquake Directly Under Tokyo Within Next 4 Years is 70%, According to Tokyo University Study

Probability of Magnitude 7 Earthquake Directly Under Tokyo Within Next 4 Years is 70%, According to Tokyo University Study
Yomiuri Shimbun: Ｍ７級首都直下地震、４年内７０％…東大地震研
January 23, 2012

The probability of a Magnitude 7 earthquake directly under Tokyo within the next four years is 70%, according to calculations by the Tokyo University Earthquake Research Team.

The Great Tōhoku Earthquake awakened tectonic activity beneath the metropolis, the group noted. In comparison to the government’s earthquake research commission’s evaluation that an earthquake in Southern Kantō, the area which includes the capital, within the next 30 years was 70%, this prediction is much more worrying.

The capital has been a much more active earthquake zone since the Great Tōhoku Earthquake last March 11. According to the Weather Bureau, from that date to the end of December, there were 1.48 Magnitude 3-6 earthquakes per day in greater Tokyo, a rate about 5 times higher than the earthquake frequency before that date.

Tokyo University team member Dr. Naoshi Hirata and company are keeping an eye on this activity. The team based their calculation on the empirical rule that an earthquake of a given magnitude is one tenth as frequent as an earthquake one order of magnitude weaker and ten times more frequent than an earthquake one order of magnitude stronger.

Ｍ７級首都直下地震、４年内７０％…東大地震研

　マグニチュード（Ｍ）７級の首都直下地震が今後４年以内に約７０％の確率で発生するという試算を、東京大学地震研究所の研究チームがまとめた。

　東日本大震災によって首都圏で地震活動が活発になっている状況を踏まえて算出した。首都直下を含む南関東の地震の発生確率を「３０年以内に７０％程度」としている政府の地震調査研究推進本部の評価に比べ、切迫性の高い予測だ。

　昨年３月１１日の東日本大震災をきっかけに、首都圏では地震活動が活発化。気象庁の観測によると１２月までにＭ３～６の地震が平均で１日当たり１・４８回発生しており、震災前の約５倍に上っている。

　同研究所の平田直(なおし)教授らは、この地震活動に着目。マグニチュードが１上がるごとに、地震の発生頻度が１０分の１になるという地震学の経験則を活用し、今後起こりうるＭ７の発生確率を計算した。

（2012年1月23日03時04分 読売新聞）

Cheerleaders Quit Team en Masse to Protest Coach’s Advances; Study of Student Deaths in Judo Accidents; 50 Year TV Program Cancelled; Youths Extort Thousands of Dollars from High Schooler by Threatening Gang Assaults

Entire Class of Cheerleaders from One of Nation’s Best High School Teams Quit in Protest of Coach’s Inappropriate Advances
Yomiuri Shimbun: チア部員に監督が不適切行為、高２全員が退部届
January 17, 2012

All ten second graders on Obihiro (Hokkaido) High School’s cheerleading team quit on January 5 because of their male coach’s inappropriate behavior, it was learned on the 16th.

The school said it did not know about the case because the supervisor was not present.

According to the prefectural education department, last December 27, a parent from the school called the prefectural government to complain that the school’s assistant principal, a male and the coach of the team, was making inappropriate advances toward a member of the team, such as calling out “Let’s get married!” to her, giving her a necklace, grabbing her hand, and touching her body. The program is very strong; it has participated in the Japan Cup two years running.

The department called the coach twice to ask him about the matter. He said “it’s true that things like that happened,” and his explanation was that “in every case, it was part of a communication strategy to encourage the students, but they took it the wrong way.” The department said “the school has now heard the details of the matter, and we have told them to respond to it appropriately.”

114 Students Died Playing Judo From 1983-2010
Yomiuri Shimbun: 中高生１１４人、柔道で死亡していた…名大調査
January 17, 2012

Fatal accidents at school judo practices are continuing. A typical accident: a student without proper training is on the receiving end of a throw; he suffers a blow to the head; finally, he does not receive proper emergency medical care.

According to Nagoya University Associate Professor of Sociology of Education Ryō Uchida, in the 28 years from 1983-2010, 114 Japanese students (39 junior high schoolers and 75 high schoolers) died from judo accidents. Junior high schoolers and first year high schoolers together made up half the total; 14 students died during class time. In addition, accidents handicapped 275 students between 1983 to 2009, three tenths of them during class time.

Of every 100,000 students who participated in judo competitions from 2000-2009, 2.376 died, which is far higher than the second highest rate on the list, basketball’s (0.371 per 100,000). The majority of deaths were caused by impact to the head. “If the neck muscles are not yet developed, then performing free exercises, standing throws, and the like is dangerous,” Dr. Uchida warned.

“Junior High School Diary” to End 50-Year Run in March
Yomiuri Shimbun: 「中学生日記」３月で終了…１９６２年から放送

NHK Nagoya announced on the 18th that the March 16 episode of “Middle School Diary” will be the program’s last.

The show will be succeeded by a show about teens working to achieve their hopes and dreams called “Teens Project Fure☆Fure” [Fure has a double meaning of "proclamation/announcement" and "hooray!"] from April.

“Middle School Diary” portrayed the daily lives of Nagoya-area junior high schoolers. It debuted in 1962 as “Jirō the Middle School Student”. According to the station, interest in the program had waned for years, and its current viewership rating is only 1%.

High School Student Repeatedly Bullied into Giving Money to Former Classmate, Claims 3 Million Yen Extorted in All
Yomiuri Shimbun: 恐喝繰り返され…高校生「３００万取られた」
January 18, 2012

The Aichi Police Department arrested three minors on the 18th for continuing to threaten a 17-year old male high school student after they had already bullied him into giving them ¥900,000 (~$11,700) in cash.

The student said about ¥3 million (~$39,000) was extorted from him in all. The police are performing a corroborative investigation.

According to the police report, the youths who were arrested were a construction worker and a part-time worker in Seto and a part-time worker in Owariasahi. From late July to September 1, the construction worker extorted ¥600,000 from the student by telling him things like “a motorcycle gang is aiming for you. You should pay them money to protect yourself” and “my father had to pay ¥1 million to speak to the gangsters behind the motorcycle gang (on your behalf).” After that, the other two youths joined the plot; the police suspect them of extorting ¥900,000 from the victim in all.

The young man from Owariasahi is also charged with verbally assaulting the student and punching him in the face in a Seto public park on September 4, leaving him injured for two weeks.

Two of the youths have confessed to the charges: “We went after him because his family is rich. We used the money to go out and have fun.” The Owariasahi youth admitted punching the student but denied the money was extorted, saying it was merely the repayment of a loan.

Every time the student was threatened, he took money out of the family account and handed over the cash; eventually the family realized what was happening when they made withdrawals of their own. The construction worker was acquainted with the student because he attended and then dropped out of the same high school. The two other youths were his buddies.

Original/原稿::