The dolphins at Kinosaki Marine World were having trouble making high jumps during shows, so trainers investigated and found that the dolphins were too plump to jump:
Keepers measured their weight and found all had gotten plumper, some up to 22 pounds heavier just during the summer.
All had the same menu _ about 31 pounds of [...]

It is incredibly hard for foreigners to get refugee status in Japan, but that hasn’t stopped over 1,000 individuals from applying this year:

According to the association, about 975 people applied for the status with the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau between January and early September. Over the same period, 25 people applied to the Nagoya Regional [...]

And this photo of a homeless guy pulling a junk cart is being used in the AFP article about the rising unemployment rate:

The number of unemployed people increased by 230,000 from a year earlier to a total of 2.72 million.
The labour ministry said in a separate report that there were only 86 job opportunities for [...]

A Fuji TV newscaster gets a special look at one of the gigantic storm drainage tunnels deep beneath Tokyo:

The tunnel shown in the video is about 40 meters (130 feet) underground and about 12.5 meters (41 feet) wide. While looking through the tunnel, the reporter and his guide are able to see marks left [...]

The Japan Sumo Association might come to regret its decision to ban Russian wrestler Wakanoho over a marijuana scandal. Today he went before the press and claimed he was forced to throw matches in exchange for money:
“I was forced to accept money and put in unfair bouts,” Soslan Aleksandrovich Gagloev, known by his [...]

An unflattering photo of former Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda listening to the speech Taro Aso gave today:

[via Foreign Policy]

Japanese scientists believe they have found the gene that causes narcolepsy:

It occurs in 1 out of 2,500 individuals in the United States and Europe, but is at least 4 times more frequent in Japanese.
The researchers analyzed the genomes, or DNA, of 222 narcoleptic Japanese and 389 others who did not have that condition, and one [...]

A clip from Fuji TV news previewing some of the cool robots and gadgets on display at the CEATEC JAPAN 2008 technology expo:

In this clip you can see:

Murata bicycle-riding robot and his unicycling sister robot
A 3-d display from Pioneer that can have its image absorbed onto a mobile phone screen
A mobile phone that can [...]

Junichiro Koizumi announced his retirement from politics last week, and he wants voters to elect his son to replace him. Junichiro first ran for political office when he was 27-years-old, and now that his son Shinjiro has reached that age, he has chosen to have Shinjiro inherit the family job:
Some supporters shouted messages [...]

AFP reports that a severe strain of herpes simplex virus type 1 of herpes is hitting sumo wrestlers in Japan:
Known as Herpes gladiatorum, or scrumpox, it causes painful, virus-filled blisters to form on the face and the neck that can damage the skin. Fever, headaches and an infection of the lymph nodes can also result.
As [...]

The image above is taken from the official site of Lotte’s new Splash gum. It shows comedy group Tunnels (the guys behind “human tetris”) and musician DJ Ozma (the “bounce with me” dude) dressed up as Yajima Beauty Salon, a new comedic musical group. Yajima Beauty Salon consists of a three “American” characters, [...]

Mainichi has issued yet another apology for its WaiWai column, this time expressing regret that some of the WaiWai articles violated the copyrights of other publishers:

In the column, articles were used without the consent of their publishers — including publishing and newspaper companies. Our follow-up investigation has found that we used and translated articles published [...]