The October nationwide campaign by the Japan National Police Agency aimed at preventing senior citizens from becoming victims of telephone fraud ended with door-to-door delivery of fraud-warning flyers in one ward of Tokyo. Cops in Setagaya-Ku, Tokyo, handed-out notices to residents at home, and placed the flyers in mailboxes if no one was at home.

Scammers target the elderly, usually posing as a family member that is in financial trouble. The flyers describe the most common cons, including the "I need money for a woman" scam, the  "I lost money in the stock market" con, and the "I’m selling/servicing water filters or the Waterworks Department repairs" swindle.

On October 24, Lets Japan wrote about recent swindles and the nationwide police effort to intervene at automatic teller machines before conned senior citizens transfer money.

related: ATM cell phone detector debuts in war on fraud; Con Artists Calling

Tokyo to face ‘toilet refugee’ crisis in quake: study

TOKYO (AFP) — A dreaded major earthquake in Tokyo would set off a crisis of “toilet refugees,” with a restroom shortage for nearly 820,000 people, a government study said.

An expert panel of the government’s Central Disaster Prevention Council came to the conclusion this week while studying the potential impact of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the tremor-prone metropolis.

According to the study, some 817,000 people would find themselves without toilets two hours after such a big tremor, which would cut off 46 percent of Tokyo’s water supply.

The wait to use a toilet would be four and a half hours in central Chiyoda ward, home to the headquarters of major companies, government buildings and the imperial palace. “Besides food and water, shortage of toilets is one of the major issues in post-disaster situations,” said Itsuki Nakabayashi, head of the study panel.

The group is advising Tokyo residents always to carry pocket-sized tissue papers or plastic bags for emergency toilet use and urged companies to have portable toilets on standby….

A previously bankrupt Japanese actor is featured in a TV commercial for a website that offers free cell phone games. The TV ads for gree.jp builds on the assumed common knowledge of the celebrity’s previous financial woes, and simply states "I have no money. I have time", and that he can play the Gree mobile phone games for free. Shiro Kishibe began his entertainment career in a pop singing group in 1969 and became famous as an idol. TV dramas and movies followed. The well known actor declared bankruptcy in the late 1990’s. His financial situation was widely reported. Watch the gree.jp TV commercials.

The new Hi-Kara handheld cube from Takara-Tomy is designed to make the popular karaoke singing activity more easily available to teens and kids in Japan. Two headphone-mics can connect to the device, and plug-in music cartridges provide the lyrics that are displayed on the LCD screen. Users hear the music and their own voice in the headphones. A USB terminal connects to a computer to download music to the cartridge from the Hi-Kara music website. About 3500 songs are available so far. The device can also be connected to a TV. Other options included speakers and an AC power adapter for the unit, and a standalone mic for a TV or the cube. The Hi-Kara will be available outside Japan in 2009. Hi-Kara, headset mic and downloader terminal: JPY 12600; cartridge: 10-song capacity, JPY 2100, 20-song, JPY 3675; downloader terminal: JPY 3150; standalone mic: JPY 3500; AC adapter: 3150. Size: (W)70×(H)70×(D)70mm. Weight: 150 grams.via: IT Media; Mycom.

Big Echo, Gotanda, Tokyo; Purple karaoke room

Karaoke Collection - a brief photo history

photos: Home Karaoke with DVD/CD/Dual Cassette; Kara OK girls duet mic system; Mute Karaoke low tech system; Mike Boy handy karaoke; Onkyo Debut wireless mic karaoke; Hyper Karaoke mic; Kara OK mic; Karaoke Station for Girls; Logitec Poke Kara wireless mic and FM transmitter; Sing with Anpan Man karaoke mic; Hello Kitty" karaoke CD player; Nakoyoshi karaoke blue microphone.

A company that operates a ski resort in Japan regularly uses its chairlift to dry sheaves of rice.

The Ishiuchi-Maruyama Resort trademarked the name "Sky Rice" (tenku-mai) for the Koshihikari rice harvested in Minami-Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture.

An employee of Japan Lift Service, which runs the resort, suggested the idea. The employee grew up farming rice before joining the company. JLS  started the sun-dried rice-on-a-lift idea in 2004. 

Hanging rice to dry rather than using a combine harvester results in a moister rice grain with a distinct flavor. The 800 meter ski lift goes into normal use when the Ishiuchi ski season begins in the middle of December.


photos: blue sky; indoors, Liftman ; valley Ishiuchi-Maruyama