This of course is quite normal for Japan and is part of the daily scene outside most of Tokyo’s bustling stations.
Where it gets really weird is with the whale sashimi, because of course, most of the time that isn’t whale, but horse. Bring it on Mr. Ed!
I hold chopsticks in a different way, and can even catch food in mid-air with them. One day I should learn how to hold them “normally.”
We currently have an interesting couch surfer staying with – this time from Germany. He is travelling around the world in 80 days. staying as he goes with different couch surfers. And back home, a group of hip hop artists made a track about him. Funky!
He has a blog here, if you read German and want to check it out: http://www.stern.de/blog/94_extreme-couch-hopper.
Always good for a laugh, Japanese TV is. And this advertisement for a moving company is no exception. “Ah, so cute!” Those Japanese girls!
A nice little collection of Goodbye Pork Pie videos courtesy of youtube. Released internationally in 1981, Goodbye Pork Pie is a classic New Zealand road movie, which is sometimes compared to Easy Rider. Here is the trailer:
It has always been one of my favourite New Zealand films. Classic Kiwiana.
Here is the Wellington car chase scene. Eat your heart out James Bond!
Now, I am wondering where I can find a mini in Tokyo. And a haircut like that (working on that one).
And here is a remake. Bet you never thought you would see a Goodbye Pork Pie Part 2.
And another homage video this time on the Kaiikanui Hill (Northland, NZ) (resplite with graphic possum carnage, but no fish’n'chips):
Classic. But I have to dash. Have a ferry to catch.
Found this amusing video posted on gizmodo: The Physics Behind the Insanely Dangerous Japanese Water Jetpack. Making pet bottle rockets is a rite of passage that every junior high school student in Japan goes through. And this video certainly takes the whole process to the next level!
I don’t watch that much Japanese TV, but one group I do enjoy are Downtown. Here is a video from one of their shows – Japanese Game Show Marshmallow Eating.
All good fun and games. Hope you enjoy!
Saw a longer “expose” on this yesterday morning on the news. Below is the story from the Yomiuri Newspaper – but as to why he really did it, who knows!
A foreign man was spotted swimming naked in the moat of the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Tuesday at about 11:30 a.m., sparking a police and fire service operation to apprehend him.
About 50 members of the Marunouchi Police Station and fire service were mobilized in pursuit of the man, some of them in boats, as he swam around the moat near Wadakuramon gate.
A crowd of about 300 bemused passersby gathered to take in the rare sight of a nude foreigner thrashing about in the moat and watched him as he clambered out of the water onto a path, from where he hurled stones at police and firemen before fleeing. It took police officers about 1-1/2 hours to finally capture and subdue the streaking man after he climbed up a stone wall.
According to a senior police officer, the nude swimmer described himself as a 40-year-old Spaniard. Along with four other foreigners, the man had apparently been to a police box at Wadakuramon at about 11:20 a.m. to say that a bag had fallen into the moat. The man apparently spoke in English.
However, after telling police about the bag, the man suddenly launched himself into the moat, stripping off his garments as he trod water in the moat.
(Oct. 8, 2008)
Here is a nice video that shows you how to wrap things with a furoshiki (literally bath cloth). Wrapping things this way is an interesting and ecologically friendly alternative to plastic bags and the like. Furoshiki are very common in Japan, and often have beautiful designs.
How To Carry Groceries With A Square Of Cloth
Sorry we had some problems with this video (and others) displaying. I edited the post and wordpress for some reason converted the embedded code into escaped html characters (so & becomes & etc). One of those it is almost a bug, annoying, but not really that serious. I guess the wordpress developers need to look at when they escape out characters.
Work has been busy, so I haven’t been looking at this site much. And it is summer:)
If you enjoyed the British original then you will love this…
Shouts to GJR for the link 
Update: The video seems to have disappeared from youtube. A pity as it was good fun!
