An Indian temple in Taiping, Malaysia, is attracting hundreds of daily visitors hoping to get some luck by wrestling interacting with some wild boars…
Nakizumo (lit. crying sumo) is a traditional Japanese festival with 400-years of history. The event, believed to bring good health to the babies, is held annually in temples across Japan where the kids would face-off each other to see who’s crying the soonest (and loudest)…
The above video [credits to garyjpn@youtube for the upload] is probably from Hiroshima in 2009; there are other slightly different format in other places, including in Tokyo where some real sumo wrestlers were involved.
Can’t afford a Lamborghini, or Ferrari, or Porsche? Try being a cop in South Korea instead… [via Cutkillavince [Fr]]
Two short travel videos, presented by Ford Model Delphine… cute with some interesting off-track China tourism stuff. The first video covers Shenzhen, while the second covers her visit to Guangzhou and Shanghai…
One of the great fun of karaoke is to scream sing out loud; but Japanese, ironically, has invented a microphone kit for people to enjoy the karaoke at home without making too much noise…
Basically it’s an innovation that absorbs the singers’ voices using ergonomic design and soft cushions. It probably beats the general purpose of karaoke… but how I wish some of my neighbours could get one for goodness sake. On second thought, the invention is not that ironic after all.
[image from JTT [Jp], via Shibuya246]
Meet Sorrawee Nattee, 20, a university student who was crowned the 12th Miss Tiffany’s Universe in Pattaya, Thailand, on May 16.
The Miss Tiffany’s Universe is an annual beauty contest for Thai transvestites which is broadcast live on National Thai television with an average of 15 million viewers.
The event aims to promote Pattaya as a major tourist destination as well as promoting a positive transvestite image to the local and international public.
Thailand is probably the most social tolerable nation towards transvestites (albeit not legally). I don’t think there’s any other country that came close to being as acceptance as the Thais in this matter.
Japanese horror story writer Koji Suzuki has teamed up with Hayashi Paper to publish his latest work, “Drop”, on toilet papers.
Suzuki is famed for horror stories like “Ring” and “Dark Water” which were adapted into Japanese and Hollywood films.
Drop is set in a public restroom; the story uses up about three feet of a roll and can be read in just a few minutes. The paper roll sells for 210 yen ($2.20 USD) apiece [via Brb]
Printing on toilet papers is nothing new in Japan, but it’s probably a first for horror story. It could prove an unexpected hit with constipation a common issue among Japanese; it might just scare the shit out of the folks.
A Japanese farmer has ‘found’ a 56-leaf clover on May 10. The discovery wasn’t mere luck though; Shigeo Obara from Hanamaki, Iwate, has been conducting research on clovers for over 50 years.
Obara will apply for a new Guinness World Record for the most leaves on a clover stem, currently held by none other than Obara himself since 2002. He also made headlines last year with a 21-leaf clover which he didn’t apply for a record.
Meanwhile, a pair of Yubari melons were auctioned for 500,000 yen (US$5,200) at Sapporo Central Wholesale Market… seems expensive, but it’s far below the record 2.5 million yen fetched in 2008 or the previous record of 2 million yen in 2007.
Yubari melons are popular summer gifts in Japan; buyers would flock to the market for the prestige of winning the very first melons of the year.
Yubari official Kaoru Hirano seems happy with the deflated price though, saying that the previous records were giving misconception that the Yubari melons were too expensive for average folks.