Welcome back, everybody to Episode 18 of this week in Japan presented by Tokyo, coming to you live from Roppongi Tokyo. I'm your host, Julian Domanski and joining me as always, is my co host and founder of Ryu Tokyo Yasuharu Matsuno.
Hey guys, welcome back. So after the long rainy season, the summer is finally here in Tokyo. The temperature in Tokyo is around 32 to 34 degrees Celsius. So, yeah, are you ready for the melting summer Julian?
Certainly not. Do you know how white I am?
Well, yeah, usually I wouldn't mind the hot summer as much. But we're, you know, filming YouTube videos like regularly these days, right? So, Yeah, I think it will really be challenging. Summer for us.
Yeah, I'm not asked to carry all the camera equipment though so
Well I sometimes do. To be fair.
So today is August 7, and in this episode we're going to be discussing the following big news stories. Okinawa, Aichi, and Mie prefectures enter a state of emergency, Terrace House house star Shion Okamoto is arrested. The Kimetsu no Yaiba movie is almost here. Japan sees a population drop of half a million, and nine sumo wrestlers flee from an angry housewife. As Corona Cases continue to hit new records in Japan, some prefectures are starting to take their own measures. on July 31, okinawa announced that it would be entering a state of emergency from August 1 to 15th after a sudden spike in cases, despite requesting tourists not to visit amongst rising Corona cases, it seems a large number of beach goers still flocked to Okinawa. the prefecture governor Danny Tamaki stated that he feels the national government should also call for another state of emergency. Following Okinawa's announcement, Mie prefecture also issued a state of emergency this Monday after record cases, followed by Aichi prefecture on Wednesday the fifth. Aichi, which hit 144 new cases this Wednesday, will stay in a state of emergency until August 24 and encourages its citizens not to cross into other prefectures during this time, though Obon holiday next week is one where many people often returned to their family homes. As with the previous state of emergency, there are strong warnings put in place by the prefectural governments, which encouraged people to stay inside and avoid going out as much as possible. For Okinawa, Mie and Aichi business hours will also be shortened until 10pm. This seems like bad timing for many reasons. But the first state of emergency here right on Golden Week right when everyone was going to get a holiday, and now it's Obon, second big holiday of the year, and it's hitting again. I mean, we're already kind of locked in but it just feels like a double whammy. A bit of an extra disappointment compared to, you know, on top of everything else that's happening at the moment.
Right, I must agree. And you know, just to add on to the news being the governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike, he also held a press conference yesterday. And she had a weird, bizarre like slogan on the cardboard. did you see that?
I didn't catch it. No.
Yeah. So it says kononatsu tokubetsu nanatsu.
This is a special this summer is a special summer.
Exactly. Yeah. you got that right. But you know, if you notice, like this word tokubetsu is mostly used for positive things. Like, for example, like, if you go to a restaurant and the manager of the restaurant says, Oh, this dish or this dessert is tokubetsu for you because you're a regular or, you know, it's your birthday, whatever. But yeah, tokubetsu is used for, you know, kind of like special treatment more something exceptionally good. So You know, I kind of find this really ironic. The message is to like, don't go outside just stay at home, as simple as that. Right. But she's trying to like make it like tokubetsu. Yeah, you know, and calling it like tokubetsu na natsu.
It almost sounds like It was written in English first. Like, this is like an exceptional summer, which can both be positive and negative and then it was changed to Japanese right? But, she should know the difference. Right? That's that's a bit strange.
Yeah. So I think like, you know, Koike san is doing this on purpose. And she doesn't want to make it sound too negative. Yeah. Because we've been hearing the word gaman alot these days, right? Yeah, gaman means to persevere. And, you know, I think that she thought tokubetsu na natsu sounds kind of odd. But yeah, I think she wanted people not to take it, like too negative. but trea it as a special summer.
I guess I've heard from quite a few people that I either know or like, you know, I'm kind of like acquaintances with I could say, they're actually like been going to Okinawa and every time like, I hear this, I'm just like judging them. I'm like, why are you flying all the way down that like, I mean, I think that the governor has been before this. He's been quite vocal about like, not wanting people to come. Yeah, because even like back to like Golden Week, right? He was like, Don't come to Okinawa, I guess because it's like, a very southern island is it's almost like, someone's not not Japan, right. It's so far away. That they have their own kind of little bubble, I guess. So like an outbreak there could potentially be more devastating in some ways. You know, it's,
yeah, that's totally true. And it's also because the the number of medical facilities is quite limited because it's on, you know, a separate Island.
Yeah. Well, it's like a network of islands, isn't it? So like, sometimes if like someone lives on one of these smaller islands, then like, there may have to be a helicopter to somewhere else.
Precisely. Yeah.
It's not like they can get an ambulance and drive them. So yeah, their the infrastructure isn't the kind of as robust as it is in larger cities, right? Even though it's like a prefecture on its own.
And plus, Okinawa has always been like number one or number two, in terms of the longevity of people, even amongst all the prefectures in Japan.
Oh Okay,
so yeah, well, it simply means here. Many, many old people there.
Yeah. Okay. Interesting,
though. Yeah. My family actually had a plan to go back to our hometown in Hiroshima.
Yeah, you told me last week. Yeah,
yeah. My wife's hometown. Sapporo, right. But yeah, we just decided last night that we'll Not like go back. Yeah, after seeing all these like announcements from the government, and yeah, seeing all the numbers, I don't think it's a it's a good timing, you know, and even if we miss Obon, you know, it doesn't mean like, we can't go back there anytime soon. Like, if the situation improves, then we can always go back
Well actually, Maybe you could explain for our audience so Obon holiday is quite interesting. Holiday obviously unique to Japan.
So we believe that Obon is the day that your ancestors spirits, come back to Earth. And, you know, it's when your, all your relatives meet up in like one spot, and, you know, pray for the old spirits and kind of like show like appreciation for you know, like, how they are today. So, yeah, most people at least traditionally They go back to their hometowns. And you know, spend time with their families and relatives
I like the the sentiment behind it. I mean, it's not really the same meaning, but it's kind of like how Westerns celebrate Christmas, right? It's obviously the meaning is completely different. But we always see it as this, like family time. Wherever you are, wherever you're doing. Everybody knows that, like, Christmas is the day when you go home. And you try and get all the family together. So that's kind of like what Obon is in Japan, right? So because of that, like you just said, Yasu, so the trains are always rammed everyone's going back to their hometowns, especially in Tokyo, right, because I don't know, I don't know what percentage but a large percentage of the people live in Tokyo are not from Tokyo, right? So everyone's going back. And then the guests, the people that don't go back to the hometowns, then they just go take a vacation, whatever. So it tends to be pretty, pretty busy around these times. But I'd be interesting to see how many people actually Take the warning and you know, stay home. So, perhaps by next week next episode, a few more prefectures might even be in a state of emergency. So I guess we'll see what happens and we'll let you guys know next time. So on to our second story of the week. Shion Okamoto one of the stars of terrace houses 2017-18 season, opening new doors, has been arrested on charges of possession of cannabis. When he was on terrace house the half American half Japanese aspiring model was a fan favorite. He's blossoming relationship on the show with Tsubasa and ice hockey player from Kuruzawa portrayed him as smart and caring and viewers couldn't get enough. Following the show. It was eventually announced that he and Tsubasa had split following complications in their long distance relationship. Since his time on the show, the 25 year old has continued to grow his modeling career all over Japan on the Saturday morning of August 1. He was arrested as his home near setagaya. Tokyo after being suspected to have cannabis the following afternoon. Police gave a statement regarding his arrest. According to reports Shion was originally found to be carrying a canister with a cannabis like liquid substance inside after being questioned on the street by police the previous day. This led to a search of his apartment where dried cannabis was found stored in a bag. He later admitted to the charges. As of this Monday, his professional homepage has been deleted and is no longer viewable to anybody. Drug Charges in Japan are pretty big news right? I think this kind of topic has cropped up in several episodes before but yeah, if you get caught with like, half a gram of marijuana, Cannabis, you're just like your careers finished right. And yeah, he's page is deleted.
But yeah, as you say, like smoking pot or having an affair can end your professional career in Japan. In a day.
That's it. Yeah,
literally.
It's It's It's severes and it's just yeah, just ruined you completely destroysYour career. so I guess the moral of the story is if you're gonna do it, do it just before you retire.
Or just like, don't do it in Japan. Right?
Of course. Yeah, I'm joking
I mean, like, I think many people in Japan by now know that cannabis is legalized in the US. Yeah. And I also found one comment on his Instagram account saying that, you know, no one should be arrested for pot. Or something like that. Because he has many, like, international fans outside Japan. And yeah, some people think it's crazy that, you know, Japan is taking, you know, this incident, tthe smoking of pot or you know, like possessing the cannabis like, So seriously.
I mean, yeah, this there's plenty of cases of this kind of thing happening. And it's not like nobody knows about it. Yeah. For more point of view like compared to England, right? We didn't, you know, that kind of thing. It's just very non consequential. And like we kind of talked about before we started recording, right? It's much less damaging than alcohol, which is like prevalent in Japan, right? The amount of times I've walked through Shibuya Station late at night, and this people just literally passed on the floor. Not because they're tired or they're drunk. Literally They're drinking so much alcohol, that their body just shuts down, like it's severe right. So this kind of thing. It seems very over the top. But you actually had quite an interesting point to raise right about the history of marijuana in Japan.
Yeah, Japan had been using cannabis for medical purposes for many, many years, for many centuries, until they lost the war. And when under like control of the the GHQ, or essentially the the US government in 1948 I believe. So almost 70 years ago. but yeah after that, yeah, having or smoking cannabis in Japan is considered a felony.
The story actually reminds me a little bit of a story of an actor you probably know for a different reason, a guy called Pierre tacky. yeah? he was arrested for doing cocaine. Or he got caught with cocaine a couple of years ago. I didn't know whoever is acting, but he was in a game called judgment. It's like a Yakuza game published by Sega on the PlayStation four, I think. about two years ago, but just as the game would be released, he got arrested. So Sega they hired another actor, and they re recorded all of his voices, and then that kind of redubbed it to the cutscenes and then remodeled the character to look like the new actor, and just completely erased him from the game. And then they had to release it via an update and all the copies that hadn't sold that take off store shelves and basically destroy and then reprint and rerelease. A massive loss to the company right?
Yes, millions of dollars.
That's not cheap, right? That's how seriously drugs are taken in Japan. But yeah, no one's immune. I mean, there's a there's a really famous story from like, it's like the 70s or the late 60s when the Beatles came to Japan. And even Paul McCartney was arrested at the airport. Yeah he was detained at the airport for having marijuana. Or he'd been smoking on the plane. I forget the exact details. But if you want to know more, just Google it, you know, McCartney, marijuana arrest Japan or something like that? Yeah, they didn't hold any punches. There's not no one is exempt. you know, this is kind of culture in America, I guess more predominantly where like, celebrities get away with a lot right, you know, because they have the money and that doesn't that it doesn't happen in Japan, but if it's a drug charge, you're just. It's just game over.
so yeah, I feel a bit sorry for this guy. He's still like 25 and young, you know, aspiring guy. I know nothing about him, but I just saw his picture. And, you know, He kind of looks like a nice guy. I'm just like, judging by his appearance. Yeah, but anyway, like, you know, this is Japan and as long as you're in Japan, you know, it's it's no go like you shouldn't do it.
Yeah, that's it guys. Yeah, so um, yeah, take it seriously. Whatever you think of the drug situation, wherever your opinions are, whether you use them or not. When you come to Japan, yeah, just don't bother. It's really not worth the hassle. Okay, so onto some entertainment news next kimetsu No. yaiba Mugen ressha hen or demon Slayer Infinity Train is nearing its big premiere. The website for the movie released new visuals and also information concerning the main theme song. The movie will feature one of the nine hashira the strongest swordmen in the demon Slayer Corp. The flame has hashira kyojuro rengoku. The main theme song for the movie is going to be sung by the artist Lisa and is fittingly called Homura or flames. The movie will follow the story where the anime season ended, continuing the events of the manga and is set to premiere on October 16 2020. Ticket sales for the movie will begin from today. So I was a little bit confused about this news. I thought it all ended but that's like the manga ended right? But there,There's more anime to come Yeah, but this movie is not what the anime would be. It's kind of like a side story.
well, it is part of the main story from the manga Okay, so as you said, the anime series has only covered probably around like 30% of the original story from manga.
Oh okay. I guess the story is quite dense then, becuase I remember you telling me or, we spoke about this this story before it actually been published and then finished over only four years, which is not a long time in the manga world, right.
Right but still it's four years. And they'll be I think, like 22 or 23 comics in total, though. Yeah, it's it's not long, but it's not that short on the same time.
Okay. So I guess you're kind of excited to see this movie, right?
Yeah, so I'll probably watch it. And this mugen ressha or Infinity Train is one of the highlights from the original manga series. I'm pretty sure it will make a good movie because of the you know, interesting storyline. I'm not going to spoil but it's basically the main characters have committed to fighting with bad guys on a running train. So honestly, like you should read it, or you know, like watch the anime too. So I believe this specific episode is heavily influenced by Jojo. And you remember The Season Five of Jojo golden when it was a scene, the main characters fight with gangsters on the train.
Oh, yeah, the brothers right
right. Yeah, the brothers. Yeah. So I'm pretty sure the the author of Kimetsu like, like not just say this like one incident but this is what like one of the things that he was influenced by Jojo. I'm not saying like kimetsu took the idea from Jojo and kimetsu is a is a great like anime and manga in itself you know it's it's very unique. Yeah, but I'm pretty sure it was like this this fight scene was more or less influenced or inspired by by Jojo.
Yeah, makes sense. So i'll be interested to see it, huh? That's our weekly jojo reference shoehorned into those. Yeah, that's
what I'm trying. Right. Well, we're trying.
Yeah. So it was really update with the studio's tax evasion. scandal.
Yeah, I thought about the same thing because this movie will also be made by the UFO table.
Yeah, same company. Right.
Right. The CEO of which was arrested a few months ago.
But he's still the CEO. Did he step down?
Yeah. So it seems like the CEO of you ufotable is still incumbent.
Okay. Fair enough. Yeah.
But it doesn't matter. Like it's not really about him personally.
Sure. Yeah.
But the great like production team. of this. This anime.
Oh, of course. Yeah. I mean, the standout feature of most anime is like the visual, right? I mean, that's the translation. The story doesn't change, much. It depends on the story. Right. But sometimes
sure yeah it wouldn't change much.
Yeah, it's always the work of the artistss that stands out to me. That's always the most striking thing when I think about my favorite anime, which I don't have many of but like, the reason I like most of them is the visuals. I mean, the story has to be Good as well, but I'm a very kind of visually stimulated person. Right? So even if it's not that good, I'm just like, this looks amazing.
And you know, the singer of this the main theme song, Lisa, yeah, you recognize her?
Yeah, well, actually, I only know her from the theme tune the original one from the anime.
Oh, I see. Yeah, she's also well known for singing songs for a title like Sword Art Online. Do you know that one?
I've heard of it. Not really. It looks a bit like a bit too otaku for me.
yeah, kind of but I like the the original like series and you know, I I've never watched the entire series but yeah, the first part was pretty good. And also a title like fate zero.
fate zero, I don't know that one.
Yeah, there's a popular like anime series called fate. And zero is one of the most popular title like amongst like all the fate series. And she was the singer of the opening team of that, like, really epic anime. almost like, I'm not, I mean, a bit less than like 10 years ago. So she has a quiet like long career. Yeah, she's been like, you know, building up.
So actually, I saw one really cool video and I recommend you guys check this out. It's Lisa singing the theme tune to Kimetsu no Yaiba. But it's on this YouTube channel called first take. I think that's what it's called. And basically they get artists into the studio. And I mean, as long as they're not lying, you're led to believe it's just not the first take right? So they set everything up and they just hit record. And then whatever happens the first tape that's what they publish is the video. She really nails The song, it's great. Yeah, it's more of a different version because the main theme song like a lot of anime songs is called Rocky. You know, it's got power chords and like rock guitar and stuff. But this version is just like a piano and her singing is quite more of like a raw mix. Really good though. I think she's got really good voice so there's a cool video recommend you check it out.
yeah, so with her singing the main theme of the movie, I almost think that this movie is like a, you know, guaranteed success.
Yeah. Well, I hope so. Yeah. more success for a big franchises. And yeah, I'm hoping for another big hit another banger from Lisa because that first track was great. So moving on to our fourth story of the week. Japan's declining population continues to fall this year, with the total now sitting at 124,271,318, a decline of over 500,000 people, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and communications. This year marks the 11th straight year that Japan has had a drop in population size. The decline is a serious issue for Japan and its economy. An ever growing population of elderly combined with lowering birth rates are concerning for the future of the working population. This year is number of over half a million is the largest drop since Japan started the survey back in 1968 but that was not the only new record foreigners in Japan rose to a new high with a record of 2,866,750 people in terms of population increased by prefecture. Only Tokyo, Okinawa and Kanagawa saw an increase. The trend has been continuing naturally for some time. But now with fear of getting Corona and state of emergency declarations, there are even more factors playing into why people are going to be more hesitant when considering whether or not to raise a child. So definitely a concerning news for Japan as a country, right as an economy for many different reasons, the population constantly getting older and older. Yes. I guess the first thing that strikes me as a problem is the fact that if you've got too many old people then you don't have enough people to look after them. You know if they need care or you know, when they retire from the jobs. There's not enough people to fill their shoes right.
but yeah that's probably why We're, you know, seeing the increasing number of foreigners by, you know, increased by 7.5%. And, you know, getting close to 3 million people across Japan, right. And I saw the data myself, and they're mostly young laborers. So I think, you know, we're, we have come to the time that we really need more, laborers when, you know, workforce.
Yeah.
And everyone knows, Japan's population has been declining. And but in terms of the percentage, like, you know, like, what percentage This is?
No
it's only like point 4% decrease compared to the previous year.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, but, like when we hear like point 4%, like, you feel like that's like, you know, margin of error. Right. But when you hear the absolute number, such as like, 500,000. Now like, you know, it sounds more real
That's like a whole cities worth of people. Right,
right, exactly. Yeah,
I was looking at some statistics, I found this article on Nippon calm. And they got two graphs. One is comparing. It's called a population pyramid. And it's kind of like a type of graph that shows the age versus like amount of people, and in 1965. I guess from the ages, it's a bit hard to read the chart because it's so like, it's so granular, but I guess between the ages of like, 15 to like 40 made up like a really big chunk of the population and the working population. But now that peak has really shifted, and now it's actually caps out near the late late 60s and early 70s. It's quite worrying. Because in 1965, yeah, that the population of people over the age of let's say, 65 was pretty minimal and anyone over 75 there's almost nobody But then on top of that, kind of projections are given for kind of future population numbers. So it says that in 2040, they speculate the population might drop to as low as 110.9 million, which would have a ratio of working age population would be 53.9%. So it's only half of the population working. And the ratio of elderly population, which is anyone over the age of 65, will become 35.3% compared to the currently 28%.
Yea Around that
that is in Japan at the moment. So again, sounds like a small amount, but you know, 7% of your population, which is in the millions, there's actually a big number, right?
Yeah, what what's also interesting is that the number of population in Tokyo, Kanagawa, where Yokohama city is and Okinawa have increased. And, you know, this is as of January 1 this year compared to the previous year, you know, this trend shows like more people like moving into like big cities or you know, metropolitan area, right. But I'm curious to see like how this trend is going to be affected by the outbreak of Corona, because your people are saying, hey, like, we don't need to all base in Tokyo or around there because, you know, we can, I mean, at least some of us can start working remotely. Right.
I saw a survey the other day, and I forgot the exact number but it was around 50% of young people saying that they were considering moving out to like less populated areas, or even to the countryside. So we've seen like a complete reversal, kind of for myself as are like, like, I wouldn't say that I'm young anymore, but I'm not old, right. I mean, that kind of middle middle area, but I would like to live More in the countryside. I really like nature. But the matter of the fact is that there's no opportunity in those areas. And that's what most people are facing. Right? If you grow up in a small town and you have a particular career that you want to get into here, it's not like farming or some kind of obscure craft, you know, then chances are you need to move to a big city to be able to get into that career. Right. And I think that's the big problem.
right. At the same time, I was talking to one of my like, engineer, like friends, and he was seriously considering buying a house in a place called atami.
Nice.
Have you been there?
Yeah.
Yeah. It's about like, one hour by by bullet train from Tokyo.
Yeah, it's about two hour drive is nice drive actually down the coast.
Right. Right. And he has a motorbike. So yeah, he drives there. And you know, just the scenery and stuff.
Yeah. Nice.
And yeah, because he's an engineer and he's he's like a freelance. So he doeslike client works. And it doesn't really matter. Like, you don't need to be in Tokyo to code, right? So, yeah, I'm seeing like more and more people in Japan like that, you know, like him.
Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. So obviously, with 11 years in a row decline, there's there's no way that it won't go down again next year. You know, and unless, unless the government, you know, drives some kind of major incentive to encourage people to start, you know, having families again, then I think it's gonna keep dropping, right. I think the main factor is that from what I hear it's incredibly expensive to have children in Japan, compared to a lot of other countries. And the core of it, that's a problem the government needs to fix. Okay, so onto our final story of the week. This Tuesday on August 4, nine sumo wrestlers fled their living quarters in Tokyo and escaped to a local karaoke box. It is from the small karaoke box that the nine giant sumo wrestlers made a desperate call to the local organization complaining of the living conditions and their landlady. According to them they are targets of moral abuse from their trainers wife. When the master became sick, his wife took over some of the teachings to the athletes within a group chat with the wife. Severe warnings were given to anyone who did not reply fast enough. Also, wrestlers were forced to take a picture and post on the group line chat whenever they received a parcel from home. Aside from the escapees, sumos other residents of the house are also dissatisfied as well. The local Sumo Association plans to conduct interviews of all residents involved in an attempt to resolve these issues. I don't know if we're missing some details here Yasu. But this doesn't seem like such severe abuse. I don't know if there's been something like lost in translation or I don't know like some more severe details are not reported.
Well, this is what it is. Yeah. As far as how it's reported in Japan or you know in Japanese as well. But Yeah, I know this should be a serious problem in a way but can you imagine those chunky like nine sumo wrestlers like running into a karaoke bar to Get away from the the Masters Wife?
Yeah. Why do they have to go to a karaoke bar? They just go outside right?
so allegedly like they wanted to make a phone call to the sumo Association and like request for help or you know like they just need needed to find find a phone that they can use. so I don't think they even have their own phones in that sense.
Oh wow.
But if so then like why would like nine, nine of those like big guy to like run together?
Yeah it's like it's kind of funny.
Yeah, like a too comical to think about
Yeah like a herd herd of sumo wrestlers. You know, what would you call them?
You know, Imagine you're working in a karaoke bar. And I all of a sudden like nine like sumo wrestlers. Yeah. Come into the place
like in my head like, they're only wearing their like Sumo gear, right? When I imagined wrestlers in my head, they'd never wear normal clothes. Ever. They always were what they were okay.
You made a good point. So officially, they're supposed to wear, like sumo wrestlers I think it's a type of like, yukata Yeah, that's the rule. Yeah, but this time they're wearing like, normal clothes is a T shirt and like short pants and stuff. Yeah. Because they didn't even have time to like, get changed to yukata? And they were like, they're so rushed to like get out from the gym and they rushed into the Karaoke store. You know, so the they were, you know, it sounds like they were super desperate.
Yeah, this is like the perfect demonstration of the word like gentle giant, right? These nine like huge guys. And they're all just so afraid of this little obachan, Japanese grandma, she or she must be quite old, because she's the wife of the sumo master.
I'm not sure but maybe not that old but she should be obachan. If not obaachan.
Yeah. Yeah, but yeah, to be to be scolded by someone like that can be pretty severe, I guess. pretty intimidating.
Right. I'm not sure about this specific case. But what's so-called, you remember the word power harassment?
Yeah. Right.
This is a an example of power harassment too. And, yeah, power harassment, or moral abuse in English has been a serious issue in the civil industry and has been around for many years show. I would say there is a bad habit that a senior sumo wrestlers when they try to like give instructions to their juniors, they're kind of like allowed to Use some sort of like physical like violence they like slap you or, you know, punch you sometimes. But it's like kind of like considered part of the the training. you know,
there was one story this week I don't know if you saw it. a rugby coach in Japan and he had been abusing his student. he's like a high school rugby coach and he had been abusing his students.
Oh I didn't see that
no yeah, there was a picture of, he had taken his students to like an izakaya or something. Or a bar maybe not to- maybe to drink I'm not too sure. But basically he'd stuck toothpicks into one of their heads. Like as punishment for something
you mean like tsumaoji
yeah yeah yeah, like actual like there's a picture like if you if you Google it Yeah, there's a picture of a kid like with his head shaved because a lot of these guys they have their heads completely shaved right? and he's got a like toothpicks like stuck in his head.
That's crazy.
And then the coach wouldn't let him remove them from his head even after they left Place. Yeah, it's mad.
Yeah. I don't want to talk bad things about the sumo industry, though. Yeah, I hope that this old tradition will change in the near future.
Yeah, I hope so too. Well, that wraps it up for all the new stories this week. So let's move on to our final segment of the show. Word of the Week.
Today, I'm going to introduce a word related to Sumo as its that was the the final topic of the week. And the Word of the Week is kawaigari.
kawaigari. kawaigari.
Like...try to guess. Because, you know, a word. kawaii right? it's universal. Everyone knows what kawaii is right?
that's what comes into my head first
So there is also a word kawaigaru which is a verb which means to take, like good care of someone. But when it comes to kawaiigari, especially in the sumo context, it has a special meaning.
I don't know this one is
I give you a hint. So it's directly related to what we've discussed just now in the final section of our case
so it's like abuse or maybe is abuse of maybe like younger, younger sumo wrestlers
that's very close.
So like, not that they're cute, but kawaii is usually is assumed, it's usually like associated with younger people, right?
Um, so the thing is that Yeah, you're not too off except that like, as I said, like kawagaru is to like, take care of someone can be people or even like pets. But when it comes to that kawaigari it's like, you know, You're kind of giving instructions you're trying to guide your like Junior sumo wrestlers. But because of the nature of like sports, you know, you kind of use like physical like violence, like the kind of like, you know smashing in the face or your body in order for you to kind of learn some new thing, but this word has become a bit like notorious these days, because it's, in many cases, it's used to kind of like, use as an excuse for like bullying
okay
Rather than like, you know, offering them or providing them the proper like instruction. So kawaigari, even though it sounds a bit similar to Kawaii on kawaigaru, it's kind of a scary word.
Okay. Does it get used in any other fields, any other sports,
like sometimes like jokingly like, if you're like messing with your friend, or Yeah, maybe even not like jokingly, if you are like kind of like bullying someone in school, right? And they're like, Oh, this is just kawaigari. Yeah, but it's just like, using the, like, bad wrong way. Yeah, as an excuse, yeah. I'm not like, it's like, you know, I'm not bullying him. I'm just like, you know, I'm teaching him something.
Yeah, I guess like the closest thing you could say in English would be like physical discipline. Becauseit is more of like a physical thing, or does it also kind of encompass like the mental side of it as well.
The former so yeah, it's it's specifically for physical
Yeah. Physical abuse. Yeah,
And there's another similar word called ai no muchi in Japanese.
ai no uchi
Ai no muchi
muchi? ah okay
Okay, and you know what ai is?
it's love, right?
exactly. And muchi.
I don't know muchi
muchi is whip.
Oh, okay, I don't own a whip so
neither do I yeah, but it's like, whip of love. You know? that's like, that's the direct translation of ai no muchi
Sounds like a really rubbish 80s metal album, whip of love
Could be. Yeah. But for example, well ai no muchi is has a similar meaning to kawaigari. And for example, like when your mom is like, scolding you. Yeah. And I hope she doesn't like any more. But yeah, and you feel that she's like, being too harsh or tough you. then she may tell you, oh, this is ai no muchi and so it is to say that she's tough on you, not because she hates you. But instead, you know, she loves you and she, you know, she wants to take care of you. that is why like she's like, oh, whipping you with love.
Yeah, That makes a lot of sense. I mean, that's just like a human reaction, right? all mothers across the world. Do you know what we say in English for that?
Tell me
it's just tough love. You say Tough Love, right? just like when your kids crying you ignore them, because like, they'll learn to be more independent. Or, you know, something, you kind of push them to be harder. Not abuse. It's, you know, the the caring kind of, you know, toughness.
But I think it's interesting, because in Japan, we don't really have a habit of using whips. Yeah, you know, it's not really part of the culture, I think, but still, like this kind of figure of speech has been around for years. Yeah, everyone knows what ai no muchi. So I don't know how the word has derived.
Very interesting. Well, that brings us to the end of this week's episode. Whichever platform you're listening to us on, make sure you're subscribed for a new episode. Every every single week. Thanks for listening everyone. We're actually releasing videos every week on our Ryu Tokyo YouTube channel. So check it out. So stay healthy. Stay safe everybody. Remember next time your mother tells you off, it's not harsh, it's just ai no muchi, the whip of love. Be sure to check back next week for the very next episode of this week in Japan. Transcribed by https://otter.ai