Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

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Gundam god

A trip to Akihabara or Nakano Broadway gives the impression that there are dolls and figures available for every anime and game series known to man — plus a few more just for good measure.

The soon to be released giant Gundam toy however stands out from the crowd somewhat, as it measures a whopping 1.5 metres.

giant gundam

A size eclipsed only by the price tag, which is a bank account busting 350,000 yen (1,570 pound). The cost ever so slightly justified by the fact that the figure boasts 14 movable body parts — allegedly 2 more than the pint-sized promotional lady also pictured.

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Jaded Japanese?

“For those who want to divorce or who are just mulling over the possibility of separating from their husbands, there is no reason to take action prior to April 2007. That’s the iron rule of divorce for many wives now.”

An (understandably) unnamed homemaker commenting on the upcoming new law that will allow housewives to obtain up to half their husbands’ pensions in a divorce settlement — a change that not surprisingly has resulted in many ‘experts’ predicting an increased number of divorces from next year.

Romance, respect and riding out the rough times it would appear now come rather cynically combined with an expiry date or sorts. However for those whose husbands have worked long and hard over the past 40 years or so, the likes of foreign tours, day trips with friends and leisurely luncheons look set to merrily continue for many years to come.

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Footwear foible

With the detrimental effect stress can have on one’s health and mental well-being, it’s not surprising that people are constantly on the look out for the most current and constructive cure. Yet whereas many just give up and opt for the tried and trusted method of alcohol abuse, a few mavericks out there appear intent on pushing the boundaries of stress release therapy.

Sadly Yoshiaki Kobayashi’s imaginative method of stuffing chocolate ice cream into random post boxes never really caught on, although with the ever-increasing use of e-mail, the salary man’s system may yet find some sort of success.

post box

Equally extravagant but way more weird however is the procedure recently pioneered by Osaka policeman Norifusa Nakanishi. A routine that whilst reputably rewarding also resulted in the off-duty officer’s arrest, after he was caught stealing a 10-year-old boy’s shoe from a local elementary school.

smelly shoes

The 24-year-old apparently telling his no doubt confounded colleagues, “I was stressed out, and smelling a shoe is my way to release stress.”

Why the aforementioned footwear should belong to a young boy and be stolen from a school however wasn’t disclosed.

Categorized: Odd

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Robot related rubbish

With the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC) exhibition currently in full swing at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, Kyoto based Murata Manufacturing may well have hoped to wow visitors with its cycling sensation, Murata Boy.

murata boy

However despite some interest in the biking biped, much of the crowd’s attention was perhaps surprisingly drawn to Tetsuo Noguchi and his amazing neck stretching apparatus. The ingenious inventor partly pictured below (far left), his body — according to eyewitnesses — a good 2 metres further out of shot.

murata boy

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Memory master

Smashing his own record by a considerable margin, Akira Haraguchi managed to recall a walloping 100,000 digits of pi on Tuesday — a feat that took him a seriously soporific 16 hours.

pi master

The 60-year-old’s previous tally of 83,431 digits now appears positively pitiful in comparison, although Haraguchi-san himself remains humble. “The figure 100,000 is just an extension of last year’s record, and I wasn’t really caught up with that particular number. I’m certainly no genius. I’m just an ordinary old guy.”

Genius or not, the digit devotee memorises pi using a technique of his own invention, rhyming the numbers and their order with Japanese words. Plus it is all also rumoured that he doesn’t get out much.