Archive for May, 2009

Warning: Please don’t eat bluefin tuna (unless you really want to)

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 fish) dishes at Nobu’s restaurant in Berkeley Street, Mayfair.

However, although the warning appears on the menu at its other London restaurant, no asterisk appears against any of the fish dishes. The warning has only been put on the menus of the London restaurants, but crucially the bluefin can still be served if the customer wants.

Last year, a Greenpeace investigation had found that Nobu restaurants had been lying about not serving northern bluefin tuna. The IUCN Red list lists the species as “Data Deficient”, but environmentalist groups claim that the species is in fact “critically endangered.”

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Taro Aso’s new shirt

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 Aso, commenting on the shirt, which had a traditional Okinawan textile design weaved into the back.

If you want to know more about the Cool Biz campaign, check out this article.

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Cat takes a bath in Japan

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

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Man arrested for illegally dumping dental molds

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

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Japanese flock to bookstores to purchase Haruki Murakami’s new novel

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 on Wednesday. One store sold 840 copies in just one day, it said.

It is unclear when the work will be translated into English, according to Shinchosha.

Those who absolutely must find out more about the book can follow the blogger at How to Japonese as he reads through his copy of the book. [hat tip to Marxy]

Readers of Japanese can purchase “1Q84″ through Amazon.co.jp.

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Junichiro Koizumi leaves flowers in memory of Roh Moo-hyun

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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