biggest illegal waste dump Japan
Topic: Japanese life
Japan's biggest illegal waste dumping site found in Gifu
Mainichi Shimbun, Japan - 19 March
... Police have been examining a site in Gifu's Tsubakibora district since March 10 where the industrial waste contractor, Zensho, is located. They estimate that as much as 700,000 cubic meters of industrial waste is buried in the surrounding valley.
Investigators bore holes in the surface to determine how much waste had been buried there but had to abandon their efforts after toxic hydrogen sulfide began shooting out...

Posted by trek/taro at 6:17 PM JST
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"Comic" currency intervention via manga
Topic: Japanese life
Japan's currency intervention takes sinister turn in 'manga' comic
Thursday, March 18, 2004
(Mar - 1 21:03 PST TOKYO (AP) --
The plot is sinister: U.S. officials trick Japanese authorities into intervening in the exchange market to buy the falling U.S. currency -- not to save vulnerable Japanese exporters from the dangers of a high yen, but to keep America's economy from sliding.
This story line from a comic book ["Golgo 13"] now selling in Japan may be implausible. Nonetheless, it highlights growing fears here over seesawing currency fluctuations.
...The story suggests that the White House has concocted a diabolical trap so Tokyo will cough up a massive amount of cash to finance ballooning deficits for the U.S. budget and global trade balance while preventing a crash in U.S. Treasuries.
Big Comic editor Naosumi Nishimura says "Golgo 13" appeals to Japanese readers because it is a fantasy based on realistic portrayals of current events.

Japanese Nostalgic for Showa haydayz
Topic: Japanese life

ARTS WEEKLY / ART-JAPAN: Nostalgia for Showa Period Is In
TOKYO, Mar 20 (IPS) - Nostalgic for the heady fifties and sixties when Japan embarked on its post-war economic miracle, 68-year-old Hidetoshi Yokokawa goes back to the past through his Showa Retro Products Museum, which displays collections of items from that era.
---> See the pix at BACK TO THE PAST: Japanese Nostalgic for All Things Showa / January 22, 2003

Finally, a use is found for Japanese 'natto'
Topic: Japanese life
Natto" is vile fermented soy slime and the horror of foreigners in Japan (yes, I eat it).

'Natto' eyed to fertilize world's deserts
Kyodo Press / Mar 18
Toshio Hara, an assistant professor at Kyushu University, has a dream of turning deserts into vast green fields by using a resinous substance deriving from "natto" fermented soybeans mixed with sludge containing nutritious ingredients and plant seeds. His idea is to bury substances generating from natto and sludge in the ground to convert deserts into land covered by vegetation.....

St. Pat's Day in Tokyo, Blarney.
Topic: Japanese life
Japanese St. Patricks Day? Read more about it in Tokyo here....
SPRAY...

St. Ex-Pat's Parade or 'Look at me, I'm Irish but I live in Japan!'

...What could be more stupid then St Patrick's day, do I hear you ask? How about St Patrick's day in Tokyo.....

Surfin' seven hours a day in sleepy Japan Inc
Topic: Japanese life

GHOSTZILLA is the Buddha!

Many people might ask, "How the hell do you stay sane in a Japanese 'Zombie Company?'"
At my Zombie Company (featured in Newsweek Asia's cover story) I surf seven hours a day using the no-images, grayed-out mode of Ghostzilla. Nobody even knows I'm goofing off. In fact even I hardly notice the bent and kinky aspects the Internet I see. The following is an example of what I see on-screen: not very "dangerous" is it?


I use the "GHOST" at least seven hours a day here gray Land-of-Concrete Japan. You've brought a gray joy to my gray life. Now my desk is gray, the walls are gray, my uniform is gray and my company bento-lunch is gray.

Taro, 20 years in the fetid bowels of Japan Inc

See also my comment here.

GAYDAR for 'cute twinky drunken japanese rent boys'
Topic: Japanese life

Clueless in Tokyo

Here's a gay-happy blog of a nama-gaijin straight-from-Narita...

JIGGY JIGGY
monday 2004.03.15 / by "evijhserf"
.... a more english-friendly bar ..horrifically filled with balding english sugardaddies, fat baseball-cap wearing american sugardaddies, and cute twinky drunken japanese rent boys. the bartenders were undoubtedly perplexed by us, and kept coming over to take drink orders, empty ashtrays, rearrange our drink coasters and smile... filled with pretentious/clueless english-speaking morons, so we just shot them evils whilst cruising the familiar-yet-foreign gay boys passing by on the street. i reckon by this point, due to jetlag, cultural awkwardness, friendly locals and general confusion, we'd slammed back 10 or so strong drinks in about 2 hours. we became loud, we started falling off our bar stools, and eventually our antics caught the attention of a passing television film crew.
greg and i got interviewed ... for some gay teevee show, about what sorts of asian [oriental] boys we fancied. i placed star stickers next to the japanese celebrities i most fancied, each star soliciting uproars of laughter, and tons of commentary by the reporter in japanese. after i had placed two or three stars, they all laughed, the camera zoomed in, and the translator explained, ahhh, you like the, ahhhh, ahhh, young boys! and then they all started repeating in broken engrish, you like the young boys.

Wooly Bear caterpillars?
Topic: Japanese life

Sleeping on the subway...

Via www.anima.de/nikki. Click here for full-size picture.

Topic: Japanese life
First, get a time machine....


"Kaba kick" is not listed on product index of the Flash-infested Takara Toys site because it ain't been made since 1993. See info below from the huge JPN KABA-lovers site.

Quote:

http://homepage2.nifty.com/hipomi/kako-note/note0204.htm 昔あったクイズ番組「どんなMONだい？！」カバが出ると大量マイナス点になって回答者が頭を抱えていたのを思い出した。カバをひくと不運なんて許せないと思ったもんだ。ピストル型の引き金をひくと、「アウトォ！」と言う声とともにカバの足が飛び出し、ピストルの上に乗ったカバの口が開く。やっぱりマイナスイメージがコンセプトのようだ。こりゃよくない。カバはＨＡＰＰＹでなくちゃ！と思いながら、何回も引き金を引いてしまう。ばかばかしいけどやめられないおもちゃ。写真手前に見えるピンク部分が足の裏。ぜんまいコレクターNoricoさんからの情報でネットフリマにて購入。（ｃ）ＮＴＶ1993　TAKARA co.ltd Posted by trek/taro at 3:42 PM JST Updated: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 5:50 PM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post Japan: Let's "Gifting" $57.2 million! Topic: Japanese life Japan agrees to write off Uganda's debt Kyodo - Tuesday Mar 16 4:21 AM SGT Japan will write off the entire $57.2 million debt Uganda owes Tokyo under an agreement signed Monday by Japanese Ambassador Nobuaki Ito at the Finance Ministry... Posted by trek/taro at 9:43 AM JST Post Comment | View Comments (2) | Permalink | Share This Post Monday, March 15, 2004 Birdbrain Reporters Spread Avian Flu Topic: Japanese life News Reporters Blamed for Spread of Chicken Flu The Weekly Post - Mar 15 - Mar 21, 2004 Chicken flu is spreading throughout Japan. In one incident in Kyoto, more than 100,000 chickens died in the epidemic. The Japanese government should have taken all possible measures to prevent it before it spread, however, as usual, neither the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery nor the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, had done it. .....reporters rushed to the farm. When they entered the farm for reporting and taking news photos, their shoes, clothes and skin must have been infected by the chicken flu virus. The reporters did not clean droppings and ground soil they picked up at the chicken farm. Posted by trek/taro at 4:46 PM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post "Weeping cherry tree and Daimyo garden" Tokyo's best Topic: Japanese life Komagome Rikugien Park "Weeping cherry tree and Daimyo garden" As far as I'm concerned this is the best "secret" Japanese garden in Tokyo. You can visit it in Komagome, Bunkyo-ku during it's special evening hours ---it's romantic and classy place to put on your best moves with plenty of dark nooks and more than plenty of love hotels next to the park. Location: 6-16-3, Hon-Komagome, Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo Seven minutes walk from the Komagome Station, JR Yamanote Loop Line, Nanboku Subway Line Special hours 2004 March 19 to 28 for 9 o'clock - 21:00 (entrance to the garden closes 20:30 ) Admission charge: 300yen for adults This park was constructed in 1695 by Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa the sub-Shogun of Shogun Tsunayoshi Tokygawa in the Edo era. This park has the best you can see today of the trad-garden style of Edo. Photos and info http://www.redtailcanyon.com/items/17641.aspx http://my.reset.jp/~tc1/Rikugien/Rikugien.html http://members.aol.com/takayaichi/riku.htm Posted by trek/taro at 3:31 PM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post This Japanese pussy won't scratch Topic: Japanese life Colourful nail caps for scratching cats snapped up in Japan Fri Mar 12, 8:24 AM ET TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese cat owners are snapping up colourful claw caps that can stop their pets scratching furniture or merely decorate a pampered puss's nails... .... Full-size pussy pix here. Posted by trek/taro at 1:10 PM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post 'Busy-ness' bad. Japan needs to slack. Topic: Japanese life "...busy-ness is part of the problem" IT needs to slow down: guru ZDNet Australia 15 March 2004 "The busier you are the less able the company will reach their long term goals. When you take the 'slack' out of your organisation you don?t have time to change," DeMarco added. While admitting that his answer to this problem was simplistic, DeMarco highlighted Japan?s efficiency-obsessed economy in the 1980s as an example of his theory. "We saw what Japan was doing in the economy in the 80s and we flinched. They worked harder, longer and were better educated?as we found out this didn?t work out so well for Japan. Since 1990, Japan hasn?t been so great," DeMarco said. He explained that while Japan still had the high work ethic of the 80s, and were still "brilliant and very bright," their over-efficient processes had been at the core of one of the longest recessions in history. Posted by trek/taro at 10:32 AM JST Post Comment | View Comments (3) | Permalink | Share This Post Sunday, March 14, 2004 WHITE DAY in Japan Topic: Japanese life LET'S WHITE DAY "White Day" has always sounded to me like something thought up by the whimpy fools in the Aryan Nation. Posted by trek/taro at 10:11 PM JST Updated: Sunday, March 14, 2004 10:15 PM JST Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink | Share This Post Friday, March 12, 2004 Japanese babe take the offensive! Topic: Japanese life Gov. Fusae Ota ...and SDF babe going to Iraq Osaka gov. urged not to award prize at sumo tourney over sexism Kyodo / March OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Gov. Fusae Ota ... to halt awarding a prefecture-funded prize to the winner the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament to open in Osaka... the refusal by the Japan Sumo Association to let women enter the ''dohyo'' wrestling ring is ''unfavorable'' from the point of view of gender equality. GSDF force to head for Iraq mission Kyodo / March 12 ASAHIKAWA, Japan - A female member of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) is seen .. to head for Kuwait ... About some 10 female members will join the mission for the first time. Posted by trek/taro at 10:29 PM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post Thursday, March 11, 2004 Todai gang bang? Topic: Japanese life read more Posted by trek/taro at 8:49 PM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post Wednesday, March 10, 2004 Take a leak, take a 1.6 kiloliter leak Topic: Japanese life Ohhhh, I gotta take a leak. This is near where I sea kayak every summer break during OBON. Ehime reactor leaks 1.6 tons of radioactive coolant water The Japan Times / March 10 MATSUYAMA, Ehime Pref. (Kyodo) About 1.6 tons of radioactive coolant water poured Tuesday morning from a pump at the No. 3 reactor of the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Electric Power Co. said. Posted by trek/taro at 1:06 PM JST Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 8:18 PM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post Tuesday, March 9, 2004 Congrads you're a BUCHO: now work for free Topic: Japanese life TokyoNow: Nearly everyone's a manager at this company Tuesday March 9, 7:30 AM / Kyodo Half of the 60 or so full-time employees of a manufacturing company in the Tokai region of central Japan hold managerial positions, which strangely enough, saves the company money. Initially, the company aggressively persuaded more than a dozen union members in 1999 to become managers, telling them that management could not afford to pay them overtime. Posted by trek/taro at 11:23 AM JST Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post And Japanese call this Topic: Japanese life It's that time of year again. The TV "news" constists of nothing but blithering about blooming. ARRRRG! We got to put chicken wire around the TV to protect it from me throwing things at it when the "Flower Front fake news comes on again and AGAIN! ARRRRG! This is NOT news. 'Sakura' set to blossom early Japan Times, March 9 It set off a flurry of phone calls to weather officials. The big story: Japan may be on its way to one of its earliest cherry blossom seasons ever. ... <---translation of the haiku on the right Without seeing cherry trees Middie-aged men forget depreession Got drunk and become alcoholic. Posted by trek/taro at 10:03 AM JST Updated: Tuesday, March 9, 2004 10:13 AM JST Post Comment | View Comments (4) | Permalink | Share This Post Newer | Latest | Older