1. Shirako 「白子」(Fish Sperm)

Shirako is the male genitalia of fish, a sack that contains its seminal fluid. A popular dish at most izakaya (Japanese pubs) and sushi bars. A few years back I had my own encounter with fish ejaculate that didn’t end too well.

2. Inago no Tsukudani 「いなごの佃煮」 (Grasshoppers)

“Inago no Tsukudani” is a traditional Japanese insect cuisine popular in the inland rural communities of Yamagata, Nagano and Gunma prefectures.

“Inago” is Japanese for “grasshopper” and when you stew your mouth-watering locust with “tsukudani”, a sweetened soy sauce simmered with mirin, you get the delectable bug banquet – “Inago no Tsukudani”.

3. Basashi 「馬刺し」(Raw Horse Meat)

Due to its deep pink color raw horse meat is called “sakura” or “sakuraniku”. “Sakura” means cherry blossom, “niku” means meat. However, when your equine is ponied up raw in thin sashimi slices it is called “basashi”. The prefectures of Kumamoto, Nagano and Ōita are famous for basashi, and it is common in the Tohoku region as well. Nice with some ranch dressing.

Straight from the horses mouth, there is also a dessert made from horse meat called basashi ice cream.

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Here it is, the January 2010 edition of “Gekkan J-News Review”, a monthly wrap of five entertaining articles, events or observations related to Japan that piqued my interest. Not always mainstream and sometimes obscure yet invariably intriguing.

Fuji, Tramontane by CJW

In the off season Mt Fuji is prone to extremely unstable weather conditions. This didn’t stop one adventurer as he embarked on a lonesome and grueling climb of the highest mountain in Japan. Read his inspiring story which makes my climb more like a walk in the park.

The Japanese Passenger on the Titanic by Peter Payne

Not so famous employee of the Japanese Transportation Ministry, Masabumi Hosono, the only Japanese aboard the Titanic and survivor. On return home to Japan was attacked by the Japanese press for living fending off calls for him to commit suicide to atone for his dishonorable act. Read more.

Ruins of the Japanese Sex Industry by Michael John Grist

Michael John Grist searches and explores the abandoned ruins of Japan, a past-time known as ‘haikyo’. In the first of a series he explores the ruins of the Japanese sex industry and uncovers rotting, desolate and decaying love hotels, brothels and Turkish baths (‘Soaplands’). Read more.

Giant Robots by Muza-chan

“Robot anime” (ロボット, robotto), also known as “mecha”, is a Japanese animation genre featuring walking robots usually controlled by pilots. Muza-chan presents the top 6 life-size replicas of giant robot tourist attractions from various parts of Japan. Read more.

Shibuya Streets Vol 9 by Shibuya246

The “Shibuya Streets” series is a set of posts with pictures of the action from street level in Shibuya. Featured here is Volume 9 of the series as Shibuya246 explores Dogenzaka including shots of the Shibuya scramble crossing and the Shibuya 109. Read more.

The January 2010 edition of the Japan Blog Matsuri was recently published. The theme was Famous Japanese People and contributors were asked to tell us about their favourite Japanese celebrity, public figure or historical figure.

This edition introduced a special twist, a matsuri cash giveaway where I offered the submitters of the two best articles to this matsuri some cold hard cash – ¥5,000 each (roughly US$50) paid via PayPal. The winners were to be determined by having the most number of socs (votes) on JapanSoc.com for their article.

It is time to announce the winners!

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Philanthropist, volunteer worker and resident of Peru, Scott Jeppesen of the charitable organisation Sonrisas en Peru, explores the fascinating history of Japanese immigration to Peru and the strong influence that Japanese culture has played on various aspects of Peruvian society.

I currently reside in Lima, the capital of Peru. Every day I am faced with some characteristic of Peruvian culture that has been derived from Japanese origins. Urged by curiosity I soon discovered the intriguing story of the Japanese Peruvians, the largest ethnic immigrant group in Peru.

The Japanese Peruvians

The Japanese Peruvians are Peruvian citizens of Japanese ethnic origin. They constitute around 0.3% of Peru’s population (estimated at nearly 90,000 in 2008) which is the second largest population of people with Japanese ancestry in Latin America after Brazil.

Peru was the first Latin American country to accept Japanese immigration. Back in 1899 the first wave of 790 Japanese immigrants arrived at the Peruvian seaport Callao aboard the “Sakura Maru” from the Japanese port of Yokohama and thus spawned the Nikkei ethnicity in Latin America.

The Sakura Maru

Most notably, Japanese Peruvians were brought to the world’s attention in 1990 by the election of Alberto Fujimori, son of Japanese immigrants and the 90th president of Peru. Fujimori was the first person of Asian descent to become president of a Western country.

Alberto Ken'ya Fujimori

At any fan convention like Comic-Con, Comiket, Otakon or the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) you are bound to find at least one cosplayer gearing up in their best Pikachu outfit. A trend seems to be occurring and that is the Pikachu cosplayers seem to be getting sexier.

Previously I had compiled a collection of when cosplay goes wrong but here is a collection of 10 of the best sexy Pikachu cosplayers. I mean hasn’t Pikachu been violated enough?

Source: Jessie Nigri

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