Travel

Sep 20 2004 Leave a Comment

High school hoax

School is not everybody’s idea of fun, but rather than feign stomachache, or simply skive off and spend the day down at the local game centre, a 16-year-old high school student made a bomb threat in a desperate attempt for a bit of time off.

The unnamed student hit on the idea after having one of his classes cancelled when the train line his school is situated on temporarily suspended services due to an accident. And with this in mind, he sent an e-mail to the Seibu Railway Company saying, “I’m going to blow up a station on the Seibu Line between September 14th and 18th. I have already planted the bomb. You’ll never find it so don’t waste your time.”

This resulted in the police and railway officials searching all 92 of its stations. An unenviable task to say the least. Although how this affected services, and whether the young prankster managed to miss any classes wasn’t disclosed.

But, as the old saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. The school-hating hoaxer was arrested on Friday, meaning he got at least one day away from school.

Aug 11 2004 4 Comments

M for Miyajima

I haven’t traveled around Japan all that much, but wherever I go in the future I think I’ll be hard pushed to find somewhere as beautiful as Miyajima Island.

The only drawback is the island is overrun by deer, which seem to be able to detect food regardless of how far away they are. Even the most clandestine of eaters needs to be on their guard. And with this in mind I’d certainly advice against eating anything as obvious as a banana. My visiting father made this mistake and rather embarrassingly found himself surrounded by hungry deer, all leaping around trying to snag the banana he was desperately holding in his outstretched hand.

Needless to say they got their prize. My father on the other hand garnered nothing but a crowd of laughing locals.

Aug 09 2004 1 Comment

K for Kyoto

Ah, Kyoto. The cultural heart of Japan. A city full of temples, the rarified atmosphere of Gion, and the home of the geisha.

Or at least that is what we are led to believe. Not that I’m saying it isn’t true, but it’s also a bustling city, and perhaps what people expect and what they get to see are two very different things. To a certain extent that was the case for me anyway.

But there are some quiet spots, and during my visit I fortuitously found myself in the right spot at the right time. Perfectly positioned to see an immaculately turned out and stunningly beautiful Maiko walk past me and then continue along the street. Presumably heading to her first appointment of the night.

Aug 03 2004 5 Comments

G for groping

It would seem that whist some people list sport, reading, or music as a hobby, a certain section of Japanese society could quite legitimately list groping as theirs. Or if not as a hobby, at least as a pastime.

Reports of gropers abound, with the majority of perpetrators preferring the nation’s packed trains to practice their art form. But whilst most gropers see it as a purely solitary pastime, others have actually gone as far as creating a club in order to share their stories and learn new techniques.

Thankfully women are beginning to fight back, but certain train companies have resorted to having ‘women only carriages’ in a desperate bid to reduce the problem. But with a steady stream of groping stories appearing in the newspaper, the battle is far from over.

Groping heaven?

May 25 2004 Leave a Comment

Governmental groper

Teru Takagi, a 40-year-old government worker, has joined the growing ranks of public servants arrested for sexual deviancy. Or to use the technical jargon, for violation of a prefectural ordinance that forbids people from creating a public nuisance.

Mr. Takagi was traveling to work on a busy train, when for reasons known only to himself, he began groping the thighs of a young woman stood next to him. Rather surprisingly the woman put up with this for a few minutes, but presumably as Takagi-san showed no signs of stopping, she asked him to get off the train at the next stop.

Why Takagi agreed to this is a mystery. Unless of course he mistakenly thought that the woman was enjoying having her thighs rubbed, and wanted to continue the sordid business in a rather less crowded environment. But whatever the reason, get off the train he did, and at that point found that he was the one getting grabbed, as his victim held him by his tie and alerted a station official.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Regional Agricultural Administration Office where Mr. Takagi works wouldn’t offer a comment until all the details were confirmed. But if the whole Incident wasn’t embarrassing enough, the area covered by this department is the appropriately named Kinki region.

Oh how I’ve longed for such a story from this unfortunately titled area!

May 20 2004 2 Comments

Celebrity star trek

The U.S. based Space Adventures Ltd., which in the past has successfully sent non-professional astronauts into space, recently teamed up with Dentsu Inc. to help send a Japanese celebrity into orbit.

Space Adventures Ltd. had already concluded a deal with Russia’s space agency to send four non-professional astronauts to the International Space Station, but has now come to an agreement with Dentsu Inc. to allow one of them to be a Japanese national. The Japanese company seems delighted with the opportunity, and a spokesman was quoted as saying, “Traveling in space is everybody’s dream. We’ve decided to participate in the project to help make the dream come true.”

Who the lucky person will be has yet to be decided, but it has been confirmed that they will be a prominent public figure, as the cost of the deal will be offset by corporate sponsorship deals and advertisements. Rumours have already begun circulating as to who the person will be, with one unnamed (and frankly unreliable) source claiming it to be a two horse race. The favourite being model, actress, and K-1 fan Norika Fujiwara.

Whilst apparently others are touting naturalized citizen and ex-sumo wrestler Konishiki as the first choice.

My money is on the big man.

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