Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Odd

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Atom and Anne

As popular as manga now is, it has simply never appealed to me. Yet that’s not to say that I don’t appreciate it as an art form, and in Japan especially, it is used to introduce a whole host of ideas and issues. Invariably garnering a much wider audience than the more traditional text-only format.

That said, some things one would presume don’t really need the manga treatment. The story and message resonating strongly enough without pictures. Or in the case below, the cute contrast of perennial favourite Atom Boy.

anne frank

Yes, The Diary Of Anne Frank is available not only in manga format, but Atom Boy, his sister Uran, and the dodgy looking Dr. Ochanomizu kindly help the story flow. The cheery little chaps guiding the reader along in their usual jaunty and jolly manner.

anne frank japan

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Ludicrous loaf

Now I’m aware that rice is the staple diet in Japan, and consequently the consumption of bread isn’t as important (or indeed commonplace) as it is in my native Britain. Yet even bearing this in mind, it’s nevertheless rather disturbing to see what horrors the humble loaf is occasionally subjected to.

Like this bizarre ice cream, banana, and bread combination for example.

japanese bread

A creation so preposterous that one can only hope that eating instructions are supplied. Providing of course that you’d want to even try.

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Denim desires

In a crime that is baffling to say the least, a 34-year-old Tokyoite has been arrested for throwing acid at the buttocks of several women. The charge being an almost equally bizarre ‘willful destruction of property’.

Tsukasa Saito it seems acquired the acid from the metalworking company he’s employed by, and riding his mountain bike he would hurl it at the bottoms of denim wearing women. His victims luckily suffering no physical injuries, although their jeans had holes burned in them.

Saito-san has apparently admitted to the allegations, and explained his behaviour by saying, “It really turned me on to see a bottom in a pair of Jeans.” Although why this should prompt the aforementioned posterior to be doused in acid remains a mystery.

News of the acid flinging arse maniac’s arrest was greeted with joy amongst the capital’s denim wearing population. Prompting those who had fled to the countryside in fear of an attack to make plans for a speedy return.

japanese cutie

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Barefaced boozer

Taxis in Japan are certainly not the cheapest, and with a minimum cost of 660 yen (just over 3 pound) they aren’t for the faint hearted. Nor it seems the unemployed. As this week, out of work 55-year-old Satoshi Nakagawa was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for calling an ambulance to take him home after drinking too much.

Japanese ambulance
Taxi!

Nakagawa finally pushed the emergency services too far on June 8 last year after sitting down drunk in the middle of the road and asking a passerby to call an ambulance; but instead of taking him home as he demanded, the ambulance driver took the barefaced boozer back to the fire station where the vehicle had been dispatched from. An act that so enraged Nakagawa that the resultant fracas resulted in his arrest.

During sentencing Judge Hidenaga Manabe said, “He committed a selfish crime by obstructing the highly urgent duties of ambulances.” Which is something of an understatement, as it turns out that Nakagawa had tried his too-drunk-to-walk-home-but-not-enough-money-for-a-taxi-as-I’ve-spent-it-all-on-beer stunt on numerous occasions. A staggering 50 times since August 2003 to be exact. However perhaps even more surprising is that on a couple of occasions he was actually taken home.

Categorized: Odd

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Elderly effigy

Not to be outdone by the new and frankly bizarre sex education dolls, the Sakamoto Model Company has manufactured a decidedly disturbing effigy of an elderly patient. The rather ghoulish object designed to help train nurses in the care of the old and infirm.

It is claimed that the dolls are so realistic that they appear almost alive. The skin quality, joint movement, and facial expressions giving them an unnerving realism. Even if they do resemble something from the infamous Roswell incident.

roswell doll

In fact the models are so convincing and anatomically correct that training in urination and excretion is possible. With space for a foraging finger should the latter prove especially troublesome.

japanese excretion doll

All these features come at a cost though. A bowel loosening 480,000 yen (2,400 pound) to be exact. But as the picture below boasts, pajamas are included.

japanese elderly doll
japanese elderly doll

Which is perhaps just as well.

naked doll