Archive for September, 2009

Japanese moonwalking champions

TV Tokyo’s “Champions” recently held a competition to see which Michael Jackson mega fan could perform the fastest 30-meter moonwalk (English captions have been added to explain what’s going on):

The first contestant is wearing an afro wig with black face paint, probably out of a desire to mimic the appearance of a young Michael Jackson. Kind of odd, considering the fact that he didn’t moonwalk back in the Jackson 5 era…

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Japanese roller coaster reactions

Two amusing clips of Japanese kids riding roller coasters:

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Swallows nest in Japanese bathroom

A video clip of a bathroom in Saga Prefecture where swallows come to roost:

The swallows come twice a year to build nests and lay eggs, and the human family that owns the house is happy to host them. Interestingly, the video makes no mention of all the bird poop the humans no doubt have to clean up before bathing each day.

[from "Nanikore Chin Hakkei"]

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Just throw that anywhere

When does garbage become artifact?

I took the photo above at a place called sawa-do-touge 沢度峠, a small clearing located on a ridge that runs between Otaki and Mitake villages in Nagano’s Kiso Valley.

Sawa-do-touge was used for many years as a stop for pilgrims on their way to Mt. Ontake (御嶽山).  The small clearing offered an amazing view of the sacred mountain, and a small hut serving food and beverages once stood there, along with a shrine gate (torii 鳥居) framed Mt. Ontake.

Apparently those visiting Mt. Ontake in the past had little concern about keeping the environment clean.  On the hillside behind where the hut once stood is a scatter of beer bottles, bowls for serving rice, and a variety of other “artifacts”.

Most of the mountain huts in Japan today use helicopters to haul their garbage away, so I can’t really blame these folks for not wanting to carry several hundreds of peoples’ waste out on their backs.  It must have been hell enough carrying the beer and such up in the first place.

Today we might call it a debris scatter, but really it’s just a pile of trash I suppose.

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Contributor Bio: I am a doctoral student of environmental anthropology currently living and conducting research in a mountain village in Nagano. In my research I explore modernity as it is expressed in a rural mountain community. Specifically I look at national management structures, as well as social discourses, related to forests and probe the impacts these have on local human communities. I have lived and worked in Japan for 5 years. My interests also include Buddhism, literature, music, and mountaineering. Read more at my personal blog: In the Pines.
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Emily Miyasaka Proactiv commercial

Miss Universe Japan 2009 Emily Miyasaka may have failed to make it into the final stage of the Miss Universe pageant, but she’s apparently still popular enough in Japan to be constantly appearing in commercials for Proactiv Acne Solution:

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Golgo 13 likes Google

Badass international hitman Golgo 13 is currently starring in a Japanese commercial for a Google-equipped LG mobile phone (with voice acting by Yu Aoi):

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