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Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire can draw a fully detailed panorama of a city from memory, even after viewing it just once.

Here’s his amazing rendition of the Tokyo skyline:

Full panorama is here. (Note: it takes a while to load, so grab a snack or something. But it’s totally worth the wait.)

Via Gawker.

Stan celebrates his birthday at the Denver Aquarium… when suddenly the Japanese arrive and attack the dolphins!

Stan then makes it his mission to save the dolphins from the Japanese.
(In case you haven’t heard of The Cove, check this out.)

When I think of Hello Kitty, I think:

Or sometimes:

Or even:

But some things take the Hello Hitty image too far. Like this new “anatomy” figurine below.

It just makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and cry. Why, Dr. Romanelli?! WHY!?

Do. Not. Want.

Japanese publisher East Press has sold 45,000 copies of a manga adaptation of Hitler’s infamous manifesto Mein Kampf (in Japanese: waga tousou). The original German version has ben banned in Germany since the end of WWII.

Anime News Network reports:

“Since the German state of Bavaria inherited the printing rights upon Hitler’s suicide towards the end of World War II, the copyright holder (which is currently the Bavarian Finance Ministry) can prevent others from publishing the book in Germany. However, since the copyrights are set to expire in 2015 (the 70th anniversary of Hitler’s death), some government and Jewish figures have called for publication under controlled conditions.

German Jewish author Rafael Seligmann called for its publication as early as 2004. In June, the Bavarian minister of science and research advocated a “decently prepared and well-grounded critical edition” to counter “charlatans and neo-Nazis” who “could seize this disgraceful work when Bavaria’s rights run out.” Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany endorsed the possibility of an annotated edition on August 5 “to prevent neo-Nazis from profiting from it” and to “remove many of its false, persistent myths.”

On the separate matter of the manga version, the ministry told the Asahi Shimbun paper, “We have trouble considering manga as an appropriate medium for critically presenting this problematic material.”“

Other manga adaptations of controversial or difficult works include Marx’s Das Kapital (Amazon Japan recommends buying Das Kapital along with Mein Kampf! Strange bedfellows, methinks!), Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and others.

It’s not a mega-bestseller as far as manga titles go, but the numbers are interesting. I’m wondering why people are buying, and what the public’s reaction is, despite the brush-off from the Bavarian Finance Ministry.

Residents of Furano, Hokkaido, held their annual “heso matsuri” (belly-button festival) a few days ago.

Check out the jiggling “face” early on in this video:

I guess if you had a six-pack it would ruin the effect…

More videos over at Japan Probe.

A dog in Fukuoka has “eyebrows.” 

Apparently the black spots were just around his eyes before (emo dog?) but they migrated to give him a comical “Wassup, dawg?” look. (At least that’s what I picture him saying. There’s also this nifty gadget that “translates” dog-speak into human-speak.)

He was featured on “Nanikore Chin Hakken”:

As if working in rice fields wasn’t already back-breaking work, these farmers decided to show off their mad rice-drawing skillz.

More crazy rice crop circle art pics at Pink Tentacle.

This nifty website is a treasure trove of remarkably well-preserved photos from the Meiji, Taisho and Showa (1868-1989) periods in Japan. Most have been hand-tinted to bring out details.

Old Photos Japan

Despite the fact that the general consensus is that Influenza A/H1N1 is on the wane - even in Mexico, which has had the greatest number of deaths - Japan is still in mass-hysteria mode.

Tom Hanks dropped by The Daily Show to promote Angels & Demons, and talked about the possible consequences of attempting to dodge the Japanese health authorities currently screening every single person who enters the country (long clip but worth it to see how Hanks hijacks the interview).

Via Japan Probe.

So all of Japan’s media is in a tizzy over the fact that Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, a member of the mega-popular Johnny’s “idol group” (read: manufactured boy band) SMAP was arrested for getting falling-down drunk, stripping naked and yelling incoherently in a park in Roppongi, Tokyo.

From Yahoo News:

“Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, 34, was arrested early in the morning near the Roppongi nightclub district after a local resident alerted police, a police spokesman said.
Television stations reported the arrest by flashing bulletins usually reserved for earthquakes and other major events, while television helicopters filmed the park from the air after sunrise.
Public broadcaster NHK placed a breaking news headline over its live footage of a parliamentary session on Japan’s measures to fight Somali pirates.
“What’s wrong with being naked?” Kusanagi reportedly yelled at a police officer who approached him.

The incident infuriated Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama, whose ministry has featured Kusanagi in its campaign to promote the 2011 start of nationwide terrestrial digital broadcasting.
“If the report is true, I’m immensely angry… I’ll drop him off everything related to terrestrial digital broadcasting,” he told reporters. “I’ll never forgive him.”"

Japan Probe is reporting that parodies of the digital broadcasting posters featuring Kusanagi have already appeared on the net.

Behold:

The ad, which originally shows Kusanagi announcing that analog TV broadcasting will soon come to an end, has been changed to an announcement about Kusanagi will soon be disappearing from your TV. It also says that SMAP will continue on with only 4 members.

Next time I’m in Japan, I’ve got to get one of these T-shirts that (drunkenly?) asks, “What’s wrong with being naked!?”

Stunning. Sorry, I have nothing snarky to add. Just…so…shiny!

Via Tokyo Mango.

The Pirates of the Dotombori had a little fun with morning commuters in Osaka, with Improv Everywhere’s high-5-a-bunch-of-strangers idea.

I think it was a smart choice to try this in Osaka. (Tokyoites tend to be more businesslike). What I love is how most people simply give Mr. Bill the high five like they’re just swiping their Suica cards on the way out of the station. Sheep-like mentality? Or just pretending to not enjoy having a little fun tossed into the daily grind?

Via Japan Probe.

This is fierce. I love the fact that a suit starts it. I’d love to see this take place on a packed subway train.

It’s like a pacifist version of the Sharks vs the Jets. Love it.
Via Neatorama.com.

As part of Georgia Coffee’s winter marketing campaign, several toilets at ski resorts across Japan have been decorated with trompe l’oeil murals depicting the view from the top of a ski jump. Not recommended for those with vertigo, obvs.

Gives the phrase “death cookies” a new meaning, eh?

…invested in Lehman Brothers.

This is a… commercial? Concept video? Excuse to put a skinny model in a short skirt and have her fondled by bondage-garbed black-latex-faced Hello Kitty man-slaves? Er, all of the above?

I was going to post something responsible, maybe even something remotely related to publishing, but hey, it’s Friday. This is a hysterical pseudo-article on the state of the extremely perverted porn industry in Japan.

Via The Onion:

“Officials have already met with leaders of Japan’s $5.5 billion adult entertainment industry in an attempt to develop regulations that conform to some small standard of basic human decency. Attending the talks were the heads of several major studios, including WoundSexerCo, Maid Molest Universal, Innocent Schoolgirl Despoil Youngest Daughter Lips Plunder Incest Distribution, and Sunrise-Rape-Rape-Nihon.

The proposed new measures include a 50 percent reduction in live-eel anal insertions, and a requirement that portrayals of group sex involving seven or more individuals feature at least four human participants. Also under consideration is a zero-tolerance policy covering all “prurient uses” of colostomy bags.

In what may signal a chastening within the industry, leading film producer Golden Dawn Global issued a press release this week voicing its “humility and bewilderment” and offering to cease international distribution of its blockbuster series Pregnant Ladyboy Sodomized Facedown In The Rice Bowl, a 23-part epic that has reportedly left thousands of viewers feeling repulsed, defiled, and forever doubtful about the inherent goodness of mankind.

“I’ve seen about a million of these films, and each one is worse than the next,” Portugal’s José Randulfo told reporters after receiving treatment for dehydration, caustic chemical burns, and fractured ribs—the result of a 45-minute vomiting spell he suffered after renting Naughty Ginza Maids Drink Cocktail Of Refuse And Bile. “The doctors say it may take months before I remember what normal genitals look like, and even longer before I remember how they are intended to function.” ”

Click through to the Onion article for a list of highly probable-sounding porn production titles.

Not that I blame the guy. It’s absurd that he tried to blame it on cold medicine because, c’mon, he looks like every drunk oyaji on the Yamanote line after hours.

This is a charming emoji (Japanese emoticon) conversation (with translation) from two iPhone users, posted on Gizmodo.

“So here’s Jason and I talking about our daily routines. My day goes something like this: morning set with egg and pillowy Japanese white bread, then onto a nice onigiri/sushi/beer lunch, a snack at MacDo, my evening meals I take in a steaming bowl with strawberry shortcake on the side, then, after my post-prandial cig, a quick visit to my man uptown, where a sack of money is exchanged for an intravenous ride on the white dragon (a cure for indigestion if anything). Sleep, glorious sleep.

Then Jason’s all like: yeah, I am awoken, weeping, by my Arab medical staff. After my morning feats of strength, I say goodbye to the wife and have breakfast, dining on monkey brains, cake (me too!) and beer. Then I rocket over to see what’s popping in the baby-changing area (over 18 not allowed), which also happens to be a handicapped bathroom. After some currency conversions and a quick check of my 3G signal strength (it is OK, and NEW), off come the suit and tie and on goes the bikini, when the real fun begins.”

The app is Typing Genius, and is available from the iTunes store.

Police found a massive stash of cannabis in a house that was ravaged by a fire last month in Gunma Prefecture in Japan.

From Japan Today:

“Police suspect the burned house was used to grow cannabis and are searching for those who regularly visited the location, the sources said.

According to a neighbor, the house had been shuttered all day long since around October 2007, and several people came in and out. These people told the neighboring residents they were involved in the recycling business. The house burned down on the morning of Jan 15, according to police.”

The police attempted to interview neighbors who witnessed the blaze, but they were too busy eating mac & cheese in green bowls and watching The Wizard of Oz on mute with Dark Side of the Moon blasting from the stereo.

The benchwarmer for a fire station in Nagoya was cooking a meal for his comrades when he was called out to respond to a call - and left the stove on, causing the station to catch fire.

From Yahoo news:

“Ten fire trucks from other stations put out the fire.
“We are an institute that should be in a position to educate people about fire, so we are extremely sorry that such an incident happened,” Hori said, adding that they would consider ordering-in for dinner from now on.”

The Tokyo District Court ruled that 72-year-old manga artist Kazuo Umezu’s red-and-white-striped house does not interfere with the landscape, overruling complaints from neighbors.

From Mainichi Daily News:

“‘The coloring does catch the eye of those living around it, but it can’t be said it destroys the harmony of the landscape,’ the judge said.

Umezu, who listened to the ruling wearing a red-and-white horizontal striped tie, indicated he was happy with the decision.”

And you thought your neighbors were pushy. I’d love to live in a neighborhood that makes me think I’m in Candyland.

Presented without comment. (Since the title sums it all up so nicely.)

Via I Watch Stuff:

Schwarzenegger would have a field day with these men.

From the right-wing Daily Yomiuri (of all places):

“In November, Web site WishRoom became a top story on Internet news sites and in weekly magazines when the online lingerie company sold 700 bras designed specifically for men–the first product of its kind in the nation–just in the first month after the launch of the lingerie.

WishRoom said it was not certain whether the bra would sell well when it put it out in response to customer requests. But orders for the bra, purposely designed in a very plain style, surpassed its production capacity.

Freelance writer Mari Aoyama, who published a book titled Buraja o Suru Otoko-tachi to Shinai Onna (Men who wear bras and women who do not, Shinsuisha Co.) in 2005, said men started wearing bras as a secret source of enjoyment in the 1960s, when the widespread use of bras among women took hold in the nation. But those who have bought the WishRoom product are believed to be different from the existing core of male bra users. The new product seems to have stimulated demand among men who wanted to wear bras but had not been able to buy them.

E-mail feedback from WishRoom bra users has included comments that wearing the bra puts them at ease, helps them understand the feelings of women, or makes them more gentle to the people around them. Bras may be an annoying item for women, bringing a sense of confinement, but it must be a rather fetishistic item for the men as it ignites a girl’s mind inside them.”

Hey, anything that helps keep oyaji’s roaming hands off of girls’ assets in crowded trains.

The Tocho Swing Beats big band is a 21-piece band comprised of government workers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices, or Tocho. They recently came to New York to perform at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club.

From the NY Times City Room blog:

“The band, now in its 60th year, was formed in 1948 was originally formed to cheer Japanese citizens after World War II and held rehearsals on the roof of the former Tokyo metropolitan government building in Yurakucho. Band members, who volunteer their time in the band, said they spend many evenings and weekend rehearsing and that they raised the money to travel to New York.

“The city of Tokyo is very proud of this band,” said Katsuya Abe, an entertainment producer who helped organize the trip. “It is almost like rooting for your own Olympic team.”

At Birdland, wives of band members sat at the bar near the bandstand and took photographs of the band, which was anchored by the booming trombone of Yasanori Tanaka, who works for the Tokyo Fire Department, and the piano of Hideo Murakami, a computer systems technician for Tokyo’s Office of General Affairs. Then there was the flashy trumpet work of Hiroshi Narumiya, who works for Tokyo’s Health Department.”

I’m sure playing in a band does wonders for stress. I’d love it if there was a City Hall jazz band in New York… or even cabbies could get together and play music instead of swearing at people and mowing down tourists.