Debito is a malcontent who wishes upon a star that he could just wake up one day and be a Japanese in Japan.

The fact that he complains about this not happening proves he never will be. The irony is he doesn't realize this.

Free Tibet....from the Buddhist theocracy, where boys as young as 8 are forced into religious subservience and, too often, "passive" sexual partnership with senior monks.

In the glory days before Chinese re-occupation, Tibet was a paradise: no tv, no radio...no non-Buddhist schools, no hospitals, no postal service, no roads or trains or buses...

Big whoop. It's development. Just because it's happening outside of the US of A and at a pace faster than the lumbering West is used to doesn't make it remarkable. The pics are nothing special, unlike most from Geographic.

I just listened for about 35 minutes and still have absolutely no idea whatsoever exactly what any of it is supposed be about. And I'm one of the five people who actually read 'The Singularity in Near' without laughing myself into a comatose state of near singularity.

Probably a reflection on me, tho.

Not to be PC, but why JapRock and not JRock? Four out of five Japanese agree, referring to something Japanese as Jap--- is a lot like referring to something African-American as Nig---. Not cool.

Especially when JRock is widely used to describe Japanese rock:

http://www.jrockrevolution.com/

Israel has the best weapons...declared and otherwise.

Better yet, here's where you can also buy the exact same horse head ask used in this video for only Y1570 (save Y509!!)

http://www.hiltonjapan.com/2008/02/japanese-performance-art-dancing-man.html
(Link at bottom)

I think I've met this guy in the wilds outside Kajimi city a few times. But as good as that was and on so many levels, this may be even...better:

http://www.hiltonjapan.com/2008/02/japanese-video-edits-insane-ronald-san.html

If you haven't seen it, you better sit down.

Did I miss BoingBoing.net?

Tokyo to Sapporo is the busiest air route in the world, by a fair margin. Did this include only international flights?

Never tried Curry Hell, but did try something possibly as hot: a curry dish served at a restaurant in Vancouver that was so hot, you had to sign a waiver to order it.

The restaurant was located on Kingsway and Rupert, if I recall correctly.

How hot was it? So hot I started sweating even before I ordered...

In many parts of Western Japan people still eat real insects, usually pan fried in sweetened soy sauce. A few of my Japanese friends eat them whenever they're in season (late summer, I believe).

On the topic of interesting foods in Japan:
http://www.hiltonjapan.com/2005/06/meat-in-can.html

Not insects or chocolates, but somehow even less appealing.

Lovely re-imaging indeed. And I know I've seen that hand somewhere before. It was in Shibuya, I believe.

I've never seen a back-side city-scape of Tokyo so devoid of commercial ads, nor have I seen many haze-free blue-sky days. A rarity. How much enhancing of the photo?

They're just getting bored.

Well, long after the traces of our modern civilization are wiped out, the pyramids, cave paintings, etc., will linger on.

Who's to say it hasn't happened already, more than once?

People talk about China rising. The nation is such a long way from civility in so many ways, it seems to be going backwards.

Soon, very soon, the organic host won't even be required. And the next one will be from Toyota (and you'll just have to plug it it, like this hybrid):

http://www.hiltonjapan.com/2008/01/toyotas-plug-in-hybrid-due-by-2010.html

Dang, missed another chance to get published...

This isn't related in any way shape or form, except that it's a packaged food product from Japan. Oh, and it's funny.

http://www.hiltonjapan.com/2008/01/best-dogfood-name-bar-none.html

At least I think it is...

I wonder what would happen if they injected someone without established dementia. I'm thinking super-human cognitive ability and higher scores.

You have to be a bit of a jerk to register a domain of someone else's name, unless it's a gift.

Reminds me of a movie I've been wanting to download. In it, a young Japanese schoolgirl with a machine-gun arm gets it deep-fried in tempura batter.

http://hiltonjapan.blogspot.com/2008/01/machine-girl-is-coming.html

Cool stuff.

This will turn out to be one of the worst PR debacles, if someone reacts poorly to being pulled over for no reason. Especially if they hate Starbucks...

I suppose I'm jaded. Bowling boars just don't seem all that unusual to me anymore.

Hey Mark - what makes them unusual, exactly? Or rather, unusual to whom?

You probably just meant "Old Japanese model kits", or "Creative Japanese model kits" because there's not really anything usual about them, except they probably weren't available in the country you grew up (or are growing up) in.

That something comes from Japan, and is different than what you might be used to, doesn't necessarily make it unusual.

Peace
http://hiltonjapan.blogspot.com

Looks fake, but the satisfied expression on the croc's face would be hard to Photoshop...

Sorry, that URL should be:
http://hiltonjapan.blogspot.com/2007/04/video-from-akihabara.html

And I thought I was accepting it, but maybe not...

http://hiltonjapan.blogspot.com/2005/07/propaganda-revisted_07.html

Come on Cory, you need to accept the fact that Japanese eat things with different flavours.

They also dress differently, listen to different music, use a different language, sit differently, and even curse different Gods.

Is banana flavoured popcorn really the best you can come up with?

Maybe time to drop the cape, remove the goggles, and start looking around a little more...