I’m guessing most of you know what Sumo is. Along with karate, ninjas, and Hello Kitty, Sumo is about as Japanese as it gets. Over the last week or two, there’s been a ton of hub-bub about a big, nasty Sumo-related scandal. So what in the world (er… in Japan) is going on here?
Perhaps it’s climate change. Perhaps it was the particularly hot summer and the lack of acorns. Perhaps it’s because of habitat loss… who knows. All I know is Japanese bear attacks have hit a sharp rise, and that’s no good.
So last year on November 11 (that’s Pocky Day) I thought I was pretty clear in my explanation on what Pocky Day is. Apparently not clear enough, though. This year, it’s time to help you to make sense of this crazy, contrived, and television advertisement driven “holiday.” Personally, when it comes to made up holidays, [...]
![How To Buy Anything From Japan With FlutterScape [+Giveaway]](http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/themes/whitelight/functions/thumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Picture_42.png&w=960&h=200&zc=1&q=90)
(Be sure to stick around to the end, where you can win some goodies from FlutterScape) In the past, I’ve written about a few ways you can buy things from Japan. Most of them have been so-so at best. Finally (seriously, it’s about time), someone’s come up with something that works pretty darn well (I’ll [...]
Unicef just scared every little child into not washing their hands by coming out with this dance video with “renowned Japanese dancer Kaiji Moriyama” who “choreographed a dance for a public service announcement designed to teach children the principles of good hand washing.” This video was made because of the swine flu, and because children [...]
I’m not sure why, but the city of Obama (Japan) is celebrating for some reason…did something happen recently that I’m not aware of? Who the heck is this guy in the picture anyways? I kid, I kid. It’s no secret that Japan loves Obama (not to mention most of the modern world), but if the [...]
Today when driving around my local area (in Oregon, USA), I saw a gas station that was selling gas for $2.99 a gallon. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it under $3, which is great in some resepcts, but not so great in others (I’m not going to get into politics right now). Then, [...]
Have you heard about the crazy gaijin-related incident that happened today? I wouldn’t be surprised if you have; it’s getting a ton of media coverage at the moment. Rightly so, too, as this level of crazy deserves talking about. If you haven’t, here’s a quick run-down of the events that took place: Apparently, a British [...]
I came across this story on Flickr while looking for something completely different, which forced me to do some more searching on my own. Of course, the curse is in Wikipedia, as well as in Shane’s atypicallife, but you can read it right here as well. Possibly with a little more snarkiness. Maybe. What/Who does [...]
If you’ve been around a while, you’ll notice that the word “week” is missing from “Japan News week in review.” If you’ve been around a while, you’ll also know that these never come out once a week. So, in order to put a little less pressure on writing these too often (and thus becoming a [...]
