Archive for January, 2011

Groupon Deal: Too Good to Be True

For many families in Japan, eating traditional New Year’s food is a bid deal. Unfortunately, some people decided to buy their meals through a deal on the coupon site Groupon this year, and they ended up receiving unbelievably crappy meals. Angry customers posted photos of what they received online, and the comparison above shows, the product they bought looked nothing like what was advertised.

The story has blown up all over the TV news and the internet. Clips about the scam have been all over the top-rankings on YouTube for several days now:

Some who ordered the osechi set from Bird Café, a Yokohama-based restaurant, via online discount site Groupon, were horrified when they lifted the lid to discover a sparsely-populated box sloppily thrown together that didn’t resemble the rich osechi meal promised in the pictured advertisements.

Japanese blogs and tweets are still buzzing over the shocking offense days since photos posted on 2ch, a popular Internet forum, were put up before the new year.

[...]

Groupon released a statement Wednesday apologizing for the mishap. According to Japanese media reports, the Bird Café erred in two main ways: it shortchanged customers on the number of items and the amount in each box. Its advertisement on Groupon said 33 different types of food would be included, enough to serve four people. But the restaurant was short by about eight items and the fill was meager. The blunder occurred due to an overflow of orders that exceeded the allotted 500 sets and failing to leave enough time to prepare all the boxes, wrote Kenji Mizuguchi, the president of Gaishokubunka, the restaurant management company that oversees Bird Café, on his blog Sunday. In the same blog entry Mr. Mizuguchi announced his resignation as company president to take responsibility for the incident. The meal valued at 21,000 yen ($256) was reduced to 10,500 yen ($128) with a 50% off coupon on Groupon, a sharp discount that some online voices say is to blame for the end product.

Itai News has noted that 2-channelers have humorously compared it to McDonald’s food and photo-shopped women on adult video covers. Here’s a mega mac:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Japanese Cops vs. Dude with Knife

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

$396,000 Bluefin Tuna

A really big bluefin tuna fetched a record price at Tsukiji fish market’s first auction of the year:

A giant bluefin tuna fetched a record 32.49 million yen, or nearly $396,000, in Tokyo on Wednesday, in the first auction of the year at the world’s largest wholesale fish market.

With the ringing of bells well before dawn, an auctioneer launched into a rapid chant as rubber-boot wearing men signaled subtly with their hands.

The price for the 754-pound tuna beat the previous record set in 2001 when a 445-pound fish sold for 20.2 million yen, a spokesman for Tsukiji market said.

Although the fish is a really big one, the price is not meant to reflect the actual value of the animal. Getting the highest bid at first auctions is more about showing off, and high profile bidders often compete for the honor and attention that comes with paying a ridiculous amount of money for the first tuna.

As a previous auction, the winners of the bid were a team led by the owner of a Hong Kong sushi chain:

For a fourth straight year, Ricky Cheng Wai-tao landed the biggest catch on the first day of auction at Tsukiji fish market.

The 342-kilogram monster sold for 32.49 million yen (HK$3.07 million) to Cheng, who owns the Itamae Sushi chain in Hong Kong, and his partners, the Japanese owners of Ginza district restaurant Kyubey.

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Ayumi Hamasaki Marries U.S.-Based Austrian Actor

A few days ago, news broke that pop star Ayumi Hamasaki had married Manuel Schwarz, an Austrian actor. It’s been a top story on the TV news broadcasts ever since, with the press following their every move:

Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki married U.S-based Austrian actor Manuel Schwarz on Saturday in a church ceremony in the United States, her office said Sunday.

Hamasaki, 32, and Schwarz, 30, met last August in Los Angeles when she made a promotional video for her song “Virgin Road,” in which he played her bridegroom, the office said earlier.

Schwarz lives in Los Angeles.

Although Schwarz is a U.S.-based actor, he doesn’t appear to be particularly famous. I could find no entry for his name on IMDB, and the clip reel he promotes through his YouTube Channel only contains a few generic scenes of him playing an attractive male:

And here’s the music video, where they play a couple of married bandits:

Schwarz also starred in a music video for Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Shocking Japanese Car Crashes

A video collection of shocking Japanese traffic accidents:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Really Low Elevator Button

An elevator in Fukui that has a button very close to the ground:

The button is apparently there to help people who are carrying stuff and can only hit the button with their feet.

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)