Apparently the JET’s in Innoshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, have way too much free time on their hands. Luckily, they used it to create one of the best videos about life as an ALT in Japan (and the funniest musical about foreigners in Japan I’ve ever seen):

The Little Gaijin is stuck on the island and longs [...]

Yes, the rumors were flying recently that Japanese women had been bamboozled into buying sheep that they thought were poodles. One has to wonder, what does it say about those of us that went for this rumor? One would either be gullible, or think Japanese women are, and that line of thought may [...]

The Golden Week holiday starts this weekend in Japan, meaning that millions of people will be going on vacation and clogging the roads and airports. As I post this, I am about to leave for Narita Airport to join the masses there. Since I’ll be out of the country for a week [...]

Earlier this week, a TV program explored the science behind the super eating abilities of professional eaters Gal Sone and Nobuyuki “Giant” Shirota. Not suprisingly, doctors found that both of them have freakishly large stomachs:

Gal Sone’s Stomach: Before and after eating a huge meal

The full stomach of a normal woman vs. Gal Sone’s [...]

Today’s Japan-related news links:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed regret Thursday about the misunderstandings caused by his remarks on the sexual exploitation of Asian women by the Japanese military during World War II. He made the comments during a meeting with U.S. congressional leaders upon his arrival in Washington for a two-day visit for [...]

Two days ago, a friggin’ huge shark was captured off the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture. Fisherman attempted to bring the huge fish to an aquarium, but it did not survive the process. At the time, the news media was unsure of exactly what type of shark it was, but it has since [...]

Game industry news from South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo:
Police are investigating a suspected theft of software code for online game “Lineage III” which is being developed by Korea’s largest game maker NCsoft.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that seven former NCsoft employees are suspected of having sold the technology to a major Japanese game company.
The seven [...]

Anyone know when this game will be available for the Wii? (Warning: Not work safe)

[Via Zaeega]

Seth Bindernagel and Seth Spitzer put on some fox ears and team up with some strange puppets to film a Japanese promotional video for the browser FireFox:

As a user of FireFox, I wish you luck, guys!
[Hat tip to Julián]

This morning’s Japan-related news links:

China has officially displaced the US as Japan’s largest trading partner, figures revealed on Wednesday. [Link]
A ceremony was held Wednesday to mark the second anniversary of a deadly train accident that claimed the lives of 106 passengers and the driver when the train derailed and slammed into an apartment block [...]

The Japanese TV news this morning is somewhat excited about the Wall Street Journal portrait of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which appeared in the April 21 article “Yes, Prime Minister,” a write-up of their interview with Abe. The central theme of the article seems to be that Abe is not as interesting as predecessor:
It’s [...]

Here’s an interesting segment that aired today hyping the upcoming release of Chinese-Japanese rapper NYCCA’s CD:

His vital statistics, which are covered in the video report, can also be found on NYCCA’s Myspace page:
NYCCA is a trilingual rapper manipulating Japanese, Cantonese, and English. He was born in Hong Kong, moved to Japan when he was ten, [...]