The Hikone, Shiga town mascot ひこにゃん received 43 chocolate gifts from female fans nationwide.

On Valentine’s Day in Japan, only women are supposed to give chocolate to men. But how do the ladies know “Hikonyan” is male? And where does all that chocolate go? Does the mascot keep it?

[SOURCE] [SOURCE] (Japanese)

A quick Japundit check on the web finds the mascots from other cities, including Hamamatsu, Saitama and Sendai did not receive chocolate.

“Why is Hikonyan so popular?” asked one mascot who declined to be identified speaking on official matters.

“I’ll do my best to receive chocolate next Valentine’s Day”, said another mascot.

ABOVE: Sendai’s and Saitama’s city mascots in happier times.(File photos)

If you own a TV, the law requires payment of a fee to NHK (Japan’s Public TV broadcaster.)

And, that fee goes towards purchase of the best programs! I’ve been watching a lot of the original Charlie’s Angels TV series aired in the USA in the mid-1970’s. Farrah is awesome!

Other programs on NHK now: Full House, the ever-popular (here) original Bewitched , and Star Trek

Following up on Japundit’s post about the October 2007 introduction of the earthquake warning system, and a Tokyo cable TV company’s earthquake warning service, the cable provider has an instructional video on it’s site (scroll down to the second video).

Could you remember everything this woman does in 10 seconds, while this warning “siren” sounds?

From the local clinic, the instructions that come with the swab for collecting a sample of @~~~ at home, to be returned to the clinic for analysis.

This little guy needs a name!

Despite railway operators requesting passengers to switch off their mobile phones near priority seats, many passengers are disregarding the rule, which is designed to prevent cell phones from having a potentially deleterious effect on certain medical devices….

According to the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society, which comprises heart disease experts, no report has yet been made of pacemakers malfunctioning as a result of mobile phones…

However, a pacemaker users association is calling on the public to be more aware of people fitted with the medical device…

Full story:Daily Yomiuri( Nov. 23, 2007)

Why request cellphones be turned off only on trains? What about people with cellphones on the platform? Or elsewhere in public? Pacemaker users can’t avoid people using cellphones on the street, or in the supermarket or… anywhere.

And how do we know if a person has pacemaker installed? Why turn off our cellphone if we don’t know if that elderly citizen on the train is relying on a pacemaker to keep on ticking? Maybe “Pacemaker Inside” buttons could be made available, like those Baby badges” maternity buttons.

So for the trains in Japan, here are my two pacemaker protection systems:

Hello Kitty debuts in Macy’s Thansgiving Day Parade, one of three new giant helium balloons. The other two new balloons:
Shrek, and “Sesame Street’s” Abby Cadabby. There are 11 giant helium balloons in the parade.

Macy’s Thansgiving Day Parade photo streams:
Fox News
Yahoo

A new cell phone model from Softbank Hello Kitty Collection offers a choice of 7 colors, and each color comes with 7 snap-on Hello Kitty faceplates and inner sheets. And it comes with an original Hello Kitty strap, jewelry box and shopping bag.

While doing some internet shopping, I came across this new product, sold in the USA, called Caress Japanese Exotic Oil Infusions a body wash available in “Moroccan ” and “Japanese” scent.

The label seems to imply there is a smell unique to Japanese or Japan.

Ingredients include the exotic kikui nut oil. Mrs. Hai.Kuoriti, a lifetime expert in cosmetics (purchases¥¥¥) here in Japan, has never heard of this mysterious “kikui” nut.

The text on the necktie is also conveniently upside down, so employees need only gaze downward if they forget who they work for.

This guy works in the post office in my neighborhood. He said he has two ties.