Japan

Stories 1141 - 1160 | << Prev   Next >>

How to Make Magic With an iPad

Innovative sleight-of-gizmo makes virtual 'real'

(Newser) - Move over, David Blaine: everyone's new favorite illusionist is the iPad, recently put through its mesmerizing paces by innovative Japanese performer Shinya Uchida on the streets of Tokyo. The sleight-of-gizmo on YouTube presents a history of communication with the iPad providing smoke, drink, a cheese appetizer, x-rays, and even a...

Japanese PM Quits Over Okinawa Base

Hatoyama cites failure to move US base as reason for resigning

(Newser) - Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is stepping down after just 8 months in office. Hatoyama—whose plunging approval ratings ahead of an election expected to be held in July put him under intense pressure from his Democratic Party of Japan to step down—said he was quitting because of a...

The iPad Goes International
 The iPad Goes International 
May 28, 2010 5:27 AM CDT

The iPad Goes International

'I wanted to touch it as soon as possible!'

(Newser) - Some 1,200 people waited in a half-mile-long line outside Apple's flagship store in Tokyo this morning in anticipation of the international iPad launch. "I wanted to touch it as soon as possible. I felt real excitement when it was finally in my hands," one man tells Reuters...

11 Wacky Vending Machines
 11 Wacky Vending Machines 
May 16, 2010 3:45 PM CDT

11 Wacky Vending Machines

Forget chocolate: You can get gold, pizza, and raw eggs

(Newser) - When you need to find a bar—gold, not chocolate—the Gold to Go vending machine at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi has you covered. It's one of a number of wacky vending options. Travel + Leisure lists 10 more weird things you can get from a machine:...

I, Robot, Now Pronounce You Husband and Wife

Creepy. Creepy. Creepy.

(Newser) - Almost everyone stood when the bride walked down the aisle in her white gown, but not the wedding conductor, because she was bolted to her chair. The nuptials at this ceremony were led by "I-Fairy," a 4-foot-tall seated robot with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails. Today's wedding was...

Japan Cultivates 'Rice Farm' Bra

Grow your own

(Newser) - Japan is drawing abreast of cutting-edge green design with a bizarre "rice farm" bra that doubles as a field of dreams. The bra cups (presumably bigger than A's) double as recyclable plastic pots that can be filled with soil and rice seedlings. The wearer waters the crop with a...

Japanese Hook Up, Hire by Blood Type

In Japan, belief in blood group personality types colors dating

(Newser) - If you're looking for a decisive, confident partner, try dating someone with type O blood. Type As are dependable worrywarts, ABs are balanced but high-maintenance, and if you've been burned by a selfish ex, blame their type B blood. That's the conventional wisdom in Japan, where people believe blood group...

US Base in Japan Yanks Dolphin-Hunt Documentary

Cove's defiant director plans to hand out DVDs

(Newser) - US commanders wary of offending the Japanese have canceled screenings of Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, but that won't silence its message, its director tells the AP . Louie Psihoyos says he plans to hand out DVDs of the movie, which shows the gruesome annual dolphin hunt in a Japanese town, at...

Doomsayers Wrong About Our Aging Population
Doomsayers Wrong About Our Aging Population
OPINION
Apr 15, 2010 12:15 PM CDT

Doomsayers Wrong About Our Aging Population

Need proof? Take a look at Japan

(Newser) - Pessimists look at America's aging population and see nothing but doom ahead because of the strains it will put on Social Security, Medicare, and the like. They might cheer up by taking a look at Japan, where "America's future has already arrived," writes Dante Ramos. Nearly 1 in...

Yank Blasts Off With Cosmonauts

Team will join crew at international space station

(Newser) - A Russian rocket blasted off from a space center in southern Kazakhstan today, transporting a NASA astronaut, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station. The team will join a Russian commander, a NASA astronaut, and a Japanese astronaut on board the station when they dock...

Ringtone Cures Hay Fever: Japanese Co.

'Ringtone therapy' with cellphones treats obesity, too

(Newser) - Japan has had multifunction smartphones longer than the rest of the world, but one feature is new even to the cellphone-loving Japanese: a ringtone that cures hay fever. The offering from Japan Ringing Tone Laboratory—which also sells a gizmo that purports to be a dog-to-human translator—is designed to...

Korean Man Marries Pillow
 Korean Man Marries Pillow 
a gem from wednesday
Mar 14, 2010 9:32 AM CDT

Korean Man Marries Pillow

Groom keeps company with anime character accessory, buys it meals

(Newser) - A South Korean man’s dream came true recently when he married a body pillow bearing an illustration of an anime character. Lee Jin-gyu, 28, fell for a dakimakura, or body pillow, printed with an image of Fate Testarossa, a character in a popular cartoon series, the UK Metro reports....

7 Ways to Get Jailed (or Killed) While Traveling

Forget your ID in Japan, and end up in the pokey

(Newser) - An African safari is likely to be a bit more exciting than a day at Disney Land, but there comes a point where enough is enough. Turner Wright, writing in Vagabondish , runs down seven travel ideas that'll get you killed—or at least some quality time in the local clink:...

Uproar Over Whale Sushi Just Ridiculous

Outrage at foreign preferences just 'gastronomic nationalism'

(Newser) - Sure, the owners of a Los Angeles-area sushi restaurant broke the law if they indeed served whale meat, but those in a tizzy had “better wipe that morsel of moral superiority from your chin,” Japhy Grant writes . At the root, it’s a culture disconnect: Eating whale is...

Cove Oscar Winners Stage Sting at LA Sushi Joint
Cove Oscar Winners Stage Sting at LA Sushi Joint
hunting illegal whale meat
Mar 9, 2010 11:05 AM CST

Cove Oscar Winners Stage Sting at LA Sushi Joint

Filmmakers go undercover to find illegal whale meat

(Newser) - The makers of The Cove, the Oscar-winning documentary about dolphin killing in Japan, have aimed their cameras closer to home in a sting to expose illegal whale meat served at a California sushi joint. The operation began in October, when they heard rumors that the Hump, a Santa Monica restaurant,...

Japanese Women Are Skinny, Think They're Fat

Media ideal and stiff competition leads to wacky body image

(Newser) - “I think I am very fat,” a 40-year-old Japanese woman of normal weight whose BMI is verging on “thin” tells the Wall Street Journal , and that’s the story all over the island nation. Japan continues to be the thinnest industrialized nation, and its women have gotten...

Why I Hate Living in Japan
 Why I Hate Living in Japan 
Mar 6, 2010 2:17 PM CST

Why I Hate Living in Japan

Everything's got meat in it, for one—bad news for vegetarian

(Newser) - Many years of life in Japan have thoroughly soured American expatriate Tim Rogers on the country, despite his long personal history of “tolerating the hell out of some world cultures.” Herewith, some reasons:
  • Animé sucks. Used to be fine, but now “it’s inbred trailer-trash in entertainment
...

Princess Leaves School Over Bullying

8-year-old Japanese royal afraid; palace wants problem fixed

(Newser) - Japan’s Princess Aiko has been out of school since Tuesday, after complaining that older boys have been bullying her. The 8-year-old became frightened and returned home in a state of anxiety, complaining of a stomachache. The palace asked the school to look into it. The school discovered that she...

Japanese Fear Oarfish Sightings Are Quake Omen

Superstitious worry as deep-sea dweller begins surfacing

(Newser) - Dozens of sightings of a very rarely seen fish have raised Japanese fears that their country may be the next one rocked by a major quake. The appearance of oarfish—which can grow to up to 16 feet long and frequent depths of up to 3,300 feet—is considered...

Japan's Female Pitching Whiz May Join US Men's Pro Team

'Knuckleball princess' offered Chico Outlaws contract

(Newser) - "Knuckleball Princess" Eri Yoshida was the first woman to play pro baseball in Japan and she's now being offered the chance to become the first Japanese woman to play pro ball in an American men's league. The 18-year-old super athlete has been offered a contract to play for the...

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