Anti-Bush ads

As widely reported, two submissions to the Bush in 30 Seconds contest for anti-Bush TV ads run by MoveOn.org compared George Bush to Adolf Hitler. The Republic Party website, ironically, provides perhaps the most detail of the controversial submissions.

Dinner with Buddhist scholars

Tonight we visited Kim Chon Hak (金 天鶴) and Kim Kyon Nam (金 京南), who are both writing their PhDs on Japanese Buddhism at Tokyo University. We were joined by their colleague Mona Satoh (佐藤 もな), who I am told is a mean guitarist. I was unable to ask any intelligent questions about their research, but it was interesting to hear about the situation of Japan-based Korean scholars of Buddhism who face a number of difficulties in finding jobs back home. Large numbers of Koreans are now studying at Chinese universities, which is much cheaper than studying in Japan, and is seen as a more "authentic" place to study Buddhism. On the other hand, with the recently introduced requirement that all new academic recruits in Korea must be able to teach in English, scholars with PhDs from the United States are now at an advantage in the job market.

The food was amazing. Tiny whole potatoes, deep-fried and coated in a sweetened soy sauce. "Rice cakes" made not with rice but from powdered acorns. And Kim Chon Hak loved the sweet potato souffle cake that Maho made this morning.