I am writing about this story for two reasons. The first is that yes, there are drugs in Japan and they are not hard to obtain. (This is contrary to how shiny, happy, mainstream media usually portrays Japan in English.) Secondly, I’ve found that when anyone is arrested for drug possession in Japan, there is […]
JR Driver Arrested with Marijuana Bought from Non-Japanese Read More »
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
100s of JR Workers Clear Snow for Japanese University Entrance Exam Takers Read More »
Google has changed its Japan logo for the celebration of Coming of Age Day, also called Adult’s Day. New adults (age 20 here) hear a few speeches from bureaucrats about the responsibilities of being an adult and a “shakaijin” or contributing member of society.
Coming of Age Day 2011 Google Logo Read More »
Japanese Announcer Miku Natsume has recently lost her job over photos released which show her, fully clothed, holding up an unopened condom box. Other photos in the set showed her with a man, her boyfriend at the time. Rumors are that an ex-boyfriend released the pictures. She is a very good announcer with an atypical,
Japanese Announcer Miku Natsume Loses Job Over Photo Read More »
Although rumors of this had been floating around, it seems that G.education, the company currently behind the famous Nova name, is finalizing plans to create Nova University somewhere in the Tokai region. They are also currently exploring other names for the new privately run university. A formal announcement about the future of the endeavor is
Plans in Place for Creation of Nova University Read More »
Although this is just being reported now, the suicide happened in June of 2007! Although the family of the Indian student who committed suicide asked the Otemon Gakuin University to investigate, the school let this case sit on a shelf for 3 years. The university made no report until the bereaved family hired a lawyer
Bullied Indian Student at Otemon Gakuin University Commits Suicide Read More »
If you did not happen to be in Japan in 2005 when the horrific train crash occurred in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, it is worth looking some of the background stories. Many people remember Toyota’s troubles with the Prius and other cars, and some of the denials and lack of action that happened. On this blog
Denial and Back Story on the 2005 JR West Amagasaki Train Crash Read More »
Japan’s Yomiuri news reports that the accused whistle blower, who posted a video of Chinese and Japanese ships having an altercation, reportedly told authorities that he sent an SD Card with footage of the incident to CNN’s Tokyo office. He sent the package anonymously, but when CNN never broke the story or televised the video,
Whistle Blower Who Leaked Video on YouTube Sent it to CNN First Read More »
I have many times during the early years of this blog been surprised and appalled by how little research CNN puts into its articles about Japan. I’ve noted before that there seems to be a belief somewhere that “everybody knows about Japan”. There are a lot of people who have spent a few months or
Halloween in Japan and CNN’s Lack of Research Read More »
Many train lines in Japan have women’s only train carriages. This is designed to give women an place to ride the train without fear of the gropers, or molesters called “chikan” in Japanese. The special cars are generally available during rush hour only to prevent the overcrowded trains in Japan from providing opportunity and cover
Men in Japan Bum Rush Women’s Only Train Cars in Protest Read More »
I use google alerts as a great way to get news about certain specific topics that I have an interest in. I have a google alert for “kindle japan” because I’ve written about my what I want from the Kindle in the past, my wish that it would be able to handle manga, and that
Street View Japan and Weak Journalism Read More »
A 77 year old man in Kobe died today due to complications from H1N1, marking the second total death in Japan. Both deaths occurred in the last week, with both patients suffering other ailments in addition to the H1N1 flu. The Kobe man who died also reportedly had liver trouble, diabetes, high blood pressure, and
H1N1 Influenza Second Death in Japan Reported Read More »