Archive for May, 2009

Squirrel collects tissues in Japan

A squirrel makes a giant tissue nest for himself:

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

Shintaro Ishihara talks about anime

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara recently gave an interview in which he commented on the popularity of Japanese animation:

“I think Disney was shocked by Japanese anime. Japanese anime isn’t unrealistic like Western style animation, nor do its characters feel made-up. Shows like ‘Anpanman’ are part of the fabric of our society. That kind of imagery, that personality of character, is something universal.”

For more quotes from the interview, check out this AltJapan post.

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

Few owners voluntarily surrender their daggers

Although a law banning certain types of double bladed knives and daggers went into effect last year, Mainichi reports that thousands of daggers will apparently not be turned into police before the grace period expires:

A total of 2,457 recently banned daggers had been recovered in nationwide collection efforts as of May 4, according to National Police Agency figures.

However, the police agency believes some tens of thousands of the weapons remain in circulation, and is stepping up a campaign aimed at informing individuals and industry groups of the police’s collection efforts.

Possession of the double-edged weapons was made illegal under November 2008 revisions to the Firearms and Swords Control Law, made in the wake of the June 2008 knife attack on 17 people in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. The revisions to the law went into effect last January, and owners of the knives who do not dispose of them by July 4 will face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.

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

“Japanese only” at Yokohama 150th anniversary celebration

The Japan Times recently published a letter from a frustrated foreigner in Japan who visited a Yokohama 150th anniversary celebration event and was shocked to discover that menus and exhibit descriptions were written in Japanese:

The English-language Y+150 Web site invites people to the Kurofune (Black Ship) Restaurant (located in the Y+150 Hajimarinomori area) for “A food court featuring menus and atmosphere that evoke the days when the country and the port were first opened to the world.” That statement is disappointingly accurate; you might have trouble ordering if you cannot read the Japanese-only menu or communicate with the monolingual staff. The International Cafe in front of Aka Renga Soko is similarly unaccommodating for foreign visitors.

In the Y+150 Hajimarinomori (Forest of Beginnings) area is Yokohama Monogatari (Tale of Yokohama). You can walk through a mini-museum of Yokohama history, see a short film and listen to mannequins describe life in Yokohama when Commodore Perry arrived, provided you are fluent in Japanese.

It is a bit misleading for the event to have a rather detailed English page introducing the event to foreigners, especially when tickets cost over 2000 yen. Still, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that most menus in Japan written in Japanese.

[via Yumeji's Theme]

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

Cat & Iguana sunbathe together

An Iguana and cat in Funabashi that are sunbathing buddies:

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

Sperm whale hasn’t left shallow water

Two weeks have passed since a sperm whale was spotted hanging out in shallow water near a town in Wakayama Prefecture. It’s still there, and shows little sign of leaving:

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