A few news links this morning:

-Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto plans to ban billboards on top of buildings and blinking neon signs to improve the city’s landscape. How about hideous powerlines? [Props to FG]
-A South Korean man has been arrested for climbing over the wall to the Japanese embassy in Seoul and trepassing on [...]

Yasuhito Wakita (Wakki-kun) showed off this wonderful English t-shirt on tonight’s TV Asahi Quiz! program:

He must really like that shirt, because he also wore it on TV a few weeks ago:

What a special guy!

A few links for today (forgot to post this in the morning, so here it is now):
-Imagine a man rushing by you on the platform and a station and bumping you, making you lose your balance, fall on to the tracks, and get horribly killed by an oncoming train. It happens.

-The Japanese national rugby [...]

From last night’s Shimura Zoo, Super chimp Pan-kun whores himself out as a spokesperson for Disney’s latest film:

News links for today:
-A member of Nippon Sport Science University’s wrestling club has been arrested for stealing underwear from the women’s dormitory of the school’s gymnastic club.
-The Asahi Shinbun has an article about how views of World War II change with Japan’ political tide.
-Students who use cell phones are more likely to have [...]

If you’re a big fan of Kewpie, you’ll love PQ:

Check out all the PQ friends at the Official PQ site!
[Link via Zaeega]

On November 17th, a stray dog somehow found its way onto a concrete hillside in Tokushima. The dog became trapped a concrete grid and started howling in misery. The area’s residents noticed the dog and began rescue attempts. A few days ago, rescue workers tried to catch the dog with nets, resulting [...]

New links for this morning:
-The Catholic church has urged Japanese catholics not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. I guess it’s okay for them to visit other shinto shrines, though.
-The Iraqi who beheaded a Japanese backpacker in 2004 has been sentenced to death.
-Why is the LDP letting the postal rebels back in [...]

When Foreign Minister Taro Aso was recently asked by the press about the timing of the 6-party talks, he told them the talks would not overlap with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. When saying the words “Thanksgiving” and “Christmas,” he chose to use the English pronunciation of the holidays instead of the Japanese katakana [...]

Some news this morning:
-Female Korean tourists are flocking to Japan, according to the Chosun Ilbo.
-Is Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara wasting tax payers’ money on ridiculous vacations?
-A rail line in rural Chiba prefecture is having major financial difficulties. Their solution: sell osenbei (rice crackers) over the internet…
-Adamu has recorded and posted Dogs & [...]

Well, I just spent most of today grading a couple hundred tests, so here are a few amusing answers students wrote for some of the test questions:
Question 1: Write what this man is saying to the old woman on the train (in 4 words or more).

In this situation, the man is clearly [...]

Some Japan-related news this morning:
-Hirokazu Nakaima has won the Okinawa governor’s race. Many obsevers regarded the election as a referendum on the presence of U.S. troops in Okinawa, and it the U.S. base-tolerant candidate won.
-Mainichi’s WaiWai summarizes essayist Usagi Nakamura’s trip to a “happening bar,” where she engaged in public sex. The [...]