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An Osaka department store's Fuckin Sale was one of the classic Engrish gaffes of our time. But the funny signs were quickly taken down after the internet freaked out about them. More »
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If only we could have sat in on the meeting where the marketing team for this Osaka department store came up with the idea for their "Fuckin' Sale," spotted early this month by a reader of Jake Adelstein's Japan Subculture blog. More »
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Illicit photography is way up in Japan, and police blame smartphone silencers - apps that hush up the sound of taking a picture. Maybe this spy technology will be America's next big cultural import from Asia. God knows we have enough pervs. More »
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It's the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and across the internet, the right wing is commemorating this world-historical event the only way it knows how: by insinuating bizarre things about the Obamas. More »
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Today's entry in the mesmerizing Asian infomercial arms race: Calorie Shaper, a special Japanese underwear built with a "honeycomb spring" that supposedly helps the wearer burn calories while performing everyday tasks, like walking to the bus stop and performing choreographed dance routines in the office. More »
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For their project "Super Rat," the members of the Japanese performance art collective ChimPom ran around the streets of Tokyo catching gigantic, poison-immune rats, took the rats home, then stuffed them and painted them up to look like the Pokemon character Pikachu. Art! It's a living. More »
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Japanese toilet maker Toto has invented the world's first Toilet Bike, which converts human poop "harvested directly from the driver" into biogas, Treehugger reports.* The seat is a toilet, so if you ride it with your pants down, you could theoretically defecate while you ride, thereby fueling it. More »
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It's now time for a story that restores your faith in mankind, even if it means going all the way to Japan to find it: In the five months since that country's devastating quake and tsunami, almost $78 million in cash has been found amongst the wreckage and turned in. More »
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Did Lady Gaga siphon off charity money that was supposed to go to victims of Japan's tsunami and earthquake? Who knows. But she certainly didn't let the controversy interfere with a trip to Japan last weekend to perform in a benefit concert and make a number of media appearances. More »
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Is Lady Gaga stealing money designated for charity, from her website's sales of $5 "Pray for Japan" wristbands? A law firm called 1-800-LAW-FIRM says she is. According to its website, 1-800-LAW-FIRM is "America's most trusted legal network," so who am I to argue with their "Shady Gaga" campaign? [Image via Getty] More »
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A bunch of fans of Aimi Eguchi, the newest member of the Japanese idol group AKB 48, were shocked to discover that she was actually a computer generated composite of the "best features" of other members of the group. This must happen every day in Japan. More »
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Video of a mutant bunny born near Japan's quake-ravaged Fukushima power plant has gone viral. The bunny, which was born without ears, might be evidence of radioactive contamination, which may someday render the entire population of Japan microtic-anotic! Unless, of course, it's just a random birth defect. Every credible scientist in the world is leaning strongly toward the latter. Crazy people, however, are leaning toward the former, so the mutant bunny will probably be on the evening news tonight. More »
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From the cybernetic labs of Japan come these moving cat ears, which purportedly adjust themselves in response to your thoughts or mood. In case you'd like to erase that last shred of privacy you retain inside your own brain. More »
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Company execs appeared at a press conference to apologize for the April 19 hack attack, which might have compromised the credit card info of 10 million customers. It's a holiday weekend and everything, so they must be pretty serious. More »
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Don't worry, folks! The crisis at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant should be "over by the end of the year," according to a timeline from plant operator Tepco. "Over," in this case, means that the reactors will be cooled. (Radiation leaks will be "reduced" in three months.) Once "cold shutdown" is achieved, the reactors will be entombed in concrete and contaminated soil will be cleaned up; right now, Tepco is taking readings at the damaged plant through the use of remote-controlled robots. [BBC] More »
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Two days ago, we reported on the Church of Scientology's junk science relief efforts in Japan, through its Volunteer Ministry program. Now we have materials the church uses to recruit members for the ministry, which is "an effective way of getting Scientology applied on a broad, grass-roots level through the society." More »
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Some upbeat news for the Japanese tourism industry: The country may have just upgraded their ongoing nuclear disaster to Chernobyl-levels, but as of this coming Friday, Tokyo Disneyland will reopen its gates to visitors. More »
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The badly damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has been upgraded from 5 to 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. That's, in case you were wondering, out of seven—the only other nuclear crisis to reach the same level is Chernobyl. More »
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Good news from the misguided cult members who delivered Travolta-endorsed junk science to a quake-ravaged Haiti: Scientology "volunteer ministers" are in Japan, touch-healing homeless tsunami victims, according to a celebratory press release issued today. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5790941&view=rss&microfeed=true Another aftershock has hit Japan's northeast coast, and a tsunami warning is in effect. Today's 7.1 magnitude aftershock comes on the one month anniversary of the devastating earthquake along the same coastline. More »
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Almost a month after Japan's tsunami, an AP reporter and photographer stumbled on 75-year-old Kunio Shiga, who has been stranded in his home since the wave hit. Shiga's house was cluttered but intact, and he told the reporters they were the first people he'd talked to since the disaster. More »
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Notorious Scottsdale porn scribe Rep. Ben Quayle is already making a name for himself during his freshman House term. Unfortunately, most of that is due to his terrible standup comedy. But the boy wonder now has an opportunity to redeem himself and restore the Quayle family name to its fading 1980s glory. He's been tasked with ensuring America's earthquake preparedness, from his chair in a House subcommittee. More »
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A new tsunami warning has been issued after a 7.4 magnitude aftershock hit off the coast of Japan, 73 miles from the nuclear plant at Fukushima. The Japan meteorological agency warned of a wave up to six feet. The tsunami generated by last month's 9.0 earthquake was estimated to be over 120 feet. [Image via AP] More »
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Poor Stefan and Erika Svanstrom! The newly-married Swedish couple and their infant daughter set out on a four-month honeymoon in December and managed to come into contact with six different natural disasters. More »
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Rescued after three weeks afloat a mile and a half from the coast of Kesennuma in northern Japan, an extremely cute dog named Ban has been reunited with his owner. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5788667&view=rss&microfeed=true Officials in Japan are using bath salts to dye highly radioactive water in an attempt figure out its path from the leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, the plant's cooling systems are still several months from being restored. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5788539&view=rss&microfeed=true After yesterday's failed attempt at plugging the radioactive water leak at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant, engineers today tried to stop it with sawdust and diaper absorbent. Officials said it will take months to get the situation under control. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5788423&view=rss&microfeed=true Efforts to plug a leaking reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant with concrete have failed, according to Tokyo Electric officials. They hope a polymer will be able to stop highly radioactive water from seeping into the ocean. More »
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Stop! Don't move that Oreo! The Environmental Protection Agency has just announced that trace amount of radioactive iodine have been identified in samples taken from the U.S. milk supply. As vegans everywhere chuckle to themselves smugly, you're probably wondering to yourself—how the hell did that happen? More »
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Some Americans living in Japan are sort of worried right now, on account of all the deadly cancer-dust everywhere. Some of them are even leaving for a while, just to be on the safe side. Not Goldman Sachs employees, though. More »
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When is it good news to hear that radiation levels are 100,000 times higher than normal? When you at first thought they were 10 million times higher. Officials at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant say readings of staggeringly high radiation levels in water leaking from a reactor were mistaken. From the AP: More »
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It's highly unlikely that you're going to see any new nuclear power plants built any time in the future, given the now worsening situation at Fukushima. But knee-jerk reactions to the accident are not what's really to blame for the inevitable decline in nuclear production. More »
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Scientists have been trying to grow sperm in a test tube for over 100 years, and now they've done it. Researchers in Japan "have made fertile mammalian sperm in a culture dish," reports Nature. The scientists took fragments of mouse testes and coaxed sperm to grow from them in a petri dish; then they injected the sperm into eggs, put the fertilized eggs into mice, and real, live babies came out. More »
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Stephen Colbert thinks America's emotions are far too high right now to be reviewing the safety of nuclear power plants. His suggestion? That we stay calm, keep breathing, and "find the courage to do nothing." More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5785383&view=rss&microfeed=true Japan's National Police Agency today released updated figures on the human toll from the devastating earthquake and tsunami: 9,737 people are confirmed dead, and 16,423 are reported missing. [NHK, via] More »
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On tonight's Daily Show, Jon Stewart opened with a new segment called "When Reporters Attack." His first target? HLN loudmouth Nancy Grace, and her hilarious fight with a meteorologist who said that radiation from Japan probably wouldn't harm Americans More »
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Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency released the first round of photographs from the interior of the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, where 180 workers, operating in rotating shifts, are struggling to contain and control the release of radiation. More »
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Justin Bieber's hair sold for a staggering $40,668 on eBay when Ellen DeGeneres auctioned it off for charity. Now, it's traveling the country on its own mini US tour. Would you like your picture taken next to a little plastic box of Bieber's hair? Head on down to the Lucky Strikes Lanes & Lounge in Miami Beach next Tuesday. But it will cost you. More »
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Headline News anchor Nancy Grace invited Accuweather meteorologist Bernie Rayno on her program last night to talk about the (very minimal) health threat that Japanese radiation poses to Californians. More »
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This footage is taken from inside one of the cars in the parking garage. Watch the cars begin to shake and roll as the entire building sways during the earthquake. More »
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