An Artist’s Impression of the British Bullet Train
The first train of what will eventually be a new fleet of high-speed trains in the United Kingdom arrived from Japan this morning. The high speed trains, which can travel up to 140 MPH, will eventually link the heart of London to the famous Channel Tunnel in southern [...]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been heavily criticized by Japan’s right-wing extremists for refusing to pray at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, received a severed pinkie finger in the mail at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters this week.
Yoshihiro Tanjo, 54, was arrested in suspicion of mailing the severed digit, which [...]
$250,000 Gundam Figure
A jewelry store in Fukuoka, Japan created a platinum Gundam figure with a .15 karat diamond in its head. The statue, reportedly worth around $250,000, was created by the famous Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka and toy maker Bandai. It will be on display in the Ginza Tanaka store in Fukuoka until Sunday.
On at least three separate occasions last year, toilets made by Toto, Japan’s largest toilet manufacturer, have suddenly burst into flames.
No one was injured in the incidents, although having your toilet spontaneously combust must be somewhat disconcerting.
Company spokesperson Emi Tanaka helpfully explained that the fire would have been “just under your buttocks.” Nice to know.
At [...]
Japan’s communications minister Yoshihide Suga said today that Japan is going to start researching and developing the technology for the “next generation” of the internet.
Apparently, this “new internet” will be faster, and will offer better security that the slow, virus-laden piece-of-crap internet that you’re reading this post on. And, given prior precedent with Japanese technology, [...]
Ewwww….
From Mainich Shimbun:
A plumbing blunder at Hiroshima University’s Higashi-Hiroshima Campus resulted in water for toilet flushing being sent to drinking taps for more than a decade, it has emerged.
University officials announced the mix-up on Friday. The problem was uncovered after about 80 students at the campus who drank the water in July fell ill, with [...]
Unbelievable. The Asahi Shinbun is reporting that the Japanese have tentatively identified yet another Japanese citizen abducted by North Korea.
A newscaster on state-run television in North Korea bears a striking resemblance to a Japanese who went missing off Tottori Prefecture in 1988, prompting an investigation into whether the two men are one and the [...]
