Archive for January, 2010

9 horse pileup at Japanese race track

A record-breaking day for the Japan Racing Association:

According to the JRA, nine jockeys were thrown from their mounts in the race for 3-year-old newcomers at Nakayama Racecourse, surpassing the previous record of seven.

A total of 16 horses were making their debut in the day’s fourth race on the dirt surface in Funabashi, Chiba Pref.

Nobo Project, a 3-year-old colt ridden by jockey Kosei Miura, leaned inside at a strange angle while in the lead on the fourth bend, causing the horses trailing him and their jockeys to tumble one after the other.

The horses miraculously avoided injury. One jockey broke his arm.

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

Cops raid massage parlor that employed high school girls

Back in November, I posted about a Japanese investigative news report that revealed a massage parlor in Yokohama was likely breaking the law by employing high school girls that would rub their bodies against male clients. It seems the police finally got around to raising the place and making some arrests:

Four men were arrested for violations of the child welfare law. Included among them was the manager who angrily avoided questions from NTV’s reporters in the previous report.

Eight of the girls working in the massage parlor at the time of the raid were under 18.

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

Stupidity at Coming of Age Ceremonies

Coming of Age celebrations were held across Japan over the weekend. It seems that every year youths show up at these events and do stupid things that make everyone despair over the idiocy of some of today’s young adults. As this video clip shows, this year was no exception:

The report from TBS news starts with a clip of a politician exploding in anger at a crowd of new “adults” at an event in Yokosuka. Apparently some of them just couldn’t shut up during his speech.

Next, we see some young punks who make complete asses of themselves by jumping onto the stage at an event in Sasebo. When the mayor tells them to stop being a nuisance, the crowd applauds.

In Nagoya, several people jumped up onto the stage and asked mayor Takashi Kawamura for autographs. Instead of getting pissed off, the mayor actually granted their request.

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

Japanese Usain Bolt

A reenactment of Usain Bolt’s memorable record-breaking win at last year’s Beijing Olympics (achieved through the use of brown paint and what appears to be a Michael Jackson mask):

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• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Take this medicine so you can go to work sick

This man’s coworkers think he’s so sick that he should go home. Luckily, this company seems to make a herb-filled pill that will give him the energy to work:

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

Auschwitz Museum in Japan

Did you know that there is an Auschwitz Peace Museum in Fukushima prefecture?

How the museum ended up there is actually an interesting story.
You see, it all started as a project set up by Shinshin AOKI (青木進々). He visited Auschwitz while working in Europe and the experience moved him so much he decided to organize the Nationwide Auschwitz Memorial Tour “Auschwitz Engraved in Our Hearts” in Japan in 1988.

Read more about the museum and see some pictures of it at the Budget Trouble.

[via JapanSoc]

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