Random Japan

These houses and cafes in Japan will teleport you into the world of your favorite fairy tales

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi 


The picture above looks like it could have been taken at the set of a cute children’s fantasy movie. Or perhaps a theme park. If not those, then maybe a really expensive themed restaurant. In fact, none of those would be correct. These are apartments in Japan. Yes, you can live in them.

stats

• 1,109,600Number of foreign visitors to Japan in August—a record for the month, according to the JNTO
• 58.6Percent of Japanese men who are oblivious to the “maternity badge” carried by pregnant women to make people aware of their condition, according to the Cabinet Office
• 25.9percent of Japan’s population aged 65 or older—a record, according to the internal affairs ministry

FOREIGN INTRIGUE

• Prosecutors in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have asked a court to consider the death penalty for a Japanese politician who was caught with more than 3 kilograms of meth at the local airport last October.
• Officials at the defense ministry are miffed at a Swedish company that developed an app allowing users to track the movements of planes carrying the prime minister and Imperial family.

What Passes for Political Discourse In Japan
Scarf Or No Scarf


Why Won't You Mate?
We're Both Male You Fools


What Isn't Normally Found In A Restaurant 
Whips, Chains, Gimp Masks And Studded Belts

Tour shows dangers facing high school girls in shady ‘JK business’

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Near a seedy street lined with maid cafes in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, Yumeno Nito explained to her tour group that many teenage girls in short skirts solicit customers in the area.

“Walk around as you like and talk to them,” Nito told the tour members.

The purpose of the tour was not to make arrangements for sleazy liaisons, but to raise awareness of what Nito says is an alarming social problem.

The tours, run by Colabo, a Tokyo-based support group for young girls, take participants to entertainment areas of the capital to study “JK business.” “JK” stands for “joshi kosei,” which means high school girl in Japanese.