Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
news (Page 20)
A taxi driver in Osaka has been taken into police custody after it was discovered that he had given snacks laced with a powerful diuretic to as many as 50 of his female passengers and refused to let them exit the vehicle so that he could watch them squirm, and in some cases urinate, in the back of his cab.
In an empty field in Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, where many homes stood before a tsunami swept them away, there are hundreds of blue carp streamers floating in the breeze. Kento Itoh, 21 years old, has collected them from all over the country in honor of his brother Ritsu, killed in the March 11 disaster when he was just five years old.
On that day, Kento was in Sendai, his middle brother was at school and his father was in the hospital, so none of them were at home when the tsunami struck their small town. Ritsu, his mother and his grandparents were carried off by the surging waters. Only Ritsu’s body was ever found. The rest are still officially missing.
With his father ill, it fell to Kento as the oldest son to identify his brother’s corpse at the morgue and to search among the ruins for his missing family. He did not find them, but among the mud and muck, he did find something: Ritsu’s beloved blue carp streamer.
Japan is well-known for its low crime-rate. Only a select few are permitted to own firearms, theft is rare, and the country’s violent crime statistics are among the lowest in the world.
But while you’ll almost never hear of a drive-by shooting in Japan, it turns out that members of the public in one Osaka town have been living in fear recently after a band of rambunctious scallywags took to cruising the streets at night and pelting pedestrians with eggs from the window of a moving car, at one time even stocking up on as many as 50 eggs with which to launch their reign of tamago terror.
While some of us get to spend our days taking selfies, slurping on Starbucks and shopping at designer stores, others are not quite so lucky.
In a crushing reminder of the disparities and injustice that exist in our world, a woman shopping at luxury New York department store Saks Fifth Avenue has discovered a note at the bottom of her bag written by a man imprisoned in a forced labour camp in China, pleading for help contacting his family and the United Nations.
There are almost 100,000 mainland Chinese students studying at Australian universities, where they are no doubt exposed to ideas that might be censored at home. This fact has not gone unnoticed by Chinese intelligence professionals, some of whom have admitted to a reporter for the respected Sydney Morning Herald that they recruit networks of students to monitor the Chinese community.
Even with the scheduled premiere of Sailor Moon Crystal just a few months away, the producers of the upcoming anime have been extremely guarded with information regarding the newest version of Japan’s most successful magical girl series ever. Up until now, the only tidbits given out were the title itself, a single piece of artwork, and some vague statements that Crystal will stick closer to the original manga than previous animated versions of Sailor Moon.
The floodgates haven’t exactly opened with the latest, and again brief, announcement, but proving that good things come in small packages, we’ve now got artwork for all five principal characters. Not only that, we now know who’ll be providing their voices, and in a move sure to make long-time fans happy, one voice actress is returning to play the same part she did in the original Sailor Moon.
It was announced on April 13 that the Kōchi NHK station’s weekday evening news has been showing the wrong icons for weather conditions in the corner of the screen for four years. Where the following day’s weather forecast for the eastern region of the prefecture should have appeared, the broadcaster had consistently been displaying the forecast for the western region.
It’s cherry blossom time in Tokyo, which means that the plum blossom season is just coming to a close, and one of Tokyo’s most popular spots to see plum blossom, Umeno Park in Ome, has finished the season with a sad announcement: it is chopping down all 1,266 of its famous plum trees to prevent the spread of a disease called plum pox.
Police may or may not be on the lookout for a woman with chronic diarrhoea this week after it became clear than an incredible 900 rolls of toilet paper have been swiped from city hall restrooms in Tokushima, Shikoku over the past three years, with the trend showing no sign of coming to an end any time soon.
Chinese authorities have released satellite images which show what they believe could be debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which vanished without trace last Saturday.
Suzuki takes less hands-on role at studio he co-founded with Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata.
People all over Asia wait with bated breath today for news about the Malaysia Airlines jet which disappeared without trace on Saturday last week. Earlier today, debris described as possibly from a plane was spotted in the sea off the coast of Vietnam, but it has yet to be confirmed as belonging to the missing aircraft.
The plane, which was carrying some 239 passengers, was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it suddenly disappeared. No distress calls were made and weather conditions were thought to have been good, leading the global media and internet masses to propose numerous theories regarding what might have happened, including an (as-yet entirely unsubstantiated) report that authorities in China ordered its military to shoot down any “suspicious passenger planes” coming close to Beijing on the same day the Malaysia Airlines flight vanished.
Police in Kobe arrested a 71-year-old man on suspicion of driving without a valid licence on Monday this week after a local police officer recognised the vehicle’s number plate following a prior incident. When questioned about the offence, however, it transpired that the wily old truck driver had not simply forgotten to renew his documents, but had never held a licence in the 50 years he’d been behind the wheel.
At approximately 4:17 p.m. on Tuesday this week, North Korea fired seven short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast into the Sea of Japan. While this in itself is not especially unusual for the world’s most secretive and hardline dictatorship, a genuinely unsettling detail later emerged that reflects the seriousness of the situation and just how close one group of civilians came to danger: Just six minutes after its launch, a China Southern Airways passenger plane passed directly through the path one missile had taken.
You’re back! Lovely to see you. Now shut up and face the corner.
Yes, that’s right boys and girls, it’s time for another multiple choice quiz where we throw random bizarre questions at you and see how much you learned this week about news from Japan and Asia. Don’t dilly-dally now; Hitler, Donald Trump’s hair, and a manga about love eggs are all waiting for you after the jump!
Happy Friday, everyone! We trust you’ve all had a fun week and, if you happen to be one of the poor souls stuck in the snow in Kanto and Northeastern Japan this past seven days, that you’re gradually thawing yourselves out.
We have 10 more Asian news-based multiple-choice questions for you this week, touching on everything from nipple chafing to popular TV drama. So let’s not waste any time; let’s get right into it!
Hello there, beautiful. Welcome to round seven of our weekly multiple-choice quiz! It’s been a busy and extra weird kind of week for news stories from Asia (yes, even by our standards), so we hope you’ve been taking notes and brought your thinking caps.
Join us after the jump for some Asia news-based brainteasers, and of course a few insults for underperformers.
Police in Kyoto have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of coercion after it was claimed that he had repeatedly forced his nine-year-old stepson to play violent and age-inappropriate video games such as Grand Theft Auto IV and fighting game Tekken Tag Tournament 2 over the course of six months whenever his mother was absent.
Japan’s Kanto region just can’t catch a break recently – first heavy snow brings the capital city to its knees (and this writer given the X of denial as he was told “Sorry, sir, the flight has already departed” after it took five hours to reach the airport in it), and now giant columns of water are spurting up out of the ground.
Yoichi Masuzoe, the politician who once publicly stated that women “are not normal” during their period and “couldn’t possibly” be relied upon to run the country because of it, has been elected as governor of Tokyo, it has been announced.
Yakuzen ramen restaurant in Tokyo is very different to a yakuza ramen restaurant
Kyoto planning surprise late-night inspections of Airbnb-style rentals to fight overtourism
New smartphone game turns car models into anime girls with model-worthy looks
Here are the top ten foodie factory tours for the fall throughout Japan
Kagoshima conveyor belt sushi chain Mekkemon rises above the rest with its special secret weapon
Miss World Japan: The great-times-20-granddaughter of samurai lord One-Eyed Dragon
The 10 best day trips from downtown Tokyo【Survey】
The top 5 ice creams you should try at Family Mart convenience stores in Japan this summer
Japan’s new difficult-to-drink-from beer glass protects your liver, but it’s a brutal experience
Japan’s biggest manga magazine is raising its minimum payment rate for creators
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Is Sapporio’s Snow Festival awesome enough to be worth visiting even if you hate the snow? [Pics]
Japan has trams that say “sorry” while they ride around town…but why?
Sakura Totoro is here to get spring started early with adorable pouches and plushies
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Poop is in full bloom at the Unko Museums for cherry blossom season
Now is the time to visit one of Tokyo’s best off-the-beaten-path plum blossom gardens
Playing Switch 2 games with just one hand is possible thanks to Japanese peripheral maker
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Super-salty pizza sends six kids to the hospital in Japan, linguistics blamedStarbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets to promote regional tourismThe 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on EarthNaruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Archfiend Hello Kitty appears as Sanrio launches new team-up with Yu-Gi-Oh【Pics】
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your homeJapan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Miss World Japan: The great-times-20-granddaughter of samurai lord One-Eyed Dragon
The 10 best day trips from downtown Tokyo【Survey】
The top 5 ice creams you should try at Family Mart convenience stores in Japan this summer
Japan’s new difficult-to-drink-from beer glass protects your liver, but it’s a brutal experience
Japan’s biggest manga magazine is raising its minimum payment rate for creators
A look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuff
Japan’s 10 best Ferris wheels for beautiful views, as chosen by travelers【Survey】
Poop is in full bloom at the Unko Museums for cherry blossom season
Can you eat lunch in Tokyo for less than 500 yen?
Testing Japan’s fluffy mayonnaise pancake cooking hack【SoraKitchen】
Hey, 2020s kids! The ’90s have a sticker picture message waiting for you in Tokyo
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
New Family Mart cinema opens inside Japanese airport