Watching this Japanese McDonald’s commercial for the new Sponge Bob Happy Meals, one has to think there are adults just off screen standing around with still-dripping syringes. Maybe they were shown one of the old school “Pokemon” psychedelic episodes. Although frightened by the commercial, I’m intrigued enough to break out my “ransel (randoseru)” elementary school…
Through all the scandals, Mona Yamamoto has remained strong and true to herself. Vilified by some after being photographed going to a love hotel with married baseball player, Tomohiro Nioka in 2008. In some media Yamamoto was treated as a femme fatale while Nioka escaped too much consternation. She refused to take all the blame…
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…
On January 18th, Suntory Holdings’ announced that blue roses will be available at Suntory Flowers shops starting on the 29th. Some prefectures may experience delays due to the possibility of frost, specifically Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, and Akita. The flowers were also sold in limited quantities in 2009 and 2010, with 2010 seeing over 50,000 sold….
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…
As a sort of counterpart to my previous post about what sports impress Japanese women, Gendai Business recently came out with a list of the Japanese athletes who are highest paid for commercials. This list mixes pro and amateur athletes. 1. Ryo Ishikawa – (golf) – 120 million yen 2. Ichiro Suzuki (baseball, Seattle Mariners)…
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…
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.
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,…
Monday, January 10th will be Coming of Age Day, also known as Adult’s Day in Japan. It is the day that young people celebrate officially becoming adults. Traditionally they gather at their hometown City Hall wearing very fine kimonos, suits, or other fashionable clothing. In larger cities, they gather at local ward offices. Since new…