Praying for the souls of dead whales at a Japanese temple
A fascinating clip from an N-H-K documentary that contains a description of a temple in Japan that has honored the souls of dead whales by giving them posthumous Buddhist names and entering them into a registry (much as one might do for humans who have passed away):
Other whaling news you might be interested in: A whaling town in Japan has hauled in its first catch of the season, as is a village in America. It also looks like Europe will surpass Japan in whaling this year.
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Categories: General Japan
Japanese love cats that sit like humans
Over at the pet section of Yahoo! Japan, a “Suko-zuwari” photo contest is in progress. “Suko-zuwari” is a word created by Japanese cat lovers to describe the amusing human-like sitting style of some cats. The behavior is most commonly found in Scottish Folds, so the first part of “Scottish” [スコティッシュ] was combined with word for “sitting” [座り] to make “suko-zuwari“ [スコ座り].
FTV’s “Mezamashi TV” morning show recently ran a segment about the online photo contest, visiting a cat cafe to observe some “suko-zuwari“:
They find a few cats sitting in just such a pose, and comments are made about how it resembles the sitting style of lazy middle-aged men.
A cat expert says that cats often make various poses while licking themselves clean, and it is possible that some cats discover through their cleaning routines that the “suko-zuwari” position is comfortable. Only male cats seem to sit that way, and it may have something to do with their own desire to smell themselves.
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Categories: Animal Videos
Anyone want a golden beer mug?
With gold prices rising, why not buy yourself a golden beer mug:
It contains 850 grams of pure gold, and only costs 5,000,000 yen ($52,000)!
Too expensive? Maybe you might want to invest in a 20,000 yen golden fan, or a 200,000 yen golden wind chime.
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Categories: General Japan
Car sharing in Japan
It would seem that car sharing is starting to catch on in Japan:
The news clip features Orix’s car sharing business. As example customers, a woman is shown taking a short trip with her daughter, and a salesman uses a vehicle for a sales run. The president of Orix is very optimistic about future growth.
Some details in English from the Japan Times:
An advance subscription is required to use the service. Members are issued an identification card that can be used to unlock the cars, which are available 24 hours a day.
Under the A Plan of the Petit-Renta service of Orix Auto Corp., the basic monthly fee is ¥2,980, and the operating fee is ¥160 for 15 minutes plus ¥19 for each kilometer traveled.
With the A Plan of the Car Share 24 service operated by Mazda Car Rental Corp., the basic monthly fee is ¥4,200, plus a ¥210 operating fee per 15-minute period.
Asq Co. of Yokohama, which is offering services to condominium residents, charges ¥150 per 15 minutes.
Basic fees may differ depending on the company, but all include gasoline, taxes and insurance.
Computing the difference in the cost between private cars and the car-sharing service, Orix Auto said about ¥55,000 can be saved each month if a minivehicle is used for two hours a day four times a month.
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Categories: General Japan
RC Car Parallel Drift Parking
Radio controlled car racing legend Masami Hirosaka shows off his drifting skillz:
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Categories: Japanese TV
Iranians hold protest in Japan
About 150-200 Iranians gathered in Tokyo yesterday to protest the stolen election in their country:
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Categories: Foreigners in Japan