Japan and Japanese

[ThomasP]

re "Japanse"

The Dutch use the word 'Japanse' in the same way that English speaking peoples use 'Japanesque', ie to indicate something as being particularly representative of, from or belonging to Japanese culture, such as art or mannerisms. It is an old usage dating from the 1600s at least, but is still in common use in the Netherlands when referring to cultural aspects. This is as opposed to when referring to an actual person or the person's nationality when the word Japanese is usually used.

 

[GrauGeist]

...that English speaking peoples use 'Japanesque...

i admit that I had to look that word up, as I have never heard it before.

 

[ARTESH]

 

[Shinpachi]

Time to say good-bye?

"Although UK has been chosen a new partner, the development of next-generation fighter for JASDF seems to be difficult due to the unusual decision to cut off the United States.

Unusual "US cut"
This "US cut" has been decided over the development of the next-generation fighter that the Japan's Ministry of Defense is promoting. The joint development partner countries will be UK and Italy. The US will not participate. Fighter planes for JASDF had been built in US or were jointly developed, so it is extremely unusual that the US is not involved in the development.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin welcomed Japan-UK cooperation and decided to seek for the possibility of Japan-US cooperation on the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that will work in conjunction with next-generation fighter aircraft.

The decline of US involvement is due to a failure in negotiations with the US Department of Defense, which respects the wishes of Lockheed Martin which was supposed to cooperate with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the main contractor for the next fighter of JASDF.

According to Japan's Ministry of Defense officials, when they asked for new technologies that they were most interested, they were refused but limited to current information about the existing F35 fighters that Japan imports. The US was reluctant to provide more advanced technologies. The U.S. Department of Defense appears to have emphasized the confidentiality......

Shigeru Handa
Modern Business"

Source: 自衛隊の「次期戦闘機」開発、異例の「米国切り」を決めて難航しそうな事情 英国を新パートナーにしたものの…

 

[Shinpachi]

I am never tired of the global news.


Japan's Sompo faces $750m lawsuit over Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'
Heirs of former owner argue insurer ignored Nazi role in painting's history


NEW YORK -- Japanese insurer Sompo Holdings has been sued over a painting from Vincent Van Gogh's famed "Sunflowers" series by the heirs of a former owner, a victim of Nazi persecution forced to sell the work under duress.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 13 in an Illinois federal court by three heirs and descendants of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a Jewish banker and art collector in Berlin. It seeks the return of "Sunflowers" or payment of the fair market value, in addition to $750 million in punitive damages, in light of the profit Sompo has earned from its ownership of the painting, including the benefits to its brand and marketing.

In the mid-1930s, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was forced to liquidate a collection that also included works by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet. His version of "Sunflowers" was sold to a French gallery, where it was acquired by a British collector in 1934.

In 1987, the painting was bought by Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance, Sompo's predecessor company, at auction at Christie's London for roughly 5.3 billion yen, equivalent to a record-breaking $40 million at the time. "Sunflowers" remains on display at the Sompo Museum of Art in Tokyo.

The lawsuit alleges that the purchase was "in reckless disregard of the painting's provenance" published by Christie's, which showed that "Sunflowers" had been sold by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy "at a time when notorious Nazi policies were targeting and dispossessing elite Jewish bankers."

As for why the complaint is being filed now when the deal in question was over three decades ago, a source on the plaintiffs' side told Nikkei that "even the plaintiffs and lawyers did not discover the identity of Sunflowers until 2008."

The source cited the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, which "basically resurrects a lot of potential claims for the recovery of materials lost as a result of the Nazi policies during the '30s and '40s that otherwise had been barred by statutes of limitation."

The legislation, also known as the HEAR Act, set a nationwide six-year statute of limitations for such cases, starting when the plaintiff learns either the identity and location of the artwork in question or their ownership rights.

A Sompo representative told Nikkei that the company "has not been served a copy of the complaint," and noted that the purchase at the Christie's auction is "a matter of public record."

"Sompo categorically rejects any allegation of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend its ownership rights in 'Sunflowers,'" the representative said.


MOMOE BAN, Nikkei staff writer
January 5, 2023 06:52 JST

Source:

Japan's Sompo faces $750m lawsuit over Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'

Heirs of former owner argue insurer ignored Nazi role in painting's history

asia.nikkei.com

 

[Shinpachi]

According to Wikipedia,

"A series of lawsuits demanding the restitution of the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy artworks was initiated in 2008 by the heirs of Mendelssohn, with Julius H. Schoeps as their spokesman. The artworks claimed included:

Picasso's Boy leading a horse, settlement reached between the heirs and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Picasso's Le Moulin de la Galette, settlement reached between the heirs and the Guggenheim Museum
Picasso's Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto, settlement reached between heirs and Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.
Picasso's Head of a Woman, restituted to the heirs by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC,
Picasso's Madame Soler: The Bavarian State Painting Collections bought the painting from Justin Thannhauser in 1964. restitution refused by Bavaria.

There was also a question concerning the Picasso's Boy with a Pipe which Mendelssohn-Bartoldy's widow had sold to Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich, who sold it to Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney in 1950."

Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[manta22]

I am never tired of the global news.


Japan's Sompo faces $750m lawsuit over Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'
Heirs of former owner argue insurer ignored Nazi role in painting's history


NEW YORK -- Japanese insurer Sompo Holdings has been sued over a painting from Vincent Van Gogh's famed "Sunflowers" series by the heirs of a former owner, a victim of Nazi persecution forced to sell the work under duress.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 13 in an Illinois federal court by three heirs and descendants of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a Jewish banker and art collector in Berlin. It seeks the return of "Sunflowers" or payment of the fair market value, in addition to $750 million in punitive damages, in light of the profit Sompo has earned from its ownership of the painting, including the benefits to its brand and marketing.

In the mid-1930s, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was forced to liquidate a collection that also included works by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet. His version of "Sunflowers" was sold to a French gallery, where it was acquired by a British collector in 1934.

In 1987, the painting was bought by Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance, Sompo's predecessor company, at auction at Christie's London for roughly 5.3 billion yen, equivalent to a record-breaking $40 million at the time. "Sunflowers" remains on display at the Sompo Museum of Art in Tokyo.

The lawsuit alleges that the purchase was "in reckless disregard of the painting's provenance" published by Christie's, which showed that "Sunflowers" had been sold by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy "at a time when notorious Nazi policies were targeting and dispossessing elite Jewish bankers."

As for why the complaint is being filed now when the deal in question was over three decades ago, a source on the plaintiffs' side told Nikkei that "even the plaintiffs and lawyers did not discover the identity of Sunflowers until 2008."

The source cited the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, which "basically resurrects a lot of potential claims for the recovery of materials lost as a result of the Nazi policies during the '30s and '40s that otherwise had been barred by statutes of limitation."

The legislation, also known as the HEAR Act, set a nationwide six-year statute of limitations for such cases, starting when the plaintiff learns either the identity and location of the artwork in question or their ownership rights.

A Sompo representative told Nikkei that the company "has not been served a copy of the complaint," and noted that the purchase at the Christie's auction is "a matter of public record."

"Sompo categorically rejects any allegation of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend its ownership rights in 'Sunflowers,'" the representative said.


MOMOE BAN, Nikkei staff writer
January 5, 2023 06:52 JST

Source:

Japan's Sompo faces $750m lawsuit over Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'

Heirs of former owner argue insurer ignored Nazi role in painting's history

asia.nikkei.com

View attachment 701136

I thoroughly despise lawyers.

 

[MiTasol]

I am never tired of the global news.


Japan's Sompo faces $750m lawsuit over Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'
Heirs of former owner argue insurer ignored Nazi role in painting's history


NEW YORK -- Japanese insurer Sompo Holdings has been sued over a painting from Vincent Van Gogh's famed "Sunflowers" series by the heirs of a former owner, a victim of Nazi persecution forced to sell the work under duress.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 13 in an Illinois federal court by three heirs and descendants of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a Jewish banker and art collector in Berlin. It seeks the return of "Sunflowers" or payment of the fair market value, in addition to $750 million in punitive damages, in light of the profit Sompo has earned from its ownership of the painting, including the benefits to its brand and marketing.

In the mid-1930s, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was forced to liquidate a collection that also included works by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet. His version of "Sunflowers" was sold to a French gallery, where it was acquired by a British collector in 1934.

In 1987, the painting was bought by Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance, Sompo's predecessor company, at auction at Christie's London for roughly 5.3 billion yen, equivalent to a record-breaking $40 million at the time. "Sunflowers" remains on display at the Sompo Museum of Art in Tokyo.

The lawsuit alleges that the purchase was "in reckless disregard of the painting's provenance" published by Christie's, which showed that "Sunflowers" had been sold by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy "at a time when notorious Nazi policies were targeting and dispossessing elite Jewish bankers."

As for why the complaint is being filed now when the deal in question was over three decades ago, a source on the plaintiffs' side told Nikkei that "even the plaintiffs and lawyers did not discover the identity of Sunflowers until 2008."

The source cited the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, which "basically resurrects a lot of potential claims for the recovery of materials lost as a result of the Nazi policies during the '30s and '40s that otherwise had been barred by statutes of limitation."

The legislation, also known as the HEAR Act, set a nationwide six-year statute of limitations for such cases, starting when the plaintiff learns either the identity and location of the artwork in question or their ownership rights.

A Sompo representative told Nikkei that the company "has not been served a copy of the complaint," and noted that the purchase at the Christie's auction is "a matter of public record."

"Sompo categorically rejects any allegation of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend its ownership rights in 'Sunflowers,'" the representative said.


MOMOE BAN, Nikkei staff writer
January 5, 2023 06:52 JST

Source:

Japan's Sompo faces $750m lawsuit over Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'

Heirs of former owner argue insurer ignored Nazi role in painting's history

asia.nikkei.com

View attachment 701136

So basically they found that it was grandads painting in 2008, 14 years ago, and think that the HEAR Act's six years statute of limitations does not apply to them.

Sounds like greedy lawyers trying to rip of the family that the Nazis ripped off to me.

 

[MiTasol]

I thoroughly despise lawyers.

My father in law was a very senior magistrate and he often said that Lawyer is an olde Englishe spelling of Liar. The most dishonest and amoral people he dealt with were Lawyers and Police though there were many of both who were both honest and had morals.

 

[Shinpachi]

This was a warning by a critic for the Japanese art investors in 1987 when Sompo purchased the "Sunflowers."

"If Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' was a forgery, there would be no more fun.

Japan's overheated money game has finally begun to head towards the overseas art market.
Why would such a company that doesn't know anything about painting spend 5.8 billion yen to buy a masterpiece?
Some people even criticize it for inflating the healthy market price. Are not our optimistic Japanese investors offered forgeries? For ordinary people like me who manage small amounts of money to enjoy the feeling of money game, if Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' was a counterfeit, there would be no more fun."

In fact, what if the masterpiece was a forgery?

Source: Square 21 (Sept.1987)

 

[Shinpachi]

Stefani's 'I Am Japanese' Comment Raises a Ruckus

This news has interested me a little bit.
I don't think she is Japanese but, as she says, it "should be OK to be inspired by other cultures because if we're not allowed then that's dividing people, right?" and, as far as I know, no one has copyright for the Harajuku culture.

Stefani's 'I Am Japanese' Comment Raises a Ruckus

Entertainer defends her embrace of Japan's culture in her career

www.newser.com

 

[Snautzer01]

"Ich bin ein Berliner" didnt mean Kennedy was German.
Stefeni means i think that she feels close to Japan and Harajuku in perticular.
Can not be anything wrong with that. In fact i think she did with one hit single more for this Harajuku culture then any other none Japanese combined together.

 

[SaparotRob]

I thought JFK said he was a pretzel.

 

[manta22]

 

[Snautzer01]

I thought JFK said he was a pretzel.

Anybody that could have been song to like miss Monroe did at his birthday can say whatever the the hell he wants to be. Prezel berliner puppy mister president...
Fact.

 

[Shinpachi]

Tower Slider seems to be its name as amusement facility.
Scheduled to be open in the end of April.

Plan
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Prototype
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Source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGks0CNUUAQSSRs?format=jpg&name=large

Sorry, this was a topic last year but I forgot to update -

"3-2-1 Good luck!"

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AzYRDPkEKxo

 

[Wurger]

 

[Shinpachi]

This news attracts little attention in Japan but Xi in China could be curious as an experimental case for democratization of his party.

Japanese Communist Party's ouster of dissident a denial of freedom of speech

Editorial: Japanese Communist Party's ouster of dissident a denial of freedom of speech - The Mainichi

The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has expelled its member and journalist Nobuyuki Matsutake after he urged that the party introduce a system to elect

mainichi.jp

 

[Shinpachi]

For the security, MASTA and MASADA are not Japanese cars but Chinese EV in S.Korea.

Source: 2021年ソウルモーターショー（後編）輸入車・その他の展示など - P sign

 

[Shinpachi]

Abe's shadow comedian Satake visits Fukushima to encourage people.
I am glad he has recovered from depression.

Original vid

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pcrUWvgAcM