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Jessica Kozuka

Jessica Kozuka is a freelance writer and editor living in the exciting, interesting and sometimes perplexing city of Tokyo. Her work has appeared in Wine Spectator, CNN Travel, and The Japan Times, as well as numerous other print and online media outlets. She writes a column on NPO/NGOs and volunteer work for Metropolis, the largest English-language magazine in Japan, and specializes in EFL educational materials and travel writing. Kozuka is rarely to be found without a book or two within arm’s reach, though there's no telling if they will be serious literature or frivolous guilty pleasures, and she runs a monthly book club for other bibliophiles in the Tokyo area. She's also an enthusiastic if mediocre cook and daily laments the smallness of Japanese kitchens.

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Posted by Jessica (Page 15)

Kyoto Bee Research Center Is the Bee’s Knees

Kyoto Sangyo University opened a brand-new research facility this week, the Honeybee Industry Research Center, to study the ecology of the little bumblers and the benefits of their honey. This kind of specialized facility is extremely rare and is generating a lot of buzz among entomologists. Read More

From Starbucks Russia With Love: Cute Nesting Doll Tumblers!

You’d have to be living in a cave not to know Starbucks Coffee has stores all over the world, but did you know that there are limited edition Starbucks tumblers and mugs that are only available in certain countries? Among those much-in-demand merchandising items, the one often said to be the cutest and most desirable comes from Russia.

On a recent trip there, we decided to check them out for ourselves. Entering the shop, we immediately clapped eyes on them! Designed to resemble traditional Russian matryoshka, or nesting dolls, these tumblers were a hot cupful of cute. It would be hard to see one and not want to put your morning latte in it. They come in three sizes, and lined up next to each other, they looked so much like real matryoshka, I couldn’t resist buying the set. Read More

Softbank Releases World’s First Radiation-Detecting Phone

This week, Softbank Mobile presented the newest iteration of its popular Pantone phones, and these are some pretty smart smartphones. So smart, in fact, that they can double as a Geiger counter. Read More

Guy Debuts Open-Fly Prevention Device, Awkward Dance Moves in Web Video

Everyone has the embarrassing experience at least once in their life of forgetting to zip up their pants and going out into the world with their fly down. Well, a creative fellow on the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga has made a handy little device to make sure your privates stay private, and he’s shared his bargain-basement methodology and funky dance moves with the world. Read More

Life-sized Anime Figure Draws Criticism for Price, Creepy Face

A life-sized figure of manga and anime character Fujiko
Mine has been drawing criticism from fans on the Web. Comments have ranged from “Why did they make her like that?” to the more succinct, “Who the hell is that?” Apparently, she’s looking a bit off-color. Read More

If a superflare, which is an explosion up to millions or even a billion times more powerful than a typical solar flare, were to happen on our sun, it would release incredible amounts of electromagnetic energy that would likely fry the world’s all-important electrical grids and send society spiraling into chaos. A large enough one could even burn up our protective ozone layer and turn all life on Earth extra-crispy.

So, what are the chances of that happening? Are we all doomed!? Well, depends on who you ask, apparently. Read More

Tokyo Disneyland (TDL) has recently announced that they will offer weddings for same-sex couples, including the option to hold the ceremony at the iconic Cinderella’s castle. It seems that Disney really does make dreams come true, at least for one gay couple. Read More

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Across all times and cultures, there have been a variety of hygienic practices, some of which we would regard with horror today.  One of those, which has been much discussed recently, is the practice of drinking one’s own urine to promote good health. Yes, you read that correctly, drinking a steaming glass of your own pee as a health supplement. Read More

Is There a Tiny Person Inside That Bird?! Pet Myna Abe-chan Impresses With His Conversational Skills

In the bird world, the undisputed masters of mimicry are the myna. You may even have seen them on TV from time to time copying human voices with eerie precision, but you’ve probably never seen one quite as adorable as Abe-chan, a pet myna cum YouTube star.
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The Japanese version of the popular travel information site Trip Adviser recently published a list of the best factory tours in Japan. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the nation’s most popular exports makes it to number one. Read More

School Lunch Cookbook a Hit With Nostalgic Dieters

If you are feeling a bit nostalgic for the school lunch experience, you don’t have to pass yourself off as a grade schooler and sneak into your local elementary school. You can find healthy, hearty school lunch recipes in a recently published book by nutrition specialist Katsuko Fujiwara called “School Lunches at Home“.

And these recipes aren’t just any old standby. They’re the kind of meals that make everyone happy. Kids want school meals to be delicious, parents want them to be nutritious, and schools just want them to be reasonably priced and easy to prepare. That’s a high bar to clear, but with over 20,000 schools in Japan offering a school lunch program, there were sure to be a few offerings that hit the trifecta, and Fujiwara has compiled some of the best for you.
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Govt Website Gets 45 Million Yen Redesign, Righteous Anger of the Taxpayers

On the second of April, the official website for the Japanese prime minister and his cabinet underwent a major update and redesign. According to Chief Cabinet Minister Osamu Fujimura, the update will allow them to disseminate easily understandable information to the public by gathering together all policy explanations prepared by individual agencies in one place. They have also added a section of the website aimed at children, which includes some specially developed games. The cost of all this? About 45 million yen (about $547,000). And that’s what has Japanese taxpayers’ attention.
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Professor Michitaka Hirose and his team at Tokyo University have invented a pair of glasses which lower your appetite and make you feel fuller simply by making your food look bigger. Now there’s a diet plan that could work for me.
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JAXA Invents Camera That Measures Radiation

On March 29th, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency announced that they have developed a prototype camera which detects gamma-ray emitting radioactive material such as cesium and shows the exposure distribution over an image. They hope that it can be used to make clean-up of contaminated areas around Fukushima Daiichi more efficient by locating places where radioactive matter has accumulated.
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The Japanese web portal goo recently asked its users their biggest regret from their college years. It seems in Japan as well, those heady days of freedom in university offer more than plentiful chances for screw-ups. Youth is one factor, but compared to middle school and high school students, university students have a whole lot more time on their hands and a whole lot less supervision, leading to a lot of navel-gazing, time-wasting and jack-assery. Some things are true the world over, I guess!
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Put the Tokyo Subway in Your Mouth!

Among both train nerds and the general public, the bright red 300-series cars that originally ran on the Marunouchi subway line in Tokyo are much beloved. This year, that line celebrates the 50th anniversary of the completion of its full length, and someone has fittingly made it a cake. Literally.

The cakes, called Marunouchi Line 300-Series 3D Cake, are being sold for a limited time at the price of 7980 yen (about $97).
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Kirin Releasing Fat-Busting Cola

This month, beverage maker Kirin announced that it will be releasing the first ever health food cola on April 24th. The drink will be called Kirin Mets Cola. No connection to the MLB team, although fans will find the font suspiciously familiar.

According to the company, the drink contains an indigestible form dextrin sometimes used as a fiber supplement, which restricts the body’s ability to absorb fat while eating. It contains no sweeteners and has strong carbonation for a refreshing feel. They also claim that blood tests performed in house after consuming the beverage prove the drink keeps levels of neutral fats low after eating.
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Goose That Laid the Golden Egg Hiding Somewhere in Japan

Have you ever seen such a lustrous gold egg before? I’m willing to bet most people would answer “no” to that. And yet, this shiny egg is the real thing! Well, at least it’s a real egg, anyway.
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Six Tokyo Starbucks Try All-You-Can-Read Offer

Starbucks is quite nice, isn’t it? Their shops provide a comfortable, non-smoking place to enjoy a delicious coffee, they have a hip food menu, and you can even get a hundrend yen refill on the day’s coffee. The service isn’t half bad either. Of course, there’s the fact that it’s not exactly cheap, but we’ll forgive them that little foible.

There are six Starbucks locations in Tokyo that have just gotten even cooler, though. What’s so special about those six shops, you ask? Well, let me tell you! In short, the six stores listed below will allow you to take books from their attached bookstores to read while you enjoy your coffee.
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A Solid Gold C-3PO, Other 35th Anniversary Memorabilia for the Ultimate Star Wars Fan Boy

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the release of Lucas Films’ Star Wars, just 35 limited-edition, solid gold C-3PO figurines went on sale yesterday for a mere 500,000 yen (about $6000).

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