Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010

LEADING OFF

Rodrigo Rodriguez

• A 42-year-old Defense Ministry official found himself in hot water after dressing up as a woman and attempting to enter the ladies’ bath at a Shibuya sento.
• Giving new life to the term “You go girl!” 11-year-old go prodigy Rina Fujisawa came up short in her professional debut, falling to 20-year-old Mitsunari Horimoto.
• The Japan Electric Vehicle Club set a record for an EV car running on a single charge: 1,003.184km, on a test course near Tokyo. Musta been exciting to watch that one unfold…
• Guinness World Records also recognized Nintendo’s Dragon Quest 9 for having “the world’s most popular ad-hoc wireless game feature”: a system whereby different players can exchange info through their consoles simply by passing one another on the street.
• Struggling clothing maker Renown has become the first blue-chip company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to get a cash injection from Chinese investors.
• An art exhibition in Paris featuring the works of comedian/director/actor Takeshi Kitano includes a mannequin holding its own brain in its hands. Yuck!
• Two years after a knife-wielding nutcase killed seven people on the streets of Akihabara, the district will once again have car-free public shopping roads on certain days.
• After residents in the library-less Fukushima village of Iitate made a plea for used children’s books, over 10,000 books came pouring into the small mountain town from around the country.

ATHLETES IN ACTION

• Under police questioning, sumo wrestler Kotomitsuki denied betting on pro baseball games. A tabloid claimed the ozeki had racked up huge gambling debts and was being blackmailed by gangsters.
• Hoops fans in Tokyo got a treat at the BJ-League final when six Golden State Warriors cheerleaders—including Japan’s very own Yoshimi Isohata—provided some on-court entertainment. Who won? Who cares? NBA cheerleaders were there!
• (OK, relax… the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix smoked three-time champion Osaka Evessa 84-56 at Ariake Colosseum to become the BJ kings of Japan.)
• How the mighty have fallen: infielder Kaz Matsui, a former star with the Seibu Lions, was released by the Houston Astros. The 35-year-old Matsui was playing so poorly that the ’Stros were willing to eat most of his $5.5 million salary for the rest of the season.
• After pummeling Hong Kong 94-5 to qualify for the rugby World Cup, Japan national coach John Kirwan said he hoped his squad could get two wins down in New Zealand, over Canada and Tonga.
• Former trash-talking pro wrestler Rusher Kimura moved on to the big ring in the sky after he died at age 68 of pneumonia caused by kidney failure.
• It seems the imminent closure of the Akasaka Prince Hotel will be a major blow to orgy organizers, who often booked suites at the hotel for their erotic get-togethers.
• On the topic of sex for the masses, former Livedoor boss Takafumi Horie has thrown his hat into the porn ring, announcing that he is producing an adult video for a company called Soft On Demand. (It strikes us that this is possibly the worst-ever name for a porno company.)
• Horie, who lost his own company in a securities fraud scandal a few years back, also took part in a game of “strip” mahjong with three porn stars. The contest was broadcast live on adult channel Paradise TV.

NEWS FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

• In the aftermath of the decision to kill 49 prized bulls in Miyazaki Prefecture to prevent the potential spread of foot-and-mouth disease, Kagoshima Prefecture officials decided to evacuate six of their best bulls to a remote island to spare them a similar fate.
• A substance contained in sperm whales that was used in perfumes back in the Middle Ages can be whiffed at a new exhibition on marine mammals at Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science.
• After being blamed for damaging Lake Biwa’s ecosystem, black bass and other foreign fish species are being caught and turned into pet food.
• Colorful animal-shaped rubber bands developed by the Tokyo-based company H Concept have become so popular with schoolkids in the US that many teachers are banning them to prevent fights over the hot little items.

STRANGE DAYS

• A bronze statue of manga character Reiko Katherine Akimoto near Katsushika-ku that had been bent at the ankles by vandals was mysteriously fixed by unknown person(s) under the cover of darkness.
• The government has paved the way for genetically modified papayas from Hawaii to be sold in Japan.
• Researchers from the University of Tokyo have discovered a metal oxide that can be used for optical data storage and hold 200 times more info than what is currently stored on Blu-ray discs.
• In Kanagawa Prefecture, a driver was found dead inside his own taxi, which had been lit on fire.
• A group of Chinese workers in Qiqihar City who were sickened when they opened barrels of poison gas left by Japanese troops in World War II had their bid for compensation rejected by a Tokyo court. One of the laborers died and 43 others fell ill.
• A 46-year-old Nigerian man was caught at Narita Airport trying to smuggle more than a kilogram of illegal drugs into Japan…by swallowing them

Compiled from reports by Japan Today, The Japan Times, International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun, The Mainichi Daily News, The Tokyo Reporter, The Daily Yomiuri, Reuters, AP and Kyodo.