As an introduction to their report on how both Yukio Hatoyama and Barack Obama will be attending Friday’s IOC meeting to decide the host city for the 2016 Olympics, the NTV graphics team added some exciting flames to week-old footage of the two leaders:

Tokyo bid chief Ichiro Kono has welcomed the competition.
More [...]

TV Tokyo visits France to check out the dojo of Ninja master Arnaud Cousergue:

There is some laughing at the unintelligible Japanese that Arnaud and his students recite at the beginning of their lessons and the unimpressive techniques they show off, but the segment presents a mostly positive view of their activities. After all, Arnaud [...]

A Japanese TV news report about Akihabara-based idol group AKB48 traveling to New York to give their first American concert at the NYAF:

The report notes that AKB48 started out as a group aimed at a small niche market, but they have since gained popularity outside the Akihabara otaku community. An informal survey of young [...]

CNN weighs in on the case of an American arrested in Japan for trying to grab his children back from his Japanese ex-wife:
Embedded video from CNN Video
Had this custody drama played out in the United States, Christopher Savoie might be considered a hero — snatching his two little children back from an ex-wife who defied [...]

It’s time for a new seasonal Pepsi flavor:

Azuki bean flavor Pepsi will hit stores across Japan on October 20th and cost 140 yen per bottle.
It follows in the footsteps of Pepsi’s other bizarre seasonal flavors: Pepsi Ice Cucumber, Pepsi Blue Hawaii, and Pepsi Shiso.
[hat tip to Tomoko Hosaka]
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On September 27th, about 500 people gathered in Akihabara to hold a protest march against granting voting rights to non-citizens. A lone left-winger tried to join the march, apparently holding up a sign in opposition to their views. This is what happened to him:

The video is today’s most-viewed clip on YouTube Japan and [...]

Update: They’ve corrected the error, but it will live on thanks to the screen capture I saved.
A funny discovery on the official blog of Mr. James, the American mascot of the McDonald’s Japan “Nippon All-Stars” campaign:

The American who speaks wacky Japanese can’t even write in his native language! I guess this is [...]

Kobe’s 1:1 scale model of Gigantor (Tetsujin 28-go) is now complete:

There are still some finishing touches to be made around the base of the statue. The dedication ceremony will be held on Sunday, October 4th.
To check it out, head on down to Shin-Nagata Station [Access Map].
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Having long been an Ichiro fan, I was amused to find this video of the usually subdued baseball superstar being ejected from a game!  Apparently he is the first Mariner to be ejected this season.

Wonder what English he conjured up on this occasion.  Please comment your guesses.
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Contributor Bio: I am a doctoral student of environmental [...]

Several weeks ago, I posted a video of 78-year-old exterminator Kakusaburo Arakawa wiping out giant hornets with a vacuum cleaner. Here’s a video of another hornet exterminator, Mr. Muramatsu.

Muramatsu doesn’t rely on protective suits and doesn’t need any special vacuuming machines. All he uses are nets, adhesive sheets, and spray cans of [...]

A cute scene in Aichi prefecture:

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I noticed this logo on Google.co.jp this morning:

According to Google blogoscoped, it is a celebration of Confucius’ birthday. One of their readers translates the Chinese as:
“To have friends come from far away – isn’t that a joy?”
It’s currently visible on Google China, Google Australia, and Google New Zealand. At the moment of this [...]