Random Japan

A collection of 20 creative ‘sushi’ rolls that were invented outside of Japan

Krista Rogers 

Love it or hate it, every country has their own take on sushi. While some of the creations, such as the California roll, are fairly tame and are now accepted as part of a normal sushi menu, we’ve also seen some of the odder versions out there, such as Hong Kong’s ‘killer sushi’, Nutella sushi in France, and my personal favorite–the absolutely adorable but sadly inedible cat sushi!

The quintessential component of sushi is vinegared rice, so while these creations can’t technically be called sushi, they’ve definitely taken a stylistic cue from the rolled shape of makizushi. And we have to admit, some of those fillings do look tasty…

Which of the following creations do you find most intriguing?

 

YEAH, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT

• Officials at the communications ministry say they want to develop a system that automatically translates TV broadcasts into English, Chinese and other languages.
• Authorities at the environment ministry have come up with a novel way to clean the water in the moats surrounding the Imperial Palace: by using groundwater that wells up from nearby subway tunnels.
• Researchers at an NGO called the Nature Conservation Society of Japan have found that an endangered sea mammal called the dugong likes to munch on sea grass off the coast of Henoko in Okinawa.
• Which is inconvenient, in a way, because the US military is planning to reclaim coastal land there when it relocates a Marine Corps base from a different part of Okinawa.

That Is Not How
A Smartphone Should Be Used

Rob A Post Office
Start A Sex Club


The Pain That Is Beauty
Or, Beauty Is Just Painful 

Japanese people reflect on examples of excess customer service

LIFESTYLE AUG. 16, 2014 - 06:30AM JST 

TOKYO —

Unless you grew up in Japan, you may be baffled by the emphasis that Japanese employees place on customer service. Customers in Japan are treated as royalty from every possible angle, even if they’re just out buying a few pieces of fried chicken at the local convenience store. If you’re not used to it, you may find the special treatment to be endearing, but after a while you may come to think of all the excess services as unnecessary and annoying.

It turns out that some Japanese people feel the same way about their own country’s customs regarding customer service. Have you ever felt the same about any of the following situations?

MyNavi Woman surveyed 388 Japanese people (129 men and 259 women) to determine what they thought to be the most irritating customer service behaviors in Japan. We’ll introduce the top five responses below, followed by some other reader comments and our own personal experiences in Japan scattered throughout.