A squirrel makes a giant tissue nest for himself:

The squirrel in the video is a 15-year-old rock squirrel named Hyota. More videos can be found on his YouTube Channel and Blog.
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Anpanman: not unrealistic like Western style animation
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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

An Iguana and cat in Funabashi that are sunbathing buddies:

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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:

Attempts to convince the whale to head out into the ocean have failed, and it seems to be losing weight.
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A high class Japanese restaurant in the U.K. has been facing pressure from environmentalists about serving bluefin tuna, so it has placed a warning on its menu:
Under the asterisk it is stated, “Bluefin tuna is an environmentally threatened species please ask your server for an alternative.”
The asterisk appears on several sushi and sashimi (raw [...]

It’s cool biz season, folks:

This year’s “cool biz” campaign gets under way on Monday, and Cabinet ministers are expected to wear the Okinawan summer shirts without ties at a Cabinet meeting held the following day.
“Promoting Kariyushi shirts will help save energy and also support the traditional craft industry,” said Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima.
“Very stylish,” said [...]

A couple videos of a cat in Japan that loves to take a warm bath on cold days:

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It would seem that the police set up drug bust style displays even for criminals who illegally dump dental molds:

The amount dumped was about 260kg, so the police must have included only the most heinous-looking molds of teeth.
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Haruki Murakami’s new novel, “1Q84,” has hit stores across Japan:

In a clever marketing scheme, the contents of his new novel have been kept secret. Fans ordering the book know nothing but the title, “1Q84,” which can be read as “1984″ in Japanese.
Shinchosha began selling the 1,000-page, two-volume work at a handful of stores in Tokyo [...]

Junichiro Koizumi’s wasn’t the best of friends with Roh Moo-hyun, but Koizumi still went to the South Korean embassy a few a couple days ago to leave flowers in memory of the ex-President of South Korea.
Former PM Fukuda will be Japan’s official representative at the funeral ceremony.
[hat tip to AceFace]
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