Archive for December, 2010

Yokohama Monopoly

Somebody’s made a Yokohama edition of the Monopoly board game:

The illustrations on the center of the playing board reflect Yokohama’s history as a port city, and players will move pieces shaped like tugboats as they wheel and deal in properties and attractions including Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, the Yokohama F Marinos soccer club and Yokohama Chinatown.

Sotetsu Holdings Inc. produced the Yokokama edition under the supervision of the Japan Monopoly Association.

There are already Akita and Osaka editions of the game.

Only 5,000 sets will be available at department stores and several train stations in Yokohama.

It can also be purchased online.

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White People Like These Suits

Aoki suits are apparently so cool, they’ll make white people like you (and help you dodge laser beams):

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A Japanese-English Christmas Carol

If you’ve been watching much Japanese TV lately, you’ve probably seen this commercial, with Kaela Kimura singing a new Christmas song:

Did you realize she was singing in English? I didn’t. It sounded like gibberish until I googled it and found out she’s trying to sing, “a winter fairy is melting a snowman.” Fancy that.

Here’s a longer version of the song, which includes the part in Japanese:

And here is a Mom & Baby English class singing it:

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Cool Cakes in Japan

Sushi cakes?! Space Battlecake Yamato?! Here’s a news report about a woman in Japan who makes cool cakes:

You can view more of her creations in the gallery section of her website. She also has a message in English for non-Japanese who might want to order one of her super cakes.

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Everybody Dies

Hi probers,
Happy and Merry Everything.

I just wanted to let you know that…

I am announcing the release of a self published paperback version of my book “Everybody Dies- A Children’s Book for Grownups” today

Please pass on the website to anyone who you think might like it.

http://everybodydiesbook.com/

To enter a contest to win a free copy of the book, check out this video.

And in case you missed it, here is Ken Tanaka & Takeo’s Japanese song ニートの叫び Scream of Slacker:

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China Establishes Permanent Senkaku Patrols

The Asahi Shimbun reports that China will set up a permanent presence of “fisheries patrol boats” in the area around the Senkaku islands:

The official with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries took the unusual step of granting an interview concerning the Senkaku issue to a foreign media outlet on Saturday, saying that China was planning measures to challenge Japan’s control of the islands off Okinawa Prefecture.

The official said fisheries patrol vessels of more than 1,000 tons would maintain continuous patrols near the islands, which are known as the Diaoyu Islands in China.

“It is a legitimate right to safeguard China’s maritime interests, and the country is unlikely to relax the arrangement in the future,” the official, who granted the interview on condition of anonymity, said.

[...]

China is trying to assert its control in waters within what it calls the “First Island Chain,” a series of islands stretching from the main island of Kyushu to Vietnam, and has its eye on underground mineral resources, fisheries and other maritime interests within this “inland sea.”

It is building up its navy in line with its increasingly assertive maritime stance, with aircraft carriers and a base for nuclear-powered submarines already under construction.

Related news: Chinese fishermen violate South Korean waters and clash with a Korean patrol boat:

A Chinese fisherman has died after a fishing trawler collided with a South Korean coast guard vessel in the Yellow Sea.

The fishermen and coast guard personnel were filmed fighting after a routine check suddenly turned nasty.

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan reports.

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