I was doing research for another post a while back, and found something a bit…unusual. It was an old Japanese scroll about farting. No, you didn’t misread that last sentence. The whole scroll, which is called He-Gassen (“The Fart Battle”) is just about people farting. Farting at other people, farting at cats, farting off of [...]
For the last couple of weeks, our friend John has been tearing up the Saturday Timewasters, posting tons of music from his favorite bands and artists. I thought that I could step in this week and talk about my absolute favorite musical act from Japan, a DJ by the name of Nujabes. Nujabes was a [...]
In this edition of Tofugu’s weekly Saturday Timewaster, I’d like to regale to you a story about a man who’s videotaped the creation of one-thousand four-hundred fifty-two bowls of instant ramen and instant yakisoba. How he’s done the… wait… wait…… seriously? ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY TWO? Obviously the feat of strength here isn’t the [...]
![Fish Action Gets Your Body Movin’ [Saturday Timewaster]](http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/themes/whitelight/functions/thumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/2012/01/header.jpg&w=960&h=200&zc=1&q=90)
Sakanaction (サカナクション) is a Japanese rock band hailing from Sapporo, Japan. Formed in 2005, their music is a mix of alt rock, electro pop, and sometimes – a little bit of everything. I actually just discovered these guys recently, and instantly fell in love. Their music is pretty unique and some of their music videos [...]
![Think You’re Good at Mario? Think Again. [Saturday Timewaster]](http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/themes/whitelight/functions/thumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/2012/01/CatMario-Banner.jpg&w=960&h=200&zc=1&q=90)
Syobon Action しょぼんのアクション (also known as Cat Mario, dongs.exe, and Neko Mario) is a free Japanese flash game notorious for its punishing and unfair gameplay. While it may resemble the NES game we all know and love, classic Mario this is not. Who would make such an awful awful thing!? Syobon Action hates you. You’ll [...]
![What Do Japanese Telephones Have to Do With Disco? [Saturday Timewaster]](http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/themes/whitelight/functions/thumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/2012/01/telephone-header.jpg&w=960&h=200&zc=1&q=90)
Well, The Telephones are a band, and many of their song titles have something to do with disco, so there’s the answer to your question. But don’t leave yet! There’s so much more entertainment ahead, I promise! Formed in 2005, the members of The Telephones include: Akira Ishige (石毛輝) on vocals, guitar, and keyboard, Ryohei [...]
No, I’m not talking about conspiracy theories that talk about our end times and the Illuminati. I’m talking about dance, and definitely no ordinary dance. WORLD ENDING DANCE… *ahem* … well, maybe not. But absolutely remarkable dance, at the very least. John wrote about Polysics, the most eccentric band in Japan somewhat recently. I think [...]
I would like to dedicate this short post to our good friend Hashi. Little Hashi has not heard the fantasicality that is Polysics (the poor, poor boy), and I figured if someone as cool and well internetted as he had not heard the wondrous sounds of Polysics, there may be other poor souls like him [...]
Or perhaps not. You be the judge. For today’s Saturday Timewaster, I take you to the greatest non-watery slide I’ve ever seen. In a land where there are still teeter-totters, swings, and other supposedly “dangerous” playground equipment, this stands out above all the rest. Welcome to the roller slide of Naikai-Machi’s Central Park (中井町の中央公園).
No you. Established on September 4th, 1948 as Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. of Japan, Nissin now encourages its country to boil itself. But why? They already have two museums solely dedicated to noodle worship – what more could they want? Do they think their long history of entertaining commercials has earned them such blind [...]
