Giant Squid, Butt Pillows, Hacker Cats, and More [Sunday News]
Every Sunday we gather the week’s weird and interesting Japanese news and present it to you in our Sunday News column. It might not always be hard-hitting news, but we hope that it still informs and entertains you. Enjoy!
Exclusive new footage of giant squid in natural habitat: The mythical giant squid has long eluded human attempts to record it in its natural habitat, but thanks to collaboration between NHK and the Discovery Channel, we finally have footage of the colossal beasts. At almost 3 meters or 10 feet long, it’s enough to make me want to never set foot in the ocean again.
Deconstructing a Japanese Skyscraper from the Top Down: Conventional demolition is messy, loud, and costly; but now one Japanese company is offering a new solution. Instead of destroying the building through a controlled explosion, a skyscraper is eaten alive from the inside, slowly shrinking floor by floor. [via Reddit, Spoon & Tamago]
Will Shinzo Abe’s stimulus rampage be enough to save Japan?: Japan’s economy has been large, but anemic for a few decades now, despite the government’s many attempts to kick-start economic growth. Now, newly-elected prime minister Shinzo Abe is trying something new: everything at once. As an aside, somebody should get an award for using the pun “Shock and Abe.”
Human Butt Pillows Are Both Expensive and Creepy: We reported last year about Soineya, a cafe where you can pay to take a nap with cute, young women. Now, not only is Soineya expanding to another location, but offering another service — a butt pillow. For the low, low price of ¥1,000 (~$11) a minute, you can rest your weary head on a nice lady’s tush. What a bargain!
