For Japanese Men Who Don’t Like Being Hairy
A Japanese commercial for a body/facial hair removal product for men:
The product is promoted by a trio of dancing white guys, all of whom have hair-free faces and chests. Those that choose not to use this product are doomed to end up looking like hairy gorillas! [It brags about having lots of worldwide sales, but in other countries it has mostly been marketed towards women.]
Somewhere out there, the spirits of Japan’s bad-ass bearded samurai are shedding a tear for the future of Japanese manhood….
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Odd / Strange
Scary Japanese Playground
“Nanikore” visits a playground at an elementary school in Tochigi prefecture to check out a really weird object:
The weird thing is a monument created 35 years ago by a graduating class, and I’m guessing the creepy faces are meant to represent the kids of the class. Although kids freely play on it, there are some rumors going around that it is haunted.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Odd / Strange
Japanese Taxpayers Will Fund North Korean Propaganda
The Japanese government has apparently decided that they will use taxpayers’ money to fund private schools that teach students loyalty to Kim Jong-il’s North Korean regime:
The ministry has ruled that foreign schools, such as international schools outside the national school system, are eligible in principle for free education. However, the pro-Pyongyang schools do not comply with the policy’s criteria, which stipulate the schools must be equivalent to Japanese high schools through checks with the home countries concerned, or that their curricula are accredited by an international organization.
However, a majority of the expert panel thought it reasonable to consider the pro-North Korean schools as having similar courses as Japanese high schools because many Japanese universities have granted admission to graduates of the pro-Pyongyang schools, whose course of study somewhat follows their Japanese counterpart.
If the ministry decides in favor of the pro-North Korean schools, it will provide annual education grants of about 120,000 yen per student, backdated to April.
This is a truly unfortunate development. If the schools do not comply with the policy’s criteria, there is no need to go out of one’s way to rationalize their inclusion in the program. It is very sad that the Japanese government lacks the courage to deny public funding to schools with ties to a hostile totalitarian regime.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Foreigners in Japan
Robot Arm Gets Rid of Bomb
Japanese police use a robot arm to take care of some suspicious luggage during an anti-terror drill in Roppongi:
The drill was part of the preparation for November’s APEC summit in Yokohama. It was meant to show how Japanese police are ready for terrorist threats against foreign dignitaries who may be staying on hotels in Tokyo/Yokohama.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
Categories: Technology
