Backwards Japan
Check out “Japan – Rewound!“, a fun video created by Our man in Abiko:
Our Man just paid off 20,000 passing Japanese to walk backwards. Pretty nifty huh?
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Categories: Odd / Strange
Calf runs wild in Utsunomiya
A video from ANN of a calf that ran wild in Utsunomiya a few months ago (clip subtitled in English):
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Categories: Animal Videos
Wedding kiss confusion
Two little boys are told to give kiss the bride on her cheek, but one boy, 2-year-old Koichi, seems to not understand the meaning of the word “bride” (oyome):
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Categories: General Japan
The Proposition
In anticipation of the upcoming election the Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党) of Japan recently released this video on their Youtube site. The cartoon depicts a young man who looks like a young Yukio Hatoyama (head of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan 民主党) proposing to a woman. The young man promises that he can make her happy, so why not switch. He goes on to promise free expressway fees and support for education, child care, and elderly citizens. When asked how he will pay for all of this, the man snaps at the woman saying he’ll think about the details after they’re married.
It’s so cute when grown-ups fight.
Contributor Bio: I am a doctoral student of environmental anthropology currently living and conducting research in a mountain village in Nagano. In my research I explore modernity as it is expressed in a rural mountain community. Specifically I look at national management structures, as well as social discourses, related to forests and probe the impacts these have on local human communities. I have lived and worked in Japan for 5 years. My interests also include Buddhism, literature, music, and mountaineering. Read more at my personal blog: In the Pines.
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Categories: Politics
Japanese girl screaming contest
Female students at a high school in Fukui participate in a screaming contest:
Summer vacation is about to begin, so the school and local police held the contest to help teach the girls to make some noise if they run into suspicious individuals. A little gadget is used measured the decibel levels of their shrieks and shouts for help. (According to the report, a 90 decibel scream is required to scare off an attacker.)
The report doesn’t mention anyone being named the winner of the contest, but their teacher does a pretty good job of loudly shouting an insult at the guy.
Do you find this to be a good example of practical crime prevention training?
Related video: While we’re on the topic of suspicious guys, here’s a comedy video starring Ken Shimura:
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Categories: Japanese Girls
Video: Chimpanzee riding a Segway
Amazing chimpanzee performer Pan-kun is back! On last night’s episode of Shimura Zoo, he celebrated his 7th birthday by taking a ride on a Segway personal transporter:
Pan-kun impressively managed not to seriously injure himself, but he did have a few close calls!
Categories: Animal Videos, Japanese TV, Technology