Just when you thought it was safe to go to the bookstore

[FG Lurker]

JT exists so Nifco has a hole to bleed money from.

I'd never given much thought to who owns JT until now. WTF is a Japanese plastics manufacturer doing with an English newspaper? Surely there must be some history here somewhere...

[matsuki]

he really should've found a better photographer to take that photo. Talk about horrific lighting and composition. Even Charles could've done better!

It looks like a myspace pic taken with a cell phone camera.

I don't have any hate for Debito, he's a little off but he does the pushing that most of us are to lazy to do. Sit back and enjoy

[FG Lurker]

It looks like a myspace pic taken with a cell phone camera.

The angle of the photo, the way you can see his right arm/shoulder, and the way he is leaning back make me think he was probably holding the camera himself. The horrible lighting and apparently poor dynamic range of the photo indicates it was likely either a cell phone or a cheap (and probably old) compact digicam that took the photo. Based on the link in Taro's post it only took Debito 2 weeks to write (most of?) the book so I guess it isn't too shocking that the author "photo" is a 5 second self portrait.

I don't have any hate for Debito, he's a little off but he does the pushing that most of us are to lazy to do. Sit back and enjoy

It's a tough call. Sometimes I think he does more harm than good. Maybe that makes the rest of us look better though -- "Yeah, he's a barbarian but at least he's not as annoying as that Debito guy."

[IkemenTommy]

The angle of the photo, the way you can see his right arm/shoulder, and the way he is leaning back make me think he was probably holding the camera himself. The horrible lighting and apparently poor dynamic range of the photo indicates it was likely either a cell phone or a cheap (and probably old) compact digicam that took the photo. Based on the link in Taro's post it only took Debito 2 weeks to write (most of?) the book so I guess it isn't too shocking that the author "photo" is a 5 second self portrait.

It's not like Debito was trying to release a idol photoshoot.

[Catoneinutica]

It's a tough call. Sometimes I think he does more harm than good. Maybe that makes the rest of us look better though -- "Yeah, he's a barbarian but at least he's not as annoying as that Debito guy."

Good point! Debito stakes out the extreme - absurdly extreme - positions so that we don't have to. It's like the way Mohammadans who demand women wear niqabs make those who'll settle for a mere hajib seem moderate by comparison.

[Catoneinutica]

Cat, you just don't realize what it's like for a po' ole boy who's done and gone green on us to get out front and save this here so-ciety.....

That means he's gotta put all them green plantings to work. Corn squeezin's through the sack, strained spuds on the washboard and pushing them veggies through an old '50s toyota radiator.

Now that's the original kickapoo joy juice. Not only will it'll handle any season in Nagano, what ya don't drink, you can pave the roads with come spring!

Heh. And use the rest as your very own home-brewed Agent Orange on the non-native trees and plants.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I give Deadbeato kudos...at least he gave his vanity publication a title that also provides an answer to the question of whether it was worth publishing in the first place.

Still, his entepreneurial skills have got me thinking, "What next?"

How about...
...the Debito Card? Buy your discrimination in advance.
...Debitures? Bet on future prices of commodities in the Engrish teaching market (if there still is one).
...Debitoes? Breakfast cereal for kids stolen from their gaijin parents.
...iDebito? Just because Deadbeato loves no word more than "I"

[Yokohammer]

...the Debito Card? Buy your discrimination in advance.

[SIZE="1"](I must spread some reputation around ... blah blah ...)[/SIZE]

[Doctor Stop]

I'd never given much thought to who owns JT until now. WTF is a Japanese plastics manufacturer doing with an English newspaper? Surely there must be some history here somewhere...

If you consider the JT to be a in-house vanity press for Nifco it kind of makes sense. It doesn't make yen though.

Publishing Amy Chavez though, now that doesn't make any sense.

[FG Lurker]

If you consider the JT to be a in-house vanity press for Nifco it kind of makes sense. It doesn't make yen though.

I'm guessing it is/was a pet project of one of the plastics co's top management. It probably made money at one point but I can't see how it could be now.

Publishing Amy Chavez though, now that doesn't make any sense.

I was never really a JT reader. Long ago I got the Daily Yomiuri but I don't think I've subscribed to a newspaper in Japan for nearly 10 years now.

[Mulboyne]

I'm guessing it is/was a pet project of one of the plastics co's top management. It probably made money at one point but I can't see how it could be now.

Ogasawara owns NIFCO and Japan Times was always a pet project for him after he bought it in 1983. It was once kept as a separate asset but was folded into NIFCO when it started running low on cash because it's more tax efficient to run-up losses within a corporate structure. His daughter is the current president of the paper. If you want to buy the Japan Times, the owners have been willing sellers, although the price they want is apparently too rich.

[FG Lurker]

Ogasawara owns NIFCO and Japan Times was always a pet project for him after he bought it in 1983. It was once kept as a separate asset but was folded into NIFCO when it started running low on cash because it's more tax efficient to run-up losses within a corporate structure. His daughter is the current president of the paper.

Insightful as always Mulboyne. Thanks for the information!

If you want to buy the Japan Times, the owners have been willing sellers, although the price they want is apparently too rich.

The way newspapers are going I'm pretty sure they have lost their chance to sell it for more than a (relative) pittance. Eventually there will be just one English newspaper left -- either JT or the Daily Yomiuri. The question really is which company will fold first... Personally I think the DY will be the last one left standing.

[IkemenTommy]

I was never really a JT reader. Long ago I got the Daily Yomiuri but I don't think I've subscribed to a newspaper in Japan for nearly 10 years now.

Don't really care who owns them. One thing I can say for sure is that both of them are not worth wiping my hairy ass with.

[Taro Toporific]

[Mike Oxlong]

Sounds familiar...

No Copyright Law: The Real Reason for Germany's Industrial Expansion?

[FG Lurker]

> Kevin Kelly predicts that within 5 years all digital books will cost 99 cents

If the publishing industry believes they can maintain the current $10 to $12 per eBook prices they are heading for a very rude shock.

[Samurai_Jerk]

His paunch was actually loved by Japanese women that loved to cuddle with teddy bears.

That asshole plagarized my yet to be published autobiography.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I was never really a JT reader.

Very few people are now, either, and not just because it's barely purchased anymore.
I was shocked when my GF got a free subscription for a week and gave it to me. It was the first time I'd seen the JT in years and it was, well, paper thin. The Japan Times has become the paper with all the news without fear, flavor or filling. It's half the number of pages of its heyday, more expensive and terribly outdated, even more so after they dragged back their deadlines so that even their latest stories trail online news by days.
The Crassifieds (and that's what they were at the rates JT used to charge) have disappeared. Good Lord...not even KEN real estate gives them free ads anymore.
Though never a great fan, it's sad to see the JT go down the drain in such a tawdry manner. It deserves better, but at least it's not alone.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I refuse to pay 1,000 yen for this dreck that was written/[color="Silver"]non[/color]edited/e-published in less than 20 days, but if the price was lower...
...Makes a Killing With 99 Cent E-Books

You're right, of course....but wiping your ass with ebooks leaves a mess on your computer/reader probably does more damage than it does with printed books.

[Taro Toporific]

... never a great fan, it's sad to see the JT go down the drain in such a tawdry manner. It deserves better, but at least it's not alone.

The real shame was the death of Tokyo Journal just before the Bubble and WaiWai of course.

[FG Lurker]

You're right, of course....but wiping your ass with ebooks leaves a mess on your computer/reader probably does more damage than it does with printed books.

Most ereaders aren't flushable either which leaves you with a bit of a shitty dilemma.

[james]

What is up with the Canadian flag in the background? I hope to god he isn't trying to pass himself off as a Canuck. That would be so unkind.

my first thoughts, too. wtf? without the requisite backpack with the flag sewn on the back and a mountain equipment co-op jacket though, he's not fooling anyone.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

my first thoughts, too. wtf?

Are you guys crazy or just racists? He's Japanese. Can't you tell? Or does he need to file a lawsuit to show you? Sheesh....what's the world coming to?

[Taro Toporific]

[Ganma]

[Kanchou]

Its probably less a matter of being a quality photo and more about how he feels about the way he looks in it.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

He either has very poor eyesight or a very strange perception of photographic standards.

Maybe he has a condition like Parkinson's or cerebal palsy and is perpetually shaking, so the photo is actually in focus?

[nikoneko]

Pompous asses like photos where they look like pompous asses assumedly.

Showing his true colors now btw, not sure if this article has been linked yet:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110503ad.html

[Crystal Skull]

Have you read the story he wrote for The Japan Times?

He attacks the gaijin who stayed in Japan for being idiots and not running away like the little turd did himself.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110503ad.html

[Ganma]