ABC News reported last Friday on a Japanese company that is building small yellow ‘escape capsules’ which it says could allow a family of four to survive a tsunami. The ‘Noah’ capsules are yellow balls which are made of enhanced fiberglass and float in water. Apparently the company has put them through a [...]

Shortly after the election of Hatoyama Yukio as Prime Minister in August of last year, I reported here on the rise of obscure comedian Hatoyama Kuruo, who had a striking resemblance to the Prime Minister. After 17 years in the wilderness, he gained some popularity after being encouraged by Beat Takeshi to put on [...]

It may be old news, but Mainichi today had a story about 72 year old microbiologist Taguchi Fumiaki, who was awarded the fluffy (well, foam) dice trophy for the annual Ig Nobel Prize, as announced at the 19th annual ceremony at Harvard on October 1. The Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded every year by the [...]

There is more than one ‘Hatoyama’ getting busy with new responsibilities after the success of the DPJ in the recent election. Obscure comedian Hatoyama Kuruo, 35, who lives in a 4 1/2 tatami wooden house with his wife bears such a striking resemblance to the new Prime Minister to be that his fortunes are completely [...]

I’m sure that others will be covering this as well, but I couldn’t resist posting about it when I saw the article. The Independent have an article today which discusses some of the more unusual aspects of Japan’s soon to be First Lady, Hatoyama Miyuki.

In a book aptly named “Very Strange Things I’ve Encountered”, Hatoyama [...]