People are being asked to not use mobile phones while walking in train stations in Tokyo. The transport ministry and railway companies began the effort after a 5th grade elementary school boy who was walking and looking at his smartphone accidentally stepped off the platform and onto the train tracks at Tokyo’s Yotsuya Station on May 27.

The boy fell 1.1 meters onto the tracks at the same time that a train was pulling into the station. The train came to a stop before reaching the boy, who had dived into the open space under the platform. The boy suffered minor injuries from the fall.

East Japan Railway Company (JR) officials say collisions between people walking while looking at their mobile phones has increased steadily the past three years.

On June 10, JR placed "Don’t use your phones or look at game devices while walking" posters in 520 stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Station announcements also ask people not to use mobile phones or handheld game players while walking. The mobile phone safety awareness campaign will run until July 31.

photos: Shinjuku station, Tokyo Shibuya station, Tokyo

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The maker of a popular pigeon-shaped cookie was awarded naming rights to three beaches in Kamakura, Japan. The beaches will be renamed in 2014 by the manufacturer of the Hato Sabure (pigeon sable) butter cookie. Toshimaya company opened the first Hato Sabure confectionary store in Kamakura circa 1897.

The Kamakura city government in Kanagawa Prefecture sold the naming rights to cover the cost of beach maintenance. Ten firms submitted naming rights bids. Hato Sabure will pay 12 miliion yen annually for 10 years. It is the first time beach naming rights have been sold in Japan.

Koshigoe, Yuigahama, and Zaimokuza beaches will share a single name. Hato Sabure officials have not chosen a name for the beaches but says it does  not intend to name the areas Hato Sabure Beach.  

Kanagawa prefectural outdoor advertisement regulations limit advertising displays to 2-meters in size.

Recipe: Butter Cookies 

photos: Zaimokuza beach; Yuigahama beach; Koshigoe beach.

Security cameras for a safe Japan

above (left) Security camera in hot springs changing room at a hotel at Madarao Kogen hot springs, Nagano Prefecture Japan. (center) On a vending machine. (right) Surveillance camera in a bus.

above (left) 2009 - No surveillance camera in Kokugikan sumo hall. (right) 2012 - Surveillance camera in Kokugikan sumo hall.

Security cameras at the sumo hall

The Japan Sumo Association setup ‘‘mob-cams” surveillance cameras in the Aichi-ken Taiikukan arena in Nagoya for the July 2010 sumo tournament. The effort is to prevent gangsters (yakuza) from attending sumo matches.

Organized crime links to sumo were exposed in late 2009 and again in early 2010.

Gangsters were reportedly extorting money from the sumo wrestler Kotomitsuki, the highest ranked Japanese wrestler at the time.

Tickets usually given to corporate sponsors had been obtained by the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate and gang members were seen seated ringside at tournaments. The gangsters wanted to be visible on TV broadcasts to raise the spirits of their colleagues watching sumo tournaments from prison cells.

Surveillance cameras were also installed at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo hall before the 2010 Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament. The JSA is cooperating with the police in the use of the security cameras.

Bus cameras in Kyoto

above Surveillance camera on city bus in Kyoto, Japan

Surveillance cameras are installed on 20 city buses in Kyoto. The bus cameras record video at the bus stops. Later, the video is checked for cars illegally parked at the bus stops. Officials are especially concerned about illegal parking at bus stops around Kyoto station. Repeat offenders are reported to the police.

Three cameras are attached to the outside of the buses and two are installed inside the buses. The camera system is explained in a sticker on the bus exteriors.

Some buses in Saitama, Tokyo, and Fukuoka Prefecture also have cameras installed to record video of bus stops.

Police have a cam-van

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police have a vehicle equipped with security cameras. Three of the cameras are mounted on an extendable arm that can capture video in 360 degrees from a maximum height of 6.7 meters. Those cameras can recognized people’s faces up to 150 meters away. The 2-ton police cam-truck also carries 9 portable security cameras.

Video can be transfered to each police station and police headquarters by a satellite communication link on the truck. Video footage is saved for 7 days and then erased The surveillance truck is used in high-crime areas in Tokyo.

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The traditional Japanese men’s underwear “fundoshi”, a loincloth made from a stretch of white cotton, and which reveals the buttocks, is making a comeback in other fabrics and with contemporary designs, and these fundoshi are gaining popularity with both men and women.

Traditional white fundoshi have been mostly worn by boys and men in Japan when participating in festivals and the Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival.)

The Japanese firm Wacoal, began selling fundoshi for women in late 2008.

The Japan Fundoshi Association was established in December 2011 to enhance people’s understanding and awareness of fundoshi. The association recommends that everyone over age 10 in Japan own at least 2 loincloths. The JFA also hopes to popularize February 14 as "Fundoshi Day.”

A Japanese love life advisor known as “Love and Communication Instructor Olivia”, says that fundoshi for women will raise the quality of a woman’s love life.

In an article on the JFA website, she recommends wearing the loincloth only at night, for sleeping.

“Since there is no bundle of rubber around the groin area, blood circulation of the circumference of the pelvis is promoted and sensitivity to cold and resistance to edema are improved,” she says.

Olivia says that women will feel more vigor in their “lower half” in the morning, which will be attractive to men.

Olivia tested a loose one-piece loincloth fundoshi which wraps around the stomach and hips. She says it felt as if she were not wearing anything, breathability was good, and it was warm. The love life expert’s test loincloth was made of hemp, usually associated with the attire of Shinto priests. “Wrapping one’s private parts in the material used for divine work is a somewhat sacred feeling,” she says.

Fundoshi for ladies 
Tafusagiya
Lovesupple
Maruwas
Goldstar
Fundoshi for men 
Tafusagiya
Tanukidou
Ryushuya
Hotya
Fundoshi for men and women
Maruwas
Saku-rai

photos: Mannequins; festival; TV program; anime how to wear; man sleeps