Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

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Awry archer?

An unfortunate theme park goer in Yamaguchi Prefecture got more than he bargained for on Friday. As whilst waiting for a grass slide ride, the 54-year-old man was hit just above the eye by an arrow. And after narrowly avoiding being blinded by the 73 cm long projectile, the man was nearly hit a second time, as another arrow landed about 10 metres away from him.

The New Zealand Village theme park where the incident occurred does actually boast an archery site (which combined with the aforementioned grass slide must make it a real magnet for excitement seekers). The only problem is, it’s located a lengthy 33 metres from where the arrows landed.

Police are now trying to figure out if someone intentionally fired the arrows at the grassy slide area, or whether their aim was just absolutely bloody awful.

Categorized: Odd

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Far-right rant

Apart from his stack of in-built insecurities and prejudices, I’m not quite sure what was irritating this far-right ranter the most.

japanese nationalist

Me stood watching him, or the imported fashion shop that he’d made the mistake of positioning himself directly in front of.

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Flame-grilled whale whoppers?

After 20 years off the menu, whale meat has once again returned to school lunches in Wakayama Prefecture. Not just in a few selected schools either. As 85% of the Prefecture’s kids are now wolfing down whale. A figure somewhere in the region of 57,900 students.

whale meat japan

From all accounts this new addition to the menu is going down well too. With Tetsuji Sawada, an official from the board of education saying, “Whale meat is served as burgers or meat balls or marinated with sweet and sour sauce so that the children can eat it easily. Children say it is really tasty.” And in an apparent attempt to justify this controversial decision, Sawada-san went on to say, “The purpose of having whale meat lunches is to let our children know Japanese whaling tradition and whale food culture.”

whale meat

Whatever the (possible) merits of this move, it turns out that the Wakayama educational office had been lobbying the Fisheries Agency for months to lower its prices and make whale meat a viable option for school lunches. And through the help of the government its wish has finally been granted. Resulting in 100 grams of whale meat dropping in price from 500 yen to 125 yen. Making it similar in price to chicken and pork.

Now call me cynical, but could this substantial drop in the price of whale meat be connected to the Fisheries Agency’s new and expanded research activities?

Surely not…

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Plastic porter

Where on earth these things are sold I don’t know. But wherever it is, this homeowner has been and bought one.

porter

And inexplicably put it on prominent display too.

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Summer scene?

Bored with your iPod, Sony PSP, and email equipped mobile phone? Well fear not, Japanese medical technology company Scalar has produced some video sunglasses. And as an added bonus they aren’t especially unfashionable either.

scalar teleglass

Appropriately named Teleglass, the sunglasses can be connected to a portable DVD player, digital camera, and perhaps most importantly with 3G handsets becoming commonplace, a mobile phone.

Using a combination of technology, including the magnifiers utilised by dentists and the hands-free displays used by helicopter pilots, a picture is projected onto the left lens of the glasses. With the manufacturer claiming it’s like watching a 14-inch television from about a metre away. And with the right eye free, the wearer will still be aware of his or her surroundings.

When the product goes on sale, its rumoured price is somewhere around the 50,000 yen (250 pound) mark. And with an early batch of the Teleglass selling out almost immediately from the company’s website, it looks like sunglasses will be the fashion accessory for gadget loving commuters this summer.

However personally I think I’ll still stick with my trusty newspaper for now.