Archive for June, 2011

Charlie Sheen’s Message to Japan

A Japanese TV crew travels to America to meet Charlie Sheen:

To attract Charlie’s attention, they do the following:

• Have their reporter dress up in samurai attire.
• Make a big sign stating that they’ve come from Japan to see Charlie. (They don’t seem to realize they misspelled his name.)
• Hire a blonde bimbo to stand next to their sign.
• Wait around for hours at the exit of one of his stand-up shows.

They succeed in meeting Charlie. Although he has a bad boy image, Charlie is quite friendly to them and offers a message of support to the survivors of the March 11th disaster.

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

Billy Blanks’ Wii Game Commercial

It has been a couple years since the end of Japan’s Billy’s Bootcamp craze. Nevertheless, it seems that somebody’s made a Bootcamp game for the Wii, and Billy Blanks is now starring in commercials for it:

Billy’s voice has been dubbed over in Japanese. It looks like they are marketing it as an exercise game for children.

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

54% Of Japanese Think Bin Laden Should Have Been Arrested

A new Gallup International poll has asked people around the world about the killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. According to the numbers posted by Kyodo News and the Economist, Japan stood out as a country where many people thought the United States should have arrested Bin Laden instead of gunning him down.

On a global basis, 42 percent of the respondents said they would have preferred to see bin Laden arrested rather than killed.

Slightly more than half of those surveyed said they felt sure that the man killed in the raid was the world’s most wanted person. Of the remainder, 22 percent believe that the operation was staged and 24 percent did not respond.

In Japan, 22 percent of respondents supported the killing, 10 percent opposed it and 1 percent had not heard of the news.

Percentage of people who think Osama Bin Laden should have been arrested rather than killed in last month’s raid in Pakistan:

• Japan: 54%
• Finland: 50%
• Italy: 45%
• Russia: 42%
• America: 18%

[hat tip to Adamu]

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

Cat Island Seeks Disaster Relief Donations

Tashirojima, Miyagi’s famous “cat island,” is in trouble. Although most of the cats survived the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, it inflicted heavy damage on the small community. The livelihood of the islander’s residents is at risk:

Local residents say islanders began keeping cats to get rid of mice when the silk industry was thriving on Tashirojima. A local shrine is even named Neko Jinja (cat shrine). A few years ago, a Tokyo-based TV station featured Tashirojima in a program, and the island has been well-known for its unique population ever since.

The community is in a precarious state, as about 80 percent of its residents are 65 years old or older, but the tourist trade is thriving–about 3,200 visitors came in 2008 but nearly 12,300 came last year.

The island’s fishermen have not been able to work since the disaster. Since the cats were usually fed with tiny fish from their catches, they now have to rely on cat food donations. The situation prompted Hama and other islanders to ponder how they could collect funds to both rebuild the fishing industry and keep their furry friends fed.

In their plan, which focuses on the nation’s cat-lovers, people can become owners of oysters and other marine products the island produces in exchange for aid money. Donations are accepted in 10,000 yen lots, and Hama and his fellows aim to collect 150 million yen. Contributors will receive oysters and cat-related goods from the shrine. The cats will also be featured in a blog.

The official website of the project to save Tashiro island can be found here(NyanPro.com).

At this time, the site is only in Japanese and they don’t seem to have a system in place to accept international donations. Those that can read Japanese can order a 10,000 yen oyster set on this page.

Here is a video of the island before the tsunami:

And here is are a few clips of the island after the tsunami:

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

JSDF Floating Orb Robot

A viral video of Japanese news report showing a remove-controlled floating sphere:

The orb was developed by the Japanese military, as this top YouTube comment explains:

Max Speed is about 40mph.

Almost all parts can be found in Akihabara, Japan.

It has been developed by technology research section of Japanese Self Defense Forces.

It took one & a half year to be developed.

Looks like it’s only a matter of time before your nightmares about being stalked by floating robot drones will finally come true!

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

Manhole Cover / Emergency Toilet

An interesting product at a disaster preparedness product expo in Osaka:

Unlike a normal manhole cover, this one can flip up and turn into an emergency toilet. It even has a little place you can attach a roll of toilet paper.

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