The Basket Cat Blog: Shiro loves very small baskets. He also wears flowered hats (sometimes vegetables) and enjoys the idyllic Japanese countryside of Iwate Prefecture. He and his brothers are very chill. Many short but sweet videos of them have been uploaded to YouTube on the shironekoshiro channel. The blog is updated frequently and has extensive archives. More archives here. Twitter Facebook [more inside]
posted by bobobox on Jul 24, 2011 - 35 comments

Japan's Okunoshima Island once produced chemical weapons. After 1945, the facilities where shut down but the buildings remained and the island became famous for something else: Being home to hundreds and hundreds of rabbits. ((via)
posted by The Whelk on Dec 25, 2010 - 28 comments

Japanese children fight valiently to protect their home from a zombie. There's no way this isn't the cutest thing you see all day. (Don't forget to turn subtitles on). Full 7 min video, albeit without subtitles.
posted by fizzzzzzzzzzzy on Oct 16, 2010 - 86 comments

Cthulu Is Not Cute. (NSFW)
posted by shakespeherian on May 4, 2010 - 81 comments

Usagino U (ukulele, lead vocal) and Kumano 900 (ukulele, pianica, theremin, bongos) play American surf rock in Japan -- Isogabamaware ll Diamond Head ll Crazy G
posted by vronsky on Sep 19, 2009 - 11 comments

Have a Minoto game to make a snow day bright. [more inside]
posted by melissa may on Dec 20, 2008 - 9 comments

Japanese cat humiliation. SLYT
posted by MaryDellamorte on Dec 17, 2008 - 46 comments

Teddy Bear Pilot.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on May 14, 2007 - 22 comments

PARO: Seal Type Mental Commit Robot for Psychological Enrichment.
posted by gottabefunky on Dec 28, 2006 - 18 comments

The J Marimba Ponies have performed at Carnegie Hall, as well as in concert halls from Vienna to Japan. Even more impressive, the oldest member of the group is 12, and the youngest is 4 years old. Musical prodigies or novelty act? See them play Khachaturian's Sabre Dance (Coral link to Quicktime video) and judge for yourself. Via Music for Maniacs. Previously mentioned on MeFi but worth its own thread.
posted by yankeefog on Mar 18, 2006 - 16 comments

The billion-dollar juggernaut that is Hello Kitty. Tokyo-based journalists Ken Belson and Brian Bremner have published a history of Japanese character-licensing company Sanrio and their most famous character, Hello Kitty. As Japanese "kawaii" (cute) culture continues to invade the world, this looks to be a great guide to the history and impact of Kitty-chan and her minions.
posted by gen on Oct 15, 2003 - 21 comments

Momo's parts. All about the different parts of one Japanese man's pet hamster plus illustrations. "I have read that hamster's whiskers shows the width that they can pass through. But Momo forgets. One day Momo tried to go into the cleaner hose. As he has the big hip, he could't go into it. And in his effect to go, he could't get his head out. When I ran to him in a hurry, his head gone out of the hose, and he rolled backward."
posted by moz on May 17, 2002 - 17 comments