You can save around 1500 yen when you purchase the JR’s Narita Express & a Suica card combo if your purchase it at the airport. It’s a special deal only for those who can present a foreign passport at the time of purchase.
Watch this video for details on where and how you can get it:
It’s a great deal and is highly recommended. Just keep in mind you might be getting off the train at one of the busiest stations in the world.
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Contributor Bio – I was born and raised in Tokyo. I have spent over 15 years in Japan. Schooled in NYC. Used to be a dual citizen, US and Canada. My Grandpa’s military and he married a Japanese women. Today I hold only the Canadian passport. I have three YouTube channels where I post videos frequently.
A TV program visits a home in Japan with concrete “horns” instead of a normal roof:
Neighboring houses would block sunlight, so the roof is horn-shaped with skylights on top to catch as much sunlight as possible. This creates a very bright interior without much need for other lighting during the daytime.
A Reuters video report about how some decaying playgrounds in Japan are being replaced with workout equipment for the elderly:
A growing number of Japanese seniors are using specially-designed playground equipment as the nation looks to enhance quality of life for its elderly,Chika Osaka reports.
Japanese police have finally released a photo of Tatsuya Ichihasi’s post-cosmetic surgery face:
Several facial features have apparently changed — he now has double-fold eyelids, a higher nose and thin lips. Two moles that had been on his left cheek have disappeared as well, according to police.
Ichihashi, 30, is wanted in connection with the murder of Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, an English teacher.
In another development Thursday, investigative sources said Ichihashi had attempted to undergo cosmetic surgery in Fukuoka Prefecture in mid-October before his Oct. 24 face-lift in Nagoya.
The man who appeared at the clinic in Fukuoka Prefecture used the same alias as that used at the Nagoya facility, the sources said, without revealing the alias.
Why the police would release the photo but not the alias is puzzling, as the name he has been using would probably be very useful to the public.
Prior to the release of the photo, an expert consulted by Fuji TV had advised people to pay attention to Ichihashi’s ears, since few people have plastic surgery to alter their ear shape:
If you think you’ve seen Ichihashi, please contact:
Japanese TV personality Ai Haruna is back in Japan promoting her new photo book. A few days ago, she was crowned winner of Miss International Queen 2009 pageant in Thailand:
The winner, Japan’s 37 year-old Haruna Ai, was overjoyed at press time, but also aware that her beauty and victory would not be well-received among all audiences, including her home country. “The way of life in Japan is more traditional and transsexuals cannot live freely, but in Thailand they can do what they want,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
In fact, the pageant, which took place at the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, is taken very seriously and respected for its open tolerance of sexual diversity. The contestants, all born men, were competing for the grand prize of $10,000, a year’s stay at the Pattaya hotel, and a 500-dollar surgical voucher, all of which Haruna Ai took home.
The prize money and the surgical voucher probably seem big to the other contestants, but they wouldn’t even come close to paying the bill for all of Haruna’s cosmetic surgery. In a past TV appearance, Haruna said that she has spent about 60 million yen ($660,000) on various surgical procedures.
Comedian Daisuke Miyagawa recently traveled to Arkansas to compete in crystal digging contest for an episode of NTV’s “Itte Q.” Mark and Mike, twin brothers who are longtime veterans of the event, are hired to guide and assist Miyagawa in his 3-day search for big crystals.
Part 1
Daisuke learns the basics of crystal digging, and he is quickly able to uncover a pretty big crystal. It’s a pretty good find for a beginner.
About 8 minutes into the clip, he dons a giant rubber gaijin nose and does a little Indiana Jones impression as he introduces some value types of crystals. Part 2
Miyagawa may have found a big crystal, but somebody else is beating him in the rankings. The second day of digging is rained out, but on the last day they have a final chance to find a big crystal and win. After some manual digging, they call in the assistance of some big machinery. They then dig in the newly opened area, finding the prize-winning crystal.
A Japanese film crew from Nihon TV covered The World Championship Quartz Crystal Dig in Mount Ida this weekend. The footage is expected to be viewed by 15 million Japanese TV viewers. The event is held annually the second weekend in October. A Gem & Mineral show as well as a Quilt show is also held over the weekend. During the dig, contestants compete for cash and trophies and can keep all the crystals they mine during the contest. Due to rain the crystal fields were quite muddy but that didn’t stop competitors from digging in. Dig sites this year included Sweet Surrender, Arrowhead, and Fiddler’s Ridge (Bear Mountain). The Mount Ida area has been identified as one of the major deposits of quartz crystal in the state and makes up a major “quartz belt” within the Ouachita Mountains.
The official website of the contest has a gallery of photos and a ranking chart that lists Miyagawa as winner of the “Cluster Division.”
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Does the giant rubber nose make him look like Harrison Ford?
No nationwide fast food chain in Japan specializes in hot dogs as a non-breakfast menu item. Mini Stop convenience stores have started concentrating on hot dogs, aiming to become a fast food contender:
The Japanese government has created this PSA to warn people about proper coughing etiquette:
Apparently proper coughing etiquette only means wearing a mask to cover your mouth. Those without masks are given no proper advice on how to cover their coughs.
Public service announcements in other countries usually don’t assume that everyone has masks, so people are told to cover their coughs with a tissue or a sleeve:
It is common to see people in Japan wearing masks to cover their coughs when sick. However, it is not unusual to see mask-less people coughing and making no effort whatsoever to cover their coughs. Such people will no doubt always exist, but I’d wish the Japanese government made more of an effort to educate people about coughing into their sleeves…
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