Japanese Return Home from N. Korea

No matter what Junichiro Koizumi does he is branded a failure these days by political foes here in Japan. He did secure the return to Japan of 5 of the 8 Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 80's.


Koizumi shakes hands with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Ill 

When the five Nihonjin returned home it was covered rabidly by all news outlets. It even pre-empted a telecast of a K-1 match. That's also big news as K-1 is wildly popular here in Japan. I must admit I am a huge fan as well :)

They landed at Haneda Airport in Tokyo and then took a bus into Chiyoda-ku where they held a news conference. TV cameras followed them every step of the way. Even a helicopter trailed the bus down the highway on it's short trip. It was cool to see them come back. The fact that leading opposition party members have branded this visit to N. Korea by Koizumi a failure is rediculous.

Also, that Royal Wedding in Spain was pretty cool also. Two gripes about CNN International's coverage of it though. One, they had a guy talking so much over the wedding that at one point the female anchor told him outright to just "Shut Up." That guy liked to hear the sound of his own voice; and Two, The translator they had to tell us the wedding ceremony in english was total shit. She sounded drunk and disinterested in the whole affair. CNN really dropped the ball on this. The lady sounded as if neither her Spanish nor her English were even fluent, let alone native languages.

Today's Gaijin House Noise that Woke Me Up- Nothing. I actually slept till 6pm today. Man was I tired after working last night.