Posts Tagged ‘animals’

Youtube’s talking goat on Japanese TV

What happens when YouTube’s famous talking goat finds its way onto Japanese TV? It becomes “the goat that talks like Ken Shimura“:

It does indeed sound kind of like the voice Shimura makes when he acts dumb.
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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Swallows nest in Japanese bathroom

A video clip of a bathroom in Saga Prefecture where swallows come to roost:

The swallows come twice a year to build nests and lay eggs, and the human family that owns the house is happy to host them. Interestingly, the video makes no mention of all the bird poop the humans no doubt have to clean up before bathing each day.

[from "Nanikore Chin Hakkei"]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Dog travels by balance ball

A “Pochi Tama” clip featuring a dog in Japan that rides around the neighborhood on an exercise ball instead of taking normal walks:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Goldfish catching champions

The traditional festival game of catching goldfish with a tissue paper net was taken to extremes on a recent episode of TV Tokyo’s “Champions.” Here’s a clip of one of their champions catching over 30 fish in three minutes:

Later in the same episode, the champions who passed the speed catching round moved on to face off against each other in a new goldfish catching game. Many parents and children don’t play the goldfish catching games at festivals because it is difficult to care for the fish they catch. To encourage people to keep goldfish as pets, TV Tokyo sought the help of the Sega game designer behind the popular MushiKing collectable card game. He designed a game in which players would compete to quickly catch an entire tankload of goldfish. Each player could bring larger goldfish they had raised at home to the battle, one of which could be added to their opponent’s tank each round. If this game catches on, children may gain a special commitment to raising the goldfish they catch at festivals.

Here’s a clip of the final showdown between the two greatest goldfish catching champions:

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In case you are wondering: yes, PETA would consider this game to be cruel. They believe that keeping fish inside tanks is bad, and recommend that fish lovers download “realistic fish computer screensavers” instead of imprisoning intelligent fish that can “speak, make tools, and think.”

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)