Doorway Monster
“Nanikore” finds a house in Japan with a scary-looking monster on its front porch:
The monster was created by the owner of the house as his graduation project for art school. It was too damn cool to throw it away, so he brought it home. Unfortunately, there isn’t much space inside the house, so he keeps it outside.
The owner says that after putting the monster by his door, he’s noticed a decrease in door-to-door salesmen.
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- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Odd / Strange
Thousands Line Up For Hayabusa Exhibit
The Hayabusa space probe has been put on public display at the Sagamihara City Museum, and thousands of people have been waiting outside in the rain and the summer heat for a chance to see the probe for just a couple minutes:
At 9:30 a.m. on July 30, there were already some 2,100 people waiting in line to enter the museum, which is located next to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Sagamihara campus.
“I want to see the results of workers’ efforts that brought Hayabusa home safely,” said a 39-year-old company employee from the Osaka Prefecture city of Sennan, who was the first in line waiting from 4:30 a.m.
[...]
The museum will hold the exhibition until July 31 (9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., admission free). The capsule will also go on show at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center from Aug. 2 to Aug. 6 (The thermal cover to be displayed Aug. 2-Aug. 3 only) and at Tokyo’s Marunouchi Oazo building from Aug. 15 to Aug. 19 (The thermal cover: Aug. 15-Aug. 16 only).
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- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Technology
Tokyo Sky Tree Beer
As the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree progresses, Asahi Beer has decided to change to design of some of its bottles to celebrate the new monument:
Also included on the label is an image of Tokyo’s famous “golden turd” sculpture, which sites atop one of Asahi’s buildings.
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- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: General Japan
Karuizawa Cosplay
ATV reporters Sahel Rosa and Alain visit an antique photo studio in Karuizawa and try on some costumes:
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Odd / Strange
Japan Facing a Farmville Invasion
It looks like Softbank is planning to bring social games like Farmville to Japan:
Zynga, the online gaming company best known for its Farmville Facebook game, has received a US$150 million investment from Japanese Internet company Softbank.
The two companies plan to form a joint venture, Zynga Japan, that will develop and distribute social games across Japan, they said in a statement.
Softbank, which holds the iPhone monopoly in Japan, has been beating out competitors in the battle for new subscribers.
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- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: games
3D Camcorder
Panasonic will soon be selling a 3D digital camcorder:
On July 28th, Panasonic detailed the “world’s first 3D consumer camcorder[s],” the HDC-TM750 and HDC-TM650, in a series of press releases. The two products are fully functioning standard HD video cameras aimed at normal consumers in Japan, however consumers will be able to buy an attachable 3D conversion lens, the VW-CLT1.
The camera and lens set will cost about $2,000. The ATV news video clip states that you will need to buy a 3D television set if you want to view the fancy 3D images that the camcorder can record.
3D Video Cameras & Televisions:
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- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Technology