Eclectic junk from the four corners of the ‘Net. And pictures too!
Talk about rough work conditions…
A local labor standards inspection office has designated the death of a Japanese fisherman shot dead by Russia near a chain of disputed islands as a government work-related accident, and has started paying his bereaved family a pension, it has been learned.
Death of Japanese fisherman killed by Russian gunfire accepted as work accident
Who knew that growing rice could be so artistic.
Each year, farmers in the town of Inakadate in Aomori prefecture create works of crop art by growing a little purple and yellow-leafed kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed tsugaru-roman variety.
[via nocot]
Pimp my rice paddy
Via the magic of YouTube and other video sharing sites international television is becoming more accessible to the general public. I applaud these and get an especially good kick out of the ones that focus on Japanese TV. If you have never seen Japanese TV you are in for a wild ride…
This has to be the most clever of all clever toothbrush holders I have ever seen. How cool would it be to have a crayfish hold your toothbrush? For about $6US it a deal but only if your in Japan as it looks to only be available there.
[via technabob]
crawfish toothbrush holder
(Original page in Japanese: CRAWFISH ??????? ???? ????? ?????????)
Now I’m all for robots helping in our lives but this is kind of weird. These are apparently photos of a series of robotic rescue devices. The idea is that they can gently (I hope!) remove people from places that firefighters can’t get to due to smoke of heat. I’m sure that there are newer versions that don’t look like something that is out of some sci-fi ‘robots are going to eat all humans’ kind of movie. At least I hope that is the case.
[via Tokyo Times]
Unmanned rescue robot ([robokiyu]) translated page via Google
Cool, in Japan you may be able to get a yummy drink not for hard earned Yen but for a slice of time. A company has plans to introduce vending machines that will offer free drinks is you agree to watch a 30 second commercial. I have no idea how the machines will verify if you are watching, face sensing algorithm I suppose. Maybe it will void the offer if your eyes lose track. I might work. If so this will become a target of clever people looking to get some free drinks.
[via lonelocust]
Coming Soon in Japan: Free drink vending machines!!