The seventh and final Harry Potter novel went on sale today (Wednesday, July 23rd) in Japan. Fans lined up early at one book store in Hachioji and waited to be the among first to get their little fanboy hands on the earliest-sold copies. The Japanese version of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is selling […]

A record number of cases of violence against railway workers was reported for the year 2007 by railway service providers, including JR and other major railway companies as well as operators of the Tokyo and Osaka subway systems. Over 61 percent of the perpetrators were drunken idiots who were mostly in their 30s. Also, most […]

A student at Gifu City Women’s College was given a strict warning in the wake of an incident involving graffiti on a cathedral in Florence, Italy. The college student apparently her name and the names of 5 friends with a marker on a wall of the catherdral, which is on the U.N. Education, Scientific and […]

Tokyo Metro will start regular operation of its new Fukutoshin line tomorrow (Saturday the 14th). This new subway line connects Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Shibuya as well as stations in north Tokyo and south Saitama. The commute between Ikebukuro and Shibuya will be 16 minutes by local train and 11 minutes by express train. This is a […]

Softbank has become the first to strike a deal to sell iPhones in Japan this year, much to the chagrin of DoCoMo. iPhones have been hugely popular outside Japan and given the popularity of iPods in Japan, the iPhone promises to be a big seller here. KDDI has said it’s not interested in selling iPhones, […]

A farmer who ingested agricultural chemicals was admitted to a Kumamoto hospital on Wednesday. During treatment, he tossed his cookies and chlorine gas emitted from the rancid refuse sickened 54 workers and patients at the hospital, among them doctors. Hadn’t he heard of hydrogen sulfide? I mean, swallowing agricultual chemicals? There has to be an […]

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara has stated that he “couldn’t care less” about pandas and sees no reason why Tokyo should pay what it’s being asked to for the privilege of housing giant pandas at Ueno Zoo. This isn’t the first time Governor Ishihara has made insensitive comments toward animals or human beings. His derogatory comments […]

Chiba, Japan - A boy whose teacher had all the students in his class write down who they disliked the most in the class and then announced the results in front of all the students, is attempting to make a little cash by seeking damages against the Chiba Municipal Government.
If the boy hadn’t been the […]

A 22-year-old airman based at Misawa Air Base in Aomori was arrested for molesting a 19-year-old female in Hachinohe. Apparently, he came up to her from behind, seized her and groped her breasts and buttocks. Sure, lots of people will say, “Hey, salarymen and old farts do this all the time; What’s the big deal?” Well, […]

The town of Izumozaki, in Niigata Prefecture, is selling copies of Jero’s Enka CD containing the hit song, “Umiyuki” with a 500-yen discount. The town government approved allocating budget money so that purchases of the CD by town residents would be subsidized. The town of Izumozaki is mentioned in the lyrics of the song, “Umiyuki.”
Kochi […]