Archive for September, 2009

The amazing hair hat man

A clip from NTV’s “Super Surprise” featuring a man who has trimmed his hair to look exactly like a hat:

The narrator introduces him as “Danny, a man who has never taken off his hat for 20 years.” It doesn’t take very long to figure out that his hat is actually his hair, which has has carefully groomed into the appearance of a cap.

Apparently he was once so poor that he couldn’t afford a hat, so he decided to grow his own.

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

Japan: A nation of many Tanakas

A short excerpt from a show that explored the origins of Japan’s most popular surnames:

This part tells us why there are so many Tanakas in Japan. Tanaka (田中） is a combination of the characters for “rice field” (田) and “within/in” (中）. When common people started giving themselves family names in the between the Heian and Muromachi periods, a lot of farmers took the no-nonsense approach of choosing names that literally described their location: in the middle of rice fields.

Tanaka is the 4th most popular surname in Japan and the most popular surname among Japanese-Americans.

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

The musical Hatoyama couple

The first 45 seconds of this “Real Time News” report about the Hatoyama family contains some really interesting scenes from what appears to be a stage musical that Yukio Hatoyama and his wife put on for supporters:

Does anyone know where that clip comes from, and why they’re wearing weird uniforms with red armbands?

The rest of the video looks at the family life of the Hatoyamas, interviewing their eldest son Kiichiro, who is currently conducting research at the University of Moscow (see English language news reports about him here and here).

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

Yukio Hatoyama the pirate

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is visiting the United States right now. Shortly before leaving Japan, he had a meeting with former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Masumi Kuwata:

Masumi Kuwata, a 41-year-old retired Japanese baseball player who was a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, visited Hatoyama at his invitation and the two played catch.Hatoyama plans to pitch at an opening ceremony of a Major League game, possibly in Pittsburgh, Japanese media said.

The Sankei Shimbun has a few photos of them playing catch.

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

Kiwis rip their heads in half and dance for your enjoyment

A mildly disturbing Japanese commercial for Zespri kiwifruit:

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

New product aims to keep away stray cats

A short news clip about the “Black Cat Scat,” a product that promises to keep away stray cats:

The woman at the beginning of the video had a big problem with stray cats entering her garage and wrecking havoc around her garden. Since she set up the devices, she’s had no trouble with stray cats.

The device appears to be a little cat face with reflector eyes stuck on top of the the traditional anti-cat plastic water bottle. The makers of the “Black Cat Scat” have set up a shop in Tokyo and take orders through an online shop.

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