It seems that people are really interested in Billy Blanks and his move to Japan so I thought I’d follow up on my previous story about Billy and Tomoko Blanks. Billy Blanks and Tomoko Blanks had a baby daughter born at Iwasa Ladies Clinic in November of 2008. A photo of the baby, named Angelica,…
On January 21 this year, during a free study period at a junior high school in Ibaraki Prefecture, a teacher (and head of the grade level) walked into a classroom to yell at two kids for going home too late the previous day. The two students were in their third year and had just returned…
I just read some tabloid news saying that Billy Blanks of Billy’s Boot Camp has married a 39 year old Osaka woman named Tomoko Sato who works as an interpreter. A ceremony is scheduled to be held in Osaka in June. The woman is also reported to have given birth to their child in November……
OK, I know the title of this post is a little wacky, but have you ever lived here? If you live here or do business here you might be looking at that title and nodding your head slowly with a sad-but-true look on your face. Check out this interview with Sean McAllister, the director of…
I was talking to a friend the other day… I was very surprised that he didn’t know about some of the sites that host links to places where American tv shows are hosted. I think the biggest and most useful is SurfTheChannel. I would probably even use this site if I lived in the US…
**A little update: in 2009, Amazon began producing Kindle Wireless Reading Device (link goes to Amazon) that ship to countries outside of the United States, including Japan. One of my main reasons for wanting a Kindle in Japan (Japanese language books, full color manga) are still not offered. Also, if you live in a very…
This year, Jero will be one of the featured performers on the annual Red and White Song Battle which is televised on NHK every New Year’s Eve. The show is considered a Japanese tradition (although ratings have been dropping in past years). Jero is an American guy with a Japanese grandmother who grew up loving…
If you want to read books online, you have several options. Google recently announced a new deal with several authors and publishers to increase the available digital library. Although it remains to be seen how this will affect users from outside of the United States (international publishing rights will still be a speed bump for…
Here’s a video for the ages… The real Beyonce (with little sister Solange) met her Japanese doppleganger… sort of. Well, a girl that impersonates her… sort of. Anyway the American Beyonce finally met the Japanese Beyonce whose real name is Naomi Watanabe. Check out the video for yourself. The only thing that’s hard to decide…
The show is held every once in a while, your favorite tv personalities, comedians, and even singers (wtf!) compete in a singing contest. It’s one of those classic Japanese tv show type shows with the famous people watching from the stands, singing along, acting amazed at how well the singers sing. Although I don’t really…
A British man living in Spain, visiting Japan with a group of eight people was arrested for swimming around in the moat at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, climbing some rock walls, as well as threatening and evading police. He was completely naked at the time. You can watch the video below… you have to…
According to an article in the Japan Times, one out of every thirty babies born in Japan had a non-Japanese parent. 19,000 babies had non-Japanese fathers, the majority being North and South Korean, followed by Chinese and Brazilian. 26,000 had non-Japanese mothers who were from China, the Philippines, and the Koreas respectively. 9,000 children were…