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TOKYO (AFP) - Japan on Friday approved a campaign to certify “real” Japanese food overseas, worried that a global sushi craze will bastardise its national cuisine.
The campaign comes despite international derision after a panel first made the recommendations last year, with some US restaurant owners and press reports mocking the creation of a “sushi police.”
And add one more to someone mocking the sushi police as well, besides the fact that I’m wondering if said “sushi police” would look like the Elite Beat Agents. (Actually, that would be pretty cool. There would be a lot of pointing AND USAGE OF MULTIPLE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!)
But honestly though, why the fuss? It’s not like there’s no such thing as Korean sushi, and at least in Northern California, the majority of Japanese restaurants are owned by by Taiwanese and Korean families who are aware of the high demand for sushi restaurants. And in respects to the damaging of the Japanese “brand,” most people are intelligent to know that one bad restaurant that sells sashimi won’t spoil the image of Japan. Hey, you don’t see the nation of China tarnished because of P.F. Changs. (That’s SO for another blog post.)
(Photo credit: Y’Amal on Flickr)
4 Comments | Posted in: Food & Drink
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Canuck-born and raised Avril Lavigne, while not exactly donning 4 Harajuku girls, has gone to the trouble to re-record her current single “Girlfriend” (albeit only the chorus) into several different languages including, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin. I gotta say, this has given me a whole new respect for her. I spliced her English, Japanese and Mandarin tracks into one, just for you all out there to take a listen.
* Personally, I think the chorus sounds better in Japanese.
Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend - English, Japanese and Mandarin [3:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2245) 3 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment
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Kumar’s never had it easy. First, it took him a whole night to get to a White Castle. Then people made fun of his name.
Officer Palumbo: What kind of name is that anyhow? Kumar? What is that five o’s or two u’s?
Kumar: No, it’s actually one “u”
Officer Palumbo: Yeah… bullshit.
Now Kumar, oops, I mean Kal Penn, is back.
In a role that will show his versatility & range, Penn will be playing Gogol Ganguli, “an Indian-American who struggles with his funny-sounding name and relationship with his immigrant parents.”
2 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment
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The Associate Press just ran this article, “Schools Offer More Chinese Programs.”
“As China’s economic power grows, Chinese is becoming the new language of the future.”
This made me think about the late 80s and early 90s when Japan was going to take over the world (and the total land value of Japan EXCEEDED the U.S.!), and everybody was rushing to learn Japanese (including me - I took a semester of Japanese my senior year in college). However, I think Chinese and China’s growth is here to stay.
At the very least, China still has a LOT of growth and development in it. Although China has seen double digit economic growth for over a decade or more, most of China is still very, very poor. Additionally, China’s population is still increasing, while Japan is experience *negative* population growth!
“At least 27 states offer Chinese language classes in either elementary, middle or high schools. And at least 12 public and private schools across the country teach most subjects in Mandarin Chinese, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington.”
Considering that a lot of schools teach Spanish & French (and maybe even Latin ?), it’s actually pretty amazing that more schools don’t teach Chinese. Then again, I’m not all that knowledgeable as to what has driven language instruction in American education. I took French in middle school and high school, but I am not sure how relevant French is in today’s economy. (Continued)
2 Comments | Posted in: Current Events
… it’s Asian POP culture Remixed … in podcast form; music, news, games and interviews. After weeks of toil and a ton of money, I present to you the first teaser show of POP 88.
The official show with all its bells and whistles will be slated to go live May 1st. *We hope!*
Each new edition of the teaser will introduce new elements the official show will eventually incorporate. Of course, this takes time, and you all out there are our audio guinea pigs till we get it right.
So we, or rather I, welcome your feedback, comments, and suggestions. You can email them to christine [at] popcast88.com. Or visit the website POPcast88.com for more info and playlists.
*please note - I know I need to buy a new mic and also, please excuse my really poor Korean and Japanese pronunciations - I will get better, I promise!
POP 88 is in association with 8Asians.com.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is looking to recruit a few more good Asian-American men & women. Apparently, Asian-Americans are under-represented in the Sheriff’s Department, where about 20% of Los Angeles County’s 10 million people are of Asian decent.
So, to help in recruiting more Asian-Americans, Sheriff Lee Baca has recruited actor Jackie Chan to star in a public service ad aimed at recruiting minorities to the force. As Chan puts it, “I’m the police ambassador in Taiwan, Japan, Honk Kong, China, everywhere, first time in America, thank you very much,” Chan said.
You can catch a video clip of the press conference on CBS’s KCAL 2 - here. And a photo of Jackie in a police uniform here.
I wonder what the police forces of Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, everywhere and America think about that?!?
To be honest, having been born and grown up on the East Coast, I’m shocked whenever I see an Asian-American police officer in California. Asian-Americans in California, in general, are just so assimilated into mainstream society - except I guess when it comes into law enforcement and a few other professions (like professional basketball, football, etc…)?
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When I first heard the news that Manny Pacquiao, the Super Featherweight Champion Boxer, was running for Congress in his homeland of the Philippines, my first instinct was to cringe, and say WTF? The past decade of Philippine politics has changed from politicians, to even more well known super star actors and actresses from movies and television. So when I saw the actual link, Manny Pacquiao for Congress, I couldn’t help but feel the embarrassment people have had over the country’s political government.
To some extent I have to agree with the view that politics is acting, but when the majority of people running for seats in Senate and Congress in May have political resumes filled with movie credits rather than policies and a record of political stances, one has to definitely wonder the effects of leadership in helping to shape a better Philippines. The long-term health of the country is at risk when people are hired because of fame rather than the values, beliefs, and track record of political choices. Former President Erap was an example of the ineptitude of this new kind of politician. And current President Arroyo used that to state her case when she ran for office.
Manny: You’re a champion boxer. You’ve made tons and tons of money. More than the people of your homeland will ever make. You don’t need the money of a congressman’s salary. You should focus on your questionable move to De la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, boxing and all the rest that you have accomplished. Give back in other ways to your homeland. Prove your worth politically, before you use your fame and popularity.
2 Comments | Posted in: Politics, Sports
Just a reminder that The 25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival is starting next week, running from 3/15 to 3/25. It’s always usually a great time to see some interesting and different films highlighting Asian/Asian-American themes, directors, films, actors & actresses, etc.
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