Journeyman Pictures Videos On Japan

[Mulboyne]

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Journeyman Pictures is "London's leading independent distributor of topical news features, documentaries and footage. We're like a video encyclopedia of the world." There are over 3,000 clips, usually around ten minutes long, on YouTube and around 70 of those take Japan as their subject. Where the actual film is longer, the full version is available on their own site. Killer Hornets above is the most recently posted (although it was made in 2003) and also one of the most interesting. It also has English subtitles which are missing from most of the other clips. That doesn't really matter too much because some of the interviewees speak in English while the narration will usually fill in the gaps if your Japanese isn't up to it. Over the years, Journeyman Pictures have covered many of the Japan topics you would expect to see including love hotels, host clubs, bullying, geisha, competitive eating, amphetamines etc. Most could be used to illustrate threads which have appeared on these forums in one way or another. The "uncovering Japan's dark underbelly" theme which crops up quite frequently can get a bit tiresome but there's no denying that they have some good footage and some interesting interview subjects. The piece on the Waseda Super Free rape club shows some of the group's events. If this appeared on Japanese television, most of the faces would be obscured but Journeyman doesn't do that. Here's another one called Killer Baths which I've mainly chosen because of the "gaijin in the onsen" moment:

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Health warning: if you watch too many of these videos in one setting, even though there's nothing particularly offensive about it, the narrator's voice will probably drive you up the wall.

[ttjereth]

[yt]sfdSPW-cwgM[/yt]

Journeyman Pictures is "London's leading independent distributor of topical news features, documentaries and footage. We're like a video encyclopedia of the world." There are over 3,000 clips, usually around ten minutes long, on YouTube and around 70 of those take Japan as their subject. Where the actual film is longer, the full version is available on their own site. Killer Hornets above is the most recently posted (although it was made in 2003) and also one of the most interesting. It also has English subtitles which are missing from most of the other clips. That doesn't really matter too much because some of the interviewees speak in English while the narration will usually fill in the gaps if your Japanese isn't up to it. Over the years, Journeyman Pictures have covered many of the Japan topics you would expect to see including love hotels, host clubs, bullying, geisha, competitive eating, amphetamines etc. Most could be used to illustrate threads which have appeared on these forums in one way or another. The "uncovering Japan's dark underbelly" theme which crops up quite frequently can get a bit tiresome but there's no denying that they have some good footage and some interesting interview subjects. The piece on the Waseda Super Free rape club shows some of the group's events. If this appeared on Japanese television, most of the faces would be obscured but Journeyman doesn't do that. Here's another one called Killer Baths which I've mainly chosen because of the "gaijin in the onsen" moment:

[yt]dQVFMTOIirw[/yt]

Health warning: if you watch too many of these videos in one setting, even though there's nothing particularly offensive about it, the narrator's voice will probably drive you up the wall.

Embedding disabled on the second clip for some reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQVFMTOIirw

[omae mona]

Here's another one called Killer Baths which I've mainly chosen because of the "gaijin in the onsen" moment:

[yt]dQVFMTOIirw[/yt]

I'm fascinated by their focus on "deaths in the bath", but not sure I agree with their thesis. Now, granted, the increased presence of foreign English teachers, and easy availability of sand for use on balconies, has increased the bathing death rate. But 14,000 deaths in bathtubs per year is apparently enough to have at least one doctor specializing in researching the cause.

But let's do the math. 127 million Japanese with a death rate of 8.98/1000 annually means about 1.1 million people in Japan die each year. The documentary says Japanese spend about 30 minutes a day in the bath, so if you figure you're just as likely to die at any time of day around the clock, there should be a little under 24,000 bath deaths a year just due to "bad timing". If, in reality, only 14,000 people are dying in the bath, it sounds like the bathtub is actually reducing the death rate. Hell, get me some sand, I'm hopping in the tub!