"Tokyo Olympics 2016 endorsement dwindled" Who said what?

Tokyo people do not want the 2016 Olympic Games? Who
dared to say so? Better ask the whole country,
non-metropolis people included. Here is the story.

I noticed a quite surprising discrepancy in survey
evaluation about Tokyo 2016 Olympics by Japanese and
foreign mass media. Who mislead the flock? Western
press agencies report that according to an
International Olympic Committee (IOC) poll of Tokyo
residents, only 56 per cent supported Tokyo's bid for
the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. It was reportedly the
lowest rate of any of the four cities bidding for the
2016 Games.

The IOC's Evaluation Commission carried out surveys in
February simultaneously in Tokyo and its rival bid
cities (Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro) and will
submit the results in their final report. According to
AP press agency the rate of support was down slightly
from the 59 per cent of respondents that supported
Tokyo's bid last June, when the IOC cut the number of
candidate cities from event to four. A senior Tokyo
official confirmed the IOC figure to Reuters on
Saturday, while pointing to results of the bid
committee's own survey in January.

Tokyo bid leaders said 70 per cent of respondents
interviewed nation wide supported the bid, two per
cent more than the support from the city's residents.
A recent Yomiuri poll places support from Tokyo
residents at 76 per cent. Quite amazingly, no-one at
the IOC Evaluation Committee wanted to answer to the
question regarding this famous survey at the final
visit press conference I attended at the Okura mid
April.

Clarifications required, I say. IOC events, crisis,
flu, bids' gimmicks do not play by the book,
obviously.

North Korea spy-novels buzz

[North Korean spy Won Jeong-hwa]

More than 4500 people have been exposed as spies for
North Korea since the peninsula was divided in 1948,
according to South Korea's Defence Security Command.
With current crisis added to years of geopolitical
headaches, it is a source of inspiration for well
informed authors. Some of them are spies, others are
genuine ex-spooks.

The real spy

"Mused to the legendary World War One double agent
"Mata Hari", Ms. Won Jeong-hwa's life as a sexy spy
was the stuff of a thrilling movie script. Her
catalogue of deceit makes astonishing reading. There
were plots to assassinate South Korean agents with
poisoned needles, schemes to get a hold of photographs
of military installations and weapons systems,
kidnapping, maintaining a secret file of defectors
from North Korea and even setting up home with an army
officer from whom she extracted information. This
North Korean spy who used sex to extract military
secrets from army officers has been jailed for five
years by a a judge in the South Korean city of Suweon
who found her guilty of spying."

This was last year authentic spy story. This one is
recent: Who is the author? Secret... "Inspector O is
not real. He is the fictional protagonist of a series
of detective novels by a former Western intelligence
officer who uses the pseudonym James Church."

Extracts of Church's book:

"Is the shortage of thermoses in the novel actually a
code for missing centrifuges that used all the
aluminum tubes in the country? Inspector O, a
detective with North Korea's Ministry of People's
Security. He is a man who loves his country but
harbors a knowing skepticism about its leadership. He
rolls his eyes at the communist propaganda and balks
at wearing the red lapel pin of founder Kim Il Sung
that is de rigueur for North Koreans. He struggles to
keep his humanity in an authoritarian and increasingly
corrupt society."


[Picture of the former U.S. intelligence official who
writes under the pseudonym James Church. Ex spy who
studied for two decades North Korea's propaganda.]

Church first novel touches on North Korea's abduction of
Japanese citizens during the 1980s. The plot of
"Bamboo and Blood," the most recent work, revolves
around an Israeli effort to persuade North Korea to
stop selling missiles to Arab countries in return for
economic assistance. All three novels feature
struggles between O's Ministry of Public Security
(basically the police) and Big Brother-like agencies
wielding political power.

Church is convinced that in his frequent trips to
Pyongyang, he has met many Inspector O that is to say,
modern, clear-thinking people whose very existence
proves there is intelligent life within the North
Korean system.

"Inside the regime, whose face people see only through
stereotypes, there is in fact a society of individuals
who behave in recognizable ways," Church said during a
recent trip to Beijing.

Click the title for more on this new buzz!

Japan: 1st suspected case of "Influenza A (H1N1)" turned negative!

A world map of the WHO diseases outbreaks, May 1st

Update

An exodus of people heading for their hometowns or
traveling to resorts at home and abroad for the Japan
Golden Week holiday are said to reach a peak on the
week end, overshadowed by growing concerns over the
spread of a new type of influenza. Expressways were
said to be congested across the nation from the early
saturday morning due partly to the introduction in
late March of two-year toll discounts on weekends and
national holidays.

Negative

The high school student in Yokohama who has been
admitted to a local hospital as the first suspected
case in Japan of the rapidly spreading new flu virus
tested negative Friday, the health ministry said. Test
results showed that the 17-year-old boy has been
infected only with a seasonal strain of the influenza
virus.

A detailed lab test was being conducted Friday at the
National Institute of Infectious Diseases after the
so-called PCR testing of genes conducted earlier
failed to determine whether the boy had the new strain
of flu. The boy, a second-year student at a high
school in Yokoyama's Sakae Ward, stayed in British
Columbia, Canada, on a school excursion from April 10
to 25 with 114 schoolmates and five teachers,
departing from and arriving at Narita International
Airport, according to his school. The boy has been
hospitalized in Yokohama since a preliminary test
showed he was positive for influenza A.

Japan's population is 127,078,679 people (2009).

In between in Geneva, the WHO (OMS) World Health
Organization said Thursday it will no longer use the
term "swine flu" for the name of a new strain of
influenza A virus rapidly spreading across the world,
citing protests from pork and other farm industries.
The organization will instead use the term "influenza
A (H1N1)".

Anyhow... people still journey abroad during Golden Week...

Deadly influenza virus

Update

French: Les élevages de porcs ne sont pas, jusqu'à
preuve du contraire, responsables de l'épidémie de
grippe, selon le directeur général de l'Organisation
mondiale de la santé animale (OIE), Bernard Vallat.]
(Click sur le titre pour lire l'interview de B Vallat.)

English: The deadly influenza virus currently rampaging in
Mexico and other countries is by far transmitted only
among humans, rather than widely believed to have
originated in pigs, the head of the World Organization
for Animal Health (OIE) said Monday. The virus is a
cocktail, which combines the features of swine, bird
and human viruses. It is inaccurate to name the
disease "swine flu" though the swine flu virus played
a part in the outbreak, Bernard Vallat said. He is
the director general of the Paris-based OIE . Vallat
said he is worried about people's misconception about
the disease, which was caused in part by its misnomer
"swine flu." He said that as the virus is nonexistent
before, the disease got its current name in the early
stage of the outbreak. He recommended "North American
influenza" as a more reasonable term, as influenza
epidemics are customarily named after their places of
origin, Spanish flu, for instance.

"Based on assessment of all available information and
following several expert consultations, Dr Margaret
Chan, WHO's Director General raised the current level
of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to 5. She
stated that all countries should immediately activate
their pandemic preparedness plans. At this stage,
effective and essential measures include heightened
surveillance, early detection and treatment of cases,
and infection control in all health facilities."

The rest is here:

http://www.who.int/en/


Ah, there is this too...

10/03/2009 13:26 (50 Days 19:14 minutes ago)
The FINANCIAL -- Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and
NYSE: SNY), announced on March 9 the signing of an
agreement with the Mexican authorities to build a €
100 million facility to manufacture influenza vaccine
in Mexico.

The announcement was made during a ceremony attended
by Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico, and Nicolas
Sarkozy, President of France, who was in Mexico City
for a State visit.


[(L-R) Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, French President Nicolas
Sarkozy, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his
wife Margarita Zavala during a visit to the pyramids
of Teotihuaca]

This facility will be built and operated by sanofi
pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis
Group, which was represented at the ceremony by Chris
Viehbacher, Chief Executive Officer of sanofiaventis.

“By building this new facility, sanofi-aventis is
proud to contribute to the strengthening of Mexico’s
health infrastructure and is eager to support Mexico’s
exemplary commitment to public health through
influenza immunization and pandemic readiness”, said
Chris Viehbacher. “This investment illustrates
sanofi-aventis’ local approach to global health. This
facility will benefit public health in Mexico and the
Latin American region, in the context of influenza
pandemic preparedness”.

The agreement was signed by Birmex’ (Laboratorio de
Biológicos y Reactivos de México) and sanofi-aventis’
representatives in the presence of Dr. José Ángel
Córdova Villalobos, Minister of Health of Mexico.

Under the terms of the agreement, sanofi pasteur will
manufacture influenza vaccine in collaboration with
Birmex, a Mexican federal vaccine manufacturer. Birmex
will perform certain stages of manufacturing and will
be responsible for distributing influenza vaccines to
the public in Mexico.

Sanofi pasteur is planning to start construction of
the new vaccine manufacturing facility within a few
weeks. Upon completion within four years, the
facility will have a yearly capacity of up to 25
million doses of seasonal influenza vaccine.

The new influenza vaccine plant will be built in
Ocoyoacac, where sanofi-aventis already operates a
facility. The plant will be designed to switch to
pandemic vaccine manufacturing if a human influenza
pandemic is declared and a pandemic influenza strain
is identified by the World Health Organization (WHO).

As the world leader in research, development and
manufacturing of influenza vaccines, sanofi pasteur is
working to develop new and improved influenza vaccines
to save lives and is actively involved in pandemic
preparedness. Over the last five years, sanofi
pasteur has been consistently investing in major
expansions of its influenza vaccine production
capacity in the United States, France, China, and now
Mexico. With the production of more than 170 million
doses of seasonal influenza vaccine in 2008, sanofi
pasteur confirmed its global influenza vaccine market
leadership.

Consistency, right.

Chinese historians: "Beijing never compensated Nanking's rape victims"!

It came as a shock for all journalists and audience to
hear that the Chinese government never offered
compensations to the victims of the Rape of Nanking in
1937 killed by the then called Japanese Imperial Army.

This is the statement made by Dr. Joseph Wong of the
Toronto (Canada) Association for Learning & Preserving
the History of WW2 in Asia during Monday's
presentation of a controversial documentary movie
about Iris Chang's book at the Foreign Correspondents'
club of Japan.

If this is a correct statement, it is never too late
to heal the unfortunate destiny of victimized families
and it will certainly cause a lot of uproar debates,
arguments and condemnations.

Extract of the book :
The Rape of Nanking, Iris Chang *
Published by Penguin Books, 1998
ISBN 0140277447, 9780140277449

In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the
ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than
300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped,
tortured, and murdered a death toll exceeding that
of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
combined. Using extensive interviews with survivors
and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written
what will surely be the definitive history of this
horrifying episode. The Rape of Nanking tells the
story from three perspectives: of the Japanese
soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians
who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and
Americans who refused to abandon the city and were
able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000
Chinese. Among these was the Nazi John Rabe, an
unlikely hero whom Chang calls the "Oskar Schindler of
China" and who worked tirelessly to protect the
innocent and publicize the horror. More than just
narrating the details of an orgy of violence, The Rape
of Nanking analyzes the militaristic culture that
fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard
for human life. Finally, it tells the appalling
story: about how the advent of the Cold War led to a
concerted effort on the part of the West and even the
Chinese to stifle open discussion of this atrocity.
Indeed, Chang characterizes this conspiracy of
silence, that persists to this day, as "a second
rape".


John Rabe

A film on the Nanking massacre got an award. The
Sino-German co-production “John Rabe,” which won best
film at the German Film Awards ceremony in Berlin last
week, is based on the true story of a German
businessman (sometimes referred to as “China’s Oskar
Schindler”) who aided Chinese refugees fleeing the
Japanese during the Nanking massacre in 1937.

In his diary kept during the aggression to the city
and its occupation by the Imperial Japanese Army, the
leader of the Safety Zone, John Rabe, wrote many
comments about Japanese atrocities. Quotes from John
E. Woods' book (1998). "The Good man of Nanking, the
Diaries of John Rabe." page 77:

On the 17th December: « Two Japanese soldiers have
climbed over the garden wall and are about to break
into our house. When I appear they give the excuse
that they saw two Chinese soldiers climb over the
wall. When I show them my party badge, they return
the same way. In one of the houses in the narrow
street behind my garden wall, a woman was raped, and
then wounded in the neck with a bayonet. I managed to
get an ambulance so we can take her to Kulou Hospital.
(...) Last night up to 1,000 women and girls are said
to have been raped, about 100 girls at Ginling College
Girls alone. You hear nothing but rape. If husbands
or brothers intervene, they're shot. What you hear
and see on all sides is the brutality and bestiality
of the Japanese soldiers.»

*Iris Shun-Ru Chang 張純如


Author photograph by Jimmy Estimada, 2003

(March 28, 1968 – November 9, 2004) Iris Chang was an
American historian and journalist. She was best known
for her best-selling 1997 account of the Nanking
Massacre, The Rape of Nanking. She committed suicide
on November 9, 2004.

Prisoner of her sources...?

Crise financière et terrorisme au sommaire de la 40e Commission Trilatérale de Tokyo

Ont-ils les moyens de régler la crise économique et
financière mondiale?

Hôtes de marque au Japon

Ils sont tous ici...

Lorsque je me suis approché de Henry Kissinger ce
soir à Tokyo, il était égal à lui-même, n'apprécie pas
vraiment les interviews surtout quand elles sont
improvisées mais il est fair-play ici devant tant de
monde, et il sait jouer tant sur les mots que sur les
symboles (a fruitful crisis?) Ses mots sur la crise
sont simples: la confiance, encore la confiance
toujours la confiance. (Le Gouverneur de la BCE
Trichet nous a dit la même chose la semaine dernière)

L'homme force le trait, il est élégant et on le sait
féroce, enjoué et intraitable. Les interviews ne sont
pas son fort et surtout lorsqu'il s'agit de répondre à
un journaliste français. Motif? "Dear Henry", le Dr.
Kissinger, est encore "mal à l'aise" suite au dossier
Amérique Latine et les opérations Condor & Co suivi du
traitement judiciaire typiquement made in France...

La crise et la fuite en avant?
Parmi les critiques de ce laboratoire libéral qu'est
la Trilatérale, ce commentaire: "Washington a choisi
la fuite en avant. Henry Kissinger a affirmé que la
crise était une occasion inespérée pour terminer la
globalisation en profitant de l’affaiblissement de
tous ceux qui s’y opposaient."

On aurait pu craindre le choc mais non, son hôte au
Japon, Kobayashi Yotaro (Fuji Xerox) est arrivé pour
recevoir les félicitations d'usage et d'un pas
dodelinant, les 2 hommes se sont installés dans leur
posture d'hommes presque aussi puissants que...
Rockfeller, tandis qu'est apparu devant moi,
autoritaire mais courtois, le célèbre juge Bruguière.

Le "Juge Bruguière" est un personnage digne de romans!
Son arrestation de Carlos et son savoir sur la guerre
froide, son expertise des milieux islamistes, et
aujourd'hui un regard assez critique sur la façon dont
le Japon conçoit (ou plus exactement ne conçoit pas)
sa sécurité, commence à bien connaître l'archipel
qu'il juge mal prêt au risque terroriste malgré les
"cellules dormantes" typiques des extrémistes
pakistanais, bengladeshis ou malais.

Jean Louis Bruguière était venu enquêter au Japon sur
commission rogatoire sur les filières terroristes
islamistes en particulier pakistanaises. Cette fois
il est l'hôte du Japon, le Premier Ministre Taro Aso
est venu faire un discours devant les membres co-optés
de la Trilatérale et notre fameux juge est présent
pour un tout autre genre de mission. Il est l'homme
qui maîtrise pour les européens et les américains les
dossiers de surveillance des réseaux financiers des
terroristes.


Après le discours du premier ministre japonais Taro
Aso introduit par le président Asiatique de la
Trilaterale Kobayashi, j'ai rencontré notre juge pour
ma radio française favorite, et j'en reparlerai
prochainement de l'ex juge Bruguière, qui mériterait
des heures de programmes à lui tout seul, il est ici
quelques jours en plus des VIP incontournables.

Anne Lauvergeon, super craquante et toujours avec une
info ("le vrai capitalisme est de retour"), messieurs
Denis Ranque ("Thales s'installe partout
discrètement"), mais aussi Jean Louis Bourlanges,
Edmond Alphandery, Patrick Combes, Hervé de Carmoy et
Jacques Andréani pour l'édition 2009 de la Commission
Trilatérale dont la réunion plénière se tient donc à
Tokyo ce week-end des 25 et 26 avril.

David Rockfeller
L’idée de la création de cette organisation fut
initialement émise en juin 1972 par David Rockefeller,
lequel fut rapidement rejoint par Zbigniew Brzezinski.
La Commission Trilatérale fut officiellement créée à
Tokyo le 1er juillet 1973.

A cette époque, le leadership mondial des États-Unis
commençait à être fragilisé dans le secteur industriel
et commercial par les performances de l’Allemagne et
du Japon, tandis que s’amorçaient la crise économique
due à la hausse du prix du pétrole et la crise
monétaire due à l’abandon du système de Bretton Woods,
les États-Unis étant à la source de ces deux
phénomènes. L’idée était de substituer au leadership
américain un partnership trilatéral.

La Trilatérale? Inutile on a le G-20
Commentaire entendu hier à Tokyo d'un haut responsable
français, "la Trilatérale ne sert plus à rien, nous
avons le G-20"!

Ah? Mais ils sont tous ici, les Ex plus puissants
responsables de la politique et de l'économie mondiale
au lendemain de la réunion des donateurs du Pakistan
(les 5 milliards de $).

Et puis la présence de Jean Louis Bruguière, ce grand
spécialiste de la lutte anti-terroriste au pays du
soleil levant, pour cette Trilatérale qui se penchera
sur le terrorisme et les dossiers Afghans et
Pakistanais, est significative si on se souvient que
durant quatre jours, du 27 au 30 mars 2002, le juge
anti-terroriste a rencontré, à Karachi et Islamabad,
les responsables pakistanais. Il venait faire le point
sur l'attentat du 8 mai 2002, qui a coûté la vie à 11
employés de la Direction des Constructions Navales.
Le bus qui les transportait a été pulvérisé devant
l'hôtel Sheraton de Karachi par un kamikaze au volant
d'un faux taxi. Cet attentat demeure l'action
"islamiste" la plus meurtrière commise contre des
Français.

Mes sources japonaises me disent que "les terroristes"
étaient alors focalisés, intéressés par des
dispositifs et matériels électroniques français au
Pakistan.

Selon le juge, du Moyen Orient jusqu'en Asie, le
risque terroriste est devenu une menace grandissante,
appuyé par les régimes islamistes ou sympathisants, de
l'Iran à l' Indonésie, et les effets pour les
démocraties sont dores et deja redoutables.

Dernier mot, le Dr Joseph Nye est le représentant
américain, on avance ici qu'il serait le nouvel
ambassadeur du Président Obama au Japon. Il pourra
tenir la main de Dear Henry (Kissinger) toujours apte
au service avec ses... 86 ans!

Une Trilatérale qui devra rajeunir, l'effet
Obama-Sarkozy?

En conclusion, on cherche Indiens et Russes dans les
couloirs de l'hôtel Okura, il y a quelques chinois.
Au fait... les ex communistes chinois devenus
parfaits oliphants du capitalisme, on les met dans
quelle catégorie? J'avais deja posé la question à la
conférence de presse (vraiment très très restreinte,
on était quatre) lors d'une précédente session de la
TC et Paul Volcker (très sympathique) m'avait alors
très clairement évoqué l'entrée progressive des
chinois. Timide et trop analytique aujourd'hui la
Trilatérale alors que le monde exige des actes?

A la TC 2009 de Tokyo, la rumeur est que les agences
de presse ne couvrent pas la conférence car ce ne sont
pas des "hot news" me rapporte un confrère italien, or
ces sommets et les conférences internationales
ouvertes ou en huis clos, comme la Trilatérale, se
succèdent (G-20, Durban II, TC de Tokyo) sans que les
grands médias nous éclairent beaucoup sur ce qui s’y
joue et s’y décide vraiment pour le commun des
mortels. Cela dit, tous les textes présentés seront
communiqués sur le site de la Commission. Précision
nécessaire pour calmer les esprits.

"No nuke bomb" Kantei says!

"There is no doubt that we will continue firmly
maintaining our policy of (upholding) the three
non-nuclear principles" of not producing, possessing
or allowing nuclear weapons in Japan, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference here.

Kawamura said in response to Nakagawa's Shoichi
remarks about "nuclear counters nuclear", referring to
North Korea's announcement that it would resume its
nuclear programme.

Earlier this month, another Liberal Democratic Party
lawmaker also said at a party meeting that Japan
should have nuclear weapons in light of Pyongyang's
rocket launch April 5.

It reminds me the story of the suitcase bomb...
Scary.


Mock-up of a hypothetical "suitcase" nuclear bomb,
made once by Congress military advisor and ex CIA
Peter Pry *. It is basically a 105 mm artillery shell
device packaged in a large briefcase.

* Author of "War scare: Russia and America on the
nuclear brink". Published by Greenwood Publishing
1999 and of "Israel's nuclear arsenal". Published by
Taylor & Francis, 1984.

Tokyo's 2016 Olympic Games: IOC "most impressed"

"Les Jeux Olympiques d'Eté 2016 sont attribués à
Tokyo!" Une phrase que rêvent d'entendre tous les
organisateurs, responsables de la campagne pour la
candidature de la capitale japonaise aux JO d'Eté de
2016!

An enthusiastic super - large crowd of reporters with
a highly discernible interest attended the press event
of the IOC Evaluation Committee at the Okura hotel on
Sunday evening. Exchanges of informations and press
cards, I met Guy Drut, French athlete and IOC member
who kindly came to greet me after the event. The Gold
medalist of the 110 meters hurdles in the 1976 Olympic
Games seemed very "cordial" as usual and enthusiastic.

But my impression is that Tokyo candidature is still
very far from being won. Lots of work remain to be
achieved in explaining the importance of the Games in
and out of Japan. Equally important is the art to
describe what Tokyo would offer as a difference, as a
"bonus" to gain the 2016 Games that would be
guaranteed by the seriousness and full hearted
aspiration of Japanese organization as I saw in
covering the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

So, inspectors from the International Olympic
Committee ended their tour of Tokyo on Sunday. The
city is one of several being considered for the 2016
Games. Tokyo is the only one of the candidates to
have hosted the Summer Games before. The event in
1964 helped Japan become an economic superpower, but
now in a new century, it's not the economy, but the
environment which the city is pushing

Tokyo bid has also strived to emphasize its sound
financial health. This includes a 3.7-billion-dollar
reserve for construction of venues and infrastructure
and financial guarantees from the government for what
organizers say will be the most compact and
environmentally friendly Olympics ever.

"We have been most impressed to find what Tokyo could
offer the Olympic Games," said Nawal El Moutawakel,
chairwoman of the IOC evaluation commission, at the
end of four days of briefings and site visits.

On her side sits Gilbert Feli, IOC Olympics' games
Executive Director, he answered to my question about
how relevant is the importance of the 3.1 billion
audience in Asia that would welcome the Games. "This
audience is very relevant as it was for the Beijing
2008 Olympics and we will have a technological added
value with the 2016 Games". Gilbert Felli emphasized
that the technologies developed by Japan would help
world audience to watch the games.

(Click the title to watch the video report of the
press conference of the IOC evaluation committee)

During this news conference the Chair Nawal El
Moutawakel thanked the Tokyo bid committee "for the
excellent and highly professional preparation,
cooperation, hard work and hospitality. We are very
impressed by the vision, the high quality of
presentation and the concept that was presented to
us," she said, but added the IOC would need to further
study the bids by Tokyo and the three other
candidates.

The IOC commission has already visited Chicago and
will tour Rio de Janeiro and Madrid in the coming
weeks. It will draw up a report a month before around
100 IOC members choose the 2016 host on October 2.
Tokyo is the only one of the candidates to have hosted
the Summer Games before, in 1964, an event which
helped it become an economic superpower.

2016, Tokyo plans to concentrate 95 percent of the
venues within eight kilometres of a 100,000-seat main
stadium to be built on a landfill. Around 70 percent
of the venues will be within a 10-minute ride of the
athletes' village. On the theme of environmental
protection, the stadium will be partly covered by a
canopy of solar power cells, while the equestrian,
rowing and cycling venues will be set on a forested
islet built on heaps of garbage.

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara: "We managed to
answer very pointed questions. I think they could
understand the superb vision and concept of Tokyo's
bid."

El Moutawakel: "We have been given assurances
regarding financial aspects, which we are going to
study carefully." "We have also witnessed the support
of the business community."

The number of Japanese big business firms that support
the Tokyo bid, including airlines and sportswear
makers, has increased by six to 13 in the past week.
Financial issues have been a major concern among IOC
leaders, including president Jacques Rogge, because of
the world recession. "Although the financial
situation is a little bit difficult, I don't think
this situation will last forever," El Moutawakel said.

"You never know if other crises might happen. But we
are happy to see four of the strongest cities bidding
for the Games." Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has
met the IOC commission twice at a welcoming ceremony
and a dinner at the Akasaka Palace state guest house
and pledged his government's full support for Tokyo's
bid. "Foie gras" and Matsuzaka beef was on the menu
at the Akasaka Palace (State Guest House) Posh!



In the 2008 Beijing games, some say tarnished by the
west claims of abuses on Human Rights and on some
technological cheating, the press left the Games after
the Olympics prior to the Paralympic Games, Tokyo is
committed to the opposite, I hear, to achieve an
important event.

As a matter of fact, Narita Mayumi was sitting just
near the Tokyo Governor Ishihara (as we can see on the
picture on top of this article) to highlight the place
of handicapped people in the society, something that
deserves efforts and accuracy of urban friendly
environment for handicapped people.

Now, with only around 200 days to go before the IOC
chooses the Host City for the 2016 Olympic and
Paralympic Games, Tokyo 2016 launched a fleet of
special taxis celebrating the efficient and integrated
transport network of Japan’s vibrant capital city.
Bearing official Bid branding and messaging, the fleet
were dispatched to tell the world of Tokyo 2016’s
readiness to stage the most compact, sustainable and
environmentally-friendly Games in Olympic history.

"Le verdict" on October 2nd!

(Reportage & agences)

Hakuho: the Gentleman Sumotori

(In English and in French)

Sumotori Hakuho sama whose real name is Munkhbat
Davaajargal is the fourth foreign wrestler to be
promoted to Sumo’s highest rank as "Yokozuna" (Grand
Champion) following Asashoryu and Hawaiians Akebono
and Musashimaru. He attended a remarkable press
conference luncheon in Tokyo yesterday at my press
club.

I tested his push and I certainly see a bright future
for this extraordinary young man, whose strength
endurance and power also accommodate a real kindness
and gentleman's behavior.

After the luncheon event, I came to chat with him, and
I asked him to give me a push same as in the Sumo
ring, my first ever attempt to confront in a kindly
manner a Great Champion. He naturally hesitated but
played a smart move and while I was literally
propelled away he also kindly caught me back with his
hands as you can see on this extraordinary picture
seized by a fellow journalist colleague. We went into
a long laughter after that, being filmed by a
Japanese TV.



Having experience of Martial or Combat arts like in
Judo,Tae Kwon Do or fencing I had never experienced
the speed and the push of sumo before: "Terrassant"!

Hakuho and his compatriot Asashoryu, who has won 23
titles, have dominated sumo in recent years and there
has not been a Japanese winner of a title since
January 2006 when Tochiazuma lifted the Emperor’s Cup.

Some sumo traditionalists worry that Japan is being
left behind in its own national sport. There hasn’t
been a Japanese grand champion since Takanohana
retired in January 2003. There is a move by some in
sumo to restrict the number of foreign participants.
Hakuho is one of nine Mongolians wrestling in sumo’s
top division and one of 15 foreign wrestlers in the
elite class.

“I’d like to see more foreign wrestlers allowed in but
it’s not my decision.” “The fans should be allowed to
see the best in the world,” said Hakuho, who won his
10th Emperor’s Cup at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament
last month. While the rules are not clearly defined,
each sumo stable is allowed one foreign wrestler and
there are 53 stables.

Grand champion Hakuho wants to see sumo opened up to
more foreign wrestlers and hopes Japan’s ancient sport
will someday be included in the Olympics but knows it
is an uphill battle.

“I’d be really happy if it became an Olympic sport and
would try to do better than my father,” Hakuho said
that the International Sumo Federation has been
pushing to get sumo in the Olympics but its not on the
list of sports under consideration for inclusion on
the 2016 Olympic program.

Hakuho’s father won a silver medal in freestyle
wrestling at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

French

Le "bizutage" des académies de sumo était peu connu
jusqu’à ce que le champion mongol Hakuho ne lève le
voile sur ces pratiques taboues. Des bizutages de
titans où tout le monde envoie du lourd. «Je pleurais
tous les jours», avoue le sumotori qui aurait été
victime de longues séances de tabassage à ses débuts.
«Quand vous me voyez maintenant, j'ai l'air heureux,
mais à ce moment-là, je ne l’étais pas», raconte le
colosse de 1,92 m pour 154 kg, devenu l'un des plus
grands lutteurs depuis son arrivée au Japon à l’âge de
15 ans, et ses 60 kg d'alors.

Ses révélations interviennent au moment où un ancien
maître est jugé pour la mort de son apprenti sous les
coups. Certaines séances de tabassage pouvaient durer
jusqu'à 45 minutes. "Les 20 premières minutes sont
incroyablement douloureuses, mais après (...), même si
vous continuez à être frappé, vous sentez moins la
douleur», explique-t-il en choisissant ses mots avec
précaution comme "encouragement affectueux".

Celui dont le nom signifie «le grand oiseau blanc» est
l’une des plus grandes stars du Japon. L’un des deux
seuls yokozuna (le grade le plus élevé de la
discipline), avec son compatriote Asashoryu. Il
témoigne près de deux ans après la mort de Takashi
Saito, frappé à mort par son maître à coups de
bouteille et par trois sumotoris plus âgés armés de
battes de base-ball.

"Une minorité de lutteurs" conclut Hakuho.

Un moment unique passé avec notre Sumo favori,
authentique où l'on a vu que le géant et ses amis
athlètes savent aussi marcher sur des oeufs, avec
élégance. Il lui faudra prochainement démontrer ses
talents face au Sumo Asashoryu bien connu pour ses
tactiques un peu "raides" selon les spécialistes des
arènes.

(Reportage et agences)

Governor Ishihara Shintaro: Olympic 2016 Tokyo is better qualified than any other city!

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara believes that the Japanese capital is the most appropriate to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games because of its long commitment to peace.

He also said interesting things in these days of financial constraint: Asking to a Foreign Correspondent in Tokyo what Japan should do to avoid financial difficulties, the veteran journalist tells: "Japan should stop buying American treasury notes". Governor Ishihara answered "we do not need to buy American bonds." (Watch the Youtube segment clicking the title of this posted report)

[Recorded at the FCCJ, Tokyo, during a press luncheon where other topics were discussed such as Tokyo bid for 2016 Olympics.]

"The Olympics are the world's biggest event aimed at promoting peace and harmony for all humankind. In that sense, Tokyo is better qualified than any other city," Ishihara said in a press conference on Wednesday in Tokyo hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. As for the threat to its financial state, Japan's capital has the central government's guarantee to finance Tokyo Games. That is an important IOC precondition, but Ishihara said that Tokyo currently sees no need to make use of it.

Known for his radical nationalist view, Ishihara shrugged off the recent threat posed by North Korea's launch of what it claimed to be a satellite rocket. "I think there was too much fuss raised on this issue," the governor said.

He does not believe Pyongyang's act would be a threat to hosting the Olympic Games or to the safety of the people with the level of military technology that the Stalinist state may possess, he said. Ishihara referred to the reports from the United States and South Korea that no satellite was confirmed in the orbit.

Even if its technological development was more advanced, North Korea would not be able to make use of it because it would face retaliation. "They (North Korea) can't execute that technology," Ishihara said. "So how could that be the threat to Japan? The main purpose of North Korea was to restore the bilateral dialogue with the United States. There is no other motive." He also stated that he does not believe that the US would spend blood to defend Japan in case of serious emergency in spite of the US Japan military treaty.