Fun / foon Tokyo

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

"It's me, send money" scam in Japan
Topic: Japanese life
'It's me' scammers dupe same woman twice
Mainichi/MDN, April 21, 2004
WAKAYAMA -- A woman fell victim to a pair of "it's me, send money" fraudsters twice after the scammers told her that the money she had deposited into their account was not enough,.... 54-year-old woman from Naga, Wakayama Prefecture, received a call ....from a young man who said he had been caught by a moneylender and was going to be taken away if he didn't pay..... the woman deposited about 1.4 million yen into the account. Later the same man called back and said the amount the woman had deposited was not enough, so the woman reportedly deposited a further 1.5 million yen into the account.

See also Captain Japan on this "ore ore sagi" scam.

Posted by trek/taro at 4:15 PM KDT
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'nother Nam.
Is there no stopping these numbskulls? Time to dust off the Cookbook...

Senator says US may need compulsory service to boost Iraq force
Tue Apr 20,12:34 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A senior Republican lawmaker said that deteriorating security in Iraq (news - web sites) may force the United States to reintroduce the military draft.
"There's not an American ... that doesn't understand what we are engaged in today and what the prospects are for the future," Senator Chuck Hagel told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on post-occupation Iraq.
"Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some ....

Posted by trek/taro at 3:58 PM KDT
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Scoop-the-Poop College: 'Your career is in the bag'
Yamazaki College: "Your career is in the bag"

1st junior college for animal caretakers launched
japantoday.com - Apr 21 2004 4:30:0 GMT
...Yamazaki College of Animal Health Technology aims to train "animal health technicians" to work in facilities ...
Official textbooks --->

Posted by trek/taro at 1:44 PM KDT
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Let's scorpion sushi!

Ginger and scorpion SUSHI

New York's Museum of Natural History's "Adventures in the Global Kitchen," a program that highlights cultures around the world through their cuisine.

Hmmmm. I wonder what part of Japanese cuisine features scorpion sushi, hee, hee?

Posted by trek/taro at 1:06 PM KDT
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Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Handicapped Sakura in Korea
The REAL Question is: "WHY IS THIS TRAIN AN EXACT COPY OF JAPAN AND IS SAKURA A HANDICAP IN KOREA?!"
Via http://www.delabit.com/nekobaba/

Posted by trek/taro at 11:38 PM KDT
Updated: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 11:38 PM KDT
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Banryu cell phone controlled robot
Topic: Japanese Tech
SANYO reveals new and improved "Banryu" home-robot

Robot Controlled By 3G Phone
20th April, 2004
...Banryu's friendly appearance, long dragon-like neck and its ability to walk and smoothly climb steps with its four legs are anticipated to draw attention
The robot can be controlled remotely through the local area network (LAN) using a personal digital assistant (PDA) or via a third generation (3G) mobile phone using images from the integrated camera placed in Banryu's head.
K-COOL! I WANT ONE TO TORMENT MY CAT FROM WORK.
"VERSION UP! It now looks like a "guard-dragon."

Posted by trek/taro at 5:22 PM KDT
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Japan is an upside-down world
Topic: Japanese life

Rest-of-the-story

Posted by trek/taro at 1:38 PM KDT
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Bat Checklist
Bat-passport: Check.
Bat-cash in sacks: Check.
Bat-tickets: Check.
Bat Utility Belt packed: Check.
Bat-Bladder Drugs: Check.

"To the Batmobile!"

Posted by trek/taro at 1:34 PM KDT
Updated: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 12:16 AM KDT
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Monday, April 19, 2004

Must-take items to live in Japan
Topic: adviceS
QUESTION: What to bring to Japan to live.

Bring lots of deodorants.

It's hot but Japanese deodorants are a joke, an expensive joke.

Bring Shoes!

You'll need a pair of unused atheltic shoes for use only indoors at most health clubs. You can't just walk into a Japanese gym with your street sneakers and cut-offs. You gotta have DELEGATED new exercise shoes and preferably delegated exercise clothing too. If you're like me, finding size 12 EEE gym shoes is gonna be a pain (Cost-co Japan and Sports Authority here have them sometimes).
Once I needed deck shoes for yacht party on the Trump Princess. US Embassy very begrudgingly got them for me from the Navy Exchange on Yokosuka only after calling my US Senator a couple of times. The same problem can happen for some US medications not approved in Japan.

Posted by trek/taro at 5:13 PM KDT
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"Lost in Translation" lost on Japan
Topic: Media
Via Gen Kanai's blog April 19, 2004 11:00am ...
"Lost in Translation" fails in Japan
..."Lost in Translation" is offensive enough to the Japanese that the distributor has only screened it in one 300-seat, indie-movie theater in Shibuya. ...more...

As Taro always says...

If the shoe fits, take it off at the genkan.

Posted by trek/taro at 4:19 PM KDT
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1960s, B&W, doo-wop Japanese styling
Topic: Media
Via Bitter Cinema
QUOTE: "An interesting collection of Japanese television advertising from 1960 to the present from Shiseido , a cosmetics company that has been around since 1872. I especially like the b&w; 1960 doowop guys with the checkered jackets and portable grooming kits. "
Also check out 1960s JAPANESE RECORD JACKET GALLERY<

Posted by trek/taro at 3:41 PM KDT
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Made in "JAPAN" Computer Girl?
Topic: Media
Via the Veronikaah livejournal blog, here is COMPUTER GIRL.
Veronikaah says, "The main reason why Computer Girl RULES is that she was designed in Japan, as was her box." However, "Song Yun Toys" is neither Japanese name nor a Japanese company. It's Korean which is equivalent to saying "Aeroflot is a French airline."

Posted by trek/taro at 12:14 PM KDT
Updated: Monday, April 19, 2004 1:46 PM KDT
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Let's FILTH!
Topic: Japanese life
Daily Life in Japanese High Schools.
ERIC Digest.
At the end of the academic day, all students participate in "o soji," the cleaning of the school. They sweep the classrooms and the hallways, empty trash cans, clean restrooms, clean chalkboards and chalk erasers, and pick up trash from the school grounds. After o soji, school is dismissed and most students disperse to different parts of the school for club meetings.

COMMENT: "O-sogi"? Just say no.
That is, Just-say-no to the total FILTH of Japanese schools. The students pretend to clean and the teachers pretend to not notice. The older the students, the worse it gets. By the time of public university, you need to wear a bio-hazard suit to teach. (Smaller rural schools although sadly lacking in paint like all Japanese schools are cleaner because the moms pitch in to make cleaning days worthwhile.)

Posted by trek/taro at 11:44 AM KDT
Updated: Monday, April 19, 2004 3:19 PM KDT
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Korea must exceed Japan in all things
Korea Aging Faster Than Japan
Hankooki Apr 18 2004 11:46AM GMT
...The UN forecast it will double by 2019, making South Korea one of the most aged societies in the world.
This is even faster than Japan where the doubling of the elderly proportion took 24 years. Though the UN predicted Japan will see the ratio exceed 35 percent in 2005, the growth rate is lower than that of South Korea....

Posted by trek/taro at 11:30 AM KDT
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Sunday, April 18, 2004

OMGWTfgBBQ: Mission Complete
Topic: Me
On Sunday April 18th down and across the street from Snob Hair...

BBQ Chicken legs, nachos, beer and fiberglass insulation was consumed in Mass Quanties.

Posted by trek/taro at 10:04 PM KDT
Updated: Sunday, April 18, 2004 10:43 PM KDT
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Saturday, April 17, 2004

The more things change...
...the more they stay the same.

The "Loftcube" by Werner Aisslinger 2004.
VS

Matti Suuronen's design of "Futuro" of 1968.

Today's price?
$140,000 for the Loftcube vs a 2001 auction price of $25,000 USD
See: More Futuro info or Official Futuro Film site "What's FUTURO?"Japanese site

Posted by trek/taro at 8:50 PM KDT
Updated: Saturday, April 17, 2004 11:08 PM KDT
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Friday, April 16, 2004

'Still crazy after all these years': Japan's Aum cult
Topic: Japanese life
Japanese doomsday cult still a threat to society, government says
AP - Friday Apr 16 1:49 PM SGT
The doomsday cult behind the deadly 1995 Tokyo subway gassing is still a threat to society, using businesses to expand membership and remaining faithful to its convicted guru's violent teachings, the government said in a report Friday.

Our Aum Emblem is embroidered with more than 4,000 stitches in stunning, shimmering gold thread. $15.00

Posted by trek/taro at 4:48 PM KDT
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Win the Platinum Piss Boy with diamonds
Topic: Media

Win the Platinum Pisser!

Platinum Piss Boy is worth1,000万円. See the pissing CM for the DaKaRa drink which is on all the Japanese TV networks this morning.
PS: Their Piss on it intro is a laugh too.

Posted by trek/taro at 2:03 PM KDT
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In Japanese you can't use ellipsis points excessively...
Topic: Japanese life

ん...

Ellipsis ....Japanese.

Quote:

In Japanese manga, the ellipsis by itself represents speechlessness, usually as an admission of guilt or a response to being dumbfounded as a result of something that another person has just said or done. The growing popularity of manga worldwide has extended this convention beyond the borders of Japan.

Posted by trek/taro at 11:40 AM KDT
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Thursday, April 15, 2004

Ryann's reminiscing rapscallions relapse respectably
Topic: Japanese life
My friend Ryann waxes lyrical....

Japan biker gang born to be wired
By Ryann Connell / MDN. WaiWai April 15, 200
Japan's most notorious biker gang from the '70s is back on the roads. Well, sort of.
Instead of terrorizing motorists and making work for police patrols on Japan's myriad thoroughfares, the Black Emperors, the biggest bosozoku gang in the country's history, has come back to life with a vengeance on the Information Superhighway... reminiscing rapscallions who slipped into respectability. http://www.blackemperor.jp/index2.html
_________________
"we will burn them alive and feed them to the fighters"

Posted by trek/taro at 6:40 PM KDT
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Ginger and scorpion SUSHI

"To the Batmobile!"

Bring lots of deodorants.

Bring Shoes!

If the shoe fits, take it off at the genkan.

BBQ Chicken legs, nachos, beer and fiberglass insulation was consumed in Mass Quanties.

The "Loftcube" by Werner Aisslinger 2004.VSMatti Suuronen's design of "Futuro" of 1968.

Win the Platinum Pisser!

ん...

The "Loftcube" by Werner Aisslinger 2004.
VS

Matti Suuronen's design of "Futuro" of 1968.