Houston We Have A Drinking Problem

What is the only thing better than beer?

SPACE BEER

AP has the story here.

These are a Few of my Favorite Places

Welcome to Yagishiri Island. What's so great about this place? Not much, unless you have a really juvenile sense of humor like I do and love asses. What's the connection? Well, if you play fast and loose with the rules of translation, as I do, the kanji for Yagishiri means FRIED ASS. LOVE IT!

YAGI (usually read as YAKI), meaning FRIED:　焼

SHIRI, meaning ASS:　尻

Put them together and what do you get?

HILARITY!

More Kimono Girls Than You Can Shake A Bou At

Like manga? Like girls wearing kimono? This guy's blog contains more kimono girls than seijinshiki. Enjoy!

PS. This is BSFW (Barely Safe For Work) so don't say I didn't warn you.

PLEASE DO IT AT HOME

I just love the new "good manner" campaign that Tokyo Metro is running on its trains. What the f#$% is that lady doing to herself?!

And this one, this one looks kind of dirty:



Are people actually DOING these unspeakable things on the subways? What is the world coming to? Thank GOD I can ride my bike to work!

WHERE'S THE F#($!%G BUTTER

We haven't seen real butter in weeks. What the hell is going on here Japan?

Japan running short of butter
By Mari Yamaguchi

TOKYO —

Japan has so far escaped the shortages of rice besetting other nations, but it’s running out of a daily staple once associated with foreigners: butter.The Farm Ministry said Thursday it ordered the nation’s four major dairy producers to churn out more butter to counter a 230-ton shortage.The staple—which has grown in popularity in recent decades as more Japanese turn to eating bread—is disappearing fast from store shelves amid production cutbacks and growing demand for domestic butter.Drought in Australia—which pushed up the cost of cattle feed—and bulging demand for butter elsewhere in Asia are making butter imports more expensive, and shoppers are turning to made-in-Japan butter, said Agriculture Ministry official Tsuyoshi Hashimoto.The butter shortage is ironic in Japan, where Western foreigners centuries ago were told they “smelled of butter.”Today, Japanese households—not including bakery chains or other businesses—consume about 13,800 tons of butter a year.The Agriculture Ministry asked Meiji Dairies Corp, Snow Brand Milk Products Co, Yotsuba Inc and Morinaga Milk Industry Co to release inventory and boost production by up to 20% of their monthly average.“We should go ahead and increase the domestic production, and if that’s not enough we will have to consider a next step, such as making emergency imports,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura.Retailers have been running out of butter because of domestic raw milk production cuts by dairy farmers on Japan’s northern Hokkaido, amid flagging milk consumption in recent years. In the past few years, they had to dump thousands of tons of drinking milk.Manufacturers have also allocated more raw milk to fresh cream and milk-based drinks, which can sell at higher prices than butter.Hashimoto said the butter shortage might have escalated because consumers overreacted and rushed to grocery markets to stock up.Officials were hoping the shortage would subside with a planned price hike of the product by 8% to 10% beginning early May.“The bottom line is, however, butter is not our staple food,” Hashimoto said. “Personally, I can happily switch to margarine.”

http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/japan-running-short-of-butter

Japan Struggles to Reach World Cup

...THE HOMELESS WORLD CUP!!

Honestly I'd never even heard of this until the Japan Times did a feature on some local World Cup hopefuls. What can you do to support your local team? Buy copies of THE BIG ISSUE when you see them!

Star Wars for Japanophiles

All sorts of great stuff for NERDS like you and me this week.. Last year the DARTH VADER SAMURAI ARMOR was making the blog rounds. It's still on sale at Tokyu Hands, along with all sorts of sundry items like soy sauce bottles and box lunch wraps. Check it out at Nigiwai Showten!!