Japan Probe

Japanese police have raided a Chinese massage parlor in Yokosuka and arrested 24 people: The parlor, which was located near an American naval base, had actually been a brothel offering illegal sex services to members of the American military. It managers and the women who worked there were Chinese. The Yomiuri Shimbun has reported the [...]

A group of 3 Nigerians, 2 Japanese and one Ghanaian have been arrested for international money-laundering: The six are suspected of having received funds that were the proceeds of a crime, wired to them from a New York Citibank account in the name of the National Bank of Ethiopia, Japan’s Metropolitan Police Department said. Police said they [...]

A Japanese company called Omron recently developed something it calls “Smile Measurement Software.” The software analyzes an image of a human face and determines whether that face is smiling. An ideal smile would receive a score of 100, while no smile at all would get a score of zero. They have been [...]

A couple weeks back, a wild monkey was caught in Tokyo and returned to the mountains. However, a couple days ago, a resident of Tokyo’s Itabashi ward called the police to report that a monkey was climbing around on a nearby house: The eyewitness was a foreign guy who spoke in English to Japanese reporters. [...]

A Japanese news program interviews foreign tourists on the streets of Asakusa to see how they’re coping with the Yen’s rise in value: One guy claims that he’s saving money by not eating dinner. A woman whose business relies on foreign tourists says that there has been a definite decline in the number of European [...]

There’s a very neat article in the Hokkaido Shimbun (Japanese) about a group called Project U-e-peker. The members of the Project have been working hard to translate books so that Ainu culture accessible to an international audience. Their latest release is “The Ainu and the Bear,” and English translation of a children’s picture book about [...]

A gunman has been shot and killed by police after taking hostages at the American headquarters of the Discovery Channel: A website registered to Lee criticized Discovery and announced plans for the protest in January 2008: “These guys have been very sneaky and deceptive as to their contribution to the planetary problems. Just look at their [...]

A TV Tokyo police special that aired last weekend contained this brief segment about Gunma police arresting a foreigner: The cops stop the man because he is riding around without a bicycle light. When they ask to see his alien registration card (they say “Alien card” in English), the man says he doesn’t have one. [...]

A report about two blob-like lifeforms that are threatening the peace of this nation: The first part is about jellyfish, where seem to have increased in number compared to this time last summer. Their stings can be quite painful. The second part is about Bryozoans. In one part of Fukushima prefecture, the heat and lack of [...]

Asahi TV news reports on an interesting new development: drinking establishments that are holding daytime drinking parties. Their reporter visits an izakaya in Kabuki-cho at 1:00PM on a weekday. They find that it is full of female customers, many of whom have brought along their children. It is somewhat odd to hold a drinking [...]

A Japanese commercial for a body/facial hair removal product for men: The product is promoted by a trio of dancing white guys, all of whom have hair-free faces and chests. Those that choose not to use this product are doomed to end up looking like hairy gorillas! [It brags about having lots of worldwide [...]

“Nanikore” visits a playground at an elementary school in Tochigi prefecture to check out a really weird object: The weird thing is a monument created 35 years ago by a graduating class, and I’m guessing the creepy faces are meant to represent the kids of the class. Although kids freely play on it, there are [...]

The Japanese government has apparently decided that they will use taxpayers’ money to fund private schools that teach students loyalty to Kim Jong-il’s North Korean regime: The ministry has ruled that foreign schools, such as international schools outside the national school system, are eligible in principle for free education. However, the pro-Pyongyang schools do not [...]

Japanese police use a robot arm to take care of some suspicious luggage during an anti-terror drill in Roppongi: The drill was part of the preparation for November’s APEC summit in Yokohama. It was meant to show how Japanese police are ready for terrorist threats against foreign dignitaries who may be staying on hotels in [...]

A reader in the States who saw Friday’s episode of “Blood Dolphins” has sent some screen captures of dolphin rights activist Ric O’Barry reading Japan Probe to find out the latest news about the Taiji dolphin hunt: And here is the video: The segment was filmed last year, right after it appeared that Taiji would not go [...]

This foundation will make your skin look so pretty that you’ll attract the attention of random white dudes: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Wild monkeys in Japan usually avoid human beings, but it looks like a group of them in Shizuoka Prefecture have started attacking people: Wild monkeys inflicted biting and scratching injuries on 43 people from Aug. 22 to Aug. 25 in the neighboring Shizuoka Prefecture cities of Mishima and Susono, it has been learned. Reports of monkey sightings [...]

Asahi TV finds Rei, a cat in Japan that doesn’t get angry when a baby crawls all over him and does annoying stuff: This phenomenon is not limited Japan. Here’s a few popular American videos of babies testing the patience of cats: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

A Japanese news show visits the Krispy Kreme Doughnuts shop in Kawaguchi, where kids can do a special “Let’s Decorate Your Doughnuts!” activity: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Three Siberian tiger cubs at the Tama Zoo now have names: The tigers have been given athletic names: Keisuke (after soccer player Keisuke Honda ), Mao (after figure skater Mao Asada), and Ai (after golfer Ai Miyazato) — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Ichiro Ozawa, the shady “Shadow Shogun” who controls a significant part of Japan’s ruling party, has said some not-so-kind things about Japan’s ally: “I like Americans, but they tend to be simple-minded,” he said during a speech in the capital, using a Japanese idiom that literally means ‘monocellular’. He also offered some back-handed praise for U.S. [...]

Haneda Airport is going to open its new international terminal in October, so Japanese police put on a show for the press to let everyone know that there’s no need to worry about their readiness to deal with terrorists: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

“Mezamashi TV” visits Shinagawa Station to observe how people are using the new smart vending machine that can recommend drinks based on the appearance of customers: A few interesting points from the video: High school girls think it’s cool. Some customers have trouble figuring out what part of the screen needs to be touched in order to buy [...]

Homeopathy, a laughably stupid Western pseudoscience, seems to have caught on with a few people in Japan: “Homeopathy’s therapeutic value has been scientifically and conclusively disproven,” said Science Council of Japan Chairman Ichiro Kanazawa at a press conference on Aug. 24. Kanazawa made the comments in response to the October 2009 death of a newborn infant [...]

A few residents of Minokamo city( in landlocked Gifu prefecture) have come up with a fun way to enjoy summer: river surfing! Here’s a video clip of them in action: — Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe) Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)