Economic crisis, environmental crisis, there's bad news everywhere we turn and in Tokyo the bad news is smelly, too.
We're talking tuna. Tuna that once went for ¥20 million (US$200,000) for a 445-pound fish at the Tsukiji Fish Markets in Tokyo is going to have to get even more expensive, say the experts, or it'll simply run out because of over-fishing.
We're sensing conspiracy here. Remember that the management at Tsukiji have now strictly limited tourist access to the famous markets? Are the Japanese planning to keep all the tuna for themselves and just feed us the line that it's all been fished out?
Soon we'll only have YouTube videos like the one above of the Japanese fish market to sustain us.
While at least one Brit is determined to give tourists a bad name in Tokyo, a city southwest of Osaka is drawing in the masses with the world's most adorable train attendant.
We've debated for years about who to call the World's Worst Tourists. Germans? Brits? Aussies? All of the above?
This week, the international incident award goes to Spain the UK*, whose citizen dove into the moat around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Even better, the guy proceeded to flail around like an obnoxious gaijin:
The middle-aged man jumped into the water, climbed the palace wall and splashed water at police who tried to catch him from a row boat.
Located in the Mitaka area of western Tokyo, the colorful Reversible Destiny Lofts look more like a children's playground than any kind of modern day luxury condo. Reversible Destiny is the of product of New York-based architect-poet-philosophers Arakawa & Gins who believe that comfort should only play a small role in the home--and that by encountering perpetual challenges, residents will stay young and healthy.
Each loft is designed to:
Stimulate the senses and force inhabitants to use balance, physical strength and imagination.
A jumble of weird features like bright colors, tiny doors, oddly placed power outlets and rooms with concave floors will indeed have people feeling like they've stepped into a big-kids playground.
If you're up for the challenge, two rental units are now available. They go for $2,000-$2,400 a month, and short term stays can be arranged.
Look, Ma, a robot! Robert Downey Jr. and a man wearing a robotic suit hammer open a barrel of sake to celebrate the premiere of "Iron Man" in Japan this weekend. We're just dying to try this at home.
Downey Jr. has had a blockbuster year between "Iron Man" and his critically acclaimed role in "Tropic Thunder."
He wrapped his movie "The Soloist" (by "Atonement" director Joe Wright) in Los Angeles this spring before the press blitz began but is rumored to be in casting for a new "Sherlock Holmes" movie, in which he would star as the deerstalkered one opposite Russell Crowe as Moriarty.
She's got super powers, who would mess with her? "Heroes" actress Hayden Panettiere has been given the all-clear to travel back to Japan after a warrant was issued for her arrest last year.
Nature-lover Hayden participated in protests related to overfishing that hurt local whales, causing the city of Taiji to call for her arrest. But the onscreen cheerleader met with Masahiko Komura and was somehow able to convince him she wasn't a threat to national security.
And she hasn't renounced the whales: She even hosted a benefit for the Whaleman Foundation last night in Hollywood at Eva Longoria's restaurant with "Heroes" boyfriend Milo Ventimiglia.
Give me your tired, your poor, your costumed masses yearning to break free: Japan welcomes wacky performance artists everywhere to the World Cosplay Summit held this Saturday and Sunday, at which presumably cosplayers will issue a statement solving the problems of the world.
In all (or most) seriousness, the event, which includes a parade and the ominously named World Cosplay Championship, marks a turning point in Japanese attitudes toward visitors.
Where tourism offices may have once been cool to anime-crazy foreigners, it recognizes now that they're a lucrative market, as your local Hot Topic knows. As the event's website proclaims:
These young people who know Japan from manga say... JAPAN is COOL!
Jaunted reader ultraclay! has just dropped more photos in our Flickr pool, and we love, love, love this shot.
While this picture was made on the sly--so we don't know this guy's backstory--we like to think that he's been on a super-bender in Tokyo that's just coming to an end. To snap in your own candid shot, hang around bustling Shiodome with your camera on the ready.
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by amandak
