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

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 tiny dog is the honorary stationmaster at Oku-Nakayama Kogen  Station, in Ichinohemachi, Iwate Prefecture.

 Maron, a tiny 8-year-old Yorkshire terrier, wears a tiny uniform and tiny hat and serves as a tourist attraction for the Iwate Galaxy Railway Company. Since 2000, the dog had been accompanying its owner to work at the then-named Oku-Nakayama Station. In June 2008, the president of IGR officially proclaimed the dog as stationmaster at the renamed station. 

Lets Japan provided extensive coverage of Tama-chan the hat-wearing cat stationmaster.

Railway employees-as-attractions in Japan is a developing trend. A Lets Japan investigation discovered two other non-human stationmasters: Yuji-chan the cap-wearing beetle stationmaster at Kabutomushi station, and Maki-chan the frozen tuna stationmaster.

How To Get Characters to Japan in Fiction Films

10) The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift  (2006)
Undisciplined teenager in US is sent by mother to live with his ex-military father in Tokyo, and gets involved in automobile drift racing.

(9) Escapade in Japan (1957)
Plane to Japan ditches in sea off Japanese coast. Young American boy wanders away from the passengers, is picked up by a Japanese fisherman and taken to his town.  (Stars John Provost , the kid from the Lassie TV show)

(8) Wasabi (2001)
French cop spent some time in Japan 19 years earlier, goes back to Japan  to handle the official proving of a will of his wife who disappeared shortly after they married. 

(7) Into the Sun (2005)
Former CIA agent raised in Japan goes back to Japan to find killer of mayor of Tokyo.

(6) Lost In Translation (2003)
Cheerless American film actor goes to Tokyo to film Suntory liquor TV commercial. Befriends the young wife of a visiting photographer and together they explore Tokyo.

(5) The Yakuza (1974)
American man goes to Japan to rescue his friend’s child who has been kidnapped by a yakuza boss .

(4) Black Rain (1989)
Two New York cops sent to Japan to apprehend and bring to the US a Japanese mobster who escaped a first extradition attempt at an airport in New York. The cops join up with a Japanese detective in Osaka to find the yakuza.

(3) Mr. Baseball  (1992)
Headstrong New York Yankees baseball player gets traded to Chunichi Dragons, resists Japanese customs, takes bath  with Japanese woman.

(2) The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)
American Little League baseball team goes to Japan for a match against the country’s best little league baseball team. (Yokota Air Force Base American kids in movie)

(1) You Only Live Twice (1967)
James Bond 007, Japanese agent Kissy Suzuki, and a lot of Ninja, attack SPECTRE headquarters inside  a volcano in Japan.

What’s your plot ploy? Submit a comment!

photos
Escapade; Mie Hama 1; Mie Hama 2; You Only Live twice x2; 007 many more: You Only Live Twice Pics & Clips.
Movies now showing in Japan

MAD magazine uses a lot of Japanese words in it’s satire. In MAD issue 492 (August 2008) there is a parody of product advertising by US electronics retailer Circuit City, titled "Sucker City". The spoof  illustration includes the Japanese TV brands "Shiitake" and "Hibachi". related: MAD Magazine Hurts

One man. One beautiful woman. One Vulcan, a demon and a peon.

This is a two-part story by the creators of Shin Angyo Onshi: Youn In-Wan and Yang Kyung-Il. Vulcan Markovic lives in a small fishing village in Croatia. He has only two things on his mind–designer goods and losing his virginity. When an indescribably beautiful girl shows up asking for directions to Heaven’s Gate, Vulcan takes his first step into "thrilling world-salvation action!!" Synopsis from MyAnimeList:

Let’s Bible forum discussion: ChristianComics.net. Two chapters can be downloaded here Let’s Bible-part1[ETC].zip and here Let’s Bible-part2[ETC].zip. Download links via: Anizeen.com

“I Survived a Japanese Game Show“, has begun taping in Japan. US broadcaster ABC-TV says the new, unscripted program features “10 Americans — many of whom have never traveled outside the United States — who are whisked away to Japan and compete in the ultimate Japanese game show … with hilarious results.”

Tony Sano, a U.S. actor fluent in Japanese hosts the show, with his “Mamasan” sidekick. A third host, Rome Kanda focuses on the events.

ABC says the results and prizing will be determined by “who best adapts to Japanese culture and the challenges in each episode.” The surviving stunt contestant wins USD $250,000. The program debuts in Prime Time (9-10 p.m. EDT) June 24, 2008.

Some of the games/challenges will include:

Why is this food so hard to eat? – Why? Because the food is attached to the head of a teammate who must run in place on a fast-moving treadmill, while the first teammate leans over a platform and tries to eat from the moving dish.

Crazy Crane Finds Fluffy Bear – This takes the American arcade game to the next level, as blindfolded teammates must operate a moving crane while another teammate precariously dangles trying to collect as many stuffed animals as he/she can.

Chicken Butt Scramble — The contestants create their own version of Japanese scrambled eggs as they attempt to smash goo-filled oversized eggs with only their butts… while wearing chicken suits.

source: abc Press release 1 ; press release 2
Learn more: TV In Japan

"Sports Injuries Around the World" MAD Magazine #490, June 2008

Write Novel Like Real Author

Pretend to be a writer and these inns will also have a lady bring a snack to your room and inquire about the progress of your manuscript. The Arima hot spring resort was a favorite place of inspiration for writers. Now, accommodation in the area is offering would-be authors three writing-stay plans.

Targeting baby-boomers, the writer plans are available at 26 hotels and ryokan at the resort. The cost of accommodation is additional.

Lodgers may request a writing desk, writing pad, and a tanzen jacket. And you can ask for the late-night visit from that female muse – she’ll encourage you and address you as “sensei”.

Rates:
3 days: learn how to write a story, 15,000 yen
5 days: write a digest version of a story, 15,000 yen
7 days: a story you’ve already written will be proofread and prepared for publication, 30,000 yen