The Road to the Deep East is reporting some interesting background on the story the other day about a Japan Foreign Ministry official who is being accused of staying at a Tokyo hotel for 300 days and skipping out on his 15-million-yen tab.
As strange as this story was, people here generally were quick to […]

Japan has been undergoing a “Miyazaki Prefecture Boom,” lately, thanks to its governor, former TV comedian Sonomanma Higashi, a discovery of director/comedian Takeshi Kitano, who appeared on Takeshi’s Castle for years.
The TV comic gave up his career as a “talent” to run for governor of this rural prefecture last year, winning despite having no […]

Here is a TV commercial for zero-calorie Kirin Fire canned coffee that features the popular U.S. enka singer Jero. Apparently, the ad is going for a play on similarity between the Japanese pronunciation of the word “zero” and the name Jero.

Former sumo champion Konishiki arrived back in Japan recently for the first time after undergoing gastric bypass surgery in February.
Since the operation Konishiki has shed 70 kilograms (144 pounds), from a high of 300 kilograms (660 pounds).

Though we would like to congratulate Konishiki on his weight loss and wish him the best in […]

The Washington Post has an inexplicably long article on Jerome White, Jr., also known as Jero who is a Pittsburgh born and bred, 26-year old entertainer in Japan who happens to have a Japanese grandmother (now deceased) and performs old style Japanese enka songs. The article describes enka as WWII-era syrupy and maudlin music. His debut single went […]

Ex-Beatle Sir Paul is reportedly horrified that an eco-friendly Lexus LS600H automobile given to him by Toyota was delivered by flying it 7,000 miles to the U.K. from Japan.
A source is reported to have said: “Paul was offered a Lexus as a gift and ordered the hybrid limo because it helps to reduce emissions.
“He’ll […]

It’s one thing to idolise someone who happens to be stupid. It’s quite another to idolise someone because they’re stupid.
Japan’s pushy mothers may be missing a trick by keeping her offspring in juku (cram school) until late at night every day, when there is a clear alternative - professional idiocy.
There used to be a […]

Ayumi: You know your career has taken off when a smitten fan paints your visage on the back of a love van. . .

. . .and you know your career is over when your portrait is spotted being unceremoniously carted off to the scrapyard.

Japanese jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita recently burned an old piano he no longer needs on beach in Shiga, Ishikawa Prefecture. . . As he was playing it.
Yamashita says disposing of a piano this way shows his appreciation for the instrument.
The following is a video of Yamashita saying farewell to a previous piano in the […]

With a name like Satsuki Mitchell, I’m guessing that Daniel Craig’s girlfriend must be half-Japanese and half-Caucasian. It also appears she’s getting married to him. Some say her name is one of the weirdest on the planet, but really. Nothing confusing about her name to a bunch of Japundits!

North Korea reportedly has invited legendary rock guitarist Eric Clapton to play a concert in Pyongyang. This would make Clapton the first Western rock start to be invited to play in North Korea.
“Eric Clapton is a well-known musician and guitarist, famous throughout the world,” said [an] official, who declined to give his name. “It will […]

The big talk of Japanese news right now is the arrest in Saipan of Kazuyoshi Miura, a businessman who was once convicted of complicity in the murder of his wife in Los Angeles in 1981, only to have his conviction overturned by the Japanese supreme court in 2003. Saipan authorities arrested Miura for the murder […]

In case you are not aware, there is a big scandal going on in Hong Kong right now due to the public release of sex pics that show movie actor Edison Chen and actress Gillian Chung doing the dirty for the digital.
Though this has been ongoing news for quite a while now, we have […]

Popular Japanese songstress Kumi Koda has gotten into hot water by commenting on a radio program that she would like to have a child before she turns 35, “when women turn 35, their amniotic fluid goes rotten.” Koda committed the gaffe on the popular late night radio show “All Night Nippon,” when the host […]

If you thought you’d seen the last of the Kameda family, I’ve news for you. They’re back. I know. I’ve missed them too.
The demure, urbane and modest Koki Kameda, it has been announced, will return to the ring on March 22 for a non-title bout with Spanish flyweight Jose Lopez Bueno at Makuhari Messe […]

Young golf star Ryo Ishikawa marked the New Year by turning professional last week, thereby becoming Japan’s youngest ever pro.
Still only 16, Ishikawa set off for Australia today to make his professional debut in a tournament that would see him qualify for this summer’s Open Championship (British Open) if he secured a top four finish […]

The following is my personal favorite of all the TV commercials Arnold Schwarzenegger, current governor of California, did in Japan back in the 90s.