A comic book series in Japan is turning into the biggest deal in the wine industry there. As the story goes, the son of a deceased wine critic has to travel the globe, looking for great vino. (Seems much more pleasant than fighting The Joker!)
The mere mention of a bottling in the books can drive outrageous sales, says The Telegraph:
The comic is read by 500,000 Japanese each week and [its] sway over the wine market is spreading throughout Asia. Some wine importers say they have never seen such a powerful single influence on their business.
In Taiwan a single reference to a relatively obscure French terroir led to dozens of cases of the wine being sold within a few days.
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.
What you call these Pacific isles depends on who you are: Named the Liancourt Rocks for a French whaler that was almost marooned there, they are currently the subject of a bitter border dispute between Japan and South Korea, so it matters whether you call them Takeshima (Bamboo Islands) or Dokdo (Solitary Island).
Japan unofficially assumed control of the islands during World War II, but it was only recently that natural gas deposits were discovered underneath the territory, making them potentially much more valuable.
Both countries' claims have inspired T-shirt slogans and ringtones, neither of which were available in previous border disputes--otherwise we might all be humming "54'40" or Fight!"
The ancient Japanese city of Nara, an hour east of Osaka, might be most famous to us for its map-eating deer, but being an ancient capital means it's also full of historical museums. And we have good news: Getting in to these museums is now going to be free for all foreign tourists.
It's really very simple: The governor of Nara says tourists have told him the entrance fees are too high, so he has decided that everyone who shows a foreign passport can get in for free.
This very friendly gesture starts from August 1 and includes four cultural, art and historical museums in Nara. We also think that the price of Japanese watermelons is too high, so perhaps the nice Nara governor could fix that for us too.
In an effort to keep underage kids from buying, new cigarette vending machines in Osaka have facial recognition cameras. The scanners look for wrinkles and other signs of age before greenlighting the purchase of a pack.
But some crafty kids in Japan have come up with a work-around: They simply hold up a magazine photo of someone older and the machine gives them the OK.
The manufacturer of the machines says a new system that can't be fooled will be ready to go soon. Funny thing is, there's already something more effective: Japan's Taspo program--RFID cards used for age verification--will be installed on machines nationwide by next month.
We're big fans of small budget airlines, but we just discovered low cost Japanese carrier Skymark. It's based in Tokyo and flies a bunch of domestic routes and also heads over to South Korea.
Skymark has a full, colorful website for its Japanese customers, but for English-speakers it's a little bare and full of slightly quaint English and a few odd commands. For example, on the contact page where telephone numbers are given for reservations and information, the site demands "Please double-check the phone number before dialing." No wrong numbers, please!
This airline's been in a spot of bother recently because two pilots retired at the end of May. Somehow Skymark didn't anticipate a problem and thus, two pilots short, had to cancel 168 flights during June. Increasing demand for pilots as LCCs grow across Asia is apparently to blame, and nobody's sure if they've found more pilots for July or not.
The Miho Museum in Shiga, Japan is one of those places that always comes along with adjective "renowned," and for good reason. It was funded by one of the richest women in Japan, Mihoko Koyama, and its collection of both Asian and Western antiques could be worth up to a billion dollars.
Right now it's closed because they're getting ready for their summer exhibition: Ancient Sacred Drinking Vessels. Yes, it's about what the people of old used to drink from. In fact, there are a lot of animal-shaped drinking vessels which sound more exciting than the very regular-shaped glass we drank our last beer out of.
Along with the exhibition there'll be stories and myths about what they were drinking (and possibly, how they cured their hangovers). It opens up on July 12 and should run to August 17. Even if you don't want to see how your ancestors drank, tag along to the Miho just for the scenery. We promise it's great.
This Youtube video shows what happens at a McDonald's restaurant in the Akasaka, Tokyo after the bars close. The clip shows at least seven people sleeping off a night of heavy drinking in the booths at Mickey D's. Some of these sleepyheads were probably stranded when the Tokyo Metro closed down for the evening.
Miraculously, the staff doesn't seem to care that their restaurant is being used as a flophouse. This type of thing would never happen in the States. When we used to work at Starbucks in Manhattan, junkies and drunks would pass out in the bathrooms and we'd chase them out with mops. Guess foreign fast food joints are just a haven for assorted weirdness. For more proof, check out our clip of the dancing waiters at Pizza Hut in India.
