Volcanoes in Japan
The ongoing eruption at Shinmoedake in the Kirishima range (in Kyushu) is getting quite a bit of attention around Japan. Perhaps it’s a slow news week then, because it seems there’s always some mountain blowing its top in Japan. Take Sakurajima, the volcano that towers over Kagoshima (left). It started erupting in 1955 and like a good Japanese salaryman, has hardly taken a vacation since.
Why does Japan have so many volcanoes? Where can you catch the video feeds of the Kirishima eruption? Keep reading to find out… + more
Rodin’s “The Thinker” – in chocolate
Japan may not go in for the whole romance angle of Valentine’s Day, but they’ve got the chocolate part down pat. Here’s a video of some of the insane chocolate sculptures on display in Shibuya. Go straight to the 0:11 mark if you want to skip the Japanese intro…
Now, if you’re planning to make homemade chocolates this year (like any good Japanese schoolgirl), perhaps you’d rather + more
Weekend reading list for 28 January
There was a whole lot of weirdness floating around on the Jblogs this week. Here are our picks of the best of the bunch, for your weekend reading pleasure…
Weird ice cream
OK, let’s perform a little experiment. + more
Tokyo Bounce photo #36
A shot of Himeji Castle, one of Japan’s finest.
Toy Forum 2011 – beer & gadgets
As you would expect, there was a whole lot of awesome being hawked at the Toy Forum, held here in Tokyo mid-week this week. Highlights to watch for in the video are listed after the jump…
Tokyo Bounce photo #35
A giant cedar at Mt. Koya in Wakayama Prefecture.
iHat 2 – the fleece iPod dock
Don’t you ever wish your hat had built-in speakers and lights that flashed in time with the music? This common dream has now become a reality, thanks to the multi-tasking iHat2 from Sirobako (J).
Your 4980 yen ($60) get you a fleece hat with speakers over the left and right ears. And if you tuck a pair of AAA batteries into the built-in pocket, you’ll also get lights that flash along to the music. The is a big improvement over the original iHat, where the equalizer was just printed on. Now that it has flashing lights, the iHat2 can join the illustrious ranks of Japanese gadgets with extraneous LED bits.
Source: Digital Gadgets Freak (J)
Tokyo Bounce photo #34
Midori-zushi’s famous freshwater eel (anago) sushi. 630 yen ($7.50) a pop.
As Seen on JR: the Japanese Snuggie
Yesterday, we looked at a product from the JR catalog that amply illustrated the stereotype about Japanese innovation – taking an existing product that most would consider perfectly fine (in this case, the hot water bottle) and improving on it (by giving it a furry cat body). If that was a shining success story, then this can be the dark counterpoint… And by “this,” I refer to the Japanese take on the infamous Snuggie.
For those who haven’t been blessed by repeat viewings of Snuggie commercials + more
Launch of the Kounotori 2 rocket
Here’s one for you space geeks out there. This weekend saw the launch of the Kounotori 2 rocket from Japan, bound for the ISS. Everything went off without a hitch, so we can expect a rendezvous with the space station on Thursday…
