Tag: Random Japan

NPO lobbies to rebuild Edo Castle at the cost of 50 billion yen (US$500 million)

Rachel Tackett

Naotake Odake, former managing director of the Japan Tourist Bureau (JTB) and once director of the Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau, spent years of his professional life traveling to cities across the globe in order to promote Tokyo as a worthwhile tourist destination. In his travels, he noticed a trait shared by all the major cities: they each had a unique and well-recognized landmark embodying the history and culture of the land. According to Odake, a structure of this sort is vital to bolstering a spirit of pride in any given population. Unfortunately for Tokyo, he believes that this sort of historical landmark is something that Japan’s capital city severely lacks. What he has against Asakusa Temple, Tokyo Tower, or Tokyo Skytree, I’m really not sure. But, it is for this reason that Odake has taken the lead as the chairman of a non-profit organization which hopes to rebuild the Edo Castle’s innermost tower. “In order to present Tokyo as a proud tourist city, we need something like Edo Castle,” he says. But will the payoff really outweigh the costs?

JR Kyushu shows off new luxury train

Kyushu Railway Co. on Friday unveiled the ¥3 billion Seven Star luxury sleeper train ahead of its inaugural run on Oct. 15.

The event, held at a rolling stock factory in Kitakyushu, followed the signing a day earlier of a charter service contract with a Hong Kong travel company, the first overseas client for the new train, which boasts stylized interior pieces and furnishings.

JR Kyushu allowed the media to see the first three of the seven cars of what it calls the nation’s first cruise train. It will depart from, and terminate at, Hakata Station in Fukuoka, taking passengers through scenic spots in Kyushu as part of a one-night, two-day package, or a three-night, four-day package.

Move over latte art, it’s all about toast art now!

The newest food decorating trend to come out of Japan since latte art is, surprisingly, toast art. But this isn’t just any plain old toast with butter and maybe a swirl of jam that vaguely resembles a smiley face (but I still appreciate all those years of happy toast, mom!). No, the toast decorations created by Twitter user ginkei_18 are embellished with popular anime characters from Free!, Uta no Prince-sama, Gin Tama and Attack on Titan. Even if you don’t recognize any of the characters, ginkei_18′s ability to skillfully draw directly onto a piece of bread is amazing.

First up, characters from Free!, an anime television series that follows the members of a high school swimming club:

Photos of the JoJo train are finally here and it’s not just the outside that looks cool

Earlier this week, we told you about the Yamanote Line train that will be decked out with the characters from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle (coming to PS3 on August 29). At the time, we could only provide you with a few artist renditions of what the train might look like. But now, may we proudly present to you 31 photos of the actual JoJo train, inside and out!

On August 26 at 5:57am, the first Yamanote Line train of the day pulled out of Osaki Station. This wasn’t the ordinary lime green-striped train that thousands of commuters have come to know, this one was special. The exterior, interior, monitors, and even the advertisements hanging from the carriage ceiling were covered in JoJo. On each side of the doors, the very same characters from the manga were proudly displayed for all to see.

ENTER THE TWITTERVERSE

A nursing student in Gifu was criticized for tweeting in-class photos of human organs along with a message that read, “We have a colon from a hospital patient.”

It was reported that prior to last month’s Upper House elections, 29 Twitter users set up accounts in which they posed as leaders of major political parties.

Archaeologists in Kyoto made a surprising discovery while examining the underside of a Kamakura-era piece of pottery: the oldest surviving example of a Japanese writing lesson.

A former employee of cosmetics company Kanebo reached a settlement with the firm over an incident in which she was forced to wear a fortune-teller costume at a training session “as punishment for not reaching a sales target.”

SIC TRANSIT

A woman was injured at Shin-Koiwa station when a suicidal man jumped in front of an approaching Narita Express train and was hurtled back onto the platform.

Hundreds of commuters-your correspondent included-were forced to evacuate their trains and walk down the tracks after the Toyoko line went FUBAR late last month during a violent rainstorm.

Officials in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, donated 64 bicycles to the people of Malawi, where, it is said, “locals often carry the sick on their backs to hospitals.”

The head of spacecraft development at JAXA says the Kounotori unmanned resupply vessel could help pave the way for “a Japanese crewed space flight.”

NEWS FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

A research team led by a professor at Keio University has found mice can tell the difference between paintings by Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian.

In response to wild deer causing damage to local plant species in the Oze marshlands, Fukushima officials say they’ll start “shooting the animals with high-pressure water guns.”

Japanese scientists have determined a class of insecticides aka neonicotinoids may be responsible for colony-collapse disorder, which is threatening the global honeybee population.

Police in western Tokyo arrested a man who ran a health clinic despite having no medical license. None of the man’s 8,000 “patients” reported any ill effects from the treatment.

THE HIT LIST

Sayonara Keikoku (“The Ravine of Goodbye”), the latest effort from director Tatsushi Omori, won a jury prize at the Moscow International Film Festival. The movie depicts the romantic relationship that develops between a rapist and his victim.

Researchers at the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace say “territorial disputes” are the main reason that Japan fell from fifth to sixth in their annual Global Peace Index. (Iceland topped the list and Syria came in last.)

It was reported that an elderly couple living in Kodaira, western Tokyo, has climbed Mt Fuji for 14 straight years.

Officials at the Meteorological Agency say they will, for the first time ever, allow private companies to issue tsunami forecasts. The agency retains the sole right to issue advisories and warnings, though.

Citing an inability to communicate with members of the international community, a government panel recommended that Japanese officials “use more English.”

Authorities at the education ministry are set to introduce a program “in which non-native Japanese speaking students can learn the Japanese language during regular class hours.”

Speaking at a symposium in San Diego, former Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that “the Fukushima disaster changed [my] view of nuclear power.”

After receiving complaints from the public, officials at the environment ministry withdrew their recommendation that female office workers use “antiperspirants, scented laundry softeners, cold sprays and wet tissues” to keep cool during summer.

SCHOOL DAZE

A 10-year-old boy fell onto the tracks at Yotsuya station while walking down the platform hunched over his cellphone. The kid was unhurt, but the mishap delayed about 23,000 commuters.

An expert panel appointed by the education ministry has compiled guidelines for high-school coaches advising them against “hitting and kicking” their students, as well as inducing “physical and emotional stress.”

Meanwhile, just 26 percent of junior high school teachers say they feel confident in their ability to “stop bullying if asked for help by students.”

A poll by Osaka Prefecture University has found that just 40 percent of school social workers have proper certification.

BARBARIANS AT THE GATE

Officials at the justice ministry are proposing a simplified immigration system for foreigners who are “deemed unlikely to be a terrorist or criminal.”

A survey by a Tokyo-based cram-school operator found that 55 percent of college students would like to study abroad but feel that it’s “too late… to deal with a globalizing world.”

A newspaper poll suggests that 41 percent of Japanese people approve of making it easier for politicians to change the Constitution.

Authorities at the justice ministry have proposed serving prison meals to elderly people who are living alone.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

An NPO in Tokyo has released a DVD for job seekers that details the sleaziness of so-called black corporations-“companies that disregard labor laws, harass employees and overwork them while paying low wages.”

A major pachinko manufacturer was forced to recall about 12,000 pachislot machines because of a “defect that makes it difficult for players to win the jackpot.”

Officials in Shizuoka have released a guidebook that lists “more than 300 Mt Fuji lookalikes across Japan.”

According to a survey by the land ministry, 79.8 percent of Japanese people say they want to own their own home. It’s the first time in 12 years that the figure has dipped under 80 percent.