Archive for February, 2010

Somebody else bought that using my iTunes account

FTV recently filed this sensational news report about a handful of people who have filed complaints because somebody else apparently used their iTunes accounts to make unauthorized purchases:

Apple has said that no hacking took place on its end, so if the account usernames and passwords were stolen, it took place on the customer’s end. The victims are apparently having trouble getting their credit card company or Apple to cancel the charges.

As scary music plays, FTV shows a graph from the Consumer Affairs Center of Japan, which depicts the total reported cases of account theft on music downloading sites:

Several months have zero reported cases, while others have as many as seven. I guess that means that internet shopping is dangerous and we should stay away from it.
—
Related Onion News video about similar cases in America:

—

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

Ice Cream Tower

A Japanese reporter eats a ridiculously large ice cream sundae:

It is called the “World Tower,” weighs in at 3 kilograms, is one meter tall, and costs 4935 yen.

If you are visitin Nagasaki and want to check it out, you can find details here (in Japanese). [Hat tip to B]

—

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

Finless porpoise swims up river in Nagoya

A finless porpoise seems to have lost its way and wandered up a river in Nagoya:

Officials from Nagoya Port aquarium arrived at the scene after being contacted by police and captured the porpoise shortly after 12:15 p.m. The porpoise was taken to the aquarium. It had reportedly not suffered any significant injuries.

The place where the stray porpoise was captured was in part of the river running through a residential area, about 20 kilometers from the mouth of the river. There have reportedly been a number of recent incidents in which porpoises have swum upstream in rivers in Nagoya, surprising residents.

Video of the capture:

—

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

Learn the Okinawa Dialect from Byron

Byron may not look like your typical image of an Okinawan dialect speaker, but he grew up in the area and is eager to teach his dying way of speech, called Uchinaaguchi in this series, entitled “Pirin –paran Katayabira.” Byron doesn’t speak English, but he does sing and play traditional Okinawan songs and he plays the shamisen.

That was very different from standard Japanese. This is just an introduction someone put on YouTube. You can see more from the series here.
[via Hiko]

—
Contributor Bio: Claytonian blogs and vlogs about Japan, language, and news at The Hopeless Romantic. He’d like to say, “Guburi sabira” to you all.—

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

Brown Eyebrow Dog

“Nanikore” discovers yet another dog in Japan with eyebrows:

This time it’s Melon, a boxer that lives in Kanagawa prefecture. Since she was born, she has had markings on her head that look like thick brown eyebrows and a little black mustache.

—

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

The Best Miso in Tokyo

ATV’s team of foreign reporters visits a miso shop in the Shitamachi area of Tokyo:

The owner is 93-years-old and started the shop 53 years ago, not long after returning home from several years as a POW in Siberia. Life was not easy in the Soviet labor camps, and the man and his buddies all longed for the taste of homemade miso soup. He hopes to continue sharing his love of delicious miso soup by energetically continuing at the helm of his business until he is one hundred.

—

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