The only giant panda in Ueno Zoo is dead. It is possible that it’s out of old age but pandas should never be kept in a glass box for the world to see anyway. They’re not fishes. Not that it’s right for fishes.
I have a very soft spot for all mammals, I guess it must be a very dark day for the workers who works with Rin Rin.
Rin Rin, the sole giant panda at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, died in the early hours of Wednesday only one day after he was taken off display for veterinary treatment, officials said.
Veterinarians at the zoo in Taito-ku are poised to conduct an autopsy on his body in a bid to determine the cause of his death.
A worker came to the zoo on Wednesday morning to find 22-year-old Rin Rin dead in its viewing pen. After examining video surveillance footage, zoo officials concluded that he died at around 2 a.m.
Rin Rin, which is the equivalent of 70 years old in human terms, became less active at the beginning of this year. The zoo took him off display on Tuesday for veterinary treatment.
Rin Rin was born at Beijing Zoo in September 1985, and was sent to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in 1992. He was the only giant panda for which Japan holds ownership rights.
I guess penguins and beer go together. An unassuming creature that is supposedly symbolic for happy and silly need to drown their sorrow in beer as well. Lol.
No. 4: Scary Insurance Co
This is an insurance commercial. But you wouldn’t know that it’s about an insurance company because the ad looks like an ad for a horror anime movie that is coming out soon. The weirdest thing isn’t about the weird setting the insurance company has chosen for their ad but what’s written in the commercial. It says, “Japan doesn’t exist anywhere anymore, there is no one you can trust.” Wtf?
No. 3: Tarako
You’d think this commercial is about some sort of product invasion and not at all about a pasta. Seriously, why did they think a legion of baby dolls marching towards the kid would relate to eating spaghetti? I don’t get it, it’s just weird. It’s like the first 15 seconds of the ad aims at getting you so weirded out that your brain clambers to find something more normal and what’s more normal than a packet of pasta seasoning, eh?
No. 2: Tarako again
See, it’s the same thing again with those creepy bouncing babies.
No. 1: Disgusting Fingers
What the…. why are all these ladies fingers looked like it’s been dropped into a saw mill?
Japanese Christian relics - including the Holy Grail - have been brutally demolished “by a government no better than a terrorist organization,” outraged Christian activists tell Shukan Asahi (4/18).
Pork barrel projects in the Amagusa district of Kumamoto Prefecture known for its strong links to feudal era Christianity and the greatest Christian rebellion this country has known have destroyed some of the religion’s most prized artifacts.
“The Amagusa Kurishitankan (Christian Building) was demolished as part of a restoration project funded by the special road maintenance taxes and the Christians’ Holy Grail was obliterated,” Christian activist and Amagusa citizens’ ombudsman Osamu Nakata tells Shukan Asahi. “We want to spread this message worldwide through the Vatican, the Pope and foreign media.”
Demolition of the building housing examples of Amagusa’s valuable Christian heritage took place in January this year. The work was part of about 800 million yen the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will devote to projects in about 1,300 districts across Japan, including Amagusa, over a four-year period. The demolition went ahead despite not having the required local residents’ permission.
“The government said the Kurishitankan had become too old and they would re-build it, so it had to come down. But tests on the building’s age showed no problem with its durability,” Nakata says. “They’ve spent 2.7 billion yen building white elephants in Amagusa. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
I can understand the anger but really, if they’ve demolished the building for whatever reasons, just build a new one. There’s no value in being attached to an inanimated object if faith is suppose to transcend all these materialistic things. With this, I have a quote I would like to share because some people just place too much emphasis on buildings and materials dedicated to their faith that without it, it’s almost like the end of the world with them.
“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than going to a garage makes you a mechanic” - Laurence J. Peter
There is nothing more loyal than man’s best friend. And while I have never really been a big fan of the Akita breed because they really resemble the streets mutts in my country. Eh… but I have a soft spot for all dogs and Hachi’s story is apparently based on a true story. The dog waited for his owner to return at the station even though he (the owner) died in a freak accident while at work. The dog repeated his loyal routine daily for 10 years before dying of old age himself at the station. How sad :(
As ghetto cool and hip hop reign grows over the years in Japan, break dancing amongst the youthful enthusiast is unavoidable. BBC had a piece written about it 5 years ago about the hip hop culture in Japan, but today all things synonymous to hip hop, break dance especially, have taken many Japanese break dancers across the world in competitions.
April 1st, exactly 50 years ago, was the day Japan imposed a ban on the centuries old sex trade. I am sure the regular patrons then went like “yea right, an April Fool’s joke by the government”. But the joke was on them alright, no more bunky bunky at the local brothel lest they wanted a night or 2 years with a heavy slap of fines in their faces.
BUT i won’t say that the sex trade has gone stale since then. If anything, ingenuity has brought sex to a whole new level in Japanese culture. Ahem…you guys (and girls) probably know what I mean, eh?
Anyway, read this article from Mainichi:
Exactly 50 years ago today (April 1), Japan’s formal ban on the centuries old act of prostitution came into effect.
The Prostitution Prevention Law outlawed the world’s oldest profession even though it had long been one of Japan’s most lucrative.
But the law was filled with loopholes and even today the sex business remains one of Japan’s biggest industries.
The fight to end prostitution began in earnest following Japan’s defeat in World War II, with newly liberated women Diet members in the vanguard of the fight.
I’ve prepared a collection of Japanese ads that I think is rather funny for your viewing pleasure. Frankly, they don’t beat the funny Thai ads but they’re pretty good ;)
That familiar invisible rock we carry whenever we get mortgages? :P
Whether you’re in Japan or Timbuktu, you need to watch this video because coming March 29th, we are going to turn off our lights for 1 hour to fight global warming. :)
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