The Hikawa Maru Celebrates its 80th Birthday
Yokohama’s Hikawa Maru has celebrated its 80th birthday:
The above news clip includes a brief summary of the Hikawa Maru’s history. It started out as a luxury liner, then it became a hospital ship during the war. After the war, it was used to ferry troops home. She is now part of the NYK Maritime Museum.
An elderly couple, who met while serving as crew members on the ship, are shown touring its restored interior. They are very happy to see that the ship they loved so much is being preserved as a museum.
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Categories: General Japan
Flying to Narita Airport
ATV’s special foreign reporters try out the luxury helicopter service that offers rich people a quick trip from Roppongi to Narita Airport:
After the chopper ride, they check out some of the duty free shops inside Narita Airport, interviewing some shoppers about their purchases. They are also shown some of the popular souvenir snacks, the top three being Shiroi Koibito, Hiyoko, and Tokyo Banana. [My Personal Recommendation - Tokyo Banana. They're like a high quality banana cream Twinkie.]
Note: Every time I post a video from these people, people always leave comments asking about the brunette. Her name is Sahel Rosa. She’s an orphan from the Iran-Iraq war who was adopted by an Iranian woman who brought Sahel to Japan when she was a small child. She’s written a book in Japanese about her life: 戦場から女優へ
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Categories: General Japan
Haiku Herman in Japan
The EU’s weird president loves to recite haiku, and did so at a recent press conference in Japan:
After fielding several questions from reporters, Mr Van Rompuy recited a haiku.
“The sun is rising / sleeping yet in Europe / but still the same sun,” he said at the end of the joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Mr Van Rompuy – known to some as Haiku Herman – is an avid writer of haiku, a traditional Japanese form of poetry. He sometimes writes on political themes, but has refused to comment on the meaning of his latest work.
Herman has already published a haiku book, and if you go to HaikuHerman.eu, you can get him to recite a poem about your website.
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Tiny High School Student Meets Really Tall High School Student
Super small Indian girl Jyoti Amge was back in Japan recently to film a Guinness World Records special. During her trip, she visited a Japanese high school, where she met basketball player Ramu Tokashiki:
Tokashiki may not be the tallest girl in Japan, but the fact that she might be representing Japan at the next Olympics makes her worthy of an interview. After the interview, Amge (“Amu-chan”) gives her a Bindi as a gift.
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Categories: Foreigners in Japan, Japanese Girls
