Elderly sweet potato mascot rises again
The village of Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture has unveiled a new statue of its mascot, Imojii the elderly sweet potato.
Tokai had put a statue of Imojii on display in March, but it was vandalized and broken apart within a mere 10 days (see above picture).
This time, the local government has created a much sturdier Imojii statue, which they hope will be able to last much longer:
The first generation Imojii statue will serve as a garden gnome of sorts for a nearby building.
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Categories: General Japan
Yoshinoya and Sukiya start selling eel dishes
Two of Japan’s biggest rice bowl fast food chains have begun to sell seasonal eel dishes:
Sukiya will be selling a half-gyudon/half-unadon dish, while Yoshinoya is selling pure unadon. Both are importing cheap eel from China, and both are emphasizing the safety of the imported eel.
The report ends a look at an eel restaurant in Tokyo that uses only domestic eel in its dishes. Customers claim that Japanese eel tastes better, but the chef notes that he cannot be entirely sure the eel is actually Japanese, since suppliers have been known to lie about the origins of imported food.
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Categories: Japanese Food
Pepsi Shiso
Two summers ago, it was Cucumber Pepsi. Last summer, it was Blue Hawaiian Pepsi. The disgusting novelty Pepsi flavor of this summer will be:
Shiso-flavored Pepsi! It will hit convenience stores across Japan on June 23rd and be available for a limited time only.
[hat tip to Ryuganji]
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Categories: Japanese Food
Contest: Win free tickets to “Honiefaith”
I am pleased to inform Japan Probe readers that the Tokyo International Players will be once again offering readers of this site an opportunity to win free tickets to one of their stage products.
This time, the free ticket will be to the Sunday, June 7 matinee performance of “Honiefaith,” a production based on the events surrounding the murder of 22-year-old nightclub hostess Honiefaith Ratilia Kamiosawa:
When a Filipino hostess’ dismembered body is discovered in a Tokyo coin locker, Manila newspaper reporter Victor Balmori is dispatched to Japan. Balmori is looking for a story, he finds a nightmare.
Written by long-time Tokyoite Monty DiPietro, “Honiefaith” is a three-act play about people pushed into extraordinary circumstances demanding difficult choices. The premiere of “Honiefaith” at OUR SPACE in Hatagaya, opens the Tokyo International Players’ new “Second Stage” series, and is being directed by TIP president Jonah Hagans.
Jonah Hagans (director): “I’m very excited to be working directly with the author on a production, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to build a piece up from the very beginning. ‘Honiefaith’ involves so much interpersonal dynamic — the challenge for me working with the actors has been developing the connection to the character and each other, and bringing out the genuine emotion and feeling to maximize the play’s impact.”
Monty DiPietro (playwright): “In the spring of 2008 I read a news report about the death of Honiefaith Ratilla Kamiosawa, and began imagining characters and their reactions to the tragedy. The ideas became notes and the notes became a script. I’m honored that TIP is producing ‘Honiefaith’, watching Jonah and the cast bringing the story to life has been thrilling, and a little terrifying.”
“Honiefaith” is based on real events. Some scenes contain violence that may not be suitable for small children.
To enter the contest, your readers should send an e-mail to “tip.contest@gmail.com“, with
- “JapanProbe.com” written in the subject line
- Your name & telephone number in the body of the e-mail
At 6:00 pm on Monday, June 1, a random selection of one e-mail will take place and the winner will be notified telephone. A pair of tickets will be waiting under the winner’s name at the theater, to be picked up 20 minutes before curtain.
For more information (and ticket purchasing info), check out this link!
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Categories: General Japan
Newsweek: Japan has “world’s worst” economy
Newsweek editor Rana Foroohar has written a post on the magazine’s Wealth of Nations blog entitled “Japan: The World’s Worst Economy,” in which she claims that Japan’s dependence on manufacturing/exports makes its economy terrible. The information mentioned is hardly enough to justify the ridiculous headline she wrote.
It’s not until the last couple paragraphs of the post that we really see why she doesn’t have a favorable view of Japan:
I must say that while I love the Japanese aesthetic, as well as the country’s art and music, I wasn’t sorry to leave last week. This probably says more about me than the Japanese, but I had a constant, subtle feeling of being an awkward gaijin always on the verge of making some etiquette error. I find that culturally, I’m much more comfortable in China. I’m now in the Pearl River Delta area, aka The World’s Factory. Yesterday, I interviewed a bunch of students at Sun-Yat Sen University in Guangzhou, and when I asked one of the students her impressions of the Japanese, she said that she felt they had a lot of rules, and that she didn’t know how to follow them. It put me in mind once again of the similarities in character between Americans and Chinese. Despite our obvious political differences, we are both generally brash, arrogant people from big empire countries, and on the upside, have fewer barriers to movement within our societies than either Japan or Europe.
Maybe she should have gone with the article title, “Japan’s politeness makes me uncomfortable” instead?
[hat tip to Brian Ashcraft]
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Categories: Anti-Japan
Blood: First 5 Minutes of New Vampire Flick
Horrific scenes within; viewer discretion advised.
It’s been a while since I saw the original animation, but the live action movie seems to start off with a scene very similar to it.
The cinematography and lighting in these shots seem similar to a Suicide Club type atmosphere too; it makes for some very nice atmosphere.
If you are interested, we did this post on the Blood: The Last Vampire live action adaptation here too.
Contributor Bio: Claytonian studies the Nihongoes in Saitama and blogs about Japan, language, and news at The Hopeless Romantic.
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Categories: Otaku & Anime