Big in Japan: North Korea invents super high-calorie noodle

by Matthew Firestone on

This may just be the coolest bit of news you read all day…

While any news story involving North Korean scientists tends to be about nuclear proliferation, today’s Big in Japan post is in fact a salute to these hard-working men and women.

In a failed state that does not produce enough food to feed its population, and is largely reliant on food aid provided by foreign donors, the invention of a super high-calorie noodle is indeed cause for celebration.

According to a recent article in the Choson Shinbo, a Japan-based, pro-Pyongyang newspaper, North Korean scientists have created a new type of noodle that has twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary ramen.

Made largely of corn and soybean, the new noodles are an engineering breakthrough in their ability to leave people feeling fuller, longer. The paper also reports that the new super high-calorie noodles are specially designed to delay feelings of hunger.

This culinary achievement is being hailed as further evidence of the mighty and divine power of Kim Il-sung, the deceased ‘eternal ruler’ of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK).

Keep reading for more on DPRK’s new ramen revolution…

As reported by a pro-Pyongyang newspaper earlier this week, North Korean scientists are celebrating the invention of a new super high-calorie noodle.

According to the Choson Shinbo, “When you consume ordinary noodles made from wheat or corn, you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger.”

Sounds good to me. After all, it’s hard to discount the claims of a country ruled by an immortal leader, especially when they come from such official sounding government ministries as the ‘Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers’ Party.’ Right.

Of course, the invention of this new type of ramen noodle couldn’t come at a better time, especially since the United Nations (UN) warned last month that North Korean residents are experiencing their worst food shortages in more than a decade.

However, the notoriously reclusive communist country is extremely reluctant to allow foreigners to assess the scale of the problem, or to even allow the proper distribution of emergency food aid within its tightly controlled borders.

So, it looks like the humble ramen noodle might soon take up the front lines in the fight for the hearts and bellies of ordinary North Koreans. Over the next few months, the DPRK government will be mass-producing the noodle, and distributing it in bulk before the bitter winter descends on the Motherland.

Sadly, this is no laughing matter, especially since an estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s. Furthermore, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned last month that six million people were in urgent need of food aid.

While it’s difficult to actually gauge the severity of the situation on the ground, reports that ordinary North Koreans have taken to scavenging for wild foods are not very encouraging. On that note, let’s all hope and pray that this super noodle really is the miracle food it’s purported to be.

** Images courtesy of the WikiCommons Media Project **

Big in Japan: Famous kissing robot comes to America

by Matthew Firestone on

Love is hard in any language, but you shouldn’t let your search for Mrs. Right get you down. After all, if you’re having problems finding someone of the same species who understands you completely and intimately, perhaps it’s time to start looking elsewhere…

A few months ago, Big in Japan reported about the latest and greatest robot in the Land of the Rising Sun, namely Eternal Maiden Actualization, or EMA, a 15 inch tall robotic girlfriend that kisses on command. Aimed at a target market of adult men, this robotic lover is very sweet, petite, stacked where it counts, and runs on 6 AA batteries.

But don’t take my word for it, just ask Minako Sakanoue, the Sega spokewoman behind Japan’s latest robot craze:

“Strong, tough and battle-ready are some of the words often associated with robots, but we wanted to break that stereotype and provide a robot that’s sweet and interactive. She’s very lovable and though she’s not a human, she can act like a real girlfriend.”

And, in case you’re in the market for a new emotional companion, you can now snag an EMA robot in North America for the low, low price of US$99.99.

Love was never so easy (^3^) ???????????

While the ‘Eternal Maiden Actualization’ or EMA robot can’t exactly engage you in deep and philosophical conversation, or even stand by your side for a night out on the town, she can love you nevertheless. Using state of the art infrared sensors, EMA can pucker up her lips and give kisses to her human masters. Just for the record, this is what EMA’s designers call her “love mode.”

But of course, the fun doesn’t stop there! On the contrary, EMA can also serve as your busty personal assistant. If you’re entertaining clients, she can hand out business cards, sing, dance and flirt with the best of them.

Seem ridiculous? Perhaps. However, Sega expects to sell more than ten thousand EMA robots in the first year alone, and that’s before Version 2.0 rolls off the assembly line in the not too distant future.

If you don’t have the time and money to get yourself to Japan, fret not as EMA is now available in North America, and is being marketed by the WowWee company under the very appropriate ‘Femisapien’ label. All you need to do is drop a quick and easy US$99.99 at Amazon.com , and in approximately 5-7 days, you’ll have yourself a brand new (or slightly used) robotic girlfriend.

On a more serious note, it’s worth pointing out that EMA is actually an incredible piece of technology. Displaying an incredible range of motion, as well as a revolutionary interactive interface, EMA is a great piece of electronic engineering, even if you already have a real girlfriend made of flesh and bone.

** Special thanks to Robert Oschler over at www.robotsrule.com for alerting robot lovers about the availability of Femisapien in North America **

Big in Japan: Why 30 is the new 20

by Matthew Firestone on

Love it or hate it, the HBO series Sex and the City was a global phenomenon that redefined cultural stereotypes of single women in their 30s.

From 1998 to 2003, millions of viewers the world over tuned it for the latest exploits of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, who challenged the notion that single life for older women was anything other than fabulous and fun.

While American audiences needed a bit of persuasion to admit that 30 was perhaps the new 20, Japanese women were quick to embrace the notion of aging gracefully outside the restrictive confines of marriage.

Indeed, there’s even a new word to describe a fashionable and sophisticated single woman in her thirties, namely arasa (????????????), which is short for aranundo sati, the Japanese pronunciation for ‘around thirty.’

While Japanese government bureaucrats – the vast majority of whom are male – are scrambling to solve the problem of Japan’s declining birth rate and aging population, Japanese women are increasingly embracing the freedom of unmarried life.

In fact, they’re currently being targeted by some of Japan’s most prominent brand name stores and boutiques, which are slowly realizing that older women have much more purchasing power than fickle teeny-boppers.

If you happen to be ‘aranudo sati,’ keep on reading for more info…

It wasn’t too long ago in Japan that turning 25 was something of a death-sentence for unmarried women.

Believe it or not, unmarried women in their late 20s and early 30s were once commonly referred to as Christmas cakes (クリスマスケーキ, kurisumasukekki). Since you tend to throw away uneaten Christmas cakes after December 25th, the sick punch line is that unmarried women beyond the age of 25 have little value to society.

Wow. That’s harsh…

Of course, all of this is changing, especially since sexy older women are now gracing the covers of Japanese fashion magazines that were once reserved exclusively for teenage models. Stores and boutiques in fashionable neighborhoods such as Ginza and Ometesandou in Tokyo are increasingly shunning younger shoppers, preferring to market exclusively to the padded wallets of older, single women.

While Japanese men will certainly have to face the reality of declining marriage prospects, Japanese women seem to be embracing the personal and financial power and freedom that comes with being financially stable and single.

Arasa women have even coined their own word for mature sexiness, namely otona-gyaru (大人ギャル, grown-up gal), which signifies the transformation from Harajuku and Shibuya-themed youth fashion to the fabulous world of single adulthood.

Of course, not everyone is happy with the latest consumer trend sweeping across the country. On the contrary, Japan’s declining birthrate and aging population is a serious issue that is threatening to collapse one of the world’s most powerful economies.

However, while politicians in Tokyo’s Diet argue and bicker about the best course of action for convincing women to settle down, arasa are breaking with tradition, and flexing their growing consumer might.

Perhaps Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda had it right all along – 30 really is the new 20.

Big in Japan: Overheating iPods irk Japanese consumers

by Matthew Firestone on

Japanese consumers love their electronics, and they take incredible pride in being one of the world’s most technologically literate societies.

Indeed, the Japanese have traditionally been extremely loyal to their domestic brands, especially since companies like Sony, Nikon and Canon produce some of the finest electronic goods in the world. In recent years however, foreign products have started to make significant advances in the Japanese consumer market, particularly anything made by Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc.

In a society where image and fashion are paramount, Apple’s stylish products speak to Japanese consumers looking to distinguish themselves from the masses. Despite the fact that Sony invented the Walkman, the vast majority of Japanese consumers rely on iPods for all of their personal music needs.

However, Apple is currently in danger of losing a percentage of their market share, following reports that a couple of iPods in Tokyo overheated, igniting stacks of nearby papers. In a society where safety and harmony are also paramount, potentially dangerous consumer goods are quickly shunned, even if they actually pose a minute risk.

According to reports that are quickly circulating through the Japanese media, a small number of first generation iPod Nanos overheated this past week, resulting in nearby papers being scorched. While no one was hurt in any of these incidents, the issue was serious enough to draw the attention of Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry official Hiroyuki Yoshitsune, who immediately demanded that Apple investigate the defect.

Apple responded by stating that the overheating problem was the result of a defective lithium-ion battery that was being traced to a single supplier. However, they emphasized that the problem was extremely rare, occurring in approximately 0.001% of first generation devices sold between September 2005 and December 2006. They also stressed that no one had been harmed in any of the incidents, and that any customer worried about their device should contact customer services.

Unfortunately for Apple, this is not the first time that they have had to deal with the fall-out of spontaneously combusting personal electronics. In 2006, the company received quite a bit of negative press over the faulty lithium-ion batteries found in a number of its laptops. Following reports by various media outlets of small laptop fires breaking out, Apple quickly removed 1.8 million units from the global market.

With that said, it’s worth emphasizing that you don’t need to rush to the store to trade in your black MacBook and iPod Touch, especially since the Dell Inspiron and Microsoft Zune are (at least in my humble opinion!) somewhat inferior products. However, it will be interesting to see what the fallout is amongst fickle Japanese consumers, who are famous for seizing and abandoning products in a moment’s whim.

** All photos are courtesy of the WikiCommons Media Project, and are trademarked images of Apple Inc products. They are are being displayed here on this website for the purpose of critical commentary. **

Big in Japan: Fun facts about Mount Fuji

by Matthew Firestone on

There is only another week or so left in the Fuji climbing season…

While most of you probably won’t get the chance to scale Japan’s most iconic peak this summer, fret not as there’s always next year! In the meantime however, here is a list of fun facts about Mount Fuji (????, Fuji-san) to get you excited about the climb…

Did you know?

– The Japanese characters for Fuji, ?? and ?, mean ‘wealth’ or ‘abundance’ and ‘a man with a high status,’ respectively.

– Every summer, more than 200,000 people climb to the top of Fuji. Some years, about a quarter of all of the climbers on the mountain are foreign residents and tourists.

– In the Japanese language, there is a dedicated word that describes the sunrise at the top of Fuji, namely goraiko (?????).

– The summit of Fuji is high enough to induce altitude sickness (??????, kouzanbyou), though it’s possible to buy bottles of oxygen along the climbing route.

The list goes on, so keep reading!

Did you know?

– Mount Fuji has been regarded by the Japanese as a sacred moumtain since the earliest recorded history on the archipelago.

– An anonymous monk first reached the summit of the mountain in 663. However, it was forbidden for women to climb until the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

– The first ascent of Fuji by a foreigner was in 1860 by Sir Rutherford Alcock, the first British diplomatic representative in Japan.

– Gotemba 5th Station, located between Subashiri and Houei-zan peak on the south side of the mountain, is one of Japan’s most famous take-off spots for paragliding.

– In feudal times, the town of Gotemba was used by the samurai as a remote wilderness training camp.

– Fuji is an active volcano, though it is classified as having a low risk of eruption. The last recorded eruption started on December 16, 1707, and ended on New Year’s Day of 1708.

– Fuji’s eruption during the Edo Period is known as the ‘The Great Houei Eruption,’ which resulted in cinder and ash raining down across the surrounding countryside.

– Mount Fuji is located at the point where the Eurasian Plate meets the Okhotsk and Philippine Plates (think lots and lots of earthquakes!).

– The forest at the base of Fuji, which is known as Aokigahara (青木ヶ原), is reported to be the world’s second most popular suicide location after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

– In the ancient days of Japan, people believed that Aokigahara was haunted by evil demons. Poor families used the forest as a place of abandonment for the very young and the very old.

– While long lines occasionally form near the summit along the Kawaguchiko route, the Yoshida route is so remote that bears are occasionally spotted by hikers.

Want some tips for climbing Fuji, Japan’s most iconic mountain peak? Check out this past Wednesday’s installment of Big in Japan, entitled ‘How to Climb Mount Fuji.’

** Special thanks to my climbing partners! From left to right: Kei-chan, me, Tomori and Will-san **