Video: Is this the weirdest sushi in Japan?
December 19, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at making sushi — but just haven’t had a decade of training with a top Tokyo chef — pharmaceutical company Kracie may have an alternative for you in the form of DIY candy sushi.
Popin’ Cookin’ is a range of products for anyone with a sweet tooth who needs to improve their creative culinary skills. And, perhaps, fool their friends.
Video: Braving Japan’s most extreme eats
December 5, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Now read the story: The 5 dishes even Japanese people are freaked to eat
Video: Is this Japan’s craziest sport?
May 20, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Call us harsh
if you will, but when a sport causes so many injuries that medics and an
ambulance or two are on permanent standby, it’s probably more fun to be in the
stands watching than on the field getting battered and trampled by the club-fisted,
meat-headed players.
The game of Bou Taoshi — or “Pole Knockdown” — is the preserve of Japanese military-school
recruits, so it’s a fair bet the ability to take orders that may result in one’s
own demise had a part in its genesis.
Video: How Tokyo went dark after the earthquake
April 21, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
This haunting video, posted by a Yokohama-based blogger going by the handle of Darwinfish105, shows areas of Tokyo as they appear before and after the March 11 earthquake.
It chronicles not major damage, of which Tokyo received relatively little, but rather the darkening of the city during the current energy-saving drive.
Ever since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami reduced the capacity of Tokyo-area power utility Tepco, the buzzword among Tokyoites has been “energy-saving.”
Train lines and offices have shut off air conditioning. Stores have dimmed their lighting and signs. Even many of the city’s ubiquitous vending machines have gone dark.
Tokyo video crew drives into heart of Fukushima
April 8, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Whatever
opinion they hold about the reality or otherwise of the dangers posed to the
capital by the current nuclear crisis, many Tokyo residents would do well to
watch the latest guerilla video showing some stark realities from the stricken
Fukushima area.
Alternatively,
folks still in thrall to panic buying, rumormongering and even fleeing Tokyo from
the far-distant Daiichi nuclear power plant may just fall off the edge when
they see what the reporters at videonews.com brought back.
Video: Samurai shadow battle becomes a YouTube hit
February 25, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Samurai may no longer have feudal warriors to battle against, but there are still dark forces to be fought in Tokyo — according to a hit video from Team Lab.
Nineteen-year-old actor Taichi Saotome was filmed on stage slicing his way through a mysterious bombardment emanating from dark clouds above.
A duel followed with what seems to be his alter-ego.
The performance was held at the Galaxy Theater Tokyo in January, and organized by installation art specialists Team Lab, who describe themselves as “Ultra Technologists.”
The two-and-a-half minute sword dance and shadowgraph is titled “Dragon and Peony.”
Video: The weirdest sushi in Japan
February 10, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
If you ever wanted to try your hand at making sushi — but just didn’t like the taste — pharmaceutical company Kracie has the answer.
Popin’ Cookin’ is a range of products for those with a sweet-tooth who need to improve their creative culinary skills. And fool their friends.
Video: From scrawny teenager to yokozuna — the rise of Hakuho
January 24, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho became just the third person in history to win six straight titles as he lifted the Emperor’s Cup yesterday at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo.
As the only yokozuna currently standing in the sport, it was Hakuko’s 18th title overall and it puts him in contention to challenge fellow Mongolian Asashoryu’s record of seven straight titles in a row. There are six honbasho (Grand Sumo tournaments) in each year.
Video: Transformers skit a critical fail but comedy win
January 17, 2011 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Each year Kinchan and Katori Shingo’s All Japan Costume Grand Prix throws up some oddities as amateur groups attempt to humor the nation, with some becoming Internet, if not critical, hits. Most famously, Hideki Kajiwara’s Matrix ping-pong in 2003 went to garner nearly 14 million YouTube hits.
But we think we’ve found the next Kajiwara: 31-year-old comedian Manabu Kawago, who could well be the latest to see his performance become an online video phenomenon.
Video: How to sky dive two meters off the ground, using Google
December 13, 2010 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Some young Japanese have figured out how to ‘sky dive’ just two meters off the ground — thanks to Google Earth.
The boys are seen in a warehouse hovering above a projection of Japan as the screen is manipulated to zoom ever closer to land. Wearing sky-diving gear the two participants are blown by fans, and use popcorn for extra air-rush effects during their ‘drop’ down.
The ruse was concocted as part of Google’s Demo Slam, which encourages people to make their own demo version of Google’s capabilities.
Google lists the champions with the comment, “An honor bestowed on few. Will you be here someday?” The current champion is a demo of Google Goggles called “Rushmore” by Slam Force One.
