Benjamin Fulford writes about being contacted by Fuji TV to speak on on a news program about Obama’s economic policies and was canceled when it became apparent to the broadcaster that his presentation would not be what they expected…. That is, “to convince the Japanese they should imitate the US.”

Caught this commercial for the Intel Centrino 2 on TV last night.

27-year-old Japanese ex-porn (AV) actress Nao Oikawa (she retired from boinking in front of cameras in 2004) seems to have completed the move from blue movies to mainstream pop idol via a girl group named G3 Princess, which also includes Yumi Sugimoto and Rina Aizawa. Ms. Oikawa is the one on the right in the following video.

For a peek at a censored but very not-safe-for-work XXX video that spotlights some of Ms. Oikawa’s more salacious talents, click here.

I caught this amazingly talented guy on an NHK special yesterday and was totally blown away. Get ready to hear the ukelele as you probably have never heard it before.

My wife is hooked on Kandora, short for Kankoku dorama or South Korean soap operas, and it seems every time I walk through the living room she’s got another one on the TV.

When I ask her what’s so interesting about the shows, she gets very animated. “Oh, they’re nothing like Japanese dramas,” she says. “They’re more intense, and the stories are much more involved and interesting. The characters really change and grow.”

It struck me that she sounded like me back in the 80s, describing why Japanese animation was so superior to whatever else was on TV back then for people to watch (I actually can’t remember at this point).

It seems to me that the human brain is wired to appreciate things that are fresh and new, and when a concept comes along that is totally unique, people are drawn to it irresistibly, which goes a long way towards explaining the revolution that Japanese animation has brought to the world over the past 20 years. My wife is finding that Korean series like Time Between Dog and Wolf, Spring Waltz and Something Happened in Bali are offering her a higher level of drama and depth, sometimes moving her to tears with their (often sad) stories.

The Japanese soaps, with their lighter and more formulaic stories that you can usually guess ahead of time, don’t seem to be doing it for her.

If you have ever wondered what the notorious American-turned-Japanese (but still very much ugly gaijin) Debito Arudo actually looks like and sounds like, wonder no more for here he is, doing what he does best. . . bitching about Japan.

Via Matt at Occidentalism.

Caught the Japan-U.S. women’s soccer game yesterday, which the U.S. won 4-2.

The game was pretty good and both teams should be congratulated for giving their all and fighting it out right up until the final whistle.

Less than stellar, however, was the Japanese coverage both during the game and in the aftermath. As very often happens when Japan is beaten in an international sporting event, commentators spent most of their time serving up the same old tired litany of excuses of why the Japanese side fell to defeat.

Here are the ones I can remember off hand.

• The other team was physically bigger and stronger.
• The bad condition of the pitch.
• The heat and humidity.
• A schedule that had the Japanese team play two games with little rest.

What they always seem to forget is that, except for the first point, both teams are playing under the same conditions.

One particularly humorous remark I heard during the game was by one of the color commentators on the broadcast after the Japanese side went off side for about the fourth time in a row, “The fact that they keep jumping offside is testimony to the speed and agility of the Japanese team.”

Nippon Television Network Corp. (NTV) has gotten into hot water for inflating the number of plates of food downed by “a celebrity known for her enormous appetite” during an NTV program.

According to NTV, the woman devoured “only” 39 plates of food, though it was reported on the program that she had eaten 48.

“We failed to accurately count the number of plates, and partially used an inappropriate method to make the segment,” the TV station said in an apology during the program on Friday.

NTV’s general public relations department explained, “We were vague about how we counted the plates and dishes, for instance, counting one plate with four pieces of the same dish as four dishes.”

On Monday, NTV gave severe warnings to Hisao Adachi, head of the news bureau, and other program staff, and terminated a contract with a production company in charge of shooting and making the problem segment.

Celebrity gluttons are really popular in Japan, which is why I guess something like this is being treated so seriously.

Sent in by Colin Fletcher, who says:

Eight Year old Japanese guitar playing phenom Yuto Miyazawa was on Conan O’Brien last night and brought the house down with Crossroads by Eric Clapton. He completely butchered the lyrics, which are in some strange English Japanese gibberish, but his shredding is impressive nevertheless.

A ceremony was held today to mark the beginning of construction work of the 610-meter Tokyo Sky Tree, which is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Tokyo Sky Tree will commence operation in the spring of 2012. NHK and the five major commercial broadcasters are currently using the 333-meter-tall Tokyo Tower to transmit both analogue and digital TV signals. But analogue broadcasting will be terminated by July 2011. In view of the change, the six broadcasters have drawn up plans for the new tower to be tall enough to transmit digital signals unobstructed by high-rise buildings.