[Chris W]
I found this one via Prof Joshua Landis's page on Syria, itself found via the lair of a couple of shw-i alumni, Power and the Money (good title). There's this guy with ambitious holiday plans: "Later this year, he plans to hook up with the Taliban in Afghanistan":
Japanese trucker Toshifumi Fujimoto is bored with his humdrum job, a daily run from Osaka to Tokyo or Nagasaki hauling tanker loads of gasoline, water or even chocolate. Yet while the stocky, bearded 45-year-old could spend his free time getting a jolt of adrenaline by bungee-jumping or shark hunting, he puts his life on the line in a most unusual way.
He's become a war tourist.
It gets a little more reassuring towards the end, but not in an especially optimistic way.
no one can question his financial foresight.... he's bought a life insurance policy..
Ooh, for a sight of those exclusionary sub clauses
Posted by: CMcM | January 04, 2013 at 05:51 PM
Yeah, I was worrying about that one too. On the other hand, if he goes to his death _thinking_ that the policy's going to work, is that a bad thing?
Posted by: Chris Williams | January 04, 2013 at 05:59 PM
Chris, you make the 'happy lemming' case.[But wasn't there a Walt Disney producers or someone making them very unhappy by throwing them over the cliff anyway?]
Meanwhile, for those that can't afford the full war tourism experience, why not give your little 'uns a model taste of what it might be like ? (gotta love the reviews)
Posted by: CMcM | January 04, 2013 at 06:06 PM
Ah, perhaps I should try to post that link again: purely for the reviews you understand.
Posted by: CMcM | January 04, 2013 at 06:09 PM
"I'm not a target for snipers because I'm a tourist, not like you journalists," he told a reporter. "Besides, I'm not afraid if they shoot at me or that they might kill me. I'm a combination of samurai and kamikaze."
He forgot to add ninja.
Dateline Aleppo:
Usayd rests his Dragunov SVD and turns to his spotter Ali.
Usayd: "What do you say I just take this one guy out and we break for a smoke and a bit of a nosh? I'm famished."
Ali: "No, hold on, wait a minute. Do you see all those cameras he's carrying?"
Usayd: "Another fucking journalist? He's mine."
Usayd readies the rifle against his shoulder.
Ali: "No, no I mean look at him, all those fucking cameras and that's Japanese GSDF camo he's wearing. He's definitely not FSA and I don't think he's a journalist. That's gotta be a motherfucking crazy Japanese tourist."
Usayd: "Mashallah!"
Posted by: Barry Freed | January 04, 2013 at 06:40 PM
Palestinian residents of Bethlehem looked on in disbelief as Yuji Makano and his girlfriend Mina Takahashi walked through the debris towards the church seemingly oblivious to the evidence of war.
Ten years on, the unconscious becomes conscious.
Posted by: dick gregory | January 06, 2013 at 03:55 PM
I remember reading (possibly in Ed Vulliamy's book) about a Liverpool trucker (shaven head, belly and tattoos all complete) who regularly took time off to drive aid convoys to Bosnia for much the same reason - it was a change from driving frozen chicken parts around the Midlands, and it was fun.
Posted by: ajay | January 07, 2013 at 09:11 AM