What's Happenin' In Japan

Sony's Sweet New Battery

2007-08-25

posted by Akemi

Sony just announced an interesting development: An advanced form of the classic potato-powered battery. These "bio-battery" cells can essentially convert sugars into useable electricity. It's still a long way from recharging your iPod by adding some soda, but Sony did demonstrate running a fan from a splash of sports drink, and one of their portable music players from cells filled with grape juice.

TBS News (J) has a short video of the two demos, or there's a much longer version on YouTube, if you prefer.

The story's all over the international media; here's a Reuters link to read a bit more, if you're interested.

Labels: technology

0 Comments  

Japan's Unintentional "Spiderwoman" Makes Headlines

2007-08-24

posted by Akemi

A fashionably-dressed woman who climbed a 150,000 volt electrical tower then proceeded to nearly rescue herself from her predicament is being dubbed by some less-sensitive news outlets as "Japan's Spiderwoman."

The 28-year-old woman climbed up the 55m (180 ft) power tower sometime on the evening of the 22nd in what was apparently a suicide attempt--she has since told authorities that she had a fight with her boyfriend. However, just short of the top, she realized what she was doing and began calling for help.

Someone living nearby called the police just before 11pm after hearing her yelling. After assessing the situation, the fire department put a safety mat at the base of the tower and had the power the lines were carrying re-routed to prevent electrocution.

The rescuers told her to wait for them, but about two hours later, in something of a surprise to even the rescuers, the woman began climbing down on her own--with her handbag. After a 10-minute climb, she got to within 10m (30 ft) of the ground before either getting stuck or becoming too weak to continue the descent. Rescuers took over and lowered her the rest of the way to safety.

She was apparently even more lucky than it might seem--according to authorities, had she climbed just a meter farther up, the 150,000 volts of the power lines would have probably electrocuted her.

This entire event was caught on video by news crews, and has been making the rounds since. Some less-sensitive reports are calling her "Japan's Spiderwoman," while others are going with "osawagase-onna," meaning "Commotion-causing woman," or just "tettou-onna," "tower-woman."

Here's one of the news videos:

Labels: rescues

0 Comments  

Platinum Gundam Making The Rounds

2007-08-23

posted by Akemi

An outrageously expensive solid-platinum Gundam model that was in the news a few months back has hit TBS News (J) again. It's begun a tour of Ginza Tanaka jewelry stores around Japan--not the sort of place you'd usually expect to see such a classic symbol of Geekdom, the scale Gundam model.

For those who missed it, Bandai decided to have what is likely the most expensive Gundam model in the world made--the "Gundam Fix Platinum." Solid platinum and studded with a 0.15 carat diamond, the model is composed of 189 pieces, stands 12.5 cm (just shy of 5 inches) tall and weighs in at an amazing 1.4 kg (over 3 pounds)--platinum is dense stuff.

The project was dreamed up by Gundam franchise owner Bandai and produced by Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry, and took two years to craft. According to TBS News, it is valued at 30 million yen (US$260,000), although it's not for sale. Probably a good thing, to protect Gundam nuts with too much money from themselves.

It also gets credit for what may be the world's most expensive bad pun; the Japanese abbreviation for "plastic model" is "pura-moderu," which could also be shorthand for what it is, a "purachina-moderu."

It is currently on display in Fukuoka, and will be traveling to five of Ginza Tanaka's other stores around the country.

Labels: anime, more money than sense, weird products

0 Comments  

Dog-Raised Tiger Has Outgrown Mom

2007-08-18

posted by Akemi

A few months back there was a news story on a motherless baby Bengal Tiger who was "adopted" by a French Bulldog (our past mention, and video). How have things been going for this unlikely pairing?

FNN supplies an update. The lively little tiger and its surrogate parent are, in fact, doing just fine. The now four-month-old tiger has certainly grown, measuring 70 cm (28 inches) long and weighing in at 12kg (26 lbs)--3kg (7 lbs) more than "mom."

She's still doing a fine job caring for her not-so-little bundle of joy, but according to one of the keepers interviewed by FNN it's getting to the point where they're going to have to separate them. Not surprisingly, at some point a rambunctious growing tiger goes from being a handful to a danger to its undersized parent.

The plan, however, is to put them in adjacent cages so they can at least see each other, if not wrestle around.

Here's a brief FNN video update, sans subtitles.

Labels: animals, cute, update

0 Comments  

Blame Your Blood Type for Bad Driving?

2007-08-02

posted by Akemi

Does your blood type determine your likelihood at getting in an accident when you're behind the wheel? Maybe so, according to a couple of driving class instructors in Fukuoka.

In Japan, when you renew your driver's license, you're required to attend a "safe driving" lecture. These lectures come in half-hour, hour, two hour, and three hour varieties, depending on the age and record of the person renewing. Drivers with an excellent record, for example, only need to take the 30 minute version, while drivers over 70 must take the 3-hour one. Note, also, that many Japanese treat blood type as an indicator of personality in the same way as Zodiac signs.

Asahi.com and ZakZak are reporting that two of the lecturers at the Fukuoka Driver's License Center in Fukuoka City decided to add some rather unusual material on blood types to their presentations. The lecturers, male retired police officers in their 60s, told their students that your blood type affects your likelihood of being in an accident. Not surprisingly, there have been complaints about this unorthodox material.

The lecturers said that they were just trying to get people interested in the lecture, but in hindsight it was a bad idea. They told the Fukuoka Traffic Safety Association that they don't even clearly remember where they got the idea, but it was probably from a book or something of the sort, and they admitted that there's no scientific proof to back up the claims.

If you're wondering what sort of blood runs in the veins of good drivers, they claimed that Type O has the highest accident rate and that Type A is the safest. Type B may be good at working on cars, but they're overconfident and thus prone to careless accidents. Type AB tends to be neurotic and easily fatigued, so they often rear-end people on account of being drowsy behind the wheel.

The online news source ZakZak (J) decided to find out if there's any basis in fact. According to AIU Insurance and the Blood Type Human Science Study Center, at-fault accidents broken down by blood type are: Type O, 35%; Type A, 34.3%; Type B, 19.6%; type AB 10.5%.

Compare these numbers with the breakdown by blood type of the Japanese population: O, 30.7%; A, 38.1%; B, 21.8%; and AB, 9.4%. Based on these numbers, Type O drivers are indeed slightly more likely than average to cause an accident, Type A somewhat less, while B and AB are pretty much average.

The Blood Type Human Science Study Center also looked at accident rates within each blood type based on driving experience. Turns out that they found the Type O drivers most likely to cause an accident had between 1 and 10 years of driving experience. Type A and AB drivers were most dangerous as rookies, with less than a year of experience behind the wheel. Type B, meanwhile, had the most dangerous veteran drivers, with the worst group having between 10 and 15 years of experience.

They accuse Os of causing the most accidents involving pedestrians, As of winding up in single-vehicle crashes, Bs of being prone to standard collisions, and ABs as being the most likely to rear-end somebody.

To add one more level of driving voodoo, online insurance company InsuranceHotline.com (E) publishes a book called Car Carma that claims your behind-the-wheel safety can be correlated to your Zodiac sign. A peek at their "free preview" shows that the most dangerous drivers fall under Libra, while Leo boasts the safest.

Put all this together, and if you're a Libra with less than 10 years of driving experience and a blood type of O, you'd better watch out. If you're a Type A Leo veteran driver, then your insurance premiums should be rock bottom.

Or not.

Labels: blood types, cars

0 Comments  

Bottom Biting Bug Mania

2007-08-01

posted by Akemi

The Bottom Biting Bug may have a rather unappealing name, but his mission is to improve society, and according to a Sankei Shimbun article (J) it seems to be working.

NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, first aired the unassuming anime character on "Minna no Uta" ("Song for Everybody"), a long-running 5-minute program showcasing a variety of songs. The show's general audience is children, though people of all ages do watch it.

The husband-and-wife team "UrumaDerubi" dreamed up the helpful little critter and produced his entire debut song and dance number on their own--design of the Bottom Biting Bug, animation, songwriting, and singing. The idea was simple, if a little unusual: They feel that people in Japan these days just aren't nosy enough, and wanted to do something about it.

In their opinion, people keep to themselves so much that nobody butts into the business of others anymore. They feel that encouraging people to be more nosy--and thus more connected to those around them--will do the world some good.

Because of this, the Bottom Biting Bug was born. The character is "kimo-kawaii" (icky-cute), the melody is simple and horribly catchy, and the plan seems to be working. As soon as it first aired in June, the song spread like wildfire among kindergarden and young elementary school students. Then their moms started noticing, and before long it was everywhere.

According to NHK, the cell phone ringtone has racked up over 11,000 downloads, more than anything else on the site. July 27th saw the release of a CD and DVD, picture books are in the works, and there's talk of producing character goods.

For those wondering about the bug's background, here's the story: The Bug Biting Bug is a sort of fairy who is 18th in a long line of butt biters. The family line began in ancient Assyria (Iraq). In The Age of Geographical Discovery Bottom Biting Bug's parents traveled to The Golden Country Zipang to bite gold butts. He speaks in a Kansai dialect because that's where his parents were when he was born.

As for how his bites bring people together, apparently when he bites someone they feel the same sort of excitement as when they strike up a conversation with someone they don't know. By reminding folks of the fun of spontaneously butting into others' business, the Bottom Biting Bug does his part to help people connect.

We supplied some subtitles to the rather nonsensical lyrics (note that the lines that really don't make sense are Japanese puns), so you can have a look yourself. Be warned, though: It's maddeningly catchy, so it may be stuck in your head for quite a while.

Labels: anime, fads, music

3 Comments