Let me introduce for you the first in our series of “Only in Japan” videos, made by two professional screenwriter/directors while they were living in Tokyo.
Simon Adams (who provided a previous article as a guest writer), and Andrew Johnson were pleased to offer us the “exclusive” internet screening rights (yeah right..) to their vids for stippy.com. We will introduce one “Only in Japan” video every week, for the next 4 or 5 weeks, so come back soon..!
For those who have been to Japan (or are stuck here like us), you surely wouldn’t have missed the bicycle parking area attendants (job description: bike mover), who swarm upon weary cyclists who dare to enter their mama-chari domains – there is no escaping them. Bicycle parking attendants took a stronghold in Japan after the「自転車の安全利用の促進及び自転車等の駐車対策の総合的推進に関する法律」(quite a mouthful for a law about bike parking lots!) was introduced in 1981.
Continue reading Video Series “Only in Japan”: Part 1 – Bicycle Valet
Mr. Shinzo Abe turns out to be a surprisingly interesting guy a very brief review of his history turns up that Mr. Abe is from a very long line of very successful and very well connected Japanese politicians. His grandfather, on his mother’s side, was Mr. Nobusuke Kishi, who served during the Second World War in the Emperor’s Cabinet, was imprisoned for (but never found guilty of) war crimes. The elder Mr. Kishi then became an important post-War political figure, and rose to the Prime Minister’s post in 1957. Mr. Kishi was, by all accounts, the quintessential Japanese post-war Prime Minister: a finder/builder of consensus; a non-maker of new policies. However, its understood that Mr. Kishi’s imprisonment left a very real impression upon his grandson. Prime Minister Abe’s father was Shintaro Abe, one of the most successful of Japanese political figures during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. 
“I never saw it, it wasn’t me!” These are often words uttered by children in the face of being caught doing something that they shouldn’t be doing. This is commonly known in the West as lying, and something that should have been beaten out of us by the time we leave primary school. Likewise, if you saw someone else committing the crime, it is the proper and “right” thing to do to tell the truth of what you saw. At no stage is your position in this transaction question, as you would be doing the right thing.
The Blackberry, the ubiquitous tool that has become a fixture in the hands of the white-collar executive in North America and Europe will finally gain a foothold in the Japanese market. NTT DoCoMo is partnering with Canadian Blackberry-maker RIM (Research in Motion) to offer customers GSM/WCMDA “worldphone” versions of the handhelds. 
Every gaijin who was in Japan in 2005 remembers Takfumi Horie. Riding by the seat of his pants, his company, Livedoor, was the symbol of new Japan. Young people, breaking the rules, creating the rules and doing things that they truly believed would better Japan. Unfortunately, when Horie made a hostile take-over attempt for NBS in the first half of 2005 he made an enemy of those who had been his biggest supporter – the media. It’s no secret that Japan’s “old” media companies pay their employees the 
Apparently, it’s common-knowledge amongst thieves in Japan, that your typical bicycle here – with its typical handcuff-styled bike-lock through the rear wheel, can be easily picked using an umbrella. At least, That’s what the local Police told my wife and I when we reported our fifth stolen bike in only a few months after arriving in Japan. 
Japan is a country that is obsessive about packaging. From wrapping goods in simple furoshiki cloth to the thirteenth layer of plastic on your box of evening gumboots, anyone who has had anything to do with Japan knows how they love to package things here. So it makes sense that they should have a solution for wrapping certain body parts. Enter the fundoshi (above).
The 
These creations, as with most other cool gadgets and technology in the last century, have been perfected by the Japanese. Despite only using simple household items, they are mesmerising to watch, and must take days, or even weeks to perfect. I used to get frustrated with Dominos when I was a kid, but imagine trying to get something like these working!