Archive for the 'Only in Japan' Category

Epilogue 2 – Video Coffee Machine

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

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You can be in Japan for many years and still see something new every day. This was the case when Linda and I recently noticed a new type of coffee machine at our local hospital here. Apparently this coffee machine shows a multi-angle live video feed of how your coffee is being prepared inside the machine. We’re quite sure its legit too since my coffee cup had a different color than the customer before me.

And the coffee itself? Amazing! If you are ever in Saint Lukes hospital in the Tsukiji area, hit this machine up!

Not My Train

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

I am so glad I don’t take this train. Looks like it was taken in the 80s or 90s though.

McDonalds Commercial Explosion

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

I just wanted to make the readers of this blog aware of the explosion of Japanese McDonalds commercial remixes available on YouTube. Sometimes its best not to ask.

RAN RAN RUUUU!!!

And just in case that made you hungry, here’s the MegaMac that’s back again! There goes the heart.

Yoshio Kojima Teaches Kanji

Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

I’ll leave the explanation to Melissa over at Mboogiedown Japan who also posted these videos. But now I too will never forget the kanji for Naku. LOL.

Short Version: Kojima-san is a popular comedian on television now who’s shtick is saying “sonna ni no kankei ne nai” while dancing around half naked. Need you any more explaination than that! No, didn’t think so. Enjoy!

.. and the U2 Guy

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

I spoke about this guy before, but my friend Alex who was in my Level 1 class last semester actually caught him on video. Somebody get this guy over to Ireland, stat!

Bono clone in Harajuku from Japan Through Blue Eyes on Vimeo.

Alex has a great blog on Japan as well. If you read French, it is highly entertaining. If you don’t, well at least the pictures are nice. Enjoy!

Japanese Pro? Wrestling

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

So there I was, studying all by myself and I said, “I think I’ll check Facebook”. To my surprise, my little sister posted a gem of a video to my wall that I just wanted to share with you all. Here is a clip of Japanese pro wrestling.

Now what gets me the most is that I actually used to watch wrestling in college. I thought it was pretty funny and, to be honest, it really is like the male version of a soap opera. At any rate, I wasn’t prepared for the announcers also being dressed up. Check it out. There is a pro-wrestling center in Arike that that Yurikamome goes by, right between Ariake Tennis no Mori and Ariake stations. Not sure if its affiliated, but its certainly something to check out.

Sushi Picnic

Sunday, November 4th, 2007

While searching YouTube for NHK children’s shows to help my listening comprehension, I ran across this gem. 「おすしのピクニック」 I can’t believe the Tako-sushi gets trampled at the end. Enjoy!

Episode 40 – Sumo Zombies

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

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Scott Lockman’s latest episode beat me to the punch on the sumo update, but his update on sumo was much more informative than mine so go check it out. If you want audio from sumo, you can get that in this next episode. Recorded right after I was able to get my cord fixed last week, I touch upon sumo and a few other topics. Enjoy!

Show Notes:

  • More about my power cord
  • AppleCare rules!
  • Homelessness in Japan
    • The guy under the bridge
    • The guy who asked me for “hungry”
    • The guys who live in Internet cafe’s
  • Only in Japan – strangest vending machine to date
  • Sumo Wrestling
    • Audio clip
  • Zombie cleaning crew
    • Audio clip

Inochi-kun – Too Weird

Sunday, August 19th, 2007

This was too weird not to post. Again this showed up in my del.icio.us trawling and was not something I searched for and was not prepared to see, yet it did intrigue me so.

Inochi

(direct video link)

Click the link above to download the video. It looks like a series of three mini-commercials. (I call them this because Japanese television is famous for short-short commercials, almost less than 4-5 seconds at times). However, I can’t quite put my finger one what is going on here. Aphex-Twin anyone?

I found a site that seems to be a launch site for either a television show or character, here the character is quite promininent. I also found a bit of research on the origins of the Japanese word Inochi.

Can someone help clue me is as to what is going on here!?! I feel somewhat violated and yet concerned at the same time. If I ever hear a child in Japan singing the song in this video, I think I might run away in fear.

At any rate, enjoy the video. The subtitles are accurate so non-Japanese speakers can enjoy too.

I’ve Been Found Out

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007

Ok ok, now you all know what I’ve been up to when I’m not podcasting. I’m sorry for the farce.

Storm troopers in Akiba!