shirokuma2011's past comments

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  shirokuma2011Feb. 06, 2013 - 03:04PM JST

  Twitter user @onda_natsue said the arrest showed how unsophisticated Japanese culture is.

  Or rather, how unsophisticated contemporary Japanese culture can be. It wasn't always this way.

  Posted in: Fashionistas defend 'obscene' photographer Leslie Kee

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  shirokuma2011Feb. 05, 2013 - 08:15AM JST

  What, no shaved head this time??

  And "Dr." Nishikawa can just shut her pie-hole, sheesh... kettle kettle, black black...

  Posted in: Jun Komori makes televised apology for lying to fans about auction sites

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  shirokuma2011Feb. 05, 2013 - 08:13AM JST

  Well, they were selling them at a gallery, so perhaps they thought the work would be classified as "art" and allowed to slip in under the regulatory radar...

  Still, sometimes less is more...

  Posted in: Renowned photographer Leslie Kee arrested in Japan over obscene photos

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  shirokuma2011Feb. 04, 2013 - 07:30PM JST

  At my income level, the real connoisseurship lies in being able to tell a decent 120-yen-a-plate sushi place from a dangerously iffy one.

  But I'm still looking forward to seeing "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," which is finally showing in Tokyo. A shokunin in the best sense of the word.

  Posted in: In Japan, would-be sushi chefs suffer for their art

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  shirokuma2011Feb. 03, 2013 - 08:14AM JST

  You can buy at Costco, prices a little better than in the overpriced gourmet supermarkets like Seijo Ishii and The Garden, and The Meat Guy has a few varieties at even more reasonable prices.

  Posted in: Finding good quality cheese a challenge in Japan

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  shirokuma2011Feb. 02, 2013 - 08:04AM JST

  I saw a similar drill in progress during a rare trip to Ueno Zoo a couple of years ago. They were chasing down a "panda."

  Posted in: Zoo staff chase keeper dressed as zebra in escape drill

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  shirokuma2011Feb. 01, 2013 - 07:24PM JST

  Speaking of forensic evidence, do they even have or use rape kits when investigating such allegations in Japan (on the rare occasion the alleged victim even goes to the hospital)?

  Posted in: Olympic judo gold medalist Uchishiba gets 5 years for rape

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  shirokuma2011Jan. 05, 2013 - 07:46AM JST

  Not to mention all the "who are you??" questions you'll have to fudge your way through the whole time you're there.

  Posted in: 3 bizarre part-time jobs: Man-boy for AV, balloon watcher and fake wedding guest

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  shirokuma2011Jan. 05, 2013 - 07:43AM JST

  That hotel seriously needs to be brought into the 21st century--Prince Hotels built a luxurious, modern tower just a few blocks away but has allowed this former flagship to languish, and it shows in the facilities and the food service practices.

  Posted in: Norovirus outbreak reported at Tokyo hotel

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  shirokuma2011Jan. 01, 2013 - 02:30PM JST

  It's amazing, really, that 23 of the top 25-selling singles in Japan in 2012, as measured by Oricon, were either from AKB48 or one of their affiliated groups, or from one Johnny's band or another.

  Posted in: AKB48 win top award at Japan Record Awards

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  shirokuma2011Dec. 28, 2012 - 01:11PM JST

  Clearly he wasn't a rocket scientist, but a tire scientist. Still, it's great to see 脱サラ (datsu-sara) stories like this once in a while.

  Posted in: Japanese rocket scientist gives up lucrative career to join Cirque du Soleil

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  shirokuma2011Dec. 28, 2012 - 01:09PM JST

  He'll get jail time just by virtue of his continued assertions of innocence (or conversely, his refusal to admit guilt). You know, all through both Olympics and other domestic and international competitions, on the mat and in interviews, he always came across as such a paragon of gentlemanly character and virtue. The disappointment alone will nudge the court toward the top end of the sentencing request.

  Posted in: Prosecutors urge 5-year sentence for former judo champion over rape charge

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  shirokuma2011Dec. 26, 2012 - 10:24AM JST

  And it comes in a bizarre, much-ridiculed shade of bright pink, too! For any Mary Kay reps out there, I guess...

  Posted in: Toyota launches new Crown series sedans

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  shirokuma2011Dec. 05, 2012 - 04:57PM JST

  Hopefully his son Shichinosuke will take over the name at some point!!

  Posted in: Kabuki star Kanzaburo Nakamura dies at 57

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  shirokuma2011Nov. 30, 2012 - 11:58AM JST

  Cross dresser -- (generally) heterosexual men (and women, too, I suppose) who are into wearing clothes of the opposite sex

  Drag queen -- (generally) gay men who wear women's clothes, but take it to a more dramatic level, so to speak, often as part of a performance.

  Transvestite -- generic term that has somewhat fallen out of use, not to be confused with transgender, which only incidentally has to do with clothing choices.

  Sounds like this place is going after the whole, ahem, rainbow of possibilities. They might do good business--I imagine there must be a fair number of secret cross-dressing salaryman types who've been looking for an excuse to dress up in a public venue.

  Posted in: New Tokyo crossdressing bar appeals to first-time drag queens

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  shirokuma2011Nov. 27, 2012 - 09:55AM JST

  Ahh, the flexibility of youth...

  Posted in: Hanyu's skating win raises roof in tsunami morgue

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  shirokuma2011Nov. 22, 2012 - 04:36PM JST

  Who else but Rocket News would use a phrase like "tear ~ a new one" in an alleged "news" report...

  Posted in: TV blunder labels Abe a train groper

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  shirokuma2011Nov. 20, 2012 - 03:51PM JST

  One issue in America, I imagine, is that with the average home now having at least one toilet for every bedroom, and often more, it's just not affordable to outfit every one of them with a washlet. Maybe they can reserve it for the "special" guest bathroom or master bath... high-end European manufacturers are already getting in the game in the U.S. (and in Europe, of course, they've had "analog" bidets for a century or two).

  Posted in: High-tech toilet maker eyes global throne

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  shirokuma2011Nov. 16, 2012 - 05:59PM JST

  @Alladin:

  This goes to show everyone that the Japanese people no longer have good imagination skills when trying to create something new. To come up with an idea to make a national stadium look like a bike helmet. Come on now!!!! Can't the Japanese come up with a better design!!! I guess not!!!!!

  The structure, designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid

  Posted in: Tokyo chooses bike helmet-design for new national stadium

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  shirokuma2011Nov. 12, 2012 - 01:34PM JST

  "Herb" may be the slang term for these so-called loophole drugs, but they are clearly not herbs as the article would seem to imply. If anything, they are more often powerful synthetics adulterated with what may or may not be some herbal substance. To refer to them as "the herbs" only perpetuates the myth of their relative harmlessness.

  Posted in: Woman dies after inhaling herb in Tokyo hotel