Due to a recent scandal where icky Chinese rice sent as raw manufacuting material being distributed as food instead, less people in Japan are eating rice. In order to revive the consumption of the real-deal, a bit of moe has been implemented.
These bags, designed by Aoi Nishimata for JA Ugo in Akita Prefecture, will contain locally grown rice. Although stores are skeptic about the move, JA Ugo is convinced it will help boost rice sales.
Moe FTW
Source:
Pink Tentacle
Even though most of you probably heard something about this, I'm posting it anyways:
In a stunning upset victory, the Japanese softball team claimed their first ever gold medal in the sport, claiming it in the last year of competition for the time being.
The 3-1 game ended the USA's 22 game winning streak, which was their first loss after the 2000 Sydney Games. The USA softball team, notorious for pounding their competition into the dirt, was severely shaken at the loss. A pitching ace for Japan, coupled with a few minor slip-ups, was what lead to their downfall.
Yeah... softball. Whoo.[/sarcasm]
Source
NBC's Crappy Internet Olympic Coverage
“A court has convicted a restaurant owner for serving alcohol to a car driver who later caused a fatal accident with two cars.
The Saitama District Court on Thursday sentenced Hiroaki Okubo, 45, the operator of a restaurant from Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, to two years in prison, suspended for five years, for violating the Road Traffic Law.
"The defendant served liquor for the sake of sales at his restaurant. The act is self-indulgent," Presiding Judge Yoshifumi Otani said in handing down the ruling.
According to the ruling, Okubo served about eight glasses of "shochu" liquor to a regular customer, Kiyoshi Tamagawa, 32, during approximately a five-hour period from around 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 17.
An hour later, Tamagawa caused a head-on collision with another car after hitting yet another vehicle while he was driving on a road in Kumagaya, leaving two people dead and seven injured. Tamagawa has been indicted on charges of dangerous driving resulting in death and injury.”
What is your opinion on this matter? Should a restaurant owner have responsibility in a drunk drivers accident?
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080606p2a00m0na003000c.html it is also on http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2008/06/in-japan-a-lot.html
Well as we all know the new Indiana Jones just came out today and with a release of a new movie to the saga, comes Indy merchandise. From an article I saw in Wizard’s Toy Fare magazine from about a month ago or so, came a few pages taking about the newest and quirkiest Indiana Jones’ goodies.
Here are some vinyl chibi statues from the famed Kotobukiya models and figurine company in Japan. A sample of some of their most well know work are the figurines from the Final Fantasy series, and Kingdom Hearts Series, along with many other famous animes, games, and comic book characters.
The figurines shown here are: Indy (Of course!), Indy’s father, Henry Jones Sr., Marion (Raiders of the Lost Ark), and Mola Ram (Temple of Doom, why they picked to make him instead of Short Round or any other character is beyond me.). These figures are sadly exclusive to Japan.
Kotobukiya got some of the rights to the Indiana toy series in 2008 and got the Urban Vinyl artists, Panson Works Group to make some of the models.
I believe the artist of theses statues is Yupon (I don’t have the first or last name, since I forgot to write it down when I first took the picture from the article.)
This information is from Toy Fare Magazine, issue (either March or April) of this year. The rest of info of the rest of the artist name etc. was lost and stored away in a big warehouse of identical crates, under the lock and key of the government. (actually I forgot to write it down) .
AH, We all have come across those articles that make us pause and say “What!?” and questioned human society. Well in this edition of the bootleg I manage to gather up a few of those stories.
First up is the Placenta beverage…
YUM, that Placenta 10000 jelly drink, really does the body good!
Well food or beverages that promise beauty or health are always popular now days. Ignorant people feel that by ingesting those products, they are doing their body good. Well this product takes the cake…
FOSHU (Food for a Specific Health Use) foods and drinks are very popular in Japan right, especially when it has promise of enhancing beauty. One of the newest beverages to be released is zero-calorie Placenta 10000 jelly drink that has 10000 mg of pig placenta. Now if you don’t know what a placenta is, it is in a nutshell, the sack that a baby is in within a mother’s womb. It is removed at birth along with the umbilical cord. In some animals (such as dogs) they eat their placenta to start the mother to produce milk to feed their young. Here’s a picture of a human placenta http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Human_placenta_both_sides.jpg I don’t recommend seeing this if you’re squeamish.
Why a placenta? Well supposedly it has regenerative properties, especially concerning beauty, and can help with dieting as well.
The drink cost $8 for the Caprisun sized drink, that supposedly tastes like peaches (Due to the artificial flavorings) . There is also a Placenta 400,000 which is a bigger dose and bottle.
Why one would drink this is WAY beyond me. Come on people, Pig’s Placenta !? As John Stossel from 20/20 would say, “Give me a break!”
http://www.kilian-nakamura.com/blog-english/index.php/placenta-10000-jelly-drink-is-foshu-for-beauty/
Woman has to have her bottom surgically removed from a toilet seat
I’m sorry to say that this article no longer exists on the web, since the Mainichi Daily News site only keeps track of articles up to a few days. Here’s the original link I read it off of http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/news/20080313p2g00m0dm017000c.html. Since it is now gone, I am going by memory and lost some of the nitty-gritty details.
A young woman, who lived with her boyfriend, was physically stuck to her toilet seat, after she had been on it for two years straight. She ran into the bathroom two years prior and out of intense fear or really a phobia, would not leave the bathroom toilet seat. Her skin eventually grew over the seat and when she was taken out, surgeons had to operate to remove the seat.
PIka-A-Boo!
This was on a few sites, were there was some type festivity going on, that had giant inflatable pokemon, where inside was a jumper. Well the Pikachu jumper had an interesting entrance.
Why they put it there, I don’t know, but it is stupidly amusing. I could say more, but moving on to another mascot…
http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2008/03/peeking-into-pi.html
Sexy Kitty?
“Busty former swimsuit model turned TV personality Aki Hoshino, a well-known Hello Kitty devotee, has teamed up with Sanrio to produce this limited series of cheeky T-shirts that throws” Hello Kitty innocent appearance into questioned.
The picture is of Hello Kitty in a thong bathing suit while a fluffy puppy pulls on the thong strap (Kinda like the waterbabies sun block lotion), striking a pose with two apples in hands, that I think are suppose to symbolize breasts? The other t-shirt image is of the model in a bikini with her bikini bottom also being pulled by the puppy.
The first in the “Hoshino Akitty” line is available from this month for ¥5,800.
http://www.kilian-nakamura.com/blog-english/index.php/kitty-chan-gets-coquettish-courtesy-of-aki-hoshino/
Scan the dead
“Memorial stone maker Ishinokoe (Voice of the Stone) of Yamanashi Prefecture will soon begin producing grave stones with QR codes embedded in them. They are calling the concept Kuyou no Mado, roughly meaning “Memorial Service Window”, as visitors can scan the code with their mobiles and get information on the deceased.
Contents can include pictures, video, family information, and other items. While using a QR code for this may actually seem a bit outdated in a country of burgeoning RFID technology, they are simple and will likely be readable by generations of future devices. The sample QR code below is readable if you have a capable phone.”
http://www.kilian-nakamura.com/blog-english/index.php/qr-code-graves-give-a-memorial-window/
Rent-a-Cat
Don’t have the space or money to take care of a cat? Well rent a cat! That’s right, at the Calico Café, customers can rent a cat for 800 yen an hour (about $8), so they can play with them inside the store rooms along with buying other souvenir merchandise.
http://inventorspot.com/articles/calico_caf_caters_cat_owners_craving_kitty_companionship_11879
Gotta have toilet paper!
In an article featuring Tokyo Anime Center's Top 10 Bestsellers in March. With the number one selling item being the Princess Mononoke post card set, followed by Black Jack Toilet Paper, and more anime toilet paper products. Out selling Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008 Reserved Tickets, the eva coffee and other products..
http://akibanana.com/?q=node/231
I have a few more news goodies, but do not pertain to this theme, so I’ll try to post them tomorrow, since it is extremely late and I got class later on today.
Man I’m boot! Goodnight or really good morning.
Thanks for stopping by and reading this world and thank you 2short, Nehszriah, and fallenangel8 for posting news today.
-TrigunCat4
