I can’t think of another museum that embodies the spirit of Japanese innovation quite as well as Miraikan: The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.
Created by Japan’s Science and Technology Agency — and led by astronaut Mamoru Mohri — the futuristic glass building is packed with permanent exhibits and fun hands-on gadgets that explain the science behind technology and its application to daily life. Visitors can build a robot, meet the humanoid ASIMO, "drive" a virtual reality horse, brush up on nano-technology, peek inside the body or take in …

Wild monkeys caused injuries to 43 people from Aug. 22 to Aug. 25 in the neighboring Shizuoka Prefecture cities of Mishima and Susono. Reports of monkey sightings in areas of Mishima including residential communities near the Hakone mountain range began coming to authorities in June. From Aug. 22 to Aug. 24, 26 people were reported to have been attacked by monkeys. On Aug. 24, the city set up a task force to try to capture the monkeys.

The victim, a 22-year-old woman, realized her underpants were missing from a drying tumbler in a coin laundromat in Fukuoka, western Japan.
When she saw Hirano get into a car parked outside, she reported the licence plate number to police, Kyodo News reported.
"At first glance, I knew ‘she’ was a ‘he,’" she reportedly told police.
via Japan blind-school teacher in drag arrested for panty theft.

Gravure idol Yuzuki Aikawa (27) is looking to rejuvenate her career by entering the world of professional wrestling. She held a sudden press conference on Monday to announce that she will make her debut in the ring on October 31 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.
Aikawa said that she won’t be using her 100cm bust as a weapon, instead planning to show off her taekwondo skills, including her special maneuver "Yuzupon Kick." Aikawa has apparently been undergoing pro wrestling training in an actual ring since May, as well as practicing her …

A third season of the "Jyouou" drama series is now on its way. Gravure idol Mikie Hara (23) will reprise her starring role from the second season, joined by several new cast members.
The original "Jyouou" drama aired in 2005 with Hiromi Kitagawa (29) as the lead, and was adapted from Ryo Kurashina’s manga of the same name about young hostesses in Roppongi competing for a large cash prize and the title of number one. Last year, Hara took over the reins for the "Jyouou Virgin" series, based on the manga’s …

Roller slide at Kodomo no Kuni park. Notice the on-foot technique used by the family in front.
My daughter and I riding the long roller slide in Kodomo no Kuni (Kids Country) park in Machida, Tokyo Japan. Just wish there wasn’t anyone in front of us so we could get some speed out of it.

Big Slide in Awase Okinawa

Super roller slide Japan

This video is from GaijinGuide and what follow is the rider’s description and playfully painful video of the experience.
The slide comes in at an incredible 82 meters …

Remains believed to be those of a missing woman, who would have been aged 104 if she were alive, have been found in a backpack at her son’s apartment in Tokyo’s Ota Ward after he admitted to the local authorities that his mother died about nine years ago, police said Friday.
The 64-year-old son of Kikue Mitsuishi initially told ward officials, who are trying to confirm the whereabouts of missing elderly people in the ward, that his mother was in Niigata Prefecture.
He has also admitted to having received his mother’s pension …

The Tokyo Sky Tree tower, under construction in central Tokyo and already the tallest building in Japan, topped the 400-meter mark Friday, reaching 408 meters in height in the afternoon, its operator said.
The new communications tower in Sumida Ward is scheduled to be 634 meters high, possibly next spring, after extending its antenna. It will be used mainly for terrestrial digital broadcasting.
Friday’s work was originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed due to strong winds, according to tower operator Tobu Tower Sky Tree Co.
Read the rest of the story: Tokyo …

Actor Shun Oguri (27) will star in a stage version of the Anthony Burgess novel "A Clockwork Orange," set to be performed early next year. This will be the first time that the story is adapted for the stage in Japan.
The best known adaptation of "A Clockwork Orange" is Stanley Kubrick’s film in 1971. However, it has also received multiple theatrical adaptations in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
According to Horipro, which is handling the production of the play, there have been plans to adapt the book to …

If you happened to see an abundance of ladies dressed in French maid outfits and men rocking furry headdresses in the East Village yesterday, you weren’t suffering from heat stroke-induced hallucinations. The costumed cosplayers were attending JapanTown’s Cool Japan street festival. Yesterday’s festival, the first of three scheduled around the city this summer and fall, focused on the cool aspects of Japanese culture.