Japanese singer, Hitomi, has called her own husband her greatest enemy in raising their children. She recently released a new baby clothing line in collaboration with Seven&i Holdings (the growing powerhouse behind Japan’s 7-11 convenience stores, Itoyokado malls, and much more). Hitomi’s clothing line will be called Pomipomi, and when announcing it commented that there…
The Konami dating video game LovePlus has now found itself on a Visa credit card in Japan. The video game received global attention when a man in Japan decided to marry one of the characters in his game live on Niko Niko Douga. Now Sumitomo Mitsui Bank (SMBC) is offering a Visa credit card with…
In comments on my previous post, people seemed interested in “Yozakura” or night hanami. Viewing cherry blossoms at night can be a nice evening outing and also a good contrast to cherry blossom viewing in the daytime. There are tons of places, and if you stay in a hotel, I’m sure the staff can guide…
A very familiar face has taken home the best actress honors at the California Independent Film Festival in Moraga, California this year. Hiromi Nagasaku will be familiar to fans of Japanese movies and dramas. She won the award for her role in the film “Cast Me If You Can” in which she stars with Toru…
Employees of the Kobe love hotel “Swing” were arrested in a recent police sting for lending Wii and PlayStation 3 to customers. Yes, they let guests of the hotel use their Wiis for entertainment without permission of copyright holders of games such as Mario Cart and BioHazard 5. With all that may or may not…
Another poll from Sugoren gives us a list of the top 9 things that Japanese women want their boyfriends to learn how to do well. I was somewhat surprised by the order of a few items, but the content was pretty predictable. 9. UFO Catcher AKA Crane Games or Claw Games (so that guys can…
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has released a list of eight cliches they say people interviewing for jobs with Japanese companies should avoid saying. These are the kind of things that teachers in Japan, many of whom have never had jobs other than teaching, advise their students to say. I hope the…
UPDATE (FEB 4, 2011): tenki.jp has reduced it’s annual Japan cherry blossom forecast for 2011, a screenshot of which is below. It looks like Tokyo is on the line for blooming in March, and we are looking at the turn of the month for most of Japan. Fukuoka, Kochi, and warmer climates seem to have…
UPDATE: Sadly Confessions was not nominated, but I still hope it finds a U.S. distributor. It looks like a really interesting film. The only Japanese movie that made the short list for an Academy Award (Oscar) this year is the film “Confessions”. I haven’t seen it yet so if anyone has, please feel free to…
In my previous post on the Japan University Entrance Exams, I mentioned that we would be seeing some feel-good news about people making efforts to make sure the high school seniors can make it to their tests on time. Here’s the first one I spotted… probably more to come. Akita JR workers spent hours shoveling…
This Saturday and Sunday are the days for the “Senta Shiken” or “Center Shiken” or “Center Test”, Japan’s national university entrance exams. Many people talk about exam hell in Japan, but personally I don’t think it’s any different. When I was a wee lad back in the U.S. I put my heart and soul and…
Mezamashi TV (video at the bottom) did a not-so-academic study of what sports men can do that impress Japanese Women. Some of these may surprise readers so I’ll do my best to help interpret the results. Let’s start with our top 5 with my comments below: 1. Soccer and Futsal – (not much explanation necessary…