The YouTube Japan Mobile Site has recently been revamped and released out on the public. YouTube has been accessible on mobile phones in Japan for several years now (depending on your make and model of phone), but the writers at the official Japanese language blog of YouTube seem particularly proud of the latest version. They…
One of Google’s special logos or doodles recently paid tribute to the Daimonji Festival in Kyoto. It is held just at the end of the Obon festival. During Obon (one of Japan’s biggest travel seasons), people often return to their hometowns, hold family reunions, and await the return of the spirits of their ancestors. Special…
I was writing an article for this blog about the new live action version of Tomorrow’s Joe (Ashita no Joe) one of Japan’s most popular manga ever. While visiting the official website of the movie, I noticed a large and pronounced button marked “Warning”. Hoping it was maybe some advance release scenes or some other…
We reported before about the live action version of Space Battleship Yamato scheduled to be out in theaters on December 12, 2010. Here is a collection of trailers. It looks like a lot more money and effort was put into this film than many similar Japan-produced movies. It looks like it has some comedy, drama,…
“Taima-dera” Temple in Nara has recently released images of graffiti that dates back to the Heian Era. Inside the temple, on a part of a small shrine called a zushi, often used as a cabinet for storing religious items, two male faces were found drawn in ink. The similarity of this drawing to modern manga…
I’ve been writing about the Amazon’s newest Kindle which sells for only $139, and has wifi capabilities because, frankly, books are heavy, and if you ever plan to leave Japan for other shores, one kindle based library is a whole lot lighter and less expensive than a convoy of boxes. It seems however that some…
A mystery man left one million yen at an Osaka ramen shop for the owner to “feed children ramen”. The ramen shop owner respected his wishes and served 1,540 bowls of ramen to children for free. Now the shop owner and some local people are looking for the man in order to thank him. The…
My search for a good ereader or other way to read and then transport books around the world has gotten interesting again. First there was the introduction of the Kindle for various mobile devices. I previously wrote about the Apple iPad versus Amazon Kindle for use in Japan. The discussion got interesting again with Amazon’s…
If you live or work or have anything to do with the internet in Japan, you may have marveled at how ubiquitous Yahoo! Japan is. From Yahoo! Japan BB to Yahoo! Japan Auctions to Softbank… it’s like ebay, verizon mobile, and comcast internet all rolled into one. Not to mention that they also have their…
One would think that a trip to a HOT spring in the middle of summer would be absolutely crazy, and one would be completely right… in a good way. Hot Spring (Onsen) resorts are most popular in the winter. I have to admit that there is immense pleasure in sitting in a naturally (very) hot…
Kiyosato Elementary School in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture is looking for help paying its overwhelming water bill this summer. A 30 year old teacher at the school, thinking ahead to the coming opening of the pool, left a valve open when filling the pool leaving it to overflow for 13 days and waste a total…
There was a poll recently done by the Japanese search engine Goo about things that guys in Japan did that made them think they were “the man”. As always these polls provide us with a completely unscientific, most probably skewed, but generally entertaining view of Japanese society through the eyes of, well… people who give…