Kuchikomi
Japan's cash-based society increasingly vulnerable to crooks
On two consecutive days, April 20 and 21, major robberies occurred in Fukuoka and Tokyo. Both involved individuals transporting large sums of cash from banks. Yukan Fuji (April 23) reports that in Fukuoka on April 20, a man who withdrew 380 million yen in cash from a bank, was attacked… Read
Japanese frantically gearing up for civil defense
Shades of the Cuban missile crisis. Weekly Playboy (May 15) reports that all of a sudden, Japanese have begun snatching up nuclear fallout shelters and air purifiers in unprecedented numbers. Seiichiro Nishimoto, president of the Habikino City-based Shelter, tells the magazine his business has been booming. The reason is simple:… Read
30% of all Japan's medical diagnoses said to be mistaken
A man went to a doctor complaining of lower back pains. Vertebral swelling, said the doctor. He recommended an operation. The operation was performed. The pain persisted. Had the diagnosis been wrong? The patient went back for additional tests. An MRI scan revealed an aneurism. A second operation saved the… Read
Subway station target of malicious phone hoax
One of the biggest aggravations with which law enforcement and rescue personnel are forced to deal are pranksters who call in false emergencies. Referred to in Japanese as kyogen hanzai -- literally “crazy speech crimes" -- they can be prosecuted, usually as misdemeanors, when and if the perpetrators are apprehended.… Read
Are funerals growing obsolete?
You step inside and, at first glance, it looks like any other hotel lobby, but the uniformed concierge who answers the check-in clerk’s call leads you to a door that opens on a white-walled, 10-mat room in the center of which is a coffin. There is no polite way to… Read
Finding spies everywhere, and thinking the unthinkable
While news reports have been focused on lethal North Korean operatives who brought about the murder of Kim Jong-nam in plain view at Kuala Lumpur airport, Shukan Taishu (April 17) informs its Japanese readers that their own country provides an even better haven for foreign operatives than does Malaysia. Its… Read
Stats on entertainment businesses show accelerating pace of decline
Japan has a well-deserved reputation as a country with stimulating night life. Every major city has at least one "neon-gai" (entertainment zone), and Tokyo has dozens. But according to J-Cast News (April 2), the varieties of so-called "fuzoku" (adult entertainment) businesses -- with one major exception, which we'll get to… Read
Akie Abe reportedly in hot water with mother-in-law over school scandal
What fond mother isn’t convinced her son married beneath him, and her? It’s the stuff of comedy, stale and funny at the same time. It’s stale because it’s old, enduring because it’s true to life, and funny as long as it’s someone else’s problem. When it’s yours, it’s not funny.… Read
For most Japanese, April Fools' Day still no joke
If you were in Japan in the 1990s, you might remember a pair of TV personalities named Kin-san and Gin-san -- Gold and Silver. Kin Narita and Gin Kanie, identical twin sisters from Nagoya, were born on Aug 1, 1892, which made them perhaps television's sole centenarian entertainers. Spry, cute… Read
Educator finds young users of LINE app losing their grip on language
"When I don't know what to say, I just post a stamp (emoticon or avatar)," says the student. "Or, when I have to follow a group discussion, I just post a bunch of grinning emoticons." This, Kohei Yano tells Shukan Kinyobi (March 3), shows how use of smartphone applications like… Read
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FizzBit
Today
11:40 am JST
Back in the states in February, I asked my brother to pick up some donuts I'd ordered from a family…
Posted in: Japan's cash-based society increasingly vulnerable to crooks
5SpeedRacer5
Today
11:16 am JST
It is an age old problem. The story of King Midas only "touches" on some of the problems of being…
Posted in: Japan's cash-based society increasingly vulnerable to crooks
sangetsu03
Apr. 30
11:17 am JST
Posted in: 30% of all Japan's medical diagnoses said to be mistaken
TARA TAN KITAOKA
Apr. 30
11:03 am JST
Posted in: 30% of all Japan's medical diagnoses said to be mistaken