Tokyo Times

Mar 24 2005 Leave a Comment

Hopeless hijacker

Drunk and possessing an urge to go to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, a 19-year-old man boarded a bus on Tuesday and threatened to hijack it unless the driver took him there.

Unfortunately for the youth in question, there were a few things he had failed to take into consideration. Firstly he wasn’t carrying a weapon, and secondly the bus was already on its way to the airport.

Realizing that the man posed no real threat, the bus driver quickly alerted the police and the hopeless hijacker was arrested on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business. A police spokesman calmly summed up the whole sorry affair by saying, â€œHe just wanted to make a scene.â€

Which if nothing else, he did manage to do successfully.

Mar 23 2005 1 Comment

Prophetic porridge

Sunday’s earthquake in southern Japan once again proved that scientific attempts at predicting tremors are ineffectual at best. Especially as the area hit was considered (relatively) safe.

It turns out however that a ritual at a 1,200-year-old Shinto shrine in Miyaki may have predicted the quake five days before it struck. But don’t for a minute think that the ceremony involved the perusal of old calendars and ancient texts to decipher the future. No, all that was used was a humble bowl of rice porridge.

On February 26th a bowl of porridge was placed in front of an altar, and then on March 15th it was removed for a fortuneã€€teller to examine it and make his predictions. The results were then passed on to the local religious man who broadcast the news on local television.

Priest Masahiro Higashi said, “It was good porridge this year with a shiny surface and not much mould, but I saw a rare crack.” And after rambling on about harvests and other such stuff, he added prophetically, â€œBut be careful and be prepared for earthquakes.”

So there you go.

What do you see?

Mar 22 2005 27 Comments

Sumo give away #2

Due to the surprising success of the first Tokyo Times sumo give away gala, I’m happy to say that I have acquired another banzuke (like the one pictured above) that I’m willing to post to a reader of this site.

The link above will give you a bit more information about what a banzuke actually is, but in short it’s a ranking sheet that lists all the wrestlers, along with various staff connected with the sport. And as each tournament has a unique and handwritten original, they are not only beautiful to look at, but also a historical record of each contest.

Like before there are no restrictions regarding location. As long as you have an address I can send the banzuke to, then that’s good enough for me.

So for anybody interested, just leave a comment. Those that impress, interest, or amuse me will be entered into a final draw, and the winner will be announced when I get round to it. Perhaps in a week or so.

Mar 21 2005 1 Comment

Riding recommendation

This cheeky little chap says that as there’s a curve to navigate, it’s best not to go too fast on your bicycle.

But that’s rich coming from someone whose bike isn’t equipped with pedals or brakes. And on closer inspection his dangerous looking contraption doesn’t even possess a frame!

Mar 20 2005 28 Comments