Hokusai’s Great Wave has gone from woodblock to art sensation to a wooden art display piece.
natural
We’re sure many PlayStation fans in Japan have been happily playing away on their newly acquired consoles since the long-awaited launch of the new PlayStation 4 here last month. But electronic appliances and gadgets can sometimes be awfully difficult to coordinate with the rest of your interior decor, can’t they?
If that’s been a concern for you, here’s something from German wood product manufacturer balolo that not only looks lovely but also may help your PS4 blend more smoothly into the setting of your room — a PlayStation 4 cover made from natural high-quality wood!
Icha Icha is a Japanese term used to describe anything from light flirting to making love. It includes things like ‘necking’ and ‘making out’, but also holding hands or even just entwining pinky fingers. Drawing close and giving long meaningful looks is also included in the realm of icha icha.
Traditionally, Japan is not a touchy country. Unless you are jammed up against somebody on a rush hour train, you tend to keep yourself to yourself. Just think of how hands off bowing, the traditional greeting between two people, is.
Although more young people these days tend to hold hands or hold on to each other in some way, kissing in public, is still quite taboo. It has always been quite shocking to see any couple kissing in the street or on the subway in Japan. (Possibly the refrain to “Get a room” or “take it elsewhere” is universal, but such public displays of affection have always been less frequent in Japan than say, the US or France.)
Being a relatively new thing, this public icha icha-ing, has no guidelines to it. More and more people find themselves in the uncomfortable situation of coming face to face with icha icha without knowing how to react to it.
Yahoo! Japan asked readers for their thoughts on where they draw the line on public displays of affection. In other words: How much public icha icha you are willing to put up with?
The sea is too clean for the fish!
Efforts to clean up the sea have caused an adverse reaction giving the fishing Industries in Hyogo, Okayama, and Oita Prefectures along the Setonai Seaboard a major headache. The irony being that the sea is too clean for the fish to thrive.
An analysis of the sea water by researchers found the natural levels of Nitrogen and phosphorous in the salt content of the sea water needed for the nutritional growth of healthy plankton have diminished to the point that it has effected the natural eco system of the sea. Without enough plankton, the major nutrition for many small sea animals, the whole food chain is disrupted to the point of great loss to the fishing Industry.


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Japanese man who didn’t know how banks work defrauded out of 21 million yen
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Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
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The top 10 annoying foreign tourist behaviors on trains, as chosen by Japanese people【Survey】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Starbucks Japan reveals new sakura drinkware collection, inspired by evening cherry blossoms
Beautiful new Levistone from Ghibli’s Laputa anime going on sale soon, so order yours ASAP【Video】
Street Fighter Hadouken Churros to be launched and eaten in Tokyo, Okami pudding on offer too
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10 awesome ice creams available from convenience stores in Japan
Tokyo event lets you travel back in time, for free, to celebrate 100 years since Showa era start
Aichi senior and former fraud victim arrested for fraud
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“Bear” voted Japan’s Kanji of the Year for 2025 in extremely close race
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Daiso has giant new branch in middle of Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood (and another beneath it)
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