Asia in 3 minutes: no appetite for Ninjas in Japan, but for tasty looking dogs in Korea …
Meanwhile, the heat is on for tea-sipping police in India and a Palme d’Or winning film director
Put away the sword and throwing stars, Iga doesn’t need Ninjas after all
A major misunderstanding has led aspiring ninjas from around the world to inundate the city of Iga with inquiries about work opportunities after an interview with a local official was lost in translation. Famous for being the home of the feudal mercenary group, the city in western Japan was forced to issue a statement in English, Japanese and three other languages on Tuesday saying it was not recruiting ninja performers. According to the city, National Public Radio in the United States aired a programme about Iga on July 16 featuring an interview with its Mayor Sakae Okamoto and others. The programme’s host said Iga was facing a shortage of ninja performers and that salaries were in the region of US$23,000 to US$85,000 a year. City representatives said news sites spread an errant translation of the interview.
What next? The city warned people to be wary of “fake news” – but stressed there were many exciting activities available for tourists visiting Iga, including a ninja-themed attraction, but made clear visitors should leave their swords and throwing stars at home.
India investigates police ‘tea break’ in cow vigilante lynching case
Indian police have begun an inquiry into officers accused of taking a tea break instead of rushing a critically injured lynching victim to hospital. Akbar Khan, 28, died of his injuries after being attacked by a gang of Hindu “cow vigilantes” in the district of Alwar in Rajasthan state last week. Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, where squads of vigilantes often roam motorways inspecting livestock trucks. The murder stoked tension in the area amid media reports police had stopped to have a tea break and wasted crucial time instead of taking Khan to hospital. Police also allegedly cared for the cows first, transporting them to a bovine shelter much farther away.
“Doubts have been cast on the initial response of the local police,” state police chief O.P. Galhotra said in a written order. “A team has been constituted to look into the circumstances leading to the alleged delay and connected issues.”
What next? Slaughtering cows is illegal in many Indian states and some also require a licence for transporting them across state borders. In two prominent cases last year, a dairy farmer was killed on a roadside for transporting cows and a Muslim teenager accused of carrying beef was stabbed to death on a crowded train.
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