Archive for June, 2006

Wacky Japanese Gadgets

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 ear and automatically vibrates when it detects you are beginning to fall asleep.  Perfect for the sleep-deprived Japanese!

Head on over and read the rest of the list!!

World Cup suicide

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 60-year-old man identified as Yoshio Takanashi was found dead at the home of his Taiwanese wife`s parents in the city of Taichung, the Cable Televisin News Network Ettoday reported.

It said his wife told police that her husband had stopped watching television following Japan`s dismal performance in the competition. -Zeenews

So, did he kill himself because of the World Cup loss, or maybe he was just engaging in the unrelated Japanese pastime of suicide?

Oh well, it seems on a whole, the Japanese are taking things a lot better than Korea is…

Hot Dog Hype

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 a slot at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July eating contest in Coney Island, N.Y.

Pat Philbin, known in the competitive eating circuit as “Pat from Moonachie,” beat 12 veterans and newcomers to competitive eating to be crowned the New Jersey Turnpike Regional Hot-Dog Eating Champion at a highway rest area.

Sound remarkable? Not really, considering the fact that the defending world champion, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, has eaten over 44.5 hot dogs in each of his appearances at Coney Island since 2001 (he has won every time since).

Kobayashi is the world’s greatest competitive eater. While significant portions of the world are starving to death, Kobayashi entertains the people of America and Japan by shoving enough hot dogs to feed a North Korean family for a year in only 12 minutes. Just taking a look at this video of Kobayashi eating hot dogs at a previous competion should show you that American fatties like Pat Philbin don’t stand a chance this year.

So, does anybody know where to get a real hot dog in this country?  I’m not talkin’ about those terrible konbini hot dogs, I’m talkin about real hot dogs.

Test scores are serious business

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, whose name has not been released, is thought to have set fire to the house in Nara, western Japan, and left his stepmother to die along with his seven-year-old brother and five-year-old sister, domestic media reports said on Saturday.

The boy’s parents had been due to attend a meeting with teachers about his exam results that same day, reports said. The teenager told police his father, a doctor, had put him under extreme pressure over his academic performance, Kyodo news agency said.

The boy was attending a very prestigious high school, one which sends over 100 students a year to top national universities.  He had been #1 in his graduating class at junior high, but in the competitive environment of an elite high school he was no longer the best.  His father insisted that he get top scores, making the boy study until 2:00 or 3:00AM many nights.  The studying took place in a room that was nicknamed the ICU (Intensive Care Unit).  The boy seemed to sacrifice all enjoyment in his life for the sake of test scores.  Unfortunately, he was unable to reach his goals.

His latest test results were not so great, so he decided to kill his family before they found out about them.  After starting a fire that killed his stepmother and siblings, he fled to Kyoto.  At some point he must have remembered that the World Cup was on TV, so he decided to break into somebody’s house and watch it.  Shortly after the break-in he was arrested by police.

I really don’t know what to make of this incident.  Certainly the boy is responsible for a horrible crime.    Was he driven insane by the pressures placed on him by his family?  Did Japan’s messed-up education system mess him up?

Cyril Takayama: The most popular street magician in Japan

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 site has to say:

Born and raised in Hollywood California to an Okinawan father and French-Moroccan mother, Cyril first encountered magic at age 6 when a family friend took him to Las Vegas to see a magic show. He was immediately hooked and began to practice magic everyday, often to the dismay of his parents and teachers. As a young teenager Cyril was accepted into the youth program at California’s famous Magic Castle where, surrounded by his magic mentors, he began to gain skills that would help him to become a professional performer.

Cyril is an award-winning magician of the highest order. In 1994 F.I.S.M.(Federation International Society du Magique) awarded Cyril top prize in the Grand Illusion Category. It was this prestigious award, in what is known as the “Olympics of Magic” that broke Cyril onto the international stage.

It seems that his site hasn’t been updated very recently, but it does say the following about his career in Japan:

Cyril is quickly establishing himself as one the hottest new stars in Japan. In June of 2004 Cyril completed his third two-hour magic special in just two years for TV Tokyo and the response to his shows has been phenomenal. In his latest magic special Cyril blew away viewers by bungee diving headfirst off a Las Vegas Hotel, sword in his hand, to successfully pierce a previously chosen card floating amongst a full deck in a pool of water below. Incredible ? not to mention a bit crazy! Television audiences were once again treated to a visit by Cyril’s magical relative, the charming Grandpa Cyril, perhaps the oldest professional performing magician. Viewers also met one of Cyril’s magical friends, the talented but annoying Dero. Cyril’s magic is original, highly visual and stylish in its presentation and he is envied and admired among his magician peers.

That bungee jumping magic trick sounds pretty cool.  Let’s check it out:

It seems pretty neat. (Watch it here)

While I’m at it, I might as well post a bunch of other Cyril magic videos:

Some amazing magic involving hamburgers

Card tricks at the aquarium

Merging two pieces of candy

Bottle cap tricks at Mos Burger

Making half of his body disappear

Moving cards with his shadow & changing katsudon into udon

Gravity-defying chopsticks

Creating coins

Re-assembling fish

Taking a cell phone out of a magazine advetisement

Flying cards and a vanishing staff

Coffee from a picture

Magical Cup Noodle preparation

Grocery store chocolate manipulation

Tea ceremony magic

Throwing a card through glass

Making popcorn in his hand

Human levitation

Ring swapping

Cyril’s appearance on French TV 

I don’t believe in Magic, but I believe Cyril is a pretty cool guy.  His street magic tricks are pretty neat, and his Japanese is top notch as well.  He also injects coolness into his Japanese by using lots of English phrases and pronouncing katakana words as English.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he often used his fame and magic tricks to nanpa lots of chicks at clubs in Tokyo.  I’ve heard that he does occasionally visit clubs in Roppongi.  Has anyone seen him at work?

Hooked on Panties

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 hooks, which varied in length, could be used to grab panties. They were probably quite useful and getting any panties that were hanging out to try on balconies.

A note to girls living in Japan: If you have to hang your underwear out to dry, hang it in a well-locked room.