Sex-Change Dad's Child Registered as Illegitimate

By akgoemans on 1/11/10 8:02am
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Kon Hated Sad StoriesKon Hated Sad Stories
There's one sad story doing the rounds this week. It's the case of a Japanese couple who recently had a child through artificial insemination and were told to register the child as illegitimate simply because the 'official' father had recently had a sex change.



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Japanese Love Hotels

By akgoemans on 1/6/10 8:13am
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Erotica from Edo periodErotica from Edo period

Photo Source: Misty Keasler via Wired

When reading up on the weird and wonderful cultural aspects of Japan, I'm sure you have come across love hotels.

It's been mentioned in a number of the manga I read and of course, it gets pride of place in the 'strange facts about the world' articles. So what are they? Are they really as bad as all that?



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Christmas Tree Made of Fish

By akgoemans on 12/28/09 3:02am
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A Christmas tree made of sardines? How does that work? Well, it's not quite how you imagine it. There's no dodgy seawater plant towering above everyone, a tree which consists of tiny dangling fish, twisted into awkward shapes. Rather, think of sardines in a huge fish tank that swim around in fancy little formations creating a …. Christmas tree!



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McDonalds in Japan

By akgoemans on 12/21/09 3:02am
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I was talking to a friend about McDonald's in Japan and we wondered about their menus. After all, McDonald's (and other such franchises) tweak their menus (and premises and wahtnot) according to the taste of the local folks so what could we expect from this quirky Asian nation?



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Mommy Waitresses, Freudian much?

By akgoemans on 12/14/09 3:00am
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 Mother CafeMother Cafe

I suppose the idea of a Mother Cafe is not that weird, not when you have heard of (drum roll) the Herbivore Man. In fact, it seems like the aforementioned cafe has propped up catering especially to these young ones. So what am I going on about? Mother Cafe is a recent development in Japan where the waitresses dress up as 'motherly' figures. 

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Keeping Up With Suntory

By msarko on 12/10/09 6:37pm
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In watching media from various countries around the world, I've learned that different cultures have their own unique approaches to advertizing and product placement. In America we're rather shameless about thrusting a can of whatever carbonated corn syrup tincture is paying for a show right into the middle of a frame, or even having an otherwise sinister villain give a speech about the wonders of a particular brand of cell phone. The French, being French, just make everything somehow relate to sex and apparently all of South America just can't get enough of bright colors and choreographed dance numbers. And then we get to Japan, the country that has made it its business for the past sixty years to take every aspect of foreign pop culture and amplify it to mockingly absurd levels. Japanese companies don't care if you know what's happening in their commercials or even if you approve of whatever nightmare they're trying to give you, just as long as you remember what product they're ostensibly trying to encourage you to buy.



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Robot Exhibition in Tokyo

By akgoemans on 12/7/09 8:52am
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There was another robot exhibition in Tokyo recently (well, who's keeping track, it was just the other day that they had the swine flu bot display). It took place at the end of November and it featured a number of strange bots from all over the world. The event took place in Tokyo Big Sight and the expo itself was called International Robot Exhibition.

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Japanese Cops Crossdress to Catch Muggers?

By akgoemans on 12/3/09 3:19am
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Pretty eh? I made it myself!Pretty eh? I made it myself!
What's the first thing that comes to mind when you read this? Apparently police in central Japan are fed up with numerous mugging cases that have propped up all over the city. In these instances, the culprits are targeting young women and appear to be running off with their bags.



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Man Literally Marries a Video Game

By msarko on 11/26/09 6:57pm
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If today's news is any indication, then Japanese society has bigger things to worry about than young men who get manicures and pee sitting down. A man who prefers to go by his Internet handle SAL9000 recently went all-out in his fairytale wedding to a character from a video game. She's a figment generated from Love Plus on the Nintendo DS and Mr. 9000 is sincere in his devotion to her. The two of them had a romantic getaway in Guam then came back to Japan to have an actual wedding complete with a guest list comprised of friends and family, a service and a reception. Let's unpack this one, shall we?



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The Herbivore Man

By akgoemans on 11/23/09 6:19am
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Let's be friendsLet's be friends

I don't know how much truth there is to this new social trend in japan - the Herbivore Man (aka sōshoku danshi). This is a fad that has, according to many sources, captured the imagination of Japan's youth. Most importantly, it is prominent amongst the age group that falls into the working section, you know, that rather telling bit on a graph lurking between the 18 somethings and retired groups. Well, what exactly is this trend and why is everyone making a fuss about this?

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