Archive for October, 2008

Scientists develop maid robot

Reuters reports on a robot that can do some basic household chores:

Japanese scientists have created a robot that mops up, does the laundry and even cleans the kitchen. The ‘Assistant Robot’ is the brain child of Tokyo University’s Information and Robot Technology (IRT) Research Initiative system research centre and a slew of japanese companies including Toyota Corp, Sega, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The robot can “see” three dimensional objects and locate them as well as recognising when a job has not been completed properly and move to complete it. Laundry is said to be one of its favourite chores. It can find a dirty shirt, throw it into a washing machine and push the buttons to wash and rinse and spin dry clothes. But those who think this might be the answer to their cleaning woes can’t rejoice just yet. The research centre says it will be another decade or two before the robot can be mass-produced.

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Wrist cutter commercial

A fake commercial for a “wrist cutter” product (from the movie Tokyo Gore Police):

[via Zaeega]

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International press discovers Yamanote Halloween train

Looks like somebody told the Associated Press about the Yamanote Halloween Train, because they’ve got an article up about Japanese police posting extra officers at 30 stations on Halloween night in to deal with “naked, drunken revelers:”

Signs have been posted at all stations warning that the network will not tolerate any high jinks.

“WARNING: Any actions that interfere with or endanger the safety of other passengers, including holding parties, in stations or on trains, and all forms of violence are strictly prohibited. Violation will be punished,” the signs say in Japanese and English.

The measures reflect the lessons learned from last year, when inebriated pranksters _ many of them Westerners _ vandalized trains, exposed themselves, caused train delays and triggered complaints from other passengers, a company official said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

It may turn out that last Saturday’s sparsely attended “party” was this year’s event, and the Associated Press won’t have any material for follow-up reports about Halloween night. If some people do attempt to hold a drinking party on the train, I hope the police have the guts to enforce the rules advertised on the English language signs they printed.

Samurai Dave, a “journalist” who has posted videos on YouTube for the last couple years defending and advocating participation in the Yamanote Halloween train party, has posted a video showing the few people who attended one of the two train parties reported to have occurred on Saturday night:

Dave admits that few people attended and that the event was low key. Last year’s video contained plenty of footage of drunk and rowdy foreigners shouting, dancing, and harassing old women and salarymen, but the fact that angry 2-channelers and police outnumbered party-goers this year made it impossible for Dave and his friends to engage in that kind of behavior (he calls those who condemn the event on the internet are “overimagitive [sic] puritanic gaijin suck-ups” and “killjoys”). Instead, most of the video is footage of Dave and the dozen other participants bad-mouthing people who don’t approve of drunken parties on public transit and laughing at 2-channelers who stalked them.

Online postings by Dave indicate that there will probably be another party taking place on Friday night and starting at Shinjuku station around 9:00PM.

Those who want to encourage police to crack down on the event can contact the police at:

警視庁　03-3581-4321（代）

新宿警察署　03-3346-0110

渋谷警察署　03-3498-0110（代表）

新宿駅お客様相談室(鉄道警察) 03-3356-7505

[via JapanSoc]

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Pro-North Korea organization raided over tax law violations

A crowd of pro-Pyongyang Zainichi Koreans gathered to protest yesterday as police raided the offices of an organization believed to have performed illegal tax accounting for Korean businesses in Tokyo:

The Tokyo police searched locations Wednesday including an affiliate of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, on suspicion of violating the certified tax accountant law, investigative sources said.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Security Bureau suspects that a man believed to be linked to the affiliate — a chamber of commerce and industry in Tokyo’s Shinjuku area — produced a tax declaration document on behalf of a chamber member around 2006 without qualification as a certified tax accountant, they said.

[hat tip to Darin]

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Butt jump rope man & balance ball girl

Two mildly stupid but nonetheless impressive feats:

1. Butt jump rope for 30 seconds

2. Bouncing on a balance ball for 30 seconds without touching the ground

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Taro Aso not knowledgeable about the price of instant noodles

A gotcha question for Prime Minister Taro Aso:

Asked in parliament late Tuesday how much a package of Cup Noodles would cost at a supermarket, Aso said: “I think it used to be very cheap, but now it costs around 400 yen (4.12 dollars), doesn’t it?”

An opposition lawmaker immediately retorted that a cup of instant noodles — popular with Japanese on a tight budget — actually costs around 170 yen.

Aso admitted with a wry smile: “I don’t buy them myself these days.”

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