Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

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Guilt-ridden gangsters

Ken Nakasuji was in the wrong place at the wrong time, as answering a knock on his door let in two gangsters who set about stabbing him in the chest and abdomen.

It turns out the Yakuza members were after a man resembling Nakasuji who lived in the same apartment building. Yet despite his misfortune, Nakasuji-san was lucky enough to blurt out his name and place of work in between knife thrusts, alerting his attackers of their mistake.

Realizing they had the wrong man, the gangsters showed a brief glimpse of their softer side. Knives were immediately put away, and one of the men said to Nakasuji, “Sorry, it was a mistake. You almost died.”

But just to show they weren’t complete pushovers, the gangster quickly added, “If you tell the police we will kill you.”

As the two Yakuza members were arrested on Thursday, it is to be hoped Nakasuji-san has moved. And I guess, is no longer Mr. Nakasuji.

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Evil EMIEW?

Not wanting to be outdone by Sony’s QRIO and Honda’s Asimo, Hitachi has joined the mechanical melee and produced a robot of its own.

hitachi emiew

This latest member of Japan’s rapidly growing robot population goes by the name of EMIEW, which stands for, “excellent mobility and interactive existence as work mate.” The 130-cm-tall machine apparently has the ability to avoid obstacles, respond to simple voice commands, and also read the weather forecast. And whilst it has been developed for the upcoming Aichi World Expo, Hitachi officials have said they hope to be renting or selling such robots in the relatively near future.

Yet is it possible that all this talk of interactive existence and excellent mobility is merely a cover for more sinister activities? As during a demonstration in Tokyo on Tuesday, reporters were told not to touch the robot. Similarly they were asked not to use a camera flash from certain angles, and in no circumstances were they to cross a white line that had been marked on the floor.

Hitachi’s thoroughly unconvincing excuse is that such precautions are merely for safety, as EMIEW has only just been developed. But the look of absolute fear on this Hitachi employees face as he is confronted by the robotic rogue hints at evil EMIEW’s malevolent menace.

hitachi emiew

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Teacher trouble

Earlier this week a junior high school teacher in Fukushima was arrested for performing indecent acts on a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

This incident in itself isn’t especially newsworthy, as such events aren’t exactly uncommon. Although the fact that the two had known each other for some time and were caught furthering their relationship in a car park makes something of a change. As generally it’s a clandestine meeting between two strangers in a hotel room, with money being exchanged at some point during the proceedings.

What makes this story ever so slightly interesting however is that the 36-year-old teacher has been hit with something of a double whammy. First of all he will be charged with performing indecent acts on a 15-year-old, but he is also being accused of breaking a Fukushima Government ordinance. One that is primarily aimed at “giving youth a wholesome upbringing.”

Now whether the teacher can convincingly claim he was unaware of the girl’s age remains to be seen, but as far as the ‘wholesome upbringing’ goes, he’s in an awful lot of trouble.

Categorized: Sex

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Fiery footsteps

Some Buddhist sects here conduct walking-over-fire rituals, with worshippers gingerly crossing smoldering hot ground created by the burning of religious amulets. And recently in western Tokyo, some itinerant priests supervised such an event (if that’s the right word).

The woman in the picture however looks like she just happened to be on her way back from the supermarket, but a slightly wrong turn meant that before she knew it her shoes had been removed and she was being guided (complete with shopping) across the glowing ground.

walking on fire

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Lavatory literature

Whether the unusual nature of this publication is in relation to its literary worth hasn’t been disclosed, but Sanseido Books is selling a summary of the Architectural Body by Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins on toilet paper.

toilet paper book

For any bathroom tissue aficionados out there, each roll is 30-metres long, and thankfully double-layered. However cost wise this toilet tract doesn’t come cheap, as each roll retails at 350 yen (almost 2 pound). But for the combination of reading matter, and the, erm, ability to remove matter, it’s arguably not a bad price.