Archive for January, 2010

Smiling dog in Japan

Meet Chii, a shiba inu in Okayama prefecture that smiles whenever her master is nearby:

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

The End of Asashoryu?

Mongolian-born sumo grand champion Asashoryu is in deep trouble after drunkenly assaulting a man in Tokyo:

The latest indiscretion by sumo’s perennial “bad boy” purportedly took place outside a nightclub in Tokyo’s Nishiazabu district in the early hours of Jan. 16 during the recent New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.

Asashoryu is alleged to have punched an unidentified man, who reportedly works at the nightclub where the wrestler was drinking, causing the man injuries that included a broken nose, lacerations of the lip and bruises to the back of the head, as reported in the Feb. 4 edition of the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho.

The JSA is set to determine what punishment, if any, Asashoryu will face after its board of directors election Feb. 1.

A few more details from ABC:

….the wrestler punched the man while leaving the club, then offered to talk things over in his car.

It then quoted the victim as telling Asashoryu that the incident was “water under the bridge”.

Asashoryu then reportedly told his driver to take them to a river, saying he would kill the man there.

The man only escaped after screaming out to police who were attending a nearby accident. He was left with a broken nose, a busted lip and bruises to the head.

Unlike the soccer-playing scandal of 2007, this is very serious business. It’s fine for sumo wrestlers to occasionally act like arrogant jerks, but assaulting and threatening to kill people is too much.

Polls, such as the one in the video below, show that the public expects Asashoryu to be banned from the sport:

The last known incident like this took place in 1987, when yokozuna Futahaguro allegedly assaulted the wife of his stablemaster. The JSA voted to accept his “resignation.” Many believe the JSA will follow this precedent and force an end to Asashoryu’s career.

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

Fishermen care for stray pelican

A short news report about a pelican in Chiba prefecture that relies on the kindness of local fishermen for his survival:

Apparently the bird was a pet and never learned how to catch fish. When he was found abandoned in the area 15 years ago, local fishermen started to care for him. They have given the pelican the name “Can” (Peli-can), and they seem to enjoy feeding him fish.

Also in the clip: Some jerk abandoned a pet goose in the area just a few days before the report was filmed. Take care of your pets, people!

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

Blue-skinned man Paul Karason visits Japan

It’s already been established that Paul Karason turned his skin blue by self-medicating himself with colloidal silver, but a Japanese network TBS flew him to Japan anyway because his condition supposedly needed examination by Japanese experts. Not wanting to turn down a free trip to Japan, Karason agreed to fly to Japan for the TV show:

Spoiler alert: A Japanese doctor examines Paul and finds out that his skin turned blue because of…..colloidal silver! Wow.

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