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Japan Probe

Doorway Monster

“Nanikore” finds a house in Japan with a scary-looking monster on its front porch: The monster was created by the owner of the house as his graduation project for art school. It was too damn cool to throw it away, so he brought it home. Unfortunately, there isn’t much space ...

Posted on July 31, 2010 at 5:41 AM

Thousands Line Up For Hayabusa Exhibit

The Hayabusa space probe has been put on public display at the Sagamihara City Museum, and thousands of people have been waiting outside in the rain and the summer heat for a chance to see the probe for just a couple minutes: At 9:30 a.m. on July 30, there were ...

Posted on July 31, 2010 at 3:05 AM

Tokyo Sky Tree Beer

As the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree progresses, Asahi Beer has decided to change to design of some of its bottles to celebrate the new monument: Also included on the label is an image of Tokyo’s famous “golden turd” sculpture, which sites atop one of Asahi’s buildings. — Akihabara ...

Posted on July 31, 2010 at 2:44 AM

Karuizawa Cosplay

Asahi TV reporters Sahel Rosa and Alain visit an antique photo studio in Karuizawa and try on some costumes: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Posted on July 30, 2010 at 8:26 AM

Japan Facing a Farmville Invasion

It looks like Softbank is planning to bring social games like Farmville to Japan: Zynga, the online gaming company best known for its Farmville Facebook game, has received a US$150 million investment from Japanese Internet company Softbank. The two companies plan to form a joint venture, Zynga Japan, that will ...

Posted on July 30, 2010 at 6:04 AM

3D Camcorder

Panasonic will soon be selling a 3D digital camcorder: On July 28th, Panasonic detailed the “world’s first 3D consumer camcorder[s],” the HDC-TM750 and HDC-TM650, in a series of press releases. The two products are fully functioning standard HD video cameras aimed at normal consumers in Japan, however consumers will be ...

Posted on July 30, 2010 at 4:58 AM

Japanese Kid Takes Solo Bullet Train Trip

This 4-year-old kid riding a bullet train to deliver work clothes to his father’s restaurant is probably the most impressive performance I’ve seen on the TV program “Hajimete no Otsukai” (First Errand): Although the kid believes he is making a solo trip, he probably notices the cameramen following him around ...

Posted on July 29, 2010 at 4:19 AM

Spiny Softshell Turtle in Japan

A video clip of a Spiny Softshell Turtle that was captured recently in Nagoya: The species in not native to Japan, so it probably found its way into a Japanese pond after being dumped their by an irresponsible pet owner. There have been other sightings of such turtles in the ...

Posted on July 29, 2010 at 2:03 AM

Summer 2010 Beef Bowl Price War

Japan’s major beef bowl chains are in the midst of a summer price war: Sukiya, Yoshinoya, and Matsuya will all be dropping the prices of their beef bowls into the two hundreds. The deal will last for the next week or so, so hurry and get a beef bowl while ...

Posted on July 29, 2010 at 1:58 AM

Ueno Zoo Will Get New Pandas (And Pay China Millions)

Ueno Zoo will finally get some Pandas again: The Associated Press has uncritically parroted Chinese state media reports about this being a “diplomatic” move to build friendship between Japan and China. The AFP (and the Japanese media) have noted in their articles that it is more of a business deal. ...

Posted on July 29, 2010 at 1:52 AM

Foreign Nurses & Japan’s Immigration Policy

Japan has an ever-worsening shortage of nurses on its hands, and a new article in the Washington Post states that strict Japanese rules regarding the immigration of foreign nurses “may threaten Japan’s future.” The article focuses on the difficulties facing Filipino nurses who have come to Japan under a bilateral ...

Posted on July 28, 2010 at 5:57 AM

Badass Japanese Hermit

This 68-year-old man is a former karate champion who decided to give up normal life 16 years ago and become a hermit. Here is a TV show visiting his dojo in the hills of Aichi prefecture, where he practices martial arts: As you can see, he is a very modern ...

Posted on July 28, 2010 at 4:45 AM

World’s Smallest Piano & World’s Smallest Drum Kit

NTV’s “Fukashigi Tanteidan“　features short performances using the world’s smallest piano and the world’s smallest drum kit, followed by a jam session using both: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Posted on July 27, 2010 at 9:36 AM

Nagasaki Archive: Google Earth + A-bomb Information

A new site has been launched that combines Google Earth satellite images with information about the atomic bombing of Nagasaki: The site, dubbed “Nagasaki Archive” (http://nagasaki.mapping.jp/), shows photographic portraits of A-bomb survivors and the locations of destroyed buildings on a 3-D map of Nagasaki, allowing users to view the victims’ ...

Posted on July 27, 2010 at 9:27 AM

Shimbashi Station Gets Whisky Highball Melody

If you’ve passed through Shimbashi Station recently on a JR train, you may have noticed that it’s got a new arrival melody: According to the above clip from NTV news, it turns out that Suntory has paid JR for to change Shimbashi Station’s melody to a tune used in its ...

Posted on July 27, 2010 at 4:49 AM

Water Bottle Rocketeer

Comedian Tetsuro Degawa becomes a water bottle rocket man: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Posted on July 26, 2010 at 10:52 PM

U.S. / British / French Governments Sending Representatives to Hiroshima Ceremony

The United States is planning to send an official government representative to a Hiroshima atomic bombing memorial event: It would be the first time for the three Western nuclear powers to ever attend the peace ceremonies. The embassies of the United States, Britain and France in Japan have discussed their ...

Posted on July 26, 2010 at 11:33 AM

Ringing a Giant Temple Bell

Kuonji temple in Yamanashi prefecture has a bell so large that it requires monks to use a special full-body technique to produce the necessary power to create a proper ringing sound: When enough power is used, the bell’s ringing can apparently be heard at a distance of 4-kilometers. [from "Nani ...

Posted on July 26, 2010 at 3:10 AM

Nicolas Cage vs. Japanese Magician Kids

Two Japanese kids meet Nicolas Cage at the Japan premiere of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and try to shock him with a few simple magic tricks: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Posted on July 26, 2010 at 1:07 AM

Video: Baby Monkey Plays With Tiger Cubs

“Shimura Zoo” puts some adorable tiger cubs together with a baby Japanese macaque and discover that they will play together: When other TV shows have tried similar experiments with other species of animals, it has resulted in pretty messed-up situations that could easily be considered animal cruelty. However, the monkey ...

Posted on July 25, 2010 at 12:30 AM