Ube Mascot Character Looks Like Pikachu
Some people are claiming that a city in Yamaguchi prefecture based one of its mascot characters on Pikachu:
Ecoha is a character that was created last year to promote recycling in Ube city. Like the famous Pokémon character, Ecoha has big black eyes and red dots on its cheeks. When they made a mascot suit for Ecoha, it ended up looking similar to Pikachu.
However, when you look at the 2D versions of each character, it seems that Echo is quite different:
Ube city officials have acknowledged that there have been complaints about the resemblance between the two characters, but they have stressed the Ecoha is original and is not a copy of Pikachu.
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Categories: Otaku & Anime
Dog Loves Drainage Pipes
“Nanikore” introduces us to Moko, a Welsh corgi in Tokyo that is obsessed with drainage pipes:
About a year ago, Moko started doing something very odd. Whenever she notices a drainage pipe, Moko wants to check it. Because there are a lot of concrete walls and embankments along her walking route, Moko checks dozens of pipes every day.
An expert believes Moko may have started checking pipes after discovering something interesting or tasty inside one. Even though the chances of making another pleasant discovery are low, Moko checks every pipe.
Humans also exhibit this kind of behavior. The show gives the example of people who check the change slot of vending machines, hoping that they’ll get lucky and find some coins that a somebody else left behind.
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Categories: Animal Videos
Raccoons Love Chicken Ramen
Decades ago, raccoons were a popular pet in Japan. Unfortunately, some irresponsible owners found their pets to be too much trouble, so they released the raccoons into the wild. Although the species of not native to Japan, 42 of the country’s 47 prefectures now have wild raccoon populations. These alien raccoons damage local ecosystems and destroy crops.
A battle is being waged against raccoon population growth. There hasn’t been much success, but humans have found a secret weapon. Apparently raccoons are attracted to Nissin’s chicken ramen:
Tests show that raccoons prefer chicken ramen over a variety of fruits and vegetables. Traps that contain ramen are far more likely to capture raccoons than traps that use other forms of bait.
Nobody’s exactly sure why the raccoons love ramen so much. It could be its strong smell. Or it could be because pet raccoons were used eating to processed foods. As one guy in the video says, if you want to know why, ask the raccoons.
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Categories: Animal Videos, Odd / Strange
1-Year-Old Girl Goes Shopping in Japan
“Hajimete no Otsukai” (First Errand) is a Japanese TV show that follows small children as they carry out errands for their parents. Past specials have featured kids traveling across town to buy ingredients for their mom’s kitchen and a small boy riding a bullet train to visit his father’s workplace. Usually, the kids are about 4-years- old, and sometimes an older child will be accompanied by a younger sibling.
Last week, they aired a special that had their youngest-ever solo errand runner. Little Haru is one month shy of second birthday:
Haru’s task is very simple: go down the block and buy some tofu. She still isn’t old enough to talk in full sentences, but she does seem to understand the concept of money.
Japanese people do not regularly send such small children out on errands. This television show always has staff who dress-up like deliverymen or pedestrians. They pretend to not notice the children, but they’re actually there to protect them.
Haru also has the advantage of living in one of Japan’s safest places. She’s a resident of Toshijima, a small island with a population of about 3,000 people. Old fashioned small town life is preserved on the island, with the entire neighborhood knowing each other and collectively making sure children stay safe. It’s not at all unusual for small children to run errands for their parents (although Haru is exceptionally young).
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Categories: Japanese Girls, Japanese TV
Kitten Delays Tokyo Trains
Morning commuters experienced delays yesterday on JR’s Keihin Tohoku line because trains had to stopped to allow workers to rescue a trapped kitten:
As the train sped down the line between Kanagawa prefecture and Tokyo, somebody reported hearing meowing sounds from underneath one of its cars. The train made an emergency stop at Kamata station, where workers found a 3-month-old kitten clinging to the space between the floor and the wheels.
The incident caused the train to halt for about 25 minutes at Kamata station, holding up a total of 15 trains. The delay impacted the commutes of about 23,000 people.
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Categories: Animal Videos, Odd / Strange
Japanese Name Order: Family Name First?
A program on Japan’s NTV network tells viewers that they should no longer use English-style name order when introducing themselves in English:
Introducing yourself as “Takeshi Tanaka” is “old-fashioned” English. Now, you should introduce yourself as “Tanaka Takeshi.” [Family name first, in the way one says names when speaking Japanese.]
As proof, they cite the New Horizons English textbook, which now teaches junior high school students to introduce themselves in the “new” style. This “new” style is based on the nationalistic way that Indians and Koreans speak English. Saying one’s family name first supposedly shows “respect” for Japanese culture.
There’s a thread over at BigDaikon in which some ALTs discuss the name order issue. Those that actually care about helping their students learn proper English seem to think that the “new” style will cause unnecessary confusion. For example, here’s a comment from lifer:
The whole name order debate gets a bit tedious. Whatever the Chinese or Koreans do is irrelevant. Plus, lots of Ks and Cs have a ‘western’ name that they use when communicating in English, or living abroad for any length of time. So, Chan Yo In becomes Winston Chan, or Kim Sae Bon becomes Gilbert Kim when they are in Eigo World.
It’s really very simple to solve. Just mention the “when in Rome” proverb, but change it to “when speaking Roman…”. When you speak English, you use English conventions and customs. When you speak Japanese, you use Japanese language and customs. Otherwise, confusion reigns. When I introduce myself in Japanese, I use Japanese naming convention and introduce myself as “last name, first name”, or simply “last name”.
People are free to introduce themselves any way they like, but are also responsible for any confusion that results. So, if a Japanese person rocks up to a hotel in gaijinland and says, “hi, I have a reservation, my name is Tanaka Hiroshi”, he shouldn’t be surprised if the clerk comes back with “sorry, we don’t have a reservation for you, Mr. Hiroshi”.
I think Monkasho is trying to make yet another false binary paradigm- Japan vs. gaikoku. In Japan, we do it this way, but in gaikoku it is done another way. Since we are Japanese, in Japan, we will follow the Japanese way. Education takes a back seat to cultural insecurity.
My opinion: Japan’s Ministry of Education should not encourage the use of this “new” naming order. The United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other English-speaking nations still use the “old” name order for Japanese people, so it’s stupid to print textbooks instructing Japanese students to adopt the “new” system.
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Categories: Teaching English