James's Feed Releases for February 2010

A juku chain makes weird and amusing commercials in an attempt to trick children into thinking that cramming for entrance exams can be fun: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

“Pochi Tama” introduces Anko, a French bulldog in Japan that has dalmatian-like spots: When Anko was a puppy, she was mostly white. As she got older, she gradually came to look like she does today. — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe...

Building a model Zero is pretty cool, but some might prefer creating a model of an aircraft carrier instead: Like the Zero, this is a DeAgostini model set released in weekly sets, each costing about 1,390 yen. Once one obtains and completes the ins...

A commercial for Seiyu (Japanese Walmart) reminds you that it sells cheap stuff for your house, like curtains to give yourself some privacy: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Nothing says canned highball like singing sailors: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

The key to looking young, dear readers, is to take a plastic bottle and mash it against your face for several minutes each day. Just follow the simple steps in this clip from “Professor Ochanomizu”: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscrib...

Last year, Joseph Tame made history by recording and broadcasting the 10k of the Tokyo Marathon live via his iphone. This Sunday, he’s looking to repeat the spectacle in a more spectacular fashion to get more spectators watching by running 42 kilomet...

A company in Tokyo that creates Hinamatsuri dolls has created a special doll modeled after figure skater Mao Asada: The doll is meant to show their support of Asada in her pursuit of an Olympic gold medal. As the media seems to have noticed it, it...

A line of urinals on a rooftop in Musashino, Tokyo offer a rather nice view of Mount Fuji: But don’t worry. Nobody is peeing on the roof. It’s actually part of a facility that trains building maintenance workers. Those urinals are just for repair...

An image of Sakamoto Ryoma made out of shredded Japanese currency: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Hiroshi Nakai （Chairman of the National Commission on Public Safety/Minister of State for Disaster Management/Minister of State for the Abduction Issue） is trying to make it so the Hatoyama administration’s plan to subsidize high school tuition wil...

On a back street just one minute away from JR Shimbashi station, you can find a place run by an 80-year-old man who likes to throw his sushi in the air: A test at another location reveals that he has the ability to throw it nearly 4 meters into the...

“Mezamashi TV” entertainment reporter Shinichi Karube goes to a Backstreet Boys Concert at the Saitama Super Arena to find out more about Japanese BSB fans: Since they first visited Japan 10 years ago, the Backstreet Boys have enjoyed a large number...

Fuji TV recently filed this sensational news report about a handful of people who have filed complaints because somebody else apparently used their iTunes accounts to make unauthorized purchases: Apple has said that no hacking took place on its end,...

A Japanese reporter eats a ridiculously large ice cream sundae: It is called the “World Tower,” weighs in at 3 kilograms, is one meter tall, and costs 4935 yen. If you are visitin Nagasaki and want to check it out, you can find details here (in Ja...

A finless porpoise seems to have lost its way and wandered up a river in Nagoya: Officials from Nagoya Port aquarium arrived at the scene after being contacted by police and captured the porpoise shortly after 12:15 p.m. The porpoise was taken to th...

My last post was about Japanese women choosing the most handsome non-Japanese male athletes at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Here’s the results of a similar survey about Japanese athletes, this time with Canadians doing the judging: Top 5 Women Yuk...

Asahi TV news asks Japanese women to choose the most handsome non-Japanese Olympic athletes: Bjørn Einar Romøren (Ski Jump – Norway) Johnny Weir‎ (Figure Skating – U.S.) Jan Schmid (Nordic Combined – Norway) Evan Lysacek (Figure Skating – U.S.) Hen...

The teaser/trailer for Studio Ghibli’s upcoming anime film, The Borrowers: Miyazaki is not directing the next film. 36-year-old animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi is making his directorial debut with this project. The film will open in the summer of 2010...

This puppy looks like Prime Minister Hatoyama. Also, Yasuo Tanaka looks like Marie Antoinette: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

“Pochi Tama” introduces viewers to a dog that spends his days inside a eyeglasses store and happens to look pretty cool when he wears sunglasses: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

It makes sense for the people who made this Softbank ad, so I guess it should make sense to us too: [via JapanSoc- the social linking site for Japan bloggers] — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (...

An elementary school on one of the islands between Kyushu and Okinawa offers its students something very cool – the ability to look out to sea from their playground and see real live whales. The whales are humpbacks, which come to the safety of the...

Sento-kun, the creepy mascot of the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo Capital, gets a Valentine’s Day cake from a female mascot character: The cake had “daisuki” (“I love you”) written on it. He was very happy. His rival, Manto-kun, also got a...