It seems that WaiWai is a little bit slow in picking up on new trends. Today’s column claims that panty peeping is a “new” thing in Japan.

According to Mainichi Shinbun:
Award-winning Japanese painter Yoshihiko Wada has been accused of plagiarism after it was pointed out that several of his paintings bear an extreme resemblance to paintings produced by an Italian artist, it has emerged.
Really? Let’s look at some examples:

Painting by the Italian artist

Painting by Yoshihiko Wada
“I have known Sughi for a [...]

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
A 33-year-old construction worker is under arrest on suspicion of punching PRIDE mixed martial arts fighter Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and breaking his nose in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, according to Ibaraki prefectural police.
Officers from Tsuchiura Police Station arrested Kenichi Sakayori of Tsukuba in the prefecture Monday.
According to the police, while driving in Tsuchiura [...]

They look Chinese to me…
HONG KONG (AFP) – Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen is set to lead in the Hollywood remake of Japanese classic “The Seven Samurai“, alongside George Clooney and Chinese starlet Zhang Ziyi, a film company said.
George Clooney and a bunch of Chinese samurai. God. Let’s hope it isn’t set [...]

Ever wonder what English-learning TV programs were like back in the Japan of 1992? If you take Zuiikin English as a representative example, they were all wacky!

The makers of this show decided to combine arobics and repetition of English phrases for maximum effect! (Video Link 1)

What’s going on here?

Oh, I see. Very useful if [...]

“Continue for a thousand years, for eternity”
A Kyodo News report is claiming that some Japanese teachers have been singing a English-language parody of “Kimigayo“(Imperial Reign), Japan’s national anthem, at school ceremonies. Some well-educated teachers realized that being required to sing the emperor-praising anthem at school ceremonies is an unpleasant reminder of Japan’s militaristic past, so [...]

I have changed the layout of the site.  Hope you like it better than the last one!

The Yomiuri Shinbun reports that a law regarding illegal parking will go into effect soon:
With the revision of the Road Traffic Law, enforcement of parking regulations will be drastically changed from June 1.
Under the revised law, police will be allowed to outsource enforcement of parking laws to the private sector, and 270 police stations, or [...]

Here’s an amazing Japanese commercial I came across the other day:

UGA Samurai Panda

OhmyNews reporter Tony Andriotis has recently posted his second article on Japanese-Korean relations, entitled “Learning to Hate: Revisited“. It is a really excellent article about the ridiculous anti-Japanese hatred that seems to be common among Koreans these days.
Recently, I have been teaching a conversation class for high school aged recent immigrants to the [...]

There’s a pretty interesting editorial on Japan’s English education system in the Japan Times. Apparently some Japanese don’t agree with the recent decision to begin compulsory English lessons in Elementary school:
“I am not saying the Japanese shouldn’t learn English, and I grant that English is indispensable if we are to make a place for [...]

Apparently maid cafes aren’t just a Tokyo thing anymore.  A maid cafe that recently opened in Hiroshima seems be doing pretty well the with the local otaku!

Here we have a nervous dorky patron being served by a cute maid.  moe~!
Watch the video report here (It’s in Japanese, but everyone understands the universal language of maid-fetishism)