Back in March, I decided I should try and head over to Tsukiji Fish Market before they tried to shut down some of the early morning access for tourists. I learned a few things from going. The first being that cutting fish can be really graceful, like this guy was making it with [...]

Former sumo wrestler Konishiki, who got gastric bypass surgery a few months ago, has lost a lot of weight, as this news report shows:

Konishiki avoided answering questions about how much weight he lost and the difficulties he has gone through, but according to the report, he weighed about 300kg (661 pounds) before the surgery and [...]

Benjamin Fulford, who has published a bunch of crackpot conspiracy theory books in Japanese and sometimes appears on Japanese TV, has uploaded a new video to YouTube in which he takes a break from ranting about freemasons, shadow governments, Jewish conspiracies, and 9/11 to claim that the U.S. military caused the Sichuan Earthquake:

A [...]

North Korea doesn’t like its citizens reading leaflets from the outside world:
North Korea’s military warned Friday that tensions between the two Koreas could become “catastrophic” if South Korea keeps sending propaganda leaflets into the communist nation.
The North’s tough talk was yet another sign that relations between the rivals have turned sour since new South Korean [...]

Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotooshu now has a blog:

This blog is now becoming popular among Japanese. But that’s might not be in the exact same way he had expected. Although its title is written in kanji and hiragana, he posts the entry in all hiragana, and many Japanese think it’s ‘kawaii.’(cute)
Imagine how he posted the entry. [...]

It sounded like great news – Japan’s self-defense forces airlifting help to earthquake victims and improving relations with China. Well, it turns out the Chinese government has backed down on its original request, making Japan use civilian aircraft instead:
The plan to send relief supplies aboard SDF aircraft surfaced after the Chinese government on [...]

Wow – the bogey man is being given a run for his money by Japanese homeless people, apparently. Talk about a closet case. Where do we even begin on this one?
Japanese man finds woman living in his closet
A Japanese man puzzled by food mysteriously disappearing from his refrigerator got a shock when he found out [...]

Maria Carey showed up to a Yomiuri Giants game the other night and threw the first pitch:

Some support the plan, while others fear it may actually help Japan’s case for whaling:
JAPAN will lease Australia’s prime research ship to study whale food, sparking Opposition warnings Australia is bolstering the case for whaling.
But the Government says research findings could actually undermine the case for whaling.
Japan will use the 94m Aurora Australis vessel to [...]

This clip of Japanese acrobats was apparently filmed by Thomas Edison in 1904:

For more video of early Japan, check out this Japanese documentary about the Meiji/Taisho/Showa eras on YouTube.

Mainichi reports on the arrest of several people involved in a brothel business:
A brothel owner and three other people have been arrested for allowing a female employee to use a hotel room for prostitution, Tokyo police said.
Toshiko Uchida, 70, the brothel owner, and three unnamed suspects stand accused of violating the Anti-Prostitution Law.
For some reason, [...]

Somebody likes to photoshop pictures of sumo wrestlers to make them look naked:

View the full gallery here. [not exactly work safe]
[via Zaeega]