I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

Korea, in its quest to be the country with "cuttingest" technology edge, has recently tested wireless broadband, aka “wibro”. “Wibro” gives users high-speed internet access even in vehicles moving faster than 60 mph. This means that you can watch live TV on the subway. This means that you can play on-line games on the bus. This means that you can be connected anytime, anywhere, with anybody. Except, apparently, with the person sitting next to you. 24-year-old Lim Ji Young, part of the recent “wibro” test on a bus in Seoul, exemplifies this disconnected connectedness: "I'm catching up with a soap opera,” she says. “My boyfriend is playing on-line games." Perhaps she’ll email him to let him know how the episode ends.

With thanks to John Schneiderwind for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

This installment of Postcards from Asia is brought to you by the letters J and K and the number 1 with a bullet. That’s J for J pop and K for K pop, and number 1 with a bullet is where they’re headed on the charts in Asia. J pop stands for Japanese pop music and K pop stands for Korean pop music. For a long time K pop has been popular in Japan. And now, apparently, J pop is becoming quite popular in Korea. So much so that Korea has launched a concert series entitled “Fighting K Pop” aimed at encouraging Korean fans to support the Korean music industry. With J and K pops firmly in place, can Chinese C pop be far behind?

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

The North Korean situation is frightening for many reasons but none, perhaps, more eerily disturbing than images of North Koreans celebrating in brightly colored costumes just days after the nation’s underground nuclear test. That the celebrations were staged is believable. That the North Koreans are proud of the tests and apparently unaware of the world’s condemnation is less so. It’s hard to imagine that such isolation could exist in today’s broadband world but when you learn that there are only 55 TVs for every 1000 households, TVs that are pre-tuned to the government station, it suddenly seems to make more sense: North Koreans don’t know about the outside world. That’s likely to change: If nothing else, nuclear testing should bring the outside world in.

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

Bad news. All of you who were counting on having your body taken to China’s Jiangsu province in order to have strippers appear at your funeral had better start making other plans. Local officials are working to put an end to this time-honored rural tradition by arresting the performers and by instituting a “funeral misdeeds” hotline which offers rewards for information about illegal graveside nakedness. This crackdown followed a farmer’s funeral that attracted 200 people because of its alluring burlesque act. Apparently, striptease has long been a common practice at funerals in Donghai county; it attracts mourners and local villagers believe high funeral attendance numbers means greater honor for the deceased. Or, one might say, the mourn the merrier. Ouch.

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

In at least one Buddhist temple in Japan, ancestor worship is way more substantive than you might imagine. The temple is called Isshinji and it is in Osaka which is located in the western part of Honshu. The Isshinji temple is the home of okotsubutsu, that is, statues of Buddha that are made entirely out of the ashes of the dearly departed. You heard that right. Since 1887, the cremated remains of many an ancestor have been formed into larger-than-life sized statues of Buddha that are described in the temple’s brochure as “easily felt to be friendly” . Leave it to the Japanese, a culture that was into reuse long before it became eco-chic, to come up with this, the ultimate form of recycling.

With thanks to Randi Hacker and Sheree Willis for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

From the “Accessories for Pregnant Women in Japan” file, this just in: Rail companies in Japan are offering badges to pregnant women to encourage other riders to give up their seats for them on Tokyo’s crowded commuter trains. The badges – which come in pink and blue – read “There’s a baby in my stomach” and are designed to let other riders know when a woman is pregnant . One might well conclude that, if your average Japanese cannot spot an expectant mother a mile off, it might just help explain why the nation’s population is in such rapid decline. But honestly, there is that early stage of pregnancy when identification badges could be helpful. They might just think about changing the text however to “Baby on Board on Board”.

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

Annoyed with your boss? Got a bone to pick with your spouse? Angry at that sales clerk who ignored you? Come on down to The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar and beat those suckers up. Well, not those suckers exactly but baristas dressed up like those suckers. A bar here in Nanjing, China has come up with a new method of attracting clientele: it lets them beat up the staff. Clients ask the staff to dress up like the person they wish to muscle up on most. As of now, China lags behind the US as a liability/litigation culture, but something like this could catapult it to the frontrunner position before you can say "So sue me."

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

Pay no attention to that nuclear warhead behind the 18th hole; just shout “Fore!” and drive your Titleist down the fairway. In a development that is bizarre even by North Korean standards, the country is making a move to sell itself as a golf resort…mostly to their golf-mad neighbors to the south. The new Diamond Country Club is located at Mt. Kumgang, just a short bus ride across the demilitarized zone. Selling points include: cheaper greens fees (though still too steep for North Koreans to pay); the longest hole in the world (3,245 feet); 19 holes instead of 18 and a 14th hole being billed as the “unification” hole because all you have to do is get your ball on the green and it will automatically roll into the cup. No putting necessary, but don’t forget your hazmat suit.

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

South Korean fiancés are under pressure and the country’s esteemed fortune tellers are turning up the heat. Why? Because this lunar year has two first days of spring—one last January, and another next February—and such an anomaly is practically an astrological guarantee of marital bliss. To fuel the frenzy even further, this double spring year will be followed by the ominous Year of the Widow which pretty much everyone would argue sounds like a bad time to get married. Record numbers of couples are rushing to take advantage of this propitious time which brings to mind the proverb “Marry in haste; repent at leisure.” One can’t help wondering how many couples might be saying “I do” when they should be saying “I don’t.”

With thanks to Leslie vonHolten for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.

I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

Let the North Koreans have their nuclear missile test; here in Japan, it’s the kimono test that’s in the news. Kimono, the traditional robe worn by both men and women, and obi, the elaborate and intricately tied sash that holds it all together, are two of the more complicated wardrobe items around. Alas, modern life with its fast pace and clip-on obi threatens to all but obliterate the kimono culture that was once passed down from one generation to the next. This is why Japan is offering a test of kimono knowledge. About 7,000 people of all ages have signed up to take the test and receive certification as trained kimono professionals. Don’t move! I’m licensed to tie.

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.