mytest
Hi Blog. Was sent this a few days ago from journalist Pio D–him reporting on May 25, 2008, from the recent ecological G8 “Pre-Summit” in Kobe. See the report from Sky TG24 in Italian here. A screen capture:
Yes, he’s wearing an authentic “Japanese Only” T-shirt from Debito.org, from an authentic “Japanese Only” sign from the Rogues’ Gallery!
And there is more to report–I just heard from another reporter on the scene that security at the Pre-Summit was tighter than ever seen before–and will vindicate my recent Japan Times article on how international events, such as G8 Summits, bring out the worst in Japan vis-a-vis security measures (where civil liberties are lost and the police get the lion’s share of the budget). I was promised a report in a few days…
Anyhow, hearty thanks to Pio! I’ll be sending him a replacement Blue T-Shirt ASAP…
Arudou Debito in Sapporo
2 comments on ““Japanese Only” T-Shirt appears in Italian SkyTG24 report on G8 Pre-Summit”
Just to throw in a bit of fuel to fuel the fire!
In April, the police asked me to get my friend to “cooperate” with the security measures being put into effect for the Summit (I was translating). He was staying in Tokyo for 2 nights before returning to Gaijin land and was asked for a copy of his passport. We called the police. I brought up the fact that the summit was in Hokkaido and that it was months away and the officer came up with some lame excuse and then told the clerk to write down all of his info. Anyone please try to tell me that the police were/are not overreacting!
It’s in Italian.
“The reporter is saying that just like last year’s Financial G7 in Tokyo, this year’s Environment Ministers Summit in Kobe was a disaster because there were not restaurant facilities at the summit (besides a coffee corner) and that all the communications would be in Japanese only.
In addition the procedure to register journalist was too complicated.
The only communication in English was the result of the meeting and even that was poorly translated because it said they’ve reached an agreement when in reality they did not.
The next summit in Italy will be primarily in Italian but with full support for English-speaking reporters”
Perhaps it could be why he is wearing the Japanese Only t-shirt
–Thanks very much!