Archive for April, 2009

69.4% of trademark violations linked to China

Not exactly unexpected, but still pretty high:

China was related to 69.4 percent of cases of trademark violations on the manufacture, sales and distribution of Japanese companies’ products in fiscal 2007, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Japan Patent Office.

China remained the largest violator of trademark for Japanese companies following the 71.0 percent logged in fiscal 2006, the office said.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Missing bull semen

A lab in Miyazaki prefecture is looking for 143 missing vials of prized bull semen:

The straw-shaped vials were frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored in a locked container at the institute’s artificial insemination lab. The key to the lock was kept in a drawer in the lab, but the lab itself was left unlocked.

The vials, containing semen from five bulls, were estimated to be worth 650,000 yen. Cattle from the prefecture won top prize at a national grading event in 2007.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

How police catch upskirt photographers

A TV show follows around a team of Aichi railroad police who specialize in capturing upskirt photographers:

The team of plainclothes officers monitors escalators for suspicious-looking men. When one officer notices a flash and believes it was a camera, the whole team begins to watch the suspected upskirt photographer. They cannot arrest him until they absolutely sure the man is taking photos up the skirts of women riding the escalator, so they wait and try to catch him in the act.

The man returns to the area near the station ticket gates, looking for potential prey. When a woman wearing a skirt begins to walk towards the escalator, he starts following her. The man closes to within upskirt photo range, but he chickens out and heads back down to the ticket gate. When he tries again on another woman and actually takes the photo, the police officers grab him. He confesses his crime, the victim confirms what happened, and the officers arrest him and take him away.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Aerial view of Tokyo’s cherry blossoms

A great HD quality clip of Tokyo’s best cherry blossom sites, as seen from the Asahi’s helicopter:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Slippery slime foot race

Bobby Ologun and some other Japanese celebrities compete in a slippery track & field race:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Vegetable sports drink?

A commercial for Spo-Vege, a new veggie-filled sports drink from Asahi and Kagome:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)