News from Japan

It's been a bit of a slow week for me personally, so I don't have much to say. You probably already figured that out by noticing the changes to my blog; and that did take some time. Obviously time that I have a bit of an excess of right now. Actually I've been fighting a cold for a few weeks, so I've been playing it safe and taking it easy at home. Besides it's cold and I don't feel like biking around town in the cold.

Anywhooo, I read the Japanese news today and found some interesting and funny headlines. Check them out:

"Woman who butchered husband says she feels relieved" The title says it all. Actually she murdered her husband of 3 years b/c he was violent towards her, unfriendly to her parents, and he wouldn't apologize after arguments. After the murder she cut him up b/c.... "Woman mutilated husband because body was 'too heavy to carry'". Go figure!

"7 NOVA teachers arrested for possessing cannabis, cocaine" So some Tokyo NOVA teachers were walking around Roppongi in Tokyo with a lot of drugs; 1.5 grams of cocaine and 8.5 grams of pot. Not much else to the story except that one of the teachers involved said that his coworker wanted the drugs so he went and bought them for him from a street dealer. Smart move, huh???

"Mayhem in Aomori as 'Chilean Geisha' drops by to see embezzling husband in prison" Basically this Chilean woman is married to a Japanese man that was found guilty of embezzling 1.4 billion yen (about 11 million USD). She went back to Chile and took the money with her. She has been in Chile since 2001 when the embezzlement was discovered. In Chile she has become a hero (for fighting back and having a horrible life) and her book is a bestseller. She actually was a prostitute in Japan and writes and speaks about her experiences here. Anyway she flew all the way to Japan to see her husband and heads to the prison straight from the airport. Unfortunately she went to the wrong prison amid the media frenzy. There are tons of links on this story off of the one above if you are interested. It's definitely soap opera drama.

And finally "At 114, Japanese woman 'really grateful' to be No. 1" Yone Minagawa was crowned the oldest woman alive on January 29. Congrats Yone! Her hobbies include being yelled at in her one good ear, driving her motorized wheelchair around the dining hall, combing her hair, and eating sweets. In fact in the article a nursing home staffer comments that they have to watch her or she will take seconds on sweets. Geez! She's 114! Let her eat as many sweets as she wants! She's lived a long time, she deserves an extra sweet or two.

Oh and the photo relates to none of the articles. I just like it. It's of Rich taking photos at sunset with Angkor Wat in the background.