Fake Anime & Disney Characters on Parade at Snow Festival in China
Japanese TV networks are having a blast reporting about the latest batch of hilariously blatant trademark violations coming out of China. Both NTV and FTV were at the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, were a large group of knock-off characters were on parade:
In addition to the Mickey Mouse shown at the top of this post, they also had Donald Duck:
A Doraemon knock-off:
A Pikachu knock-off:
Something that looked like Crayon Shin-chan:
Astroboy with hair coming out of his neck:
And Ultraman:
As in the case of the fake Disneyland, the people wearing costumes saw no problem with removing their headgear and taking breaks in front of tourists.
Update: Here’s a slightly longer FTV clip:
In this clip they call up the organizers of the event, who seem to be saying that the characters are indeed knock-offs, but it’s okay because they made the costumes themselves.
The report also mentions the infamous Gundam knock-off in another part of China, which was quietly dismantled after its theme park had vehemently denied accusations that it was a copy of the popular Japanese mobile suit:
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Tourists check out collapsed high-rise in Shanghai
A FTV news report about how one tour agency in Shanghai has offered tours to visit the famous high-rise apartment that recently fell over on its side:
It’s a story about China, but I felt it was worth posting to display all the hard work FTV’s news graphics team put in creating a small animation of the building collapsing over and over.
I’m surprised they didn’t put a little stick figure under the building to represent the construction worker who was crushed to death in the accident.
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Categories: General Japan
Ultraman knocks over building in Shanghai
A few days ago, a nearly completed new apartment building in Shanghai toppled over on its side. A few Chinese netizens have reacted to the news by creating funny photoshops of possible reasons for the collapse:
See the full gallery at China Smack!
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Yoshinoya and Sukiya start selling eel dishes
Two of Japan’s biggest rice bowl fast food chains have begun to sell seasonal eel dishes:
Sukiya will be selling a half-gyudon/half-unadon dish, while Yoshinoya is selling pure unadon. Both are importing cheap eel from China, and both are emphasizing the safety of the imported eel.
The report ends a look at an eel restaurant in Tokyo that uses only domestic eel in its dishes. Customers claim that Japanese eel tastes better, but the chef notes that he cannot be entirely sure the eel is actually Japanese, since suppliers have been known to lie about the origins of imported food.
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Categories: Japanese Food
Saizeriya pizzas contained toxic chemical melamine
I hope none of you out there have been eating a lot of Saizeriya pizza lately:
A Japanese restaurant chain served small amounts of the toxic chemical melamine in its pizza due to powdered milk imported from China, the health ministry said Monday.
Saizeriya detected the chemical – which is behind a global health scare that has sickened thousands of babies in China – in dough from pizzas served at branches in northern and eastern Japan on October 1 and 2.
The amount was small and should not harm diners, a ministry official said, adding that there were no reports of people falling sick.
Categories: General Japan
How not to conduct a food safety test
If food smells like petroleum, you probably shouldn’t eat it:
The workers at Marusei Honten confectionery in central Nagano prefecture noticed a strange smell like petroleum oil when they opened the five-kilogram (11-pound) package of red-bean paste on Friday, police said.
They tasted it to check on the quality and felt sick soon afterwards, police said.
Categories: General Japan