The Asian Giant Hornet is cool, unless it's baked. Japanese honeybees can detect the hornet's secretion and they attack en masse. With approximately 500 honeybees surrounding the hornet in a tight ball, the temperature within the cluster rises to 47 degrees Celsius which bakes the hornet alive.
posted by tellurian
on Jun 8, 2006 -
35 comments
My earliest memory was when I was three. I had a fever and my mother was wiping a cold wet rag on my body. There were fish swimming in my room, as though I was underwater, but I could breathe just fine. That's why I was surprised to find
this. "The
contemporary art in Japan (
english) is naturally influenced by the world contemporary art. But the power of the Japanese traditions, the oppressive presence of a dense urban environment and the various traumatism undergone by Japan for 60 years (defeat of 1945, Hiroshima, earthquakes, economic crisis, etc.) involve a production very
rich,
original and
little known."
posted by sluglicker
on Jun 4, 2006 -
6 comments
"...this clip of a Japanese show called Gaki No Tsukai stands out not for what it includes, but for what it lacks - talking and screaming. It takes place in a studio made up like a library, with the participants (including Kickboxing champion Ernesto Hoost) stifling their laughter, screams of pain and retching noises, just like any student did in their own junior high school library." [youtube video, text shamelessly lifted from wfmu]
posted by Armitage Shanks
on May 18, 2006 -
25 comments
AN AMAZING JAPANESE ANIMATION based on the psychologically complicated and beautifully playful work of comic book artist
Jim Woodring. (Monday morning cartoons for you, complete with a nod to the Jetsons, courtesy the Japan Media Arts Festival. Other featured work
here.)
posted by Peter H
on Aug 16, 2004 -
19 comments
Black ships and samurai In 1853 four ships under Commodore Perry anchored off the coast of Japan against the wishes of the Japanese. According to historian John Dower, "This initial encounter between the United States and Japan was eye-opening for all concerned, involving a dramatic confrontation between peoples of different racial, cultural, and historical backgrounds. We can literally see this encounter of "East" and "West" unfold through the splendid, yet little known, artwork produced by each side at the time." This beautiful exhibition includes many examples of this artwork, juxtaposing scenes of the encounter from Japanese and American artists' points of view. (Part of MIT's open courseware initiative.)
posted by carter
on Mar 14, 2004 -
18 comments
Ping Pong Pang Pong ... (MIDI file). Archives of public transport departure chimes and announcements. From Japan, MIDI files [
+] [
+] (via Boingboing) and live recordings [
+] [
+] of various elaborate tunes (no I don't speak Japanese, just keep clicking the blue links until you hit an MP3!). European recordings [
+]. The very excellent
Shonen Knife used a sample of the
Osaka subway chimes in their rockin' cover version of the Carpenter's 'Top of the World.'
(WFMU archive here, click "Hear the show", song starts with Osaka chimes at approximately 15:23)
posted by carter
on Mar 3, 2004 -
7 comments
"
Amodal Suspension" is a large-scale interactive installation developed for the opening of the new Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM) in Japan.
[more]
posted by hama7
on Nov 17, 2003 -
6 comments
A bunch of very beautiful
Old Japanese Maps has been put online. Java application Insight(tm) required to view and includes a nifty GIS application to overlay old maps on current maps with 3-D animated fly-throughs. State of the art in online map presentation "The digital images are even better than the originals because you can amplify them, rotate them to look at them from different angles," Mr. Zhou said. "In practical terms, this is a better way of using the material than actually coming here to see the pieces."
posted by stbalbach
on Apr 13, 2003 -
5 comments
In retrospect I have seen a glimpse of it before, in
Baraka (scroll down
to images, in the middle of the second row). I had forgotten this. I had
read about it before too and smugly thought I knew about it then. When
I saw it live for the first time I realized I didn't know anything at
all about it. And now that I've seen it, now that it feels like I know
it, it still feels like I don't know anything about it.
Unfortunately there's only so much that can be said about anything. You
have to experience it, and even then it has to touch you or resonate
with you in some way before it really means anything to you. All I can
say is that I saw something last weekend that touched me and resonated
very strongly with me. And
anything
that I or
anyone else
could
tell
you
about
Butoh
couldn't
tell
you what that was,
much less
give you what was given to me.
posted by wobh
on Apr 4, 2003 -
10 comments
"There is making of
silver sex".
Taking bodypainting/messy obsessions to the very
edge, Manon Production from Japan sells a
wide selection of fetish
videos (sample mpeg 1.69MB).
All feature illustrative pictures and detailed, eerie Engrish descriptions (
"we feel admirable and poor at her black smile";
"Midori's body is changing colourfull";
"a little golden powder enters into her eyes"). Results can also evoke a
sculpture, the
theater or
abstract art. Considering the evident misogyny of the whole effort, is it all the more unsettling because the images are sometimes
beautiful (
1,
2)? Is it an attempt to somehow bring
Sorayama's creatures to life? Could the models be
actually enjoying it?
NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
posted by 111
on Mar 16, 2003 -
16 comments
Japanese create "invisible" cloak. Well, not really. Technically, just a two sided cloak, the front of which is a projector, and the back of which is a camera. Only works, one would imagine, if you're looking at a person straight on, and even then it would help if you were partially blind, or at the very least, raised in the wilderness & easily fooled by modern technology.
posted by jonson
on Feb 5, 2003 -
55 comments
You've been in Japan too long when... A) ...you are not surprised to wake up in the morning and find that the woman who stayed over last night has completely cleaned your apartment, even though you'll probably never ever meet her again.
B) ...you are not surprised to wake up in the morning and find that the woman who stayed over last night has completely cleaned your apartment, even though you'll probably never ever meet her again.
C) ...your hair is thinning and you consider it "barcode style".
Or perhaps if you're unsurprised that such a historically isolationist nation is now so
uniquely and openly fascinated with the opinions of those who have moved to their land...wow. This is somewhere I must travel to.
posted by effugas
on Dec 17, 2002 -
68 comments
Japan To Host IWC Meeting in Whaling Port . . .the sheer volume of food they [whales] need has actually become a threat to the ocean environment.
Apparently they feel that when the rest of the world gets to taste whale bacon, or whale soup, they will suddenly realize who stupid we've been in banning commercial whaling.
Am I hypocritical in eating tuna or salmon, but being horrified with the potential resumption of commercial whaling?
posted by Danf
on Apr 18, 2002 -
16 comments
It's the Shperiks! Those wacky mascots for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Korea-Japan!
I can't tell what the heck is going on here, and if it weren't for the upbeat BGM, I'd probably be scared to visit this site again. But it was an interesting little adventure...
posted by Bixby23
on Mar 26, 2002 -
6 comments
PostPet Japan's most popular email program. it's NOT outlook, it's NOT notes, it's NOT eudora. it's PostPet. related article here:
A Dancing Pink Bear Named Momo. now looking at this pink bear in particular and japanese culture in general, any chance that
imode will *really* be popular in Europe and the US?
posted by HeikoH
on Oct 9, 2001 -
14 comments
Not many still-practiced sports existed at the dawn of recorded
history. Sumo wrestling is one of them. I've been trying to
learn
more about Sumo lately, and with the Aki-Basho tournament coming
up next month, now is the time to
follow
along on the
web as the drama unfolds.
posted by machaus
on Aug 25, 2001 -
5 comments
Even the bad guys have PR sites these days. From the cuddly looks of this buddhist sect leader, you'd never have assumed he was responsible for the only large-scale act of terrorism in Japan in recent memory (the Tokyo subway Sarin gassing).
posted by Neb
on Jan 16, 2001 -
5 comments
Boon-Ga Boon-Ga! [via
fark] - a video game played by spanking. Even worse is the person dressed up like the
game controller at a trade show, even more disturbing next to the person in the turd (?) costume. Brought to you by
Taff System (link not functional at time of posting)
posted by plinth
on Jan 5, 2001 -
0 comments
When archaeology goes bad "For a nation that has always reveled in its cultural uniqueness, the discoveries were more than heartening; they were almost too good to be true. "
posted by lagado
on Dec 12, 2000 -
7 comments
