I won stamps…again

As I mentioned before on this blog (including this post), Japanese people send friends and family 年賀状 (New Years postcards) every year and each of these postcards has a unique six digit serial number on the back lower-right-hand corner.

This number is for the annual お年玉 (Japan Postal New Years lottery drawing).

Every year in late January, the post office announces seven sets of winning numbers.

This year’s winning numbers were announced today.

They are:

— First Place (with a 1 in one-million chance of winning) postcards with the number 651694.
People who have a card with this number can choose a prize of either a digital TV,

a trip to Hawaii or any domestic (Japan) location,
a set of office supplies,
a laptop computer / digital camera / digital printer combo,

or a bicycle

— Second Place (with a 3 in one-million chance of winning) has winning numbers of either: 403580, 228949, or 022471.
These prizes are a choice of a wii Game set,
a digital camera and digital frame set,
a humidifier,
a domestic trip (with hotel, dinner, and lunch), or
a coffee maker.

— Third Place (1 in 10,000 chance) are cards with the last four digits of 8363.
The prize is a choice from a large variety of foods.

— Fourth Place (2 in 100 chance) are cards with the last two digits of either 69 or 02.
The prize is two Japanese postage stamps with pictures of a rabbit (2011 is “The Year of the Rabbit”).

Last year (2010), I had a post card with the winning number for a set of two stamps with pictures of a tiger (2010 was “the Year of the Tiger”)…and this year I have two postcards with winning numbers for stamps again.

Maybe one year we’ll win one of the big prizes.

The BBC mocks Japanese bombing survivor

About a year and a half ago I wrote a post about Tsutomu Yamaguchi.

He was the only person officially recognized by the Japanese government as a survivor of both the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Click here to read the post that explains his story in more detail.

Well, I saw on the TV news today about the extremely insensitive “comedy” show that the BBC of England aired that made light of Mr. Yamaguchi’s story.

Japan lodged an official complaint with the BBC and many Japanese people e-mailed the station to express their anger and disappointment over the show which was titled “The Unluckiest Man In The World”.

On the show they laughed and joked about the experiences of Mr. Yamaguchi. With comments such as “(maybe) the bomb landed on him and bounced off”.

The BBC has issued an apology for the episode and removed the video of it from their website, but the surviving members of Mr. Yamaguchi’s family said that they could never forgive them.

Here is the offending broadcast: