Japanese hula girls, who helped revive a former coal mining town as a Hawaii-themed spa, have returned to the resort as it reopened nearly seven months after it was damaged by the March 11 earthquake. They danced to 21 songs, often in tears, in a "Polynesian Show" as some 700 guests cheered at the Spa Resort Hawaiians, 180 kilometres north of Tokyo, as it reopened for business on Saturday, according to local media. The resort has attracted an annual 1.5 million visitors in recent years, including many from China and South Korea. But it is expected to struggle for survival due to fears over radiation from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant 50 kilometres away. (Sydney Morning Herald, Oct 03) 4 Oct It's a familiar nighttime routine: You are out in Shimbashi, drunk, and the last train has passed. What to do? While pondering the predicament a young Chinese gal materializes on a nearby corner. "Excuse me, sir?" Thus begins a survey of quickie sex services from weekly tabloid Shukan Asahi Geino (Sept. 15), which finds that prices are plummeting in the current deflationary environment. "We can get you a room for 5,000 yen," she continues. "Ah, but I've only got 3,000 yen," the crafty writer counters. In Tokyo's entertainment areas, below-the-belt services for 5,000 yen are in abundance, but many lucky lads are getting away with much less. (Tokyo Reporter)
4 Oct
The Asahi beer is ice-cold. Naoki Doi takes sips from it between bites of curry. The bespectacled tour guide has asked me and my family to eat fast: he's taking us around some of Kyoto's outstanding shrines and temples, and there's a lot of them to see. He is, he says, relieved to have some business again. In March this year, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of East Japan, sending a devastating tsunami towards the shore. The tsunami wiped out entire towns across the country's Pacific coast, and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant. But while Japan has rebuilt large parts of the damaged areas, tourism in the country took a huge hit. Kyoto may be 500 miles south of Fukushima Prefecture, but it still felt the impact. (guardian.co.uk)4 Oct More and more riders of fixed-gear bikes--racing bicycles without brakes--are being ticketed by police for riding on public roads. Riding a bicycle without brakes on a public road is a violation of the Road Traffic Law. The number of cases in which police have taken action against such bicycles--known as "fixies" in the West and "piste bikes" in Japan--has also increased. "Piste" is a French word meaning race track. Piste bikes have fixed gears directly linking the rotation of pedals to the rear wheel and are primarily used for track racing. (Yomiuri)
3 Oct
Increasing numbers of Japanese are falling victim to scams in Shanghai, being lured into paying exorbitant charges for minimal services, according to Japanese consular officials. This year alone there have been 70 Japanese who have fallen to Shanghai scams, costing them close on 10 million yen (around $130,000). Most of the victims have been men, but some women have also fallen into the trap. Japanese consulate officials said the majority of scams are being pulled off in restaurants, clubs and bars in popular tourist areas along the Bund. (majirox news)3 Oct
The town of Futaba is either a place without people or a group of people without a place. Japan's nuclear disaster contaminated the town's 20 square miles, leaving the land uninhabitable, perhaps for decades. The disaster also forced the evacuation of 7,000 people from the town, with many of them still living at an abandoned high school more than 100 miles from home. For months, those people waited to hear about their chances of returning home. But now that a return to Futaba - on the doorstep of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant - seems almost inconceivable, town officials have recently composed a new plan: They'd like to rebuild Futaba somewhere else. "What we are trying to do is unprecedented," said Oosumi Muneshige, a chief assistant to the mayor. "We're looking for a place where everybody can live together, basically a reconstruction of what we had before." (Seattle Times)
With schoolchildren playing in front of her house every day, a tsunami survivor who identifies herself only as "Mrs. Sugawara," says she often thinks about suicide. Her daughter and two sons survived the March 11 disaster, but her husband and three grandchildren did not. "They were my future, and now they are gone and not coming back," says Mrs. Sugawara, 69. "The tsunami took my sense of hope away with them." Her lonely struggle mirrors that of thousands of tsunami survivors, especially seniors now isolated in temporary houses after spending months in crowded but more sociable gymnasiums. Since her children have gone to work elsewhere, Mrs. Sugawara lives alone, in a prefab unit in the parking lot of a junior high school overlooking the obliterated northeastern city of Rikuzen-Takata. (Washington Times)
Investigators continue to search for a man who held up a suburban Tokyo bookstore by threatening the manager with a lit firework, the Metropolitan Police Department said Sept. 29. The man described as being about 160 centimeters tall and wearing a gray hoodie and white surgical mask made off with 5,000 yen (around $65) in cash after threatening the bookstore manager in Nishitokyo on Thursday night. (majirox news)
TOKYO (majirox news) — An 81-year-old man who sexually abused two pre-teen girls visiting his home to take part in an English conversation group was sentenced on Sept.6 by the Tokyo District Court to 18 years imprisonment, a year longer than prosecutors had sought.
More than 30,000 fashionistas flocked to Japan's largest fashion event, the Tokyo Girl's Collection -- or TGC this weekend -- a bi-annual show that combines the country's top fashion brands with popular music acts. Now in its sixth year, the six hour show has established itself as the epicenter of Japan's "kawaii," or cute culture, a culture that has gained a global following in recent years. On Saturday, the Saitama Super Arena, just outside of Tokyo, looked more like a cross between a concert and circus than a fashion show. Popular models strutted their looks down the runway, as adoring fans screamed their names, while other show-goers crowded booths featuring everything from makeup to a foot massage. In between, the TGC stage featured a mini ballet performance, and an appearance by Cirque de Soleil. 
The Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, will open next week offering lovers of the instant snack a trip through noodle history. The iconic food creation, consisting of a precooked block of noodles requiring only hot water, a packet of flavouring and three minutes preparation time, has been a popular Japanese snack for decades. (Telegraph)