Fukushima Sake Brewer Rescues Yeast From Nuclear Exclusion Zone
A news crew follows a family of sake brewers as they return to Futaba, a town within the Fukushima Daiichi exclusion zone:
Their ancestors started the business in the Edo Period. But now that business has been suspended because their home and brewery is 3.6 kilometers from the nuclear plant.
They were close enough to hear the hydrogen explosion that took place on March 12th. Although they had no electricity at the time and did not know that an evacuation had been ordered, they left anyway.
It now seems that they will never be able to move back into their home and re-open that brewery, but they still want to revive their family sake business. To maintain the unique traditional flavor of their sake, they needed some of the yeast from their brewery. Authorities gave them special permission to enter the restricted area and retrieve the yeast. Although the brewery had suffered some damage from aftershocks, the yeast was safe!
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Categories: Japanese Food
Indonesian People Don’t Get Angry
A Japanese TV show found an international survey that ranked countries where people were least likely to become angry. Indonesia was ranked #1. To test this claim, they sent comedian Udo Suzuki to Bali, where he acted like a jerk and tried to provoke the anger of Indonesian people:
Just to test his anger-inducing abilities, he first tried sneaking up behind a white woman and popping a balloon next to her head. Sure enough, she got visibly angry and left the area.
He then targeted Indonesians. First, he did a couple surprise balloon pops. Next, he randomly poured water on somebody. He cut in line at a grocery store. Then he put super spicy hot sauce into an ice desert.
One guy seemed very uncomfortable after eating the hot sauce, but nobody became visibly pissed off. Nobody yelled at him. Nobody stormed away in anger. Suzuki’s antics provoked no rage.
According to post-prank interviews, Indonesian parents teach their children not to get angry over small matters and not to fight with other people. A lot of Indonesian people don’t think it would be worth getting worked up over a little prank.
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Categories: Japanese TV
Itoigawa’s Tsuchinoko Hunt
Some people in Japan are looking for the tsuchinoko, a cryptid that supposedly looks like a fat snake.
The above photo was taken in 2009 by a resident of Itoigawa, a city in Niigata prefecture where there have been many tsuchinoko sightings. The man who took the photo swears that it didn’t look like a normal snake and its movements were definitely not snake-like. Could it be a tsuchinoko?
The town of Itoigawa hopes so. It’s been marketing itself as the last refuge of tsuchinoko. Local businesses sell souvenir snacks and keychains shaped like the tsuchinoko. They’ve also started offering a 100 million yen ($1.2 million) reward to the first person who can catch one alive.
One a year, Itoigawa calls on people from across the country to come participate in a big tsuchinoko hunt. Here’s some video of this year’s event:
They spread out and searched through a couple areas where there sightings had taken place in the past. After 3 hours of walking through heavy vegetation, they gave up. Maybe they’ll have better luck next year…
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Bad Check – Pocket Tissue “STD Test”
A news report about Bad Check – popular tissues that cost 198 yen apiece:
The tissues are for conducting pH tests of urine. When placed in urine, the tissue changes color to indicate whether pee is acidic or alkaline:
- Pink: Alkaline urine. This could be caused by a bladder infection.
- Yellow: Acidic urine. This could be caused by diabetes.
- No Color Change: Normal urine.
At the end of the news report manufacturer advises customers to visit a doctor if their urine shows signs of abnormality.
If you visit Bad Check’s product description on Amazon or visit its official website, you will discover that the Asahi TV report deliberately avoided mentioning something. This product is being marketed as a STD test (性病チェック). The manufacturer of this product states that a pink result indicates the “possibility” of an STD (性病・性感染症の可能性があればピンクが継続して現れます).
A pH test of urine obviously cannot take the place of a comprehensive STD test, and I’m a bit surprised that this company is legally allowed to advertise Bad Check as a “性病チェック.”
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Studio Ghibli’s Anti-Nuclear Message
Studio Ghibli, the animation studio of world-renown director Hayao Miyazaki, has placed an anti-nuclear banner on top of its main office building:
The banner declares that Studio Ghibli wants to make movies without relying on energy generated by nuclear power plants.
The staff drew the message and illustration on the banner after Miyazaki proposed that they should “express a candid feeling,” according to the animation studio.
According to Google.co.jp trend data for June 17th, Miyazaki’s anti-nuclear views were a very hot topic. “Studio Ghibli” (スタジオジブリ) was the 10th most popular search term, while “Prometheus’ fire” (プロメテウスの火) was #1. The latter term comes from some anti-nuclear remarks Miyazaki made in March.
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Categories: Politics
Japanese Comedian Finishes 2nd in Phnom Penh Half-marathon
Washed-up Japanese comedian Neko Hiroshi ran in the Phnom Penh half-marathon yesterday. Somehow, he managed to defeat hundreds of other runners and finish in second place:
At a welcome dinner held on Friday evening, Neko said he is applying for Cambodian citizenship with the aim of representing Cambodian athletes at various international sports events such as the Olympics.
Last year, Neko finished third in the 15th international half-marathon held at the Angkor Wat temple complex, in which some 4,050 athletes from 53 countries took part.
Hiroshi’s real name is Kuniaki Takizaki. The translators at Kyodo oddly decided to treat his “Neko” (Cat) stage name as if it was his family name, and reported him as “Hiroshi Neko” in their English language article.
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Categories: Celebrity News, Odd / Strange