11 What is the Curse of the Colonel?

On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: What is the Curse of the Colonel?

Topics Discussed

• What the famous Curse of the Colonel is
• How tall and how heavy the statues of Colonel Sanders that are seen at Japanese KFC locations are
• How the tradition of the Dotombori Dive began
• The Hanshin Tigers
• How the Hanshin Tigers were named after the Detroit Tigers
• Why a statue of Colonel Sanders was thrown into the Dotombori River in 1985
• Randy Bass and his connection to the Curse of the Colonel
• How the missing statue of the Colonel was found in the Dotombori River in 2009
• The tradition of the Dotombori Dive and some of the deaths and accidents that have resulted from it
• What parts of the Colonel Sanders statue remain missing
• Whether the Hanshin Tigers remain cursed
• Where the statue of Colonel Sanders that was thrown into the Dotombori River in 1985 is today
• How Randy Bass' name changed when he began playing in Japan
• What Randy Bass did after going back to the US in 1988
• The suicide of Shingo Furuya
• And more!

Note: Japanese-language sources do indeed indicate that the name of the Hanshin Tigers was based on that of the Detroit Tigers.

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Japanese Vocabulary List

Most episodes feature at least one or two interesting Japanese words or phrases. Here's some of the ones that came up on this episode. All information is from Jim Breen's WWWJDIC.

• Hanshin
  • 阪神 【はんしん】 (n) (1) Osaka-Kobe; (2) Hanshin (company name: railway, dept. store, baseball team, etc.)

We Want Your Questions

Is there something about Japan that confuses you? Is there something about Japanese culture that you would like to learn more about? Is there something in Japanese history that you would like us to explain? We're always looking for new questions about Japan to answer, so if you have one, please send it to ichimon@japankyo.com.

Special Thanks

Opening/Closing Theme: Produced by Apol (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Fiverr)

Ichimon Japan cover art: Produced by Erik R.

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Full Show Notes

• https:///www.japankyo.com/ichimonjapan