James's Feed - Page 1 of 45
Does K-Pop Group KARA Have Ties to North Korea?
Some Japanese netizens have a theory about this man, who has often been seen accompanying the South Korean pop group KARA:
They think he’s the same person as this ruffian who clashed with police outside the offices of Chongryon (Chosen Soren), an or...
Tokyo Gate Bridge
The Tokyo Gate Bridge will open to traffic next week. To celebrate the opening of a new Tokyo landmark, a special running event was held there yesterday.
Here’s a video of about 5,500 runners crossing the bridge:
Some specs:
The bridge, which links...
Sara Errani Admits She Avoided Tennis Tournament in Tokyo: Feared Radiation
Italian tennis player Sara Errani has confessed that she skipped the September 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo because she was afraid of radiation:
Sara Errani has admitted fears of a radiation leak after last year’s tsunami in Japan forced her...
Chinese Workers Who Survived March 11th Tsunami Return to Tohoku
A Japanese news report about a group of 15 Chinese “trainee” workers who survived the March 11th tsunami, went back to China, and are now coming back to Tohoku to once again work in factories:
Among the group are five workers whose lives were saved...
Why’s Zippei So Quiet? TV Dog Had Vocal Cords Removed
If you watch Nihon TV’s Zip! morning show, you probably recognize the dog in the picture above. It’s Zippei (ジッペイ), a cute and fluffy Samoyed dog that travels around Japan as the television show’s mascot.
Every day, Zippei visits a different are...
Korean Ultra-Nationalists Lobby Virginia: Demand Textbooks Use Korea-centric Geo...
For the last several years, South Korean ultra-nationalists have been lobbying publishing companies and governments around the world, demanding that “East Sea” replace or be written alongside “Sea of Japan” in maps and books. They are angry about ho...
Tokushima School Lunch vs. Japanese Prison Food
A photo of a school lunch served at public schools in Tokushima city (bread, one weiner, milk, and corn soup):
It’s supposedly due to mismanagement of funds. The bread in the photo is made from rice flour, making it significantly more expensive tha...
Castle Tintagel: Medieval Europe in Tokyo
Just stumbled upon Castle Tintagel, a business near Mejiro station in Tokyo that offers lessons in medieval European swordfighting. Here’s a YouTube video about it:
Ever wanted to be a medieval knight? To learn how to fight with sword and shield? T...
Protecting Japan’s Water Supply From Foreign Ownership
As human beings, we need fresh, pure water to replenish our precious bodily fluids. Luckily, the Japanese Diet is moving to protect this nation’s water supply from potential threats:
The legislation to be sponsored by lawmakers of both parties aims...
Japan’s Inability to Make Decisions / Kevin Maher Strikes Back
Remember Kevin Maher, who lost his position in 2011 as director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Japan Affairs after American students told the Japanese media that he had called Okinawans “masters of manipulation and extortion” who were “too...
Prime Minister Noda Removes Eye Patch
The cover-up has come to an end! Prime Minister Noda has removed his eye patch:
He’d been wearing the patch for the last two weeks:
Complete with patch – more surgical than piratical — the premier later explained to reporters that the self-inflict...
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (Academy Award Nominee – Best Documentary Sho...
The trailer for “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” a short documentary about the aftermath of the March 11th disaster:
Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan’s recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season be...
Earthquakes Cannot be Predicted / Official Japanese Quake Forecasting System is...
If you’ve been watching the news the last few days, chances are you’ve heard about that researchers are now saying that Tokyo is facing a 70% chance of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in the next four years:
The preliminary calculations conducted by a tea...
How a 70% Chance of a M7 Earthquake in 4 Years was Calculated
Are you wondering how a group at the Tokyo University Earthquake Research Institute (ERI) calculated a 70% chance of a Magnitude 7 quake occurring in the Tokyo area within the next four years? If so, take a look at the above plot of historical Japane...
KFC Double Down Comes to Japan
Kentucky Fried Chicken has brought its famous Double Down sandwich to Japan. Who needs bread when you can have healthy pieces of fried chicken instead?
It’s currently available only at the KFC near Sunshine City in Ikebukuro. Double Downs will be a...
“Gaijin Gulag” Victim Christopher Johnson Discloses Visa Information ( Work Visa...
A quick update on the ongoing tale of Christopher Johnson, a freelance journalist whose Narita Airport “Gaijin Gulag” story has been picked up by several major news websites (The Economist, Boing Boing, Reddit).
In my last post, I noted that Johnso...
Backpacks Donated on Friday the 13th by “Jason”
Serial killer Jason is on the loose again, only now he’s donating school supplies to orphans.
In early 2011 Japan was treated to the heartwarming story of “Tiger Mask”, an masked hero who donated dozens of randoseru backpacks to orphanages across th...
Famous Kyoto Statue Vandalized
Kyoto’s famous statue of Takayama Hikokuro (1747-93) has been vandalized:
At around 5:50 p.m. on Jan. 20, a woman spotted a man standing on the plinth of the bronze statue of Takayama Hikokuro in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, and pouring white paint on i...
Yu Darvish Arrives in America Wearing Marijuana Leaf Shirt
A couple days ago, pitcher Yu Darvish signed a $60 million deal with the Texas Rangers. When he arrived in in Texas, he was wearing a very strange shirt:
Darvish arrived about three hours earlier at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, where he was greeted by...
27.8% Decrease in Foreign Tourists Visiting Japan in 2011
2011 saw a gigantic decrease in the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan:
The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2011 totaled an estimated 6,219,000, down 27.8 percent from the existing record of some 8,611,000 in 2010.
There was also a dro...
Christopher Johnson Under Fire For “Gaijin Gulag” Article
On January 18th, the Economist’s Banyan column copy-pasted Christopher Johnson’s sensational account his detention and deportation from Narita Airport. According to Johnson, immigration authorities may have singled him out unjustly because he was a...
Remember World War II: Sea Shepherd Depicts Japanese As Uniquely Cruel & Dishone...
In response to yesterday’s blog post about the existence of racism and prejudice among opponents of Japanese whaling, some readers complained that I was focusing too much on the words of a anonymous internet lunatics. Why should Sea Shepherd be ment...
Anti-Whaling Groups Display “Open Prejudice” Towards Japanese
The Australian has printed an excellent opinion piece by Brendan O’Neill (“Shades of open prejudice in war on whalers“). He argues that prejudice and racism are behind the views of some anti-whalers:
The attempt to transform Sea Shepherd’s cynical s...
Tommy Lee Jones to Play General Douglas MacArthur in New Film About US Occupatio...
Tommy Lee Jones has been cast as General Douglas MacArthur in an upcoming film about the American occupation of Japan:
“Tommy will bring strength, intelligence, and gravitas to the portrayal of, a legendary American hero,” producer Gary Foster (“Ghos...
American Man Missing After Trip to Mt. Fuji
A search is underway for Matt Johnson, an American man who disappeared after apparently going on a hiking/camping trip to Mt. Fuji:
Johnson has been an engineer in Eaton Corp.’s vehicle business unit in Galesburg since 2003, according to a company s...
Jizo For Tsunami Survivors
A news report about beautiful cloth Jizo figures that have been put on display at a Buddhist temple in Kesennuma:
They are on display at Jifuku-Ji, a temple that stands amid the rubble of a city that was devastated by the March 11th tsunami. A mark...
Professional Motorcycle Racer Hiromi Sakai Dies in Accident
Professional motorcyclist Hiromi Sakai has died in a speedway accident:
Sakai came off her motorcycle at about 4:20 p.m. on Jan. 15, and hit a fence. She died shortly afterward in a medical office at the venue. Officials said her cause of death was...
Korean Festival vs. Thai Festival (Fake Korean Wave?)
The following video is near the top of YouTube Japan’s most viewed ranking for today (with over 150,000 views):
The video compares footage from two events held in Tokyo: a Thai food festival and a Korean food festival. Apparently there were some pr...
18 Million Year Old Rhino Fossils Found in Japan
Video of fossils found in Nagasaki prefecture that are believed to be about 18 million years old:
The remains were found on the coast of Matsuura’s Takashimacho district, and are thought to be among the oldest of their kind in Japan.
There are five...
Paywall Blocks Access to Asahi Shimbun’s English Articles
Found this message popping up on my screen this morning when I tried to check some English language articles on the Asahi Shimbun’s website:
The Asahi recently scaled down the content on its regular English articles and started directing readers to...
Hollywood “Whitewashes” Japanese Films: Uses White American Actors Instead of As...
CNN’s InAmerica blog has an article that discusses the fact that upcoming American remakes of Japanese films are going to cast white American actors to play characters that were originally Japanese:
Tom Cruise is rumored to be in talks to play the le...
Escaped Convict Remains At Large
A 40-year-old Chinese inmate escaped from a prison in Hiroshima on Wednesday:
Li Guolin was sentenced to 23 years in prison after firing a handgun at a police officer after breaking into a house during an attempted burglary in 2005.
Elementary and j...
New Station on Tokyo’s Yamanote Line
Last week, the Yomiuri reported that JR was planning to open a new station on Tokyo’s Yamanote loop line. It would be the first new station on the line in 40 years, and would be combined with a redevelopment planned aimed at attracting international...
Sea Shepherd’s Idiotic Antics Cost Australian Taxpayers “Hundreds of Thousands o...
Here is a follow-up on the three animal rights activists who illegally boarded a Japanese whaling ship a few days ago. The Japanese have agreed to the Australian government’s request that the men be released, but an Australian customs vessel will ha...
Amazing Glass Balancing – Richardo From Sweden
Glass balancing expert Richardo performs on Japanese TV:
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Illustrated Diaries Chronicle 56 Years of Life in Japan – Now Available on Amazo...
Back in May of 2011 I blogged about Shouzou Takenami, a 93-year-old resident of Aomori prefecture who has kept an illustrated diary since 1955. In my post, I wrote that I hoped that the diaries would be published. It seems that a lot of Japanese tel...




