Archive for November, 2009

Foreigners anger ape at Japanese zoo

I’m not quite sure what’s going on in this video, but YouTuber who uploaded it claims the animal was angry at foreigners:

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A Buddhist temple for otaku

A YouTube vlog from HirokoChannel about Ryohoji Temple, which has become a popular place for otaku after its head priest decided to decorate the temple with manga characters:

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NPR report on Japan’s herbivore men

NPR has finally discovered the “herbivore men” that the Japanese media seems obsessed with lately:

“It’s not so much that men are becoming more like women. It’s that the concept of masculinity is changing,” says Katsuhiko Kokobun. From his perch at Guzzle, the popular Harajuku hair salon he owns, Kokobun is at the front line of the latest trends.

Over the years, he has seen more and more men coming into the salon — men who he describes as “more modest, less demanding, kind of passive; they accept what they’re told.” He’s noticed that nowadays they’re demanding more traditionally female treatments. “We do have eyebrow plucking and facials for men,” he says, smiling. “Eyebrow plucking is very popular among high school boys.”

It is, perhaps, no coincidence that Yasuhito Sekine’s eyebrows are perfectly groomed. The changing tastes of Japanese men are quite literally what take up his days. He works for an Internet service provider and operates Sweets Club, an online group for men who like desserts. Set up in January, it already has about 1,000 members who congregate — online and in person — to debate the virtues of different brands of strawberry shortcake. It’s something that Sekine says would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.

“Back then, lots of men liked desserts, but it was considered uncool. Cool men had to like alcohol or spicy food. I’ve discovered my father likes eating dessert, but he never showed it in the past,” Sekine says.

Listen to /read the full story here.

[hat tip to Philip G. / photo credit to the dudes at Reddit]

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Hatoyama’s first pitch

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama throws the ceremonial first pitch at special baseball game held on the 22nd to commerate the 60th anniversary of the Central/Pacific league:

Hatoyama was able to throw it all the way to the catcher, and the umpire apparently called it as a strike.

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Japanese police seek arrest of US teenagers

It now seems almost certain that Japanese police will arrest the four US military brats who were spotted near the scene of a nearly fatal accident:

According to police, the four suspects — aged 15-18 and all children of U.S. military personnel — have been questioned by U.S. military police and have denied involvement. However, the Metropolitan Police Department concluded that the teens were involved after reviewing footage from a nearby security camera, among other sources, and are aiming to have the four turned over by Yokota Air Base authorities.

According to police, the 23-year-old victim came off her scooter when she was caught on the neck by the rope strung about 1.4 meters above the road. The incident left the woman with a broken neck, and she spent three months recovering from the injury.

According to an Asahi Shimbun report, witnesses saw the teens standing over the victim immediately after the accident. They gave false names when questioned by the police that night.

[hat tip to jikku and Ajapa]

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Ichihashi eats some food

Tatsuya Ichihashi has been refusing to talk or eat since he was arrested on November 10th. Yesterday marked the first time he actually ate food, but police aren’t certain that he will continue eating, so they have moved him to a different facility:

Police officials said that Ichihashi, who had been refusing to eat since he was arrested on Nov. 10, ate a boxed lunch on Tuesday at Gyotoku Police Station in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, for the first time in the past 14 days.

As Ichihashi had abstained from food for nearly two weeks, only drinking tea and receiving nutrient injections, the Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office decided to transfer him to the detention facility at Chiba Prison in Wakaba Ward in order to observe Ichihashi’s health condition at a center with better medical facilities.

The TV news reports have said that police tried various types of food, finally succeeding with a terayaki pork bento.

If you’ve been keeping up with the tabloid news ads that appear on JR trains, you might have noticed a Shukan Post headline alleging that police have a video that shows Lindsay and Ichihashi kissing. According to an Cyzo article, the information comes from a person who claims to have helped the police investigation. Police supposedly showed this person a video taken by an elevator surveillance camera. In it, Ichihashi and Lindsay embrace and start making out. The source claims there that there were no visible signs of resistance or displeasure from Lindsay.

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