japan

Japan Loves Pizza So Much

Hamilton Nolan · 04/03/12 09:09AM

In Japan, your average Domino's Pizza outlet has 50% higher sales than a U.S. outlet. Why? Because Japanese people are weird. From Ad Age:

iPhone Photography for Perverts

Ryan Tate · 01/03/12 06:27PM

Illicit photography is way up in Japan, and police blame smartphone silencers - apps that hush up the sound of taking a picture. Maybe this spy technology will be America's next big cultural import from Asia. God knows we have enough pervs.

The Calorie-Burning Underwear of Japan

Maureen O'Connor · 11/14/11 02:22PM

Today's entry in the mesmerizing Asian infomercial arms race: Calorie Shaper, a special Japanese underwear built with a "honeycomb spring" that supposedly helps the wearer burn calories while performing everyday tasks, like walking to the bus stop and performing choreographed dance routines in the office.

Artists Catch Rats and Turn Them Into Stuffed Pikachus

Lauri Apple · 10/26/11 08:53AM

For their project "Super Rat," the members of the Japanese performance art collective ChimPom ran around the streets of Tokyo catching gigantic, poison-immune rats, took the rats home, then stuffed them and painted them up to look like the Pokemon character Pikachu. Art! It's a living.

The Poop-Powered Toilet Bike of Japan

Maureen O'Connor · 10/06/11 04:05PM

Japanese toilet maker Toto has invented the world's first Toilet Bike, which converts human poop "harvested directly from the driver" into biogas, Treehugger reports.* The seat is a toilet, so if you ride it with your pants down, you could theoretically defecate while you ride, thereby fueling it.

Japanese Quake Survivors Have Returned $78 Million in Lost Cash

Seth Abramovitch · 08/18/11 01:53AM

It's now time for a story that restores your faith in mankind, even if it means going all the way to Japan to find it: In the five months since that country's devastating quake and tsunami, almost $78 million in cash has been found amongst the wreckage and turned in.

Lady Gaga Shows Off Her Panda Look on Japanese TV

Matt Cherette · 06/28/11 10:05PM

Did Lady Gaga siphon off charity money that was supposed to go to victims of Japan's tsunami and earthquake? Who knows. But she certainly didn't let the controversy interfere with a trip to Japan last weekend to perform in a benefit concert and make a number of media appearances.

Mutant Bunny from Fukushima Freaks Everyone Out, Adorably

Maureen O'Connor · 06/09/11 11:56AM

Video of a mutant bunny born near Japan's quake-ravaged Fukushima power plant has gone viral. The bunny, which was born without ears, might be evidence of radioactive contamination, which may someday render the entire population of Japan microtic-anotic! Unless, of course, it's just a random birth defect. Every credible scientist in the world is leaning strongly toward the latter. Crazy people, however, are leaning toward the former, so the mutant bunny will probably be on the evening news tonight.

Mind Reading Cat Ears Promise Endless Embarrassment

Ryan Tate · 05/10/11 04:55PM

From the cybernetic labs of Japan come these moving cat ears, which purportedly adjust themselves in response to your thoughts or mood. In case you'd like to erase that last shred of privacy you retain inside your own brain.

Nuclear Crisis Should Be Over in Nine Months

Max Read · 04/17/11 03:31PM

Don't worry, folks! The crisis at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant should be "over by the end of the year," according to a timeline from plant operator Tepco. "Over," in this case, means that the reactors will be cooled. (Radiation leaks will be "reduced" in three months.) Once "cold shutdown" is achieved, the reactors will be entombed in concrete and contaminated soil will be cleaned up; right now, Tepco is taking readings at the damaged plant through the use of remote-controlled robots. [BBC]