Techeblog.com has a cool feature up about the ‘Top 10 Strangest Japanese gadgets and accessories‘.  Here are my 2 favorites:

Oh baby, an ear cleaner with a built-in camera!  Get one of these and your day’s of blindly scraping around inside your ear are over!  I think I might order one….

An alarm that attaches to your [...]

So Japan got knocked out of the World Cup.  A lot of people were disappointed about it, but everyone seems to be over it.  Or so we thought…
Taipei, June 25: A Japanese man hanged himself in Taiwan today after the Asian Champions failed to secure a single victory in the World Cup, a report said.
The [...]

As I am typing up this entry, the front page news at Yahoo.com includes an article entitled ‘Man gobbles down 22 hot dogs in 12 minutes‘:

CRANBURY, N.J. – With sweat pouring down his face, a 42-year-old courier from Moonachie methodically gobbled 22 hot dogs in 12 minutes Friday to win a regional hot-eating competition and [...]

It’s been a top news story in Japan for the last week, but if you’re outside of Japan you probably haven’t heard about it:
A Japanese boy burned down his home, killing his stepmother and two younger siblings, for fear his parents would find out he had lied about his score on an English test.
The 16-year-old, [...]

If you are a regular reader of Japan Probe, you might have seen my old update in which I featured a video of a Japanese street magician dressing up like an old man.  The magician in that video was Cyril Takayama, a japanese-speaking American magician who enjoys immense popularity in Japan.  Here’s what his official [...]

Back in July, I posted a story about an amazing Japanese guy who stole thousands of panties. Well, it seems that the previously mentioned thief’s haul of over 1700 panties is nothing compared to the amazing haul in this video:

This guy stole 2400 panties!

The police also confiscated a few hooks that the thief had created.

These [...]

I am risking my life to make this post. As we speak, a fully-fueled North Korean missile is getting ready to fire. Is it a test firing of an ICBM? A satellite? Or the beginning of an attack on Japan? If it is the latter, a North Korean warhead could explode near my apartment building [...]

Brent from Chopstick Sensei recently started up a new site at
www.konbini-life.com

Refreshing concept
It looks to be pretty promising, especially for gaijin losers who don’t even bother to learn hiragana and can’t find their way into a Japanese restaurant. For everyone else, it might be a good prompt to try something new at your local Lawson.

In your dreams
So Japan lost to Brazil, ending Japan’s chances of advancing to the next round of the World Cup.  Was anybody actually expecting them to pull off a victory?  It is a disappointing day for the Japanese, but it was not unexpected.  Anyway, let’s forget about Japan’s loss and watch some Japanese-produced anti-Korean video [...]

Charles Jenkins (On the cover of his popular autobiogaphy ‘To Tell the Truth’)
Everyone’s favorite ex-North Korean resident, Charles Jenkins, is back in the news.  It seems that old man Jenkins, who has been living in Japan since leaving North Korea in 2002, has landed himself a job:

NIIGATA (Kyodo) Charles Jenkins, a U.S. Army deserter to [...]

As you may have read earlier, lack of sleep deprivation is a major problem for the Japanese economy. Well, the Washington Post and the United Press are reporting that the Japanese have discovered a fabulous half-assed solution to this problem: napping at work!
Images of exhausted executives conked out inside coffeehouses or on buses or [...]

Ever looked at the girlie-magazine section of your local Japanese konbini? If you have, you’ve probably noticed Man-zoku (‘Satisfaction’), a publication devoted to reviewing and reporting on Japan’s thriving sex industry. Sake Drenched Postcards has posted an article about the publisher of Manzoku, who seems to be a pretty neat fellow.
Read the article here, [...]