Archive for June, 2011

Hugging Yourself With Sense-Roid

You may soon be able to give yourself a hug, thanks to Sense-Roid, a new invention from the same folks who brought us the creepy kiss transmission device:

“There are pressure sensors throughout the whole mannequin-type device, and when they sense an embrace, they activate artificial muscles in the jacket. It can also reproduce the feeling that the wearer is being rubbed on the back. If you rub it on the back then the rear pressure sensors detect it is being rubbed. There is a matrix of vibration motors on the back of the jacket, and the motors in the same position as you are rubbing vibrate, to give a feeling of having your own back rubbed.”

“When people embrace, if their counterpart is a stranger, they probably don’t get much of a good feeling from it. If it is a lover then they likely get a very nice feeling of security and satisfaction. We think that tactile communications like an embrace has a varied effect depending on the relationship with the other party. Thinking along those lines, we wondered what kind of feelings people would have if they could hug themselves, the person they have the closest relationship to, and so we made this.”

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Nuclear Spokesman Sacked After Tabloid Discovers His Mistress

Hidehiko Nishiyama has been removed from his position as spokesman for Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

According to the tabloid reports, Nishiyama was carrying on an affair with a young female coworker. She supposedly looks like comedian Kanako Yanagihara. Instead of meeting at a hotel, they would regularly rent out the VIP room at a karaoke place.

Shortly after the story broke, Nishiyama denied that any sexual relationship was taking place and insisted that his personal life was not getting in the way of his work. However, his bosses have decided that Nishiyama needed to be replaced:

Last week, he tried to ease the scandal by apologising for “the fact that [the] story got reported in the media”.

“I am sorry if this gave any misperceptions or concerns that I have been laying down on the job,” he said.

The new spokesman, Yoshinori Moriyama, said yesterday his predecessor was removed because “we were concerned about the possible interference in the reporting business to be caused by a series of media reports”.

Prior to this scandal, Nishiyama’s alleged baldness had been a hot topic among netiziens. Somebody found an old photo that supposedly showed a pre-wig Nishiyama, prompting other netizens to make lots of jokes about his lack of hair. Here are a few photoshops that have been floating around the net:

And, let us not forget the Super Mario version of one of Nishiyama’s presentations:

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Japanese Commercial: Salarymen Sing About Their Crotches

Summer heat has brought back one of the strangest commercials on Japanese TV. It’s an ad for Delicare M’s, an itch-reducing cream:

An office full of salarymen are singing about how their crotches feel itchy in the summer. Thanks to Delicare, they can feel some relief!

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Chinese Bullet Train Company Wants U.S. Patents (For a Train Based on Japanese Technology)

A state-owned train company in China wants to obtain U.S. patents for the technology used in its CRH380A bullet train. Some in Japan are annoyed to hear this, since the train is pretty much a copy of Japan’s Hayate bullet train. The Chinese, however, insist that they’ve made changes to the Japanese design:

“The results of their initial assessment were positive, which means China can apply for patents in the United States,” he said, admitting that patent applications were being prepared. “The train’s technologies are rooted in Japanese technologies, but the CRH380A train is no longer the train imported from Japan years ago.”

Ma provided a detailed analysis of the parts imported, design concepts and how technology and design were related, and argued that adjustments on (1) the truck, (2) the train head design and (3) the train hull have enabled the train to run at a speed of 380 kph.

The Yomiuri speculates that obtaining patents in America, Brazil, Russia and Europe could be a step towards selling this “Chinese” technology to foreign high speed rail projects:

China has developed high-speed railway cars through technology licenses from companies in Japan, Germany, France and Canada. Under the licensing agreements, China’s use of the expertise was to be limited to domestic application, an informed source said.

The Chinese government has said its high-speed rail technology was developed completely on its own, with an official at the Railways Ministry saying, “We adopted it [the technology from overseas], digested it, absorbed it and innovated based on it.”

Of the places where Beijing has filed for the patents, the United States, Brazil and Russia have high-speed railway development projects. With the patent filings, China is apparently trying to gain an advantage in the competition to win sizable contracts.

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Lady Gaga’s “Anime Eyes” Require an Explanation

After her recent MTV Japan charity concert, Lady Gaga gave attended a press conference. She kept her eyes closed for the entire 10 minute Q&A. Painted over her eyelids were big fake eyes. Most Americans would easily identify it has “anime eye” make-up, but, as this clip from Japan’s NTV news shows us, the whole “anime” thing apparently isn’t so obvious to Japanese people:

The reporter narrating the video wonders about the connection between Gaga’s make-up and Japanese culture. To get an answer to that question, NTV consulted the editor of a celebrity gossip magazine. She explains that the make-up is inspired by Japanese animation. Lady Gaga is apparently showing her love for Japan by copying the large eyes of anime characters.

Related image: Aoi Miyazaki as a 19th century non-anime-eyed princess in the NHK drama “Atsu-hime“:

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Fukushima Residents Undergo Whole Body Counter Radiation Checks

A news video reports that whole body counting (WBC) scanners will be used to measure the radiation within the bodies of Fukushima residents:

A total of 120 people, chosen randomly from the three municipalities, will receive such examinations. Based on the institute’s findings, the prefectural government plans to establish simple methods to check dosages of internal radiation, a Fukushima prefectural official said.

Most of the remaining residents of the three municipalities will be checked through statistical estimations using questionnaires.

They will be asked what they did and where they went, for instance, after March 11, and based on their responses, the prefecture will estimate the amounts of radiation suspected to have accumulated inside their bodies.

Prefecture-wide health checks were to start in August, and also will employ such statistical estimations.

Scans detected no abnormal levels of radiation in the first batch of 10 people from the town of Namie.

In a related story, a professor at Hiroshima University recently measured the amount of radiation in the urine of 15 residents of Iitate and Kawamata. He found small amounts of radioactive cesium and iodine in the samples:

“This won’t be a problem if they don’t eat vegetables or other products that are contaminated,” said Nanao Kamada, professor emeritus of radiation biology at Hiroshima University. “But it will be difficult for people to continue living in these areas.”

Based on the amount of radiation found in the urine, Kamada estimated the total exposure to radiation that had taken place since the cesium/iodine had entered the bodies of the people. The highest calculated exposure was 3.2 millisieverts. (Existing scientific research shows that there is a perhaps a 1% increase in the long-term probability of cancer if a person is exposed to over 100 millisieverts of radiation. )

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