Archive for July, 2010

Introducing Drinks in Wacky English

Masahiro Nakai of SMAP shows off his English proficiency in this commercial for anti-hangover drink Ukon no Chikara:

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Minmi in America

Japanese musician Minmi is living in New York now, and as this news video shows, she is preparing to give birth to a baby while readying herself for a possible attempt to break into the American music market:

Shown in the video is a performance she gave for open mic night at the Sugar Bar. You can read her blog entry about it here.

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Fan Tribute to Weird-faced Buddhist Statue

Remember that weird-faced Buddhist statue what was posted a few days ago? Aaron of Nurses has written in to inform us that he was inspired by the statue, so he and his friend Natalie created their own version of it:

….inspired by your post, I made the doll to convince my good friend/roommate not to take a job that would have required her to leave for a few months. I told her the doll would be her pathetic replacement. It worked, she didn’t take the job!

Very cool work, Aaron!

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Shinjiro Koizumi’s Star Power

FTV news reports on how Shinjiro Koizumi, son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, contributed to the Liberal Democratic Party’s impressive showing in Sunday’s Upper House election:

Less than a year has passed since Shinjiro won his first election and took a seat in the Diet, but his good looks and blood ties to his father have made him a super star or sorts. As the map at the top of this post shows, Koizumi traveled across Japan to lend his support to the campaigns of 17 LDP candidates, 14 of whom ended up winning seats in the Upper House.

Koizumi’s star power drew large crowds to his speeches. He made an effort to give greetings in local dialects and also mention famous local products, drawing laughter and applause. In post-speech interviews, people were impressed with Koizumi’s good looks and general coolness. They seem to be in awe at the presence of a handsome celebrity and don’t say anything about his political stances.

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Renho Fever

As many other DPJ candidates failed miserably on Sunday, Government revitalization minister Renho won with 1.71 million constituency votes, being the only candidate to top 1 million votes and setting a new record for votes in Tokyo. Here’s a clip from FTV that shows how there is “Renho fever” in Japan:

Renho is a former model and newscaster, but that’s not why she’s so popular now. As the clip shows, during her campaign six years ago few people turned out to listen to her speak. This year the crowds were huge. It seems to be all thanks to her regular appearances on TV as the strictest member of the DPJ’s budget cutting panels. Some people even wore t-shirts celebrating her budget-cutting powers. To make use of her popularity, the DPJ even used a private jet to fly her around Japan to make appearances supporting other candidates. (It didn’t help much.)

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Attempted Robbery of Police Station Ends in Failure

This man was either really stupid, or wanted to go to jail:

A knife-wielding man entered a police station in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, and demanded money, but was arrested on the spot, police said.

Kazuhiro Hatakeyama, 22, entered Kesennuma Police Station at about 12:40 p.m. Monday, the police said.

Carrying a kitchen knife with a 16-centimeter blade, the unemployed man threatened a 37-year-old female worker at the reception counter of a traffic safety association on the first floor, saying, “Give me some money, or I’ll kill you.” But the man was quickly apprehended as several police officers were nearby.

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