Archive for February, 2009

Valentine for a Sea Otter

A sea otter at the Shimoda Aquarium who is famous for his tendency to knock shells against the glass wall of his enclosure was given a heart-shaped Valentine ice treat in the hope he would do the same thing with it. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way:

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2009 Sapporo Snow Festival

A Reuters video showing some of the sculptures at the 2009 Sapporo Snow Festival:

The Sapporo Snow Festival, one of Japan’s biggest tourist draws, opened on Thursday (February 5).

Thousands of tonnes of snow were carved into towering sculptures, some as high as 15 metres.

A highlight of the festival was a sculpture for Tokyo’s 2016 Olympic bid, with Japan’s Olympic hero Kosuke Kitajima engraved into it.

Photos of some of the coolest sculptures can be found at Pink Tentacle.

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Two Montenegrins wanted over Ginza jewelry robbery

Metropolitan Police Department’s Organized Crime Control Section (OCCS) placed Hadziahmetovic Rifat, 40, and Jelusic Radovan, 38, on the list for assault and robbery.

The pair is accused of walking into a Ginza jewelry store on June 14, 2007, posing as customers, before spraying three female shop assistants in the face with tear gas. They made off with a diamond tiara and a necklace — worth a total of 284 million yen.

According to the OCCS, the pair allegedly belongs to a gang of European international jewelry thieves, known as “the Pink Panthers.”

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Best of Japan On the Web 2009

For the 3rd straight year JapanProbe has been mentioned in Japanzine’s “Best of Japan On the Web” awards. This year we have been named the best “Nippon News” website:

More irreverent than many of the others in this category, Japan Probe provides J-news for net-addicts everywhere. All the entertainment you could possibly want, without having to take your lazy wrist off the mouse.

This year’s award goes to Japan Probe, for doing much of the work of the others in its category, in an entertaining way. And because we can approach it at parties without feeling like a doofus.

Check out their full article for links to other great Japan websites!

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Junichiro Koizumi tops list of most suitable PMs

Junichiro Koizumi may have announced his retirement from politics, but voters are still hoping he will come back:

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tops a list of lawmakers seen as most qualified to be prime minister, followed by Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa, according to a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

In the survey, 14.4 percent of respondents said Koizumi was most suited to be prime minister, followed by Ozawa at 13.7 percent and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe at 7.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the rate of those who said Prime Minister Taro Aso was the most suitable was 4.7 percent, slightly higher than the ratio of 4.6 percent for Yoshimi Watanabe, a former state minister for administrative reform who recently bolted from the Liberal Democratic Party, according to the survey.

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Japan Blogging Revolution

A new Google Group for J-web enthusiasts, with the aim of uniting and promoting Japan on the web, is off to an explosive start at JapanSoc.org. The mission, already accepted by over 50 bloggers, is to “harness the power of many” by acting in unison to highlight the best content from member sites. Born out of the recent Japan Blogger Conference, JapanSoc.org aims to revolutionize the J-Web. Email “Action Alerts” will be used to draw attention to the best Japan-related news, blogs and videos, and give them maximum exposure. Members of the group are also collaborating on websites, radio shows, video, WordPress plugins and even iPhone applications. If you like Japan and love the web, head over to JapanSoc.org and request an invite.

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