Reuters on how the success of Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotooshu in Japan has made sumo a very popular sport in his mother country:
“There’s an enormous interest in sumo among teenagers,“ added Petar Stoyanov, the man known as The Chief in Bulgaria. “Last month, I went to see a youth tournament with 137 competitors, most of [...]

Why they play rock-paper-scissors of course! This being an event organized by Danny Choo, the prize up for grabs was of course anime figurines. The first get together was back in September, and Danny just got some good shots and details about it posted on his site. See if you recognize any [...]

Prime Minister Taro Aso has finally been able to have a chat with President Barack Obama:

The two leaders had a 10-minute telephone conversation this morning, pledging to cooperate on the economic crisis, the global war on terrorism, and the North Korean abduction issue. Aso spoke in English the entire time and did not [...]

Fuji TV news takes a look at Omron’s Smile Scan system:

The system, which scans human faces and calculates smile percentages, is being used for “smile training” in certain service industries.
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The Tokyo District Court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by residents of an upscale neighborhood who were horrified by manga artist Kazuo Umezu’s red-and-white striped house:

“The coloring does catch the eye of those living around it, but it can’t be said it destroys the harmony of the landscape,” the judge said.
Umezu, who listened to [...]

The Japanese government has finally ordered the MSDF prepare for deployment off Somalia:

Tokyo plans first to send ships under an existing marine security law, which only permits the navy to protect Japanese ships, or those carrying Japanese crew or cargo. Kyodo news agency said ships could depart as early as March.
To dodge possible criticism from [...]

A line that is supposed to open a soldier’s parachute gets stuck on a helicopter during an Self-Defense Forces training exercise yesterday in Hokkaido:

The situation was resolved when the helicopter slowly descended and allowed the soldier, who was a member of the GSDF’s elite 1st Airborne Brigade, to cut the line and fall safely to [...]

A hilarious video of a Japanese guy named “Steve” playing Super Mario Land:

[via Dark Diamond/Offworld]
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A neat idea to save toilet paper:
Simply pasting a “toilet poem” at the eye level of a person seated in the cubicle can help cut toilet paper use by up to 20 percent, a study by the research center Japan Toilet Labo showed.
“That paper will meet you only for a moment,” reads one poem. “Fold [...]

As Taro Aso’s approval ratings continue to drop, Fuji TV News has noted that the LDP’s latest promotional poster has dropped its emphasis on the Prime Minister:

Whereas the previous posters put out by the LDP (right) had a huge image of Aso’s face with a slogan proclaiming that Aso would fix things, the new poster [...]

Nagasaki resident Kazuya Nishimoto has been arrested for making 150 fake emergency calls to the police in a span of about four hours:
“I did it because I felt irritated,” police quoted him as saying.
On Dec.11, 2008, the suspect repeatedly called police between 8 p.m. and midnight and said meaningless things on the phone, such as [...]

NDTV takes a tour of the Toshima garbage incineration plant in Tokyo:

Applying Japan’s latest green technology, Toshima Incineration Plant is one of more than a dozen garbage plants in the Tokyo metropolitan area that have recently started burning plastic waste.
The plant’s control center closely monitors the levels of toxins at each stage of the burning [...]