Tokyo Times

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Web/Tech

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Fiery female

When it comes to a lack of ideas or a shortage of stories, some sorry site owners resort to posting pictures of sexy sirens in swimsuits, pathetically passing them off as relevant to a story, or even as ironic. However a blogger from Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, adopted a rather more drastic method to address her lack of interesting material; the 20-year-old setting fire to random buildings and automobiles in her local neighbourhood.

Arrested over the weekend for torching a car in a dealer’s parking lot, Erika Hirata confessed to the crime, bluntly declaring, “It’s true that I started the fire.” Her capture has also made Hirata-san chief suspect for the 20 or so unexplained fires that have occurred in Suwa since April this year, with the young woman possessing photos of 2 of the blazes under investigation.

Yet despite going to so much trouble to get something interesting to post on her blog, Hirata has hardly been imaginative with the material. The fire she was arrested for produced only 2 short sentences. “There has been a fire in Shimosuwa. It burned two cars” Similarly, another fire she quite possibly started at her old school was dealt with very briefly indeed. “I was shocked because it was the school I graduated from.”

What kind of sentence she will receive is unclear, but it has been reported that Hirata wanted to become an entertainer after leaving school. Her dream of gracing the pages of fashion magazines like Erika Sato,

erika sato

or developing a long and illustrious career like Norika Fujiwara,

norika fujiwara

appear to have been dashed.

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Web wonder

Japan crowned its first ever internet beauty queen over the weekend, after whittling down a winner from around 5,500 entries. Yet in a bid to make sure that the victor didn’t turn out to be a balding and bearded middle-aged man living with his parents and known online as Judith, the organizers asked the 20 best contestants — chosen by internet voting — to appear in person for the final judgment.

The contest’s eventual champion turned out to be 19-year-old Rena Tomabechi, a university student from Aomori Prefecture. A young lady who fortunately for the organizers appears to be anything but a wildly unpredictable web weirdo.

internet beauty

The teenage student managed to bag the top spot after performing a walk in a bathing suit, which received a winning eja evaluation from the juiced up judges. An award that netted her a tidy 1 million yen (4,750 pound) in cash and a free trip to Hong Kong. Triumphant Tomabechi also proving that she’s far more than just a pretty face, wowing the gathered throng during her acceptance speech by saying, “I still can’t believe it. When I wake up tomorrow, I’ll probably be all confused, thinking ‘What shall I do? I’ve won’.”

High school student ‘Namie’ (pictured below) came a close second.

freaky cosplay

Apparently.

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Bungling blogger

A former police administration officer in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, has been reported to prosecutors for violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law after taking pictures of handguns and using them on his blog.

gun
a gun

Whilst on duty in September 2002, the 33-year-old unlocked a firearms cabinet and selected two particularly photogenic weapons, then after surreptitiously taking a few pictures he posted them on his blog — twice as it turns out. Yet despite cleverly applying a mosaic pattern to the photos, a prefectural police worker later recognized the guns and promptly reported his findings.

The unnamed blogger was given a 10 percent pay cut as punishment, but being understandably embarrassed by the whole affair, he resigned on Wednesday, explaining his behaviour by saying, “I posted [the photographs of the guns] because I wanted people to take an interest in the home page.”

An excuse that will presumably carry little weight with prosecutors, as everybody knows that it takes hard work and good writing to attract people to a blog. The random posting of pictures,

japanese beauties

takes no skill or talent whatsoever,

fujiwara

and regardless of the content it’s a lame and unimaginative way to try and boost traffic.

waka inoue

He ought to be ashamed of himself.

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Bloggies blackmail

After losing spectacularly in the 2005 Bloggies, I’ve been lucky enough to get nominated in the Asian category again this year, offering me the perfect opportunity to bow out with a whimper for a second straight time.

However instead of just lying down and accepting defeat, I’ve took the rather drastic step of bringing in some help; the dubious services of cosplay legend The Green Goddess intended to ward off at least a last place finish.

cosplay freaks

Possibly spurred on by the recent introduction of naked taiko, our beret wearing beauty is threatening to take off that tight fitting green outfit and do a spot of nude gymnastics if Tokyo Times doesn’t put up a decent showing. All in front of the camera too. The performance set to end with the lens lingering just a little too long on the leotard lacking lovely doing the splits.

cosplay beauty

So the choice is yours, click here to vote or the video it is…

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I spy

Computer Associates International Inc. has recently formed an anti-spyware squad as part of its ongoing effort to raise awareness amongst computer users. And in a bid to give the promotion maximum exposure, the organisation has chosen TV celebrity Kaori Manabe as leader of its ‘spyware extermination squad’.

manabe kaori

Whilst the move may initially look like a cynical attempt to gain maximum publicity from a pretty face, Manabe-san was apparently picked due to the popularity of her blog. The young woman further demonstrating her credentials by wearing an official hat and saying, “I want to find out if people around me are taking anti-spyware measures.”

Which all in all makes for a very worthy cause indeed. Plus with the addition of Manabe-san on board, it’s something a large number of people will be keen to get behind and vigorously support.

kaori manabe