Sep 24

WIT Life #128: All’s well that ends well?

WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.

The recent Japan/China conflict came to a resolution quicker than anticipated as it was announced that the Chinese fishing captain will be released today.  He was being held in Okinawa, and a prosecutor there said, “We have decided that further investigation while keeping the captain in custody would not be appropriate, considering the impact on the people of our country, as well as the Japan-China relations in the future.”  However, the case will not be officially closed in order to leave room ‘for some ambiguity that would allow both countries to save face.’  Some in Tokyo showed dissatisfaction with the decision, including conservative governor Shintaro Ishihara who claimed that Japan had caved in to Chinese pressure.  Online communities in both countries were buzzing, with the Chinese side saying “Yatta!” and the Japanese side being more critical.  Things may not be over yet though.  Currently four employees of the construction company Fujita are being questioned by authorities in China after traveling there to prepare for a project to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned in China by the Japanese military during World War II.  They have been charged with entering a military zone without authorization.


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