I was recently asked if Japan has anything similar to “The Onion” which is a humorous website that publishes satirical stories or parodies of current events. Although The Onion is already quite well known, one of its charms is that it publishes stories that are well-written and close enough to reality to give a person […]
Japanese Satire News Site Similar to The Onion Read More »
With a huge height difference on display, 192 cm tall Masaya Nakamura and former Morning Musume member Mari Yaguchi who reaches all of 145 cm on a good day got married. Newzjapan reported the pending nuptials around which were announced around New Year’s. (Mari Yaguchi to Marry Masaya Nakamura). The official date of the marriage
Mari Yaguchi and Masaya Nakamura Marry Read More »
A previous post listed the 2011 Japanese tv shows that parents don’t want their children to watch as voted by members of Japan’s national PTA association. The flip side of the list are tv shows Japanese parents want their children to watch. Some of these are a lot of fun as well. Here is the
Top 10 TV Japanese Shows Parents WANT Their Children to Watch Read More »
Well, I took advantage of a late night to do some light internet reading. Although I don’t often read news about Japan in English, tonight I was in the mood so I checked some of my RSS feeds for interesting articles. I came across a few that I don’t really want to link to, but
#RealJapan hashtag for Twitter and Media Representations of Japan Read More »
Every year, Nihon Terebi, also known as the Nippon Television Network has a 24 hour telethon. The telethon, known as 24 Hour TV (Love Will Save the World) always features an entertainer as a marathon runner. The marathon runner’s training and story are featured throughout the weeks leading up to 24 Hour TV, and during
24 Hour TV Marathon Runner for 2011 Will Be Kazuo Tokumitsu Read More »
The Fukuoka Prefectural Police have released a large warning message on their homepage about a recent rise in crimes committed with hand grenades. Although we think of Japan as a place without guns, there are a few gun related crimes every once in a while. This is the first I’ve heard of hand grenade crimes
Hand Grenade Crime on the Rise in Japan? Read More »
The Japanese government is looking into temporarily raising the sales tax from 5% to 8% for a three year period. They expect the tax hike to increase tax revenues by 7.5 billion yen per year. Just hoping they don’t get used to the money and extend that beyond the three year period.
Japanese Government Considering Sales Tax Hike Read More »
Tokyo Electric is looking for a few good part-timers willing to do some work in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. They are offering workers 10,000 yen per hour to take the risk and do some work for them. Although over $100 US sounds like a good hourly rate, they only want people to work
Tokyo Electric Looking for Part Time Workers in Japan Read More »
If I had a vote in the Tokyo election coming up, I can tell you who would get my vote… however, being a fan of good writing I would rather show you than tell you. Introducing Mac Akasaka or Makku Akasaka who identifies himself with the “Smile” party and has decided to announce his candidacy
Mac Akasaka (Makku Akasaka) Tokyo Governor Candidacy Video Read More »
As I mentioned in a previous post about the Tokyo governor’s election, it’s on between former Miyazaki governor Hideo Higashikokubaru and incumbent Shintaro Ishihashi. Because anyone who is eligible can nominate his or herself for the position, there are a lot of videos on YouTube now in which people declare their candidacy for the election.
Hideo Higashikokubaru and Shintaro Ishihara Tokyo Governor’s Race Candidacy Videos Read More »
Tokyo Shimbun reports on a 27 year old plant worker who received a call to come to the Fukushima Daiichi plant and work, but turned it down for the sake of his 26 year old wife and 3 year old son. The man said that many workers over the age of 50 were returning to
Daily Pay for Nuclear Plant Disaster Workers Possibly Over $4,000 Read More »
A few other blogs have been doing a great job of taking to task the sensationalist mainstream English language media, but also being straight about the information available. I just wanted to provide links to some other blogs definitely worth taking a look at for information. Japan Probe’s latest post: “New York Times Quietly Edits
Some Other Japan News Blogs Covering the Earthquake Tohoku Read More »