A fire department Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture found itself in an embarrassing predicament recently when it was the first to arrive at a blaze only to find that it did not have any water in the tank of its truck.

The water apparently had been drained from the tank for a maintenance inspection.

The fire started in a restaurant when its owner lit a rolled-up newspaper, which he then tried to use to burn cobwebs outs of a storage facility. . . Which, come to think of it, is just as wacky as a fire truck showing up to a fire without any water!

A Japanese company has found an innovative way to cash in on Japan’s pet boom – a newly opened luxury hotel for animals located at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport.

The Pet Inn Royal (Japanese), which opens this week, can accommodate up to 170 furry guests, and even boasts veterinary and grooming facilities. Accommodations are available for dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, ferrets, and other small animals.

Rates at the Pet Inn Royal run from about 4,000 yen a night, up to 20,000 a night for a deluxe suite.

The Pet Inn Royal is banking on a pet boom that has gripped Japan in recent years, pushing the number of pampered pouches and pussycats to 19 million — more than the number of children under 15, which just hit a new low of 17.8 million.

I wonder if they also have chargers for Aibos. . .

Photo credit

Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection points to a Reuters report that TiVo is planning to expand into Taiwan with TGC (TiVo Greater China) Inc.

“TGC Inc., a closely held Chinese company, will sell TiVo boxes and distribute the electronic guide and video recording service in Taiwan. Currently over 80% of households in Taiwan subscribe to cable television.

TiVo is a minority shareholder in TGC, which also has the right to sell TiVo service in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Macao.”

Hawk also comments on TiVo’s plan to expand into Japan, whose capitalist-style market may end up being harder to crack legally than that of the Communist bastion to their west.

Earlier this year, TiVo also announced that they would be expanding into Japan in 2006. Of course the hostility of the broadcasters towards PVRs in Japan is perhaps even higher than here in the U.S. The President of Japan’s National Association of Commercial Broadcasters Hisashi Hieda was recently quoted as saying, “skipping the commercials would amount to a violation of the copyright law.”

Special thanks to Mark Weitzman

Women in Asian countries, from Japan to India, still face many cultural hurdles.

A recent survey about Taiwan’s ceremonial customs reveals that many women believe some of the old customs are discriminatory.

Examples:

1. Taiwanese women, married or unmarried, are not allowed to have their names recorded on the family tree, which results in the women of a family being forgotten over time.
2. Splashing water out of the door when a daughter from the family marries.
3. Brides stepping over a heated stove or on debris.
4. Women are traditionally not allowed to hold incense and pray during their periods.

Read the article for an explanation of it all.

Court nobles and Imperial guards represent the Fujiwara Period (897-1185), a time when the powerful noble family, the Fujiwara, controlled the governance of the country as ministers to the imperial court. One of the most powerful Fujiwara ministers was Fujiwara-no-Michinaga (966-1027). He arranged to have his daughters marry the emperors and have his grandson of one of these unions ascend the throne. In time the Fujiwaras’ power weakened and they had to rely more often on the warrior families, chiefly the Heike and the Genji, to control the country. Eventually, the Fujiwara would be succeeded by the military Heike family who in turn were destroyed by the Genji in the Gempei War.

Matsuzaka, Mie Prefecture held its annual competition to find the best Matsuzaka cow, a breed that is renowned for its high-quality, high-priced meat.

The winner this year was a black beauty named Hime (“Princess” in Japanese), which was auctioned off after the competition for a cool 20 million yen, or around $200,000.

To be dubbed a “Matsuzaka cow,” an animal must be a black female bovine that is native to Japan and raised in the area around Matsuzaka.

Japan has banned the import of beef from the United States since December 2003, after the discovery there of a case of mad cow disease, but the government is expected to formally decide to lift the ban soon.

Organizers of [the Matsuzaka] contest said, however, that they were not concerned about any adverse impact from the resumption of U.S. beef imports.

“Domestic beef tastes different. I don’t believe that (the resumption of trade) would have a big effect on prices or sales,” one person involved in the contest said.

Two recent cases show how Japan is getting tough with people who abuse the Internet.

Case One: A former computer programmer was arrested for writing a fake Kyodo News story saying that Chinese troops had invaded Okinawa and putting it on a fake Yahoo Japan news site.

Case Two: Three people who posted composite images of a celebrity on the Internet with her face attached to another person’s naked body have been arrested, and police said it was the first time suspects had been arrested on suspicion of posting composite images (called aidoru koraaju in Japanese; idol collages in English).

(c) tubbypaws 2005

Blowfish. Pufferfish. Whatever name you call it, be careful when you eat it.

Scientists in Singapore say they have now uncovered the mystery of how the pufferfish survives despite the deadly poison in its body. Research shows that the toxin, which is 20 times more deadly than cyanide, helps the fish to breed and defend itself against predators.

Blowfish is, of course, an expensive delicacy in Japanese cuisine, but chefs there have been trained in the art of removing the poison before serving the dish.