A traditional symbol that resembles a swastika which is used to indicate Buddhist temples on maps for foreign tourists in Japan will be replaced. The Japanese map symbol is called "manji" and originates from an ancient Sanskrit symbol that has been associated with Japanese Buddhism for centuries. The manji symbol looks very similar to the
The top ten booms in Japan now. (10) Forest girl boom. Fashion inspired by Anne of Green Gables. For your fashion life in the forest. (9) Tokai region local government mascot character boom. More than 30 municipalities in Tokai have mascot characters. (8) Calligraphy boom Influenced by "Tomehane Suzuri High School Calligraphy Club" TV show
January A letter a Kawasaki schoolgirl sent aloft by balloon in 1993 was found fastened to a fish by a fisherman off Choshi port,150 kilometers away from where the balloon was launched. February A 39-year-old man wearing a high school girl’s uniform and a long wig loitered near a Saitama high school and was arrested
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
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
Rice planted in June has grown into a likeness of Himeji Castle. Eight varieties of rice that would sprout in differing colors were used in the 90-by-180-meter rice field in Yumesaki village in Hyogo Prefecture. Designed as a tourist attraction, the castle image can be see from a ropeway on a nearby mountain. The seedlings
