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!
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More Young Japanese Heading Abroad to Study: While there’s been a historic dip in Japanese studying overseas in the last few years, it looks the trend is reversing. The surprising part of this story to me is that Canada is becoming the destination of choice for many of these young Japanese students. Why? Because “people feel greater affinity with Canada, and perhaps stereotypically, people think that English spoken there is more elegant
.” I always knew that that those “eh”s and “aboot”s had something graceful to ‘em. [via Reddit][/threecol_two] [threecol_one_last]New Steve Jobs Biography Manga Starts: Steve Job’s biography was a runaway hit when it came out, and the upcoming Steve Jobs movie is already causing a bit of a stir. So why wouldn’t Japan make a Steve Jobs manga? It only makes sense. Plus, think of the tie-ins with other manga! Next issue of One Piece: the whole crew gets the newest iPhone.
200-mph red bullet trains thrill rail-mad Japan: Japan always seems to be pushing the envelope when it comes to cool trains, as evidenced by its latest, a 200 MPH bullet train called the “Super Komachi.” The new train features technologies to make clipping along the Japanese countryside at ridiculous speeds more comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you can be going 200 MPH in a giant metal tube.[/threecol_one_last]
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[threecol_one]Google Street View Captures Ghost Town in Fukushima’s Evacuation Zone: A little over two years after the disastrous 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, the area around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant still largely remains abandoned. Google Street View, however, has made it possible for people across the world to take a tour of the eerily deserted city.
Japan Man ‘Tries to Kill Woman With Poisoned Shoes’: In my life, I’ve heard of a lot of bizarre ways people try to kill each other, but I think that “poison shoes” is a new one to me. I’ll give the would-be murder this: it’s definitely one of the more creative methods of killing somebody I’ve ever heard. And it’s definitely made me much more paranoid about my footwear. I’m on to you, sock! [via News On Japan][/threecol_one] [threecol_two_last]
Japan’s IT Badboy ‘Horiemon’ Released on Parole: Nicknamed because of his resemblance to manga star Doraemon, former tech entrepreneur Takafumi Horie was released from prison this month. After losing over 60 pounds in prison (which will no doubt kick off a new diet craze), Horiemon’s first stop out of prison was McDonald’s. After tasting the sweet, sweet nectar of the Mega Mac, I would probably have done the same.[/threecol_two_last]
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