Odd

The Japanese are renowned the world over for their longevity, but a recent event in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, casts some doubt upon the validity of such a widely held belief. As a man celebrated for being the oldest male in the city had actually been dead for as long as a decade.

Kyujiro Kanaoka, who lived with his three elderly children (all in their 70’s), had been known as Itami’s oldest man since 1999. Yet an autopsy conducted on Tuesday revealed that he had died from natural causes or illness between five to ten years ago.

Mr. Kanaoka’s body was finally recovered from the family home after a relative alerted the police following a conversation with his son. Local government officials, who had believed the deceased was 107, found his kimono clad body mummified in the house. With the futon the body was resting on surrounded by religious amulets, charms, and notes. It turns out the children also delivered meals to their dead father on a daily basis.

When the city mayor went to visit the house on Respect For The Aged Day last year, he was turned away and told that Mr. Kanaoka was bedridden and unable to meet visitors. An episode that aroused little or no suspicion. But a shocked neigbour did say that, “I thought something was a little strange, because you’d see all these pamphlets talking about him as being the oldest person, but you never actually saw him.”

And now we know why…

Applying a law that was implemented in 1889, police officers arrested two groups of teenagers for dueling on Wednesday.

Each group consisted of 5 junior high school boys, but the duels were fought in a very civilized one-on-one. Further adding to this chivalrous form of combat is that no weapons were allowed, plus blows to the genitalia were strictly forbidden. And for a winner to be declared, one fighter had to give up.

As honourable as this may (arguably) sound, the fights weren’t over the attention of a young lady, or the defamation of a good man’s character. No, bizarrely these bare-knuckle brawls were all down to the minor misfortune of a slashed bicycle seat.

Whilst the boys in question are said to have admitted to the allegations and shown considerable regret, police reports sadly didn’t disclose whether gloves were thrown on the ground or slapped across faces prior to any dueling action.

Monday mornings are always hard to deal with, but a Fukushima native appears to have equally torrid Tuesdays.

At around 8 a.m. this Tuesday, an 8-year-old on his way to elementary school greeted the moody man with a bright and breezy “Good Morning!” But rather than receiving a similarly good natured response, the young boy was told to “Shut up!”

And to really teach the young fella not to be polite and friendly, the tetchy Tuesday hater hit him on the head before leaving the scene. Resulting in the poor boy needing medical treatment.