February 2012
5 posts
7 tags
Le Musée paléontologique de Fukui célèbre Hina...
Hina Matsuri, c’est le 3 mars, mais ça fait bien deux semaines que les premières poupées sont apparues un peu partout, et maintenant que la Saint Valentin appartient au passé, elles se multiplient à une vitesse impressionnante.
Petit point culturel : le Hina Matsuri est un festival destiné à apporter santé et prospérité aux petites filles. Les jours précédant le festival, on expose...
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La folle échappée du rhino d'Ueno
Les gens du zoo d’Ueno sont formidables. Déjà, ils ont des pandas, ce qui est assez fabuleux en soi, vu que comme chacun sait, les pandas et les tournesols vont sauver le monde.
Hier, dans la grande tradition des “journées d’entrainement aux catastrophes diverses et variées” nippones, les gens du zoo d’Ueno ont simulé une évasion de rhinocéros. Après tout,...
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Découverte d'un oiseau que l'on croyait disparu...
L’Institut de Recherches Multidisciplinaires sur les Forêts a annoncé hier qu’une espèce d’oiseaux marins que l’on pensait éteinte, le Puffin de Bryan (Puffinus bryani) existe en fait toujours sur l’archipel de Ogasawara, situé à plus de 1.000 km au sud de Tōkyō.
Des tests génétiques réalisés sur six individus collectés entre 1997 et aujourd’hui...
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Un pas de plus vers la réouverture de Himeji
Au grand dam de centaines (de milliers) de touristes un peu étourdis, le château de Himeji est fermé pour restauration depuis… 2009. Ne prévoyez pas votre voyage pour tout de suite, d’ailleurs, les travaux ne seront pas finis avant 2015.
Mais, aujourd’hui, on a cuit les tuiles de faîte 「shachihoko-gawara」 de la tour du château.
Le shachihoko est une carpe avec une tête...
January 2012
1 post
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Le jour de prévention des incendies pour les...
Official language for this blog has just become French. It just means the English version of every article will be after the cut.
If ever you prefer the other way, just let me know.
Aujourd’hui, 26 janvier, était le “jour de prévention des incendies pour les propriétés culturelles” 「文化財防火デー」 (et également le jour des parcmètres, je pense qu’il est important de le...
December 2011
1 post
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One third of single women live in poverty
The National Research Institute for Population Problems and Social Security (yes, there is one) found out that one third of working women (20-64 years old) who live alone are under the poverty line.
The poverty line is fixed at half of the median income = 1,140,000 yens a year for Japan (733€ a month for France) (this is after the taxes have been deducted).
32% of all women living alone...
November 2011
9 posts
4 tags
Gundam is back in Odaiba !
Woohoo !
Two years after leaving to save other endangered parts of Japan, Odaiba’s Gundam is back ! (Well, he’ll be back in spring)
We do not know yet if he will stay permanently but he will protect Tokyo Bay at least till March of 2013.
Deux ans après son départ pour aller protéger d’autres contrées en danger, le Gundam d’Odaiba est de retour !...
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First salary amount for University graduates rised
Woohoo \(^o^)/
The average salary of University graduates who started work this spring rised of 2,3% comparing to last year, reaching 202,000 yens (205,000 yens for males, 197,900 yens for females). It the first time since 2001 that it outreaches 200,000 yens.
This average salary is based on salaries paid by 13,534 companies of 10 or more employees.
The Ministry of Labour says we overcame...
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The end of an era : NHK sues people !
You can spot the scene in countless dramas, films or mangas : the NHK employee knocks the door and suddenly the household becomes mute, hoping he will think the house is empty ans leave without claiming the television tax. Television tax fraud may be the more common one in Japan (nevertheless, 78% of household pays the tax, meaning the majority of Japanese people are still honnest).
Till...
9 tags
What is your degree of happiness ?
If you live in Fukui, Toyama or Ishikawa, it is likely you’re happier than people living in Ōsaka.
I must confess “Are you joking ? There are at least 3,76 okonomiyaki restaurants per square meter in Ōsaka, if this isn’t heaven, then what is it ?” was my first reaction.
A study by Hosei University analyzed each prefecture regarding life expectancy at...
6 tags
Message from the Jidaigeki Supporting Committee
So, as I stated previously, Mito Kōmon is coming to its end…
And (as I stated previously, II), I am not the only one it bothers.
The city and the prefecture of Kyōto sent a request to five national television channels to prevent the disparition of all serial jidaigekis (historical dramas in costume) : with the cancellation of the NHK’s Saturday evening jidaigeki this spring...
4 tags
No, this is not ecological.
Japan faces an ecological problem other industrial countries do not have : disposable chopsticks.
They are everywhere : not only for take-away meals, but even in restaurants. Japan is said to butcher Canada’s forests only with its disposable chopsticks. We’re talking about billions of chopsticks a year.
Don’t laugh, this is a serious problem and for a few years,...
5 tags
Since we're in space : news from Akatsuki
So, Akatsuki failed at orbiting Venus, which, for a Venus probe, is pretty bad, yes, we know… (Please, do not mention Nozomi, thanks).
The main engine being damaged, a secondary engine (retroaction control system) was ignited yesterday during 10 minutes to correct the trajectory of the probe, a first step in a project that may conduct to an orbit insertion in 2015.
A second ignition...
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Super Starbust Galaxy discovered !
One shall never write articles about things one does not completely understand. But hey : isn’t this what 80% of bloggers do everyday ?
I apologize for any misconception that may occur in this article. I am not even sure I would have understood everything would have the source been in French either…
An international team of researchers including members from the...
October 2011
5 posts
4 tags
Mako-sama turned 20 years old !
My obsession for the Imperial family may seem strange given the fact French people are known to loathe monarchy. Let’s be realistic, we loathe monarchy for France. It’s a perfectly valid political system for other nations. Look at our archennemies accross the Channel : they seem to manage quite well with one.
Monarchy can be a mean to keep a stable symbol for your nation, and...
4 tags
Criminal case of the year... the century.
Yesterday morning, people wandering the campus of Tokyo University had the surprise to see about ten parked bicycles whose saddle had been replaced by red-painted broccoli…
The same prank has been observed on the same campus in September also. Would it be an American detective drama, we would be investigating criminals who experienced detention from September to yesterday. Or maybe...
7 tags
Bears ! Bears ! Bears !
As I said previously, there are bears in Japan. Lots of.
And at the moment, Sapporo is the Place To Be if you’re a bear. Or so it seems since some have been spotted there for three days. 13 eye-witnesses reports have been filed since October the 6th for brown bears (Ursus arctos).
They have essentially been seen in the residential area at the foot of Moriiwa mountain. There are many...
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Every child is a genius
It’s funny-social-survey time ! I love funny social surveys !
Disclaimer : all the personal pronouns used to refer to children in the article will be masculine. “Child” is masculine in French and I feel it akward to use neutral for human beings, even not fully grown ones.
According to a study conducted by Benesse, 80% of parents think their child is a...
7 tags
Silence will not fall
Environment is so much more than a landscape. Of course, the scenery is important to define a place. That’s why we send postcards, after all. But there is so much more about a place than its looks.
I think everybody living far from home may have experienced it : when you drive towards the place you belong to, even is the landscape is changing, becoming more and more familiar,...
September 2011
16 posts
9 tags
Iwaki's Hawaian Resort reopening !
Everybody’s seen 「Hula Girl」? If not, you should. The story revolves around a Japanese Hula Dance Company and the opening of a hawaian resort.
This is a true story, and the 「Spa Resort Hawaians」, located in Iwaki city, prefecture of Fukushima, was damaged by the Big Tohoku Earthquake.
A part of the resort will reopen on October the 1st ! (It will open in its totality on next...
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Harvest time
A few weeks ago we admired the harvest moon. That’s this time of the year again, and the Emperor harvested the different rice varieties planted in the paddy fields inside the Imperial Palace.
This rice is used later in the year (in November) for Niinamesai, the festival when the Emperor offers the newly-harvested rice to gods.
The Imperial Agency said that despite the heat wave(s)...
7 tags
First snow over Mount Fuji
This morning, the first* lasting snow was observed on Mount Fuji (it may have snowed before, but this time, the snow settled on the mountain).
The heavy rains due to Typhoon 15 also made the “phantom pond” appear ! Also known as the red pond, it forms in the valley next to Fujikawaguchi lake when the water level of the lake rises. It is a small pond of 40 meters width, but...
5 tags
The era of bicycle has begun
A lot changed after the Big Tohoku Earthquake, and not only in the striken prefectures. People changed.
In urban areas, the number of persons commuting to work by bicycle considerably increased. The fact that bicycle was good for health and for environment had been finding its way into people’s mind for a few years, but the Earthquake decided a lot of people to change their habits....
9 tags
Beware of the bears !
After “beware of the wild boars” last week, here is another article about Japan’s dangerous wildlife.
Temporary dwelling have been built on numerous areas after the Big Tohoku Earthquake. Those dwellings are generally built far from the coast, in the montaneous parts of the different prefectures, but people living in them formerly lived on the coast.
Thus, they are not...
5 tags
Japan's counter plan against haka
Mwahahahaha, they did it !
A few days ago, the Japanese rugby team’s captain declared they needed a counter plan to cope with the emotional distress they would probably feel after the New-Zelanders haka before today’s match. He said “We may wear our track suit during the haka, then taking them off would give us a few minutes to recover before the match begins”.
...
7 tags
Mito komon can't be cancelled !
And I’m glad I’m not the only one who think it’s nonsense.
A few weeks ago, it was a real shock when TBS announced they’ll cancel the long running drama Mito Kōmon at the end of the year. It’s older than me ! It’s been on T.V. every Monday evening since 1969 ! Cancelling it would be like cancelling Sazae-san… Moreover, NHK already cancelled...
8 tags
The second smallest mountain in Japan disappeared
Yes, mountains can disappear.
As we all know thanks to Hugh Grant, in Great Brintain, hills and mountains are distincted by their height. This is not the case in France. Nor is it in Japan.
The rule may be summarized like this : “what you call a hill is a hill. What you call a mountain is a mountain”. Thus, the smallest mountain in Japan is 4,53 meters high. Visit it if...
4 tags
Guess who won US Open ?
やっぱり Kunieda Shingo !
It’s been the fourth time ! It seems he had a dolour in the right elbow, but it did not prevent him from winning… as always.
6-2, 6-0. And two hours later he was on the doubles finale. But this time he lost.
Devinez qui a gagné Flushing Meadows ?
やっぱり Kunieda Shingo !
Ça fait quatre fois ! Il semble qu’il ait eu...
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Nine at one blow
This is what a car looks like after an encounter with nine wild boars.
This morning at about one o’clock, driving on a motorway in Gifu prefecture, a man had the surprise to suddenly see nine wild boars (apparently a parent and its children) running toward his direction on the road. Sadly he was unable to avoid them and the nine ones died in the accident.
A friend of mine (who is...
3 tags
It’s been six months since the Big Tohoku Earthquake today.
Six months and we’re still looking for 4086 persons. The searches and the identification of corpses already found make this number decrease every day, but it is pretty evident we’ll never manage to reach zero.
There have been memorial services all over the striken areas and all over Japan today.
Internet...
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Say no to dr... to television !
That’s easy, 90,000 Japanese households did so.
Analog broadcasting came to an end in July and by the end of August, the NHK had received 90,000 files for contract cancellation.
Owning a television receptor in Japan equals having a contract with the NHK, meaning you have to pay a fee of about 15,000 yens a year.
On July, every analog T.V. set in japan became useless and it seems...
6 tags
The Health Minister hates smokers.
That’s not what ＊I＊ say, that’s what the Financial Affairs Minister says. In fact, he said she hated tobacco, but you know how journalists are…
The new government has just been created, but Health Minister Komiyama Yoko does not stay idle. She may be right, considering the life span of Japanese governments lately : better get the job done now if you want to have time to...
8 tags
Explosive river
… and I am not talking about River Song.
This is your daily meteorological bulletin, live from Typhoon 12. Well, after devastating Kinki, Typhoon 12 became an extratropical cyclone over the Japan Sea (an extratropical cyclone is less than a typhoon). A lot of rain is still awaited in Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate till Tuesday evening, because of the combined actions of this cyclone and...
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Typhoon number 12
Ok, I suppose everybody out there knows there is a typhoon striking Japan.
Typhoon number 12 has already made 27 casualties and 54 persons are missing. 1800 mm of rain have fallen on Nara since August the 30th, rivers are overflowing, hills are landsliding, houses are being washed away, the waves reach 6 meters on the shore. Bridges even collapsed.
The government opened an emergency...
4 tags
あついですね～
What is the sentence you hear the most in Japan during summer ?
Easy ! 「Atsui desu ne ～」
It means “it’s hot, isn’t it ?”, and you may hear this every five minutes, sometimes from the same person*.
It’s hot. It’s a fact. It’s summer. Everybody knows it. It’s not really meant to communicate, it’s just a sort of...
August 2011
7 posts
9 tags
Sunflowers will heal the world !
Or at least they’ll try to.
Japan decided to try phytoremediation to clean the soils of the radioactive elements spread by Fukushima 1.
Phytoremediation means cleaning the soil with vegetals. Experiments about that have been held in Europe after Tchernobyl, involving broccolinis and sunflowers, and the JAXA (yes, the aerospacial agency, don’t ask me why THEY are involved in this...
6 tags
Beware of the mushrooms
As far as I am concerned, I beware of any mushroom…
A poisonous mushroom is currently spreading in the woods of Shiga prefecture. Even only touching it causes inflammations, so be careful while hiking Shiga forests.
Its name is kaentake and eating it can cause up to dyskinesia and death.
Kaentake is generally cylindrical :
BUT you can face strange individuals with several...
7 tags
We've seen a black hole eating a star !
MAXI, the X-ray observation equipement installed in Kibou, the Japanese experiments laboratory module of the ISS managed to capture for the first time a black hole swallowing a neighbouring star !
To be honest, the American satellite SWIFT detected the same thing at the same moment, but yay for Japan anyway.
MAXI detected a really strong X-ray emission during about 10 minutes, coming...
3 tags
Where is it safe to send your children to school ?...
Well, I don’t really care since I do not have children but a prefecture spending money to make its schools earthquake-resistant probably spends money to make the other buildings that I use earthquake-resistant too.
The MEXT (Minister of Education […] that we used to call Monbusho and that is now nicknamed Monkasho for a reason I don’t get) published the results of its yearly...
5 tags
And then, people you thought would last forever...
And again, I deal with a major piece of news even if I had decided not to…
It seems that a member of the government let slip out that Kan Naoto would resign at the begining of next week. But… who cares ?
SHIMADA SHINSUKE IS RETIRING ! (would I not be a grammar nerd, I would have put several exclamation marks at the end of this sentence)
Shimada Shinsuke, one of the...
5 tags
An american representative attend the...
So today was August the 9th, the 66th anniversary of the bombing of Nagazaki.
A few days ago the commemorations for the bombing of Hiroshima were held, including the mass release of 8.000 paper lanterns with peace messages written on them on the Motoyasugawa in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome.
66 years ago the same river was filled with the bodies of people who jumped in it in need of...
7 tags
Rice art
Long time no see… and the updates will probably be sporadic for the next few weeks.
Since I do not have much time, have a text-light-image-heavy article ! It’s summer, the season of koushien rice art ! Rice art is really popular in Japan (probably because there are a lot of rice fields. But it is more popular than… let’s say wheat art in France, despite the...
July 2011
15 posts
5 tags
This summer's mystery
There is a road called Midōsuji in Ōsaka along which you can admire 29 bronze statues.
On the morning of the 25th, Ōsaka woke up to discover that 19 of those statues were wearing red dresses.
The dresses exactly matched the size of each statue. They were casual wear all dyed in red.
Further investigation revealed that a security camera filmed somebody (probably a woman) on a bicycle...
7 tags
Be careful of what you write on the net, your...
So what ? Would you think.
Well, a third year student at Fukuoka University has been expelled for 3 months because he wrote on the net he drove his bicycle when drunk.
Japanese laws are really strict about drunken driving and the University considered the student’s behaviour damaged its honour. After the student tweeted about coming back home drunk, the University received 18...
5 tags
Why is foreign languages instruction always done...
Todai (Tokyo University), from which I wouldn’t mind receiving a job proposition, announced a very special entrance examination session : for the first time, the whole examination will be set in English.
It will be for a special programme of education in the English department, whose lessons, starting next year, will also exclusively be hold in English. The begining of the lessons...
7 tags
494 days in space and counting
お久しぶりです。
So what happened in Japan while I was job hunting ? Typhoon, earthquakes, baseball all-stars matchs… Nothing that really stands out from the ordinary.
Furukawa Satoshi (Astro_Satoshi) is currently on the ISS, that’s no news either. But thanks to him, today the number of days spent by a Japanese in space has reached 494 : Japan became the third nation in the...
9 tags
Nadeshiko Japan
I slightly pondered whether I should deal with this since I started this tumblr with the idea of focusing on (interesting) news that do not figure in the headlines. But running a site about Japanese news and ignoring the event everybody is currently talking about would be quite pointless. (I mean, there is a typhoon, and nobody cares because :)
Nadeshiko Japan won the FIFA Women’s World...
12 tags
The first tsunami since the Big Tohoku Earthquake...
Don’t panic, there’s nothing dramatic. At about 10:00 this morning an earthquake occured in the Sanriku zone. The epicenter was 34 kilometers deep and even if the magnitude was of 7.3, the earthquake was of level 4 at most on the Japanese earthquake scale.
The Japanese earthquake scale has nothing to do with magnitude, but considers the way the earthquake is experienced and the...
