Japan Probe
Japan News



Boneheaded Move: Cops Give Lighter to Kerosene-soaked Man (May 14)
Do you mind if I smoke? The above image is purely illustrative, and not the actual incident or from Japan at all. Like the title says, some cops in Nagoya didn’t add 2 and 2 to get fire! when they gave a cigarette and a lighter to a man that was not only soaked in a [...]


?New? Hiroshima photos actually old Kanto Earthquake photos (May 14)
Remember the “new” Hiroshima atomic bombing photos that various news sites and blogs reported about last week? Sean L. Malloy, the history professor who publicized the images while promoting the release of his new book, has removed them from his website: Since making these photographs publicly available, I have received reliable proof that several of [...]


Robot Apartment Commercial (May 14)
As this advertisement shows, there’s need to worry about earthquakes or helicopter attacks when you live in the “Grand Guardian Tokyo” apartment building: [via Mari]


Vegesh - Vegetable Juice + Liquor (May 14)
Behold! Vegesh, the latest vegetable juice liquor from Asahi/Kagome: Vegesh contains a mixture that includes 20% vegetable juice, 20% fruit juice, and 4% alcohol. A full list of the vegetables and fruits in the drink can be found on its official website, but here’s a short list of a few them: Carrot Asparagus Red Pepper Pumpkin Cabbage Grapefruit Lemon Pineapple Banana If you live [...]


Volunteer Grown Opium Poppies (May 14)
A view of Shimotsuma. In Ibaraki Prefecture, Shimotsuma City’s Opium Flower Festival has hit a snag. They have had to burn a whole field of papaver setigerum poppies that they grew. Why? They’re illegal. You know. The police frown on that kind of thing. A Japanese city has been forced to destroy thousands of flowers grown for [...]


Funky ?Kamaboko? Clouds (May 14)
This video is currently making the rounds on social networks. I figured it would be an interesting addition to Japan Probe, too. Check out these wacky cloud formations spotted just north of Hokkaido above the Okhotsk Sea by a Japanese crew. Sorry about the audio quality - it’s pretty bad. The narrator says, “It gives the [...]


Japan - 6000 miles on a bicycle (May 14)
For those of you living in the Tokyo area, with an interest in Japan, cycling or both, there is an event coming up this weekend which will look at an extraordinary adventure. Leigh Norrie an English teacher decided to take a ride on his bike. Not just any ride, mind you. he decided to ride all [...]


Human line art - popular movies (May 13)
A group of performers uses bandages to act out famous movie scenes: The movies depicted in their act are: James Bond Jaws Titanic E.T. Back to the Future The Magnificent Seven Always Sancho-me no Yu-hi


Justice Minister Hatoyama and Japanese Civilization (May 13)
On Friday, the U.N.?Human Rights Council expressed concern about the recent increase in the number of executions carried out by Japan (in the seven months that he?s been in office, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama has already signed the death warrants of ten condemned prisoners). During the same council session, a group of mainly European countries [...]


Pair of melons sold for 2.5 million yen (May 13)
Thought that the 200,000 yen paid for some mangoes in April was ridiculous? How about 2.5 million yen for a pair of melons: A pair of Yubari melons, a premium orange-fleshed cantaloupe variety from Hokkaido, sold for 2.5 million yen in this harvest season’s first auction held Tuesday at the Sapporo City Central Wholesale [...]