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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Is There Hope for Japanese Jūdō?:As Americans struggle with issues surrounding sports like basketball and football, Japan is facing problems of its own. Controversy is engulfing the traditional Japanese sport of judo, as revelations of coaching abuse emerge and Japan’s performances at the Olympics have been coming up short. It raises a lot of questions about the future of the sport, and the basic relation between coach and student.
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Sayonara Taxis? Tokyo to Consider Operating Trains, Buses Around the Clock: The biggest gripe about Japan’s public transit system may soon be fixed, at least in Tokyo. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is considering extending bus, and possibly train service around the city to later hours, meaning you won’t have to cut the party short to catch the last bus home. [via ]
Sony ISP launches world’s fastest home Internet, 2Gbps: While Google Fiber is causing excitement in the US, Japan’s internet is still running circles around American ISPs. For $50/month, customers in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures can receive 2Gbps down / 1Gbps up fiber internet service, making it one of the fastest commercially available internet services around. [via Reddit]
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Japanese tourists to South Korea plummet amid Pyongyang’s rhetoric: Unsurprisingly, North Korea’s antics and threats of war have driven Japanese tourists away from visiting South Korea. The real tragedy of this story though, is that Kim Jung-un, unlike his uncles, has yet to visit Tokyo Disneyland. Will somebody please think of the man child dictator here?
Japan’s population falls by record level: [via Reddit] In the last year, Japan’s population plummeted by nearly 290,000 people, the biggest drop in recorded history. This isn’t a huge surprise, as Japan’s population has been shrinking for decades, but it’s a disappointing news nonetheless. C’mon, Japanese people! Just have more babies and everything will be ok!
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‘Iron Man 3′ to Become First Film to Play in 4DX Format in Japan: 3D movies haven’t performed as well as the movie industry would have liked, but that’s not stopping them from introducing new, immersive technologies. The 4DX format uses effects like jets of air, tilting seats, and even smells to turn a movie into something that resembles an amusement park ride. Next stop: holographic, vocaloid Tony Stark. [via Reddit]
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