July 4, 2001

1:52 PM

How Do The Japanese Celebrate The Fourth of July?They fly to New York, Eat Many, Many Hot Dogs Very Fast, and Put the Locals to Shame. Historic Shame. This is truly amazing. Or truly disgusting. A breaking story and very funny article by one of my favorite writers.
posted by ParisParamus (18 comments total)

And people wonder why the world is getting fatter?

By calling people who participate in this type of contest "athletes"

I love hot dogs as much as anyone else, but yuck!
posted by melissa at 2:04 PM on July 4, 2001

Hopefully, this will correct the negativity created by that unfair groping story.
posted by ParisParamus at 2:06 PM on July 4, 2001

I agree that it's not a sport, but where *was* the guy putting them all, anyway? Musta had some kind of dimensional portal in his stomach.
posted by darukaru at 2:15 PM on July 4, 2001

I don't like hot dogs...so when are we gonna have a CHEESEBURGER-eating contest, darnit?
posted by davidmsc at 2:20 PM on July 4, 2001

Well, if the 13 pounds of mystery meat and bread in his stomach don't kill him, the nitrates and the high fat content will.
posted by crunchland at 2:29 PM on July 4, 2001

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posted by iceberg273 at 2:34 PM on July 4, 2001

It's that kind of appreciation of foreign cultures that leads to the display of crucified Santas at easter-time in Tokyo department stores.
posted by holgate at 2:52 PM on July 4, 2001

Um, fake.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 4:43 PM on July 4, 2001

Sorry, BFT, but if you believe NPR, it's all too real.
posted by dchase at 5:14 PM on July 4, 2001

dchase, thanks for killing any respect I had remaining for people.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 8:34 PM on July 4, 2001

Um, not so fake. Nathan's has been holding this contest for nearly a century.
posted by dhartung at 9:19 PM on July 4, 2001

Oh, the record is real. Check out this CNN article. Make sure you check out the video -- the Japanese TV announcer is priceless.
posted by kaefer at 11:33 PM on July 4, 2001

Where did they go? This guy obviously has some kind of matter teleporter in his stomach.
posted by quirked at 7:18 AM on July 5, 2001

btw they don't eat buns, it would be too difficult.
posted by FPN at 7:33 AM on July 5, 2001

And people wonder why the world is getting fatter?

The guy who won it weighed 131 pounds before the contest.

btw they don't eat buns, it would be too difficult.

Are you certain? I honestly don't know, but this article contains the line: [The winner] munched on two hot dogs at a time, and when his hands were empty, he dipped the empty buns in water and then shoved them into his mouth.

I also love the concluding paragraph of that story: World haggis-eating champion Barry Noble, who set marks for downing the dish that consists of baked animal innards, said in all of his years of competitive eating ... he has never seen anything like Kobayashi. `What he did was not real,' Noble said. `It was frightening.'
posted by Shadowkeeper at 10:31 AM on July 5, 2001

`What he did was not real,' Noble said. `It was frightening.'

Say the above, out loud, with great conviction, in a "Groundskeeper Willie" brogue. You'll be the toast of your friends and enemies alike.
posted by Optamystic at 2:44 PM on July 5, 2001

I didn't get to this year's competition, but I understand the the "Give Peas a Chance" vegetarian protesters collapsed when the final tally was announced.
posted by ParisParamus at 6:51 PM on July 5, 2001

Late breaking clarification (since my brother just since me an email about this): buns included. The NYPost story on 7/5 contains this quote: "...astonishing 12-minute total (buns and all) was 50." The article is in the $$$ archives now, so I didn't provide a link, but you can search "hot dogs" for the last 30 days and find it if you want to see it for yourself.
posted by JParker at 9:21 AM on July 25, 2001