Archive for July, 2009

Leeches invade Atsugi

Atsugi City in Kanagawa Prefecture has got itself a leech problem! Here’s a partially-translated news report about the leech invasion (with lots of dramatic music):

It is believed that deer and wild boar brought the leeches down from the mountains, so the city is in the process of erecting barriers to keep wild animals out. They have also been cutting down trees near pathways in leech-prone areas so that the creatures cannot enjoy the shade.

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Foreigners want you to buy a Honda

And they’re using awkward English to tell you so:

(Note: “ECOCAR GENZEI” = a tax reduction for buying an environmentally friendly car.)

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• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Spider Pizza

Former Kamen Rider Hiroshi Fujioka travels to Okinawa to eat some spider pizza:

The pizza is created under the direction of Mr. Matsuba of the Insect Cuisine Eating Association (昆虫料理を食べる会）. According to this Ryukyu ATV website, he also makes beetle pizza.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Skateboarding Chimpanzee

On last night’s episode of “Shimura Zoo,” genius chimpanzee Pan-kun learned how to skateboard:

Even with all that protective gear on, it’s not hard to imagine that it may have been quite painful for him to tumble on the concrete. Still, he persevered and managed to learn some basic skateboarding.

Not bad, but not nearly as cool as when he learned how to drive a Segway.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Come to Seiyu, run into your foreign friend

A commercial for Seiyu (Japanese Walmart) shows that the prices are so good that you’re bound to run into all your friends there (including a foreign dude):

More explanation from Mark:

Just showed my wife and she immediately understood it, and then explained it to me. You have representatives from all the electronics shops – Kojima Denki, Yamada Denki, Bic Camera and Takata (from the TV shopping channel) – so they’re saying that even people from those stores go to Seiyu as the prices are so cheap.

Because “Bic” isn’t a Japanese name, Bic-san had to be a foreigner.

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Japan tops World’s Best Tourists ranking

The BBC reports that Japanese tourists have come out on top of a “World’s Best Tourists” ranking:

The study by travel company Expedia asked 4,500 hotels worldwide to rank tourists on their behaviour.

Japanese tourists – seen as clean and tidy, polite, quiet and uncomplaining – came top for the third year running.

French travellers made amends on elegance – classed third – as well as for their discretion and cleanliness.

France, Spain, and Greece were named the countries with the worst tourists.

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