Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Odd

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Rogue radish

It may not be an image of Buddha on a piece of toast, or even a likeness of the consummately coiffured Prime Minister in a blob of hair mousse, but this crane in a watermelon radish must surely be worth a bob or two on eBay.

crane image radish

The unusual discovery was made by Noriko Sasaki in a restaurant she runs in Osaka. The 61-year old explaining that the bird appeared very clearly, with even a hole in the perfect place for its eye.

Needless to say the rare radish garnered a lot of interest from excited diners at the restaurant. Some saying that if Sasaki-san had cut the radish in a different place the image wouldn’t have appeared. Others getting rather carried away, claiming an entirely different image may have revealed itself.

A yen sign perhaps?

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Pet palace

With a large number of Japan’s pets — and in particular dogs — being pampered to a thoroughly disturbing degree, it’s hardly surprising that ‘pet hotels’ are considerably better than a basic kennel decked out with several cages and a large stock of tinned food. Yet today’s opening of The Pet Inn Royal at Narita Airport takes this animal accommodation approach to an entirely new level.

pet hotel japan

The Inn consists of 170 ‘rooms’, varying from a relatively standard cage for 4,000 yen (20 pound) a night, to a luxury suite costing a mind boggling 20,000 yen. But before you balk in disbelief and consider leaving Rover tied up in the garden with a few bowls of food and a note to the neighbours, the hotel — as the advertising pamphlets are keen to point out — is fully equipped with air conditioners and purifiers. Along with staff on duty around the clock. Which it has to be said, is pretty impressive — if a tad unnecessary.

the pet inn royal

Combine this with the availability of veterinary care and grooming services, and you’ll be able to relax on the beach, comforted by the hotel’s claim of, “Enjoy your travel overseas knowing that your pet is in good hands.”

Yet don’t worry if your companion is something other than a dog. The Pet Royal Inn can also accommodate smaller animals such as cats, rabbits and even ferrets. Although whether the latter will be treated to comedic trips inside a staff member’s trousers as they are apparently accustomed wasn’t disclosed. Similarly, no comment was made on the availability of cat clothing.

cat dressed as elephant

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Buttock bother

The increasing number of women-only carriages throughout the nation’s train network, amply proves that furtive buttock feeling is — amongst other activities — far from uncommon.

Segregating the sexes however could do nothing to stop a bizarre incident of arse related assault at the weekend, as two unsuspecting commuters had their bottoms surreptitiously slashed. The attacks taking place on different platforms at Tokyo’s notoriously busy Shinjuku station.

It seems that just after midnight on Saturday, a male commuter felt a sudden pain in his buttocks, and was surprised to find them bleeding. Shortly after a woman suffered the same unfortunate fate, although luckily neither of the victims was seriously injured. However they did require further treatment at a nearby hospital.

Due to the station being so packed, the serial slasher was not identified. Surveillance footage only managing to catch events after the attack, with a station worker saying, “The woman was lying on the platform until paramedics rushed to the scene. Other passengers who surrounded her appeared worried about the incident.”

Meaning that for now at least, the buttock botherer remains at large.

Categorized: Odd

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Cafe (non-)conflict

It is often said that the Japanese will do anything to avoid conflict. An assumption that arguably contains a fair amount of truth. Or at least it does if you consider the recent case of a man arrested for overstaying his welcome at a manga/internet cafe in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture.

Homeless Kentaro Shimada it seems quite enjoyed his private room at the cafe. So much so in fact that he stayed there for almost two months. Yes, you read that right — two months! He strolled in there on August 2nd, and didn’t leave again until September 26th.

Japanese manga cafe

Unusual it has to be said, but hardly a crime. Except that after his elongated stay, the 33-year-old fled without paying — leaving behind a whopping 520,000 yen (2,593 pound) bill. A figure that amongst other things included 140 drinks.

To their credit, the staff had asked Shimada-san to pay up; but the impudent internet lover waved them away each time, claiming he’d pay later — much later obviously.

Surprisingly, the fact that young Shimada is homeless – and manga cafes boast a whole host of amenities – has seemingly escaped the attentions of the police. The on the ball officers reportedly grilling him over his motives.

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Cat caper

In a rare break from food related programming — whether it be eating, making or simply fawning over the stuff — the images below show snapshots of a TV show promoting a spot of tape related feline fun.

The quality of the pictures is unfortunately not the best, but by clicking on either of them, you can see the unsuspecting cat in question do its own unique version of Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks. A feat prompted by the application of tape on to various parts of the animal’s anatomy.

duct tape cat

Really, who would have that applying a bit of sticky material to one’s pussy — or anybody else’s for that matter — could be so much fun?

taped up cat japan