Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

1 Comment

The customer isn’t always right

Like the British, the Japanese aren’t overly fond of complaining about service or food in restaurants. And to hear somebody do so is unusual to say the least. But perhaps there’s good reason for such reticence, as last week police arrested a restaurant owner for killing a complaining customer.

How bad the service is (or was) at 26-year-old Katsuhisa Ukon’s gyudon restaurant remains undocumented, but one customer felt the need to persistently make complaints. Even resorting to calling the restaurant to voice his displeasure.

Unfortunately this irked Ukon so much that he asked a friend for an alibi, and then arming himself with a knife and donning gloves, he went round to the complaining customer’s apartment and killed him.

Complainers beware…

2 Comments

Accessory assault

We all have our pet hates, but a 68-year-old resident of Osaka’s complete disdain for earrings ended in his arrest last week.

Finding himself drunk and in the vicinity of two teenage girls having the audacity to wear earrings, the man took it upon himself to teach them a lesson or two. And promptly proceeded to give them a few kicks, plus some further blows to the head for good measure.

The youngsters had little warning of the impending violence, as apart from a pre-attack question of “What do you think you are wearing in your ears?” the man gave little or no indication regarding his absolute hatred of earlobe attachments.

Fortunately a slightly older girl with the two victims (who was presumably not wearing anything in her ears) phoned the police. Resulting in the immediate arrest of the deranged drunk.

During questioning, the man admitted to the attack, and attempted to defend his behaviour by saying, “I was intending to reprimand them about their clothes and so on.”

Now what the girls were wearing, and what kind of earrings they were sporting wasn’t disclosed, but even monstrosities like these wouldn’t warrant a full-scale assault.

earrings

Would they?

Leave a Comment

PSP passion

Yesterday saw the release of the Sony PSP, and as widely expected, the initial shipment was sold out by the end of the day. Perhaps even more predictable (despite a relatively low-key promotional campaign) were the lines of game enthusiasts lined up outside stores way before opening time.

The dedication of these people is shown in this picture I came across. The dark, cold, and ungodly hour appear to be only a minor hindrance compared to the shiny new handheld waiting inside.

psp_wait

And this young man’s beaming face proves that for him at least, the waiting and effort was undoubtedly worth it.

psp_get

So with the PSP and the Nintendo DS now both out of the bag and enjoying equally brisk sales, it will be very interesting to see how the battle for handheld supremacy develops. Whilst I think there is room for both machines (as they appear to be targeting different audiences) there is also a great deal of overlap.

And with its sleek black design and surprisingly large screen, my money (for what it’s worth) is on the PSP.

1 Comment

Comical incompetence

In the early hours of Tuesday morning last week, police in Saitama (just north of Tokyo) were informed about a potential break-in at a consumer credit card company branch.

Three officers quickly arrived at the scene, and found a man attempting to destroy an ATM. But using the steel bar he was trying to damage the machine with, the thief attacked the policemen, prompting one of the officers to fire 2 shots at him.

Needless to say both shots missed (although sadly we don’t know by how far), and the quick-footed criminal managed to escape on a nearby bicycle. Yes, not a high-powered sports car, but a bicycle!

Embarrassed police are now searching for the man, who they describe as in his 20s or 30s and wearing a black jacket. That should narrow it down a bit eh? Perhaps he also had black hair and Asian features.

target

Above is a leaked copy of top police marksman Kenji Watanabe’s latest outing at the shooting range.

3 Comments

Sexy Santa

The Japanese don’t celebrate Christmas, not in the conventional sense anyway (whatever that is), but with Christmas decorations everywhere it’s often easy to forget.

However implementing the national trait of taking an idea, making it infinitely better, and then reintroducing it to the world, I present to you miniskirt Santa.

miniskirt santa

Yes, for a measly 3,000 yen (15 pounds), anyone feeling like a bit of a festive frolic can go and visit miniskirt Santa. And as the picture suggests, Santa is not an overweight man with a yellowing beard and bad breath. Rather an attractive young lady with a penchant for showing her legs.

Which leaves the question, who’s is going to sit on whose knee?