Archive for May, 2009

Video: Tokyo skyscrapers come apart

This Citizen Eco- Drive watch advertisement contains some very beautiful scenes of Tokyo [via Danny Choo]:

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Three Japanese test positive for H1N1 flu

Everybody panic! The swine flu has come to Japan:

The three — a high school teacher in his 40s and two teenage students from Osaka — had been staying in Oakville, Canada, on a school trip from April 24 and arrived at Narita airport from Detroit at around 4:30 p.m. Friday on a Northwest Airlines flight.

During a quarantine inspection onboard the airplane, the three, who have developed symptoms such as fever and coughing, tested positive for influenza A and were taken to Japanese Red Cross Narita Hospital in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, where they have been isolated.

Further examinations by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases confirmed their infection with the new flu.

More flu news: Japanese health authorities are said to be calling every person who recently returned from North America to make sure nobody has developed flu-like symptoms.

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Western dogs vs. Japanese dogs: National stereotypes galore!

On last week’s episode of “Shimura Zoo,” a test was carried out to determine the ways different dog breeds react to disappearing food.

Comedians Taka and Toshi introduced the familiar stereotype of Western people displaying their emotions more than Japanese people and having “big” reactions to everything, and wondered if the same thing was true about dogs from those countries. To find out, they got a few dogs and checked their reacted to having a bowl of food suddenly disappear.

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They started off by testing two Japanese dog breeds, the Shiba Inu and the Tosa:

Apparently their reactions were mild enough to confirm that they are just like Japanese people.
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Next, we have the U.K. (Labrador Retriever) and the U.S. (Siberian Husky):

Despite the fact that the dogs aren’t even from the two countries [as their names so clearly suggest, they are from Canada and Russia], they are able to find “big” reactions from them and confirm their stereotypes about U.S. and British people.

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Let’s move on to the last two dogs, a French Poodle and an Italian Greyhound:

The poodle confirms stereotypes of the French by giving an “elegant” reaction to the disappearing food. The Italian dog reacts violently, just like the Italian people shown in the soccer riot footage included as an example of their national character.

The conclusion: Western dog breeds are just like Western people – they have BIG reactions!

[hat tip to Ken Y-N]

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Accident/Crime Reduction Rangers

Police officers as the “Accident/Crime Reduction Rangers,” a new team that teaches people how to be safe:

Although it kind of looks like they chase after the criminal in the video, the narrator says that the rangers told reporters they are “reduction rangers,” not “catching rangers,” so it is not their job to actually chase down and catch criminals.

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Obama bar in Osaka

The beer garden at the top of the Hankyu terminal building in Osaka is going with a Barack Obama theme this year:

Their “CHANGE！YES WE EAT!” all you can drink/eat plan is priced at 3,600 yen, but there is a special online coupon you can print out for a 200 yen discount.

Gotta love their beer foam mustache picture of Obama!

[hat tip to Ken Y-N / FG]

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Tokyo: Rio de Janeiro’s main rival for the 2016 Olympics?

The International Olympic Committee sent some people to inspect facilities in Rio de Janeiro recently, so a Japanese reporter went around town and asked residents what city they considered to be their biggest rival in the battle to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Tokyo beat Madrid and Chicago in the votes [possibly because the person asking the question was Japanese and the Brazilians were just being friendly and polite]. Residents said that they thought Tokyo’s modern facilities were its strong point.

Also included in the TV news report: An NTV reporter chasing after Nawal El Moutawakel, president of the IOC evaluation commission. I wonder if this reporter’s annoying behavior will effect her final decision about what city gets to host the games?

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