Archive for August, 2009

Videos of Miss Universe Japan 2009 Emiri Miyasaka

Miss Universe Japan 2009 Emiri Miyasaka answers some questions in English:

And here’s a clip of her on stage in a swimsuit and a evening gown:

[hat tip to Brian in Jeollanam-do and 3Yen News]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Hotto Motto Bento Commercial

Foreigners dance and sing in a commercial for Hotto Motto:

The man is “Demi han” and the girl is “Baag chan.” Together their names make Demi Hanbaagu (デミハンバーグ= Hamburger with demiglace sauce).

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Albino crow in Japan

Some footage of a rare albino crow that was spotted last month in Yamaguchi Prefecture:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Did the DPJ desecrate the Japanese flag?

One of the most-viewed videos on YouTube Japan today is this clip, apparently showing that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) doesn’t care much about honoring the Japanese flag:

Hanging over the stage at an August 8th DPJ event in Kagoshima was a banner depicting the party’s official logo. Zooming in on the banner, we can see that it was made by cutting and pasting together two Japanese national flags. The uploader of the video can’t believe that a Japanese person would do such a thing to their flag and asks what athletes representing Japan in international competitions would think of such an act. Near the end of the clip, we can see former party president Ichiro Ozawa speaking with the desecrated flag in the background.

According to the Yomiuri, a photo of Ozawa in front of the cut-up flags was even uploaded to the DPJ’s official homepage. Prime Minister Aso brought up the flag desecration at a debate yesterday, calling it and act that is “sad” and “difficult to forgive.” DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama has admitted that the mark was probably made by cutting up two Japanese flags and has apologized for the incident. He added that his party must be more careful when representing its “sacred” mark.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Shonan Beach is filthy – stop littering!

NTV’s “Real Time News” aired a special report yesterday about Shonan Beach’s huge litter problem. Here’s an excerpt (subtitled in English):

A lot of the garbage, especially the glass bottles, comes from people who were drinking alcohol on the beach. Perhaps it would make sense to pass some strict rules about the consumption of alcohol on most areas of the beach, or at least make a very serious effort to enforce existing anti-litter laws?

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Chimpanzee hoses down bear cubs

A video of genius chimpanzee Pan-kun learning how to hose down bear cubs at his zoo (English subs are provided to explain what is going on):

It was a pretty risky challenge. If something had gone wrong, it might have ended up like the terribly cruel “Animal Farm” program that Brian in Jeollanam-do recently blogged about.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)