Random Japan

PRICEY DIGS

 

• Ever wonder why those day-old deviled egg sandwiches at 7-Eleven are so darned tasty? Apparently it’s because the boiled eggs they use come from hens fed stevia and vanilla “for an improved sweeter taste.”
• The website Twisted Sifter could not wrap its head around the fact that an apartment in ritzy Minami-Azabu was being listed for sale at ¥1.8 billion, calling it “The Most Expensive 1-Bedroom Apartment in the World.”
• Former Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine ruffled some feathers in his new gig as Boston Red Sox skipper when he publicly questioned the dedication of infielder Kevin Youkilis. The players, led by Dustin Pedroia, quickly came to Yuke’s defense, saying maybe that crap worked in Japan (it didn’t) but that it wouldn’t fly in Beantown.
• In other Lotte Marines-related news, infielder/DH Josh Whitesell was banished to the minor leagues after hitting opposing catchers with his bat during his swing follow-through in consecutive games. Ouch!

stats

• 29.9 million Twitter accounts created in Japan before Jan 1, third most among countries, according to social media research company Semiocast
• 127,799,000 Japan’s total population as of Oct 1, 2011, a decrease of 259,000, or 0.2 percent, from a year earlier, according to government data
• 126,180,000 Japanese nationals as of Oct 1, 2011, down 0.16 percent from 2010

FANTASY ISLANDS

 

• So what do you get the city that has everything? Well, if you’re Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, you try to buy the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which is what he says the TMG plans to do.
• In other international incidents, the Tokyo District Court tossed out a lawsuit filed by a couple of guys in China seeking damages from the Japanese government for when they were injured by a poisonous gas shell left behind by the Imperial Japanese Army after World War II.
• Five grenades landed in the evacuated Japanese Embassy compound in Kabul over a two-day period as Taliban forces went on the offensive in the Afghan capital.
• Researchers from the Meteorological Research Institute Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) have predicted that major typhoons with winds over 194kph may hit Japan every 10-20 years by the end of the century, as opposed to every 70-100 years now. Great… just what we need.
• The dad of a university student killed 16 years ago after getting into a fight with another guy at Ikebukuro station has asked the cops to stop looking for his son’s killer. Pops wants the police to concentrate on solving other crimes they might actually have a chance with.
• The body of the 37-year-old captain of a Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter that crashed into the sea off Aomori Prefecture was found some 50m below the surface on the seabed. Everyone else involved in the accident was safely rescued.
• An irate truck driver for a transportation company in Ibaraki attended a hanami cherry blossom party at his boss’ house, then went home, got his wife’s car and returned, plowing into the house. He injured five people, including himself.