Looks like the Americans may be gearing up to challenge the Japanese in innovative toilet technology. . .

Thanks to Mr. Pink

Nothing to do with Japan, but good for a laugh is But I Could Be Wrong by Tim Wilson. Don’t click if you are offended by foul language.

The Scotsman is reporting an invasion of Japanese fans for a music festival featuring 1980s and 1990s British indie acts.

Who needs men anyway?

As we mentioned the other day, fans around the world recently marked the 30th anniversay of the death of Elvis Presley. Now we get word that an album of the King’s greatest hits has hit No. 1 in the U.K.

Many people laugh at the notion of fan death, but this report out of Tokyo proves that it is indeed for real.

Don’t know if there is any relation to the Japan surrender anniversary or not, but I just noticed that tonight’s nine o’clock TV movie on Tokyo’s chanel 12 is Bridge on the River Kwai.

I would like to congratulate whoever it was over at THE JAPAN TIMES who finally figured out that the best way to confront technological change is to embrace it, not resist it. It wasn’t that long ago that the JT was trying to hide is stories behind a registration-required wall in a misguided attempt to keep bloggers from linking to them. It now seems that common sense has won the day, and the JT now even devotes space to a box on some of its pages with links to its most-linked articles and access to a list of blogs that are linked to them. Way to go, JT!

Be sure to check out our new advertiser in the sidebar about halfway down the page. Korean Arts offers a wide array of Korean vases, bowls, incense burners, chopsticks, dolls. celdon pendands and much more

Now that Barry Bonds has surpassed Hank Aaron on the all-time home run list, pundits are again talking about who is the true home run king and which records really “count”. Here is a pretty good article that discusses the career and home run hitting achievements of Sadaharu Oh.

In a report about the recent Adult Treasure Expo in Chiba, The Malta Star says: ” It’s not everyday that the Japanese visit a sex fair. . .” Whoever wrote this apparently has never been to Shinjuku or Shibuya.

Japan is calling the resolution regrettable.

Click here for a pretty good rundown on the LDP’s election loss over the weekend and what it means for the future.

Air China recently reported a 2000 percent rise in net profit over the first six months of 2007. Though it sounds like business must be booming, China blog Danwei, claims that there may be other reasons for the rise: “Air China does not spend any money on edible food, enjoyable inflight entertainment, or computer systems that make their planes depart on time.”

Looks like Japan is not the only country where women are not safe riding the trains and subways. New York seems to have similar, if not worse, problems of its own.

Workers used paper towels to wipe up radioactive water that spilled from a spent nuclear fuel storage pool at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant during the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Niigata Prefecture.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is saying that they have nothing to hide from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors who are scheduled to arrive in Japan to inspect the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which was severely damaged by an earthquake recently.

Well. . . This is JAPUNDIT’s new look.

Hope I didn’t surprise too many of you with the sudden, unannounced change.

No doubt it will be evolving a bit as time goes by.

According to a report on JAPAN TODAY, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK is considering different plans to reduce mandatory subscription rates paid by households. Under one plan, the monthly subscription rate will be reduced by. . . 100 yen.

Just a note to let those who are interested know that the podcast will be a bit delayed this weekend. It will be available from Sunday afternoon, Japan Time.