Archive for November, 2009

Panda poop smells like tea

A Japanese comedian visits a Panda park in China, where he tests the smell (and taste) of panda crap:

He is amazed to find that it smells great and is even lick-able. Some panda feces is brought back to Japan for the celebrity studio audience, all of whom agree about it not smelling bad. A few say it smells like tea.
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As part of the same tour, he visited a section of the zoo where there were lions. Seeing a billboard that had faded with age, he concluded that there must be “white lions” at the zoo. There weren’t:

He also took a “safari park” bus ride that allowed visitors to feed lions, tigers, and bears. Jokes were made about the unenthusiastic tour guide and the fact that the tour only included three types of animals:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Cheese Harmony pizza

Pizza Hut Japan’s latest creation, the Cheese Harmony pizza:

It’s got pieces of Camembert cheese thrown on top of normal cheese. There is also some fried cheese on the pizza. The crust is stuffed with a mixture of Parmesan, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Japanese Twilight fans

According to this news report, those Twilight vampire movies apparently have a few fanatical female followers in Japan. Here’s a partially-subtitled clip of some really excited girls sharing their opinions on the film:

Not surprisingly, these women watch the movies because of the handsome men who star in them.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

The rise of AKB48

“Mezamashi TV” reports on how idol group AKB48 has expanded beyond its original Akihabara fanbase:


Sales of their recent single hit #1 on the Oricon charts, setting a record for first week sales by female artists in 2009. They’ll also be performing in this year’s N-H-K Kouhaku Uta Gassen (they failed to make the cut last year).

Their main appeal with fans to seems to be their availability. AKB48 regularly holds events in which fans are given a chance to actually meet and shake hands with members of the group. The organizers are clever enough to require every attendee to buy a copy of the new AKB48 CD, inflating sales figures and helping the status of the group on the ranking charts. They’ve also been experimenting in different styles for different members, and some of the girls have done gravure and fashion modeling work. Apparently this has had the effect of increasing their popularity among non-otaku men and women.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)