A man who challenged a 1999 groping accusation by a female commuter won his court case against the accuser Nov. 7, 2008. The Japan Supreme Court revoked the charge of "public nuisance" against the man. In September 1999, a woman accused the man of rubbing his groin on her thigh as they stood on the
Macaques Encircle City A wild monkey that appeared in Shibuya station in Tokyo on August 20, 2008 and escaped into the city, may now have a partner. A TV station in Tokyo reports more than one monkey is loose in the Tokyo metropolitan area. On November 6, TBS-TV Evening 5 news in Tokyo reported a
Interview for Lets Japan by Rosey the Robot. Rosey/LJ: Assistant Robot, you really are following in the footsteps of your grandfather Roll-Oh the Robot. Assistant Robot: (laughs) Yes. But I actually roll. R/LJ: Let’s talk about your… AR: Before we get started, I just want to say you are my idol. You inspired me. R/LJ:
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.
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
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
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
Real Police Protect Real Old Elderly people using cell phones at automatic teller machines in banks, convenience stores, and train stations are being questioned by police in Japan during a month-long nationwide anti-scam campaign. The October effort is to prevent senior citizens from becoming victims of phone swindles. In one kind of scam, con artists
Can You ID The Badge? The number of badges and pins on Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso’s suit lapel varies daily. The purple pin with gold center indicates "membership" in the Japan government House of Representatives. In the photo above, Lets Japan is unable to confirm the memberships associated with the blue ribbon badge, the
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
The camera-police-hotline-alarm-equipped Coca-Cola vending machine installed in a park in Toyohashi, on October 10, 2008, has been vandalized. (Crime-Fighting Vending Machine) LJ October 12) Police report the top-mounted security camera wiring had been cut and the camera was dangling over the front of the machine. "Surveillance society" (in Japanese) had been sprayed in black paint
Coke machine guards park A new vending machine has a built-in direct phone line to the police department, an alarm buzzer, a 24-hour video-recording surveillance camera, and a revolving red light on top. "The "Help Vending Machine" was provided by Coca Cola in cooperation with the Aichi prefectural police. The machine is located in Iwata
Report: Tama-chan Boosts Business For only the price of cat food, a kitty in a train station in rural Japan has benefited the local economy. In April 2008, Lets Japan wrote about Tama-chan (Cat in Hat Can’t Quit), the official hat-wearing stationmaster feline at Kishi train station on the Kishigawa Line in Wakayama Prefecture. Tama-the-cat
