weird japanese

In this groundbreaking film, a greater Egyptian jerboa hangs out in a kitchen to a tune from Dragon Quest 3. Set expectations to "low." Thanks to Adam Bedient for the important tip
Thanks to Bill K for this kind of thing once again.
A little background here: Japanese squid monster moisturizer tentacle woman video. Yup.
Via Cute Overload and NVDH.
The Tokyo Zoo is prepared for anything. In this case, they foil the escape attempts of two employees in a giant paper maiche rhino outfit. (fyi - this video is in fact still available, just blow in it a few times if it gives you trouble) Via Arbroath via BoingBoing. From the YouTube comments and also pointed out by BoingBoing - Any simple task in Japan requires the effort of tens of aging men dressed in fluorescent jackets and hard hats. Thanks Bill K.
Hat tip to Kevin Z.
Aquarium staff at Kinosaki Marine World in western Japan recently noticed that their dolphins were less acrobatic in their performances and more lethargic in general. Concerned about their health, the dolphins were weighed and found to be significantly heavier since only a few months prior. Apparently a fattier mackeral, their typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner, was to blame. Aquarists quickly started calling the dolphins "fatty" and "fatty-fat-fat" and telling them no one would love them in an effort to get them to throw-up their meals after eating them. When that failed, they tried…
After becoming entangled in a fishing net off the coast of Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefrecture in Japan, a wounded and exhausted young dolphin was taken to Umitamago Aquarium, also known as Oita Marine Palace Aquarium. The dolphin did not have the energy to keep itself afloat and after a couple of days of holding the dolphin to make sure it didn't sink, the aquarium staff were also worn out. This is when aquarium vets got the clever idea of fashioning a dolphin lifejacket shown below. This is where the story gets less cute. According to this Reuters article, the aquarium intends to keep their…
Welcome to the eleventh and by far the most important, although surprisingly the most poorly formatted, installment of Carnival of the Blue. Before we get down to the watery, salty, and sometimes rubbery details, we wanted to take a moment to ponder the significance of Zooillogix's role as host of the eleventh COB. Why not the fifth or the ever popular tenth? Why not the second or maybe seventh, sixth, eighth, ninth or third? Well, according to Biblestudy.org, "If ten is the number which marks the perfection of Divine order, then eleven is an addition to it, subversive of and undoing that…
Our cute Raccoon Dog post (directly below this one) just took a turn for crudeness and hilarity. Thanks to the combined efforts of readers Hypatia and pough, we now know that #1 - Raccoon dogs are known in Japanese folklore to have the magical ability to expand their scrotums and #2 - we got our hands on some truly classic old woodprint images from mid 1800s Japan. Raccoon Dogs fishing and walking on the street Raccoon Dogs river fishing and sheltering from an evening shower. Raccoon dogs doing something religious and depicted as the seven lucky gods (guess Buddhism is a little mellower…
You'd have to be mentally deficient to believe Japan's claims that their hunting of 900 whales is being done for "research" purposes. But how far should people go to stop the slaughter? The Australian government has condemned the killing. People have waged protests. But it seems nothing can stop those wacky Japanese from persisting with the hunt. Enter Sea Shepherd, an organization dedicated to protecting our large baleened friends from commercial and "scientific" whaling at all costs. Run by the infamous Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd has resorted to some hard line tactics such as…
Chimpanzee walking bulldogs in some sort of bizarro world (i.e. Japan). We've delivered you some strange Japanese imports in the past, but this raises the bar.
Japan is a country pretty much known for only one thing: being mean to whales. They eat whales for taste and curiousity and conduct "experiments" on whales for "Mengele street cred." But now, they have finally taken their twisted torture too far. The Daily Mail, Britain's most trusted source for news, reported today that a Japanese aquarium has PUT SANTA CLAUS HATS on two beluga whales who are being held hostage there, an act which has brought "laughter and cheers" from the aquarium's visitors. Just hold a moment and let that last part sink in...Yup, you heard me correctly. It would appear…
Using aluminum panels as electrodes, Japanese inventor Kazuhiko Minawa has powered a mall Christmas tree with an electric eel. Minawa told Reuters Televesion that "If we could gather all electric eels from all around the world, we would be able to light up an unimaginably giant Christmas tree." Hmmmm.... let's not do that. The tree has proven to be quite the Christmas attraction. Eel is particularly popular during the summer, because it's rich in vitamins, which the Japanese believe they lose through sweating in the summer heat. "I would love to have an eel like this at home. This is very…
Japanese fisherman and power plants have been under siege over the last year by giant jellyfish. While the cause of the swarming is unknown, the nuisance is severe. Growing to almost 500lbs, Nemopelima nomurai destroys fishing nets and poisons fish when trapped in nets. Their smaller brethren, the moon jellies, have been blocking intake vents for seaside power plants. In an effort to find an economic solution to this problem, the Japanese have developed both a baking powder and a crunchy, delicious salted snack derived from the gelatinous monsters. Although these inventions have yet to be…
But I just want to cuddle! Bathynomus giganteus In what might be described as the world's most destructive termite problem, Hotboro Island is actually being eaten away by isopods only about an inch long. Isopods are not in fact insects, but primitive crustaceans ranging in size from the size of a pin to the size of a bowling ball. Inhabitants of neighboring Higohihiroshima had been noting the steady erosion of the island for years. After each tsunami, parts of the island would break off and disappear. When scientists finally examined the remnants of the island last year, they found isopods…
Primitive primates indigenous to Southeast Asia, Slow Lorises are endangered and absurdly adorable. Most importantly, they just so happen to be this editor,Aeos favorite animal since early childhood. However, it wouldn,Aeot take a childhood obsession to be appalled at the horrors of the illegal loris trade. Prized for their cuddliness, slow lorises are sold in Japan as impulse-buy pets like puppies. But the process of getting them to Japan is fraught with misery for the animals. Baby lorises are the most valuable, but unable to care for themselves. They cannot defecate without assistance from…
Per Gizmodo's Jack Ventura, the Japanese government has spent $12,000,000 over the past two years developing "silver technology." For those of you, like every single person reading this, unfamiliar with this term, apparently it refers to robots designed to help lonely old people. The seal was on display at the recent RoboBusiness 2007 conference in Boston and is meant to resemble a baby harp seal. Equipped with internal motion sensors, it responds to cuddling, petting and scratching. It also emits nauseatingly cute baby seal squeals and apparently sheds its fur... for some reason. The $3,500…
I'm going to pretend this falls into the "exotic pet" category. how postmodern some sort of eclair? Slow news day... digg_url='http://zooillogix.blogspot.com/2007/04/breaking-news-rabbit-with-baked-…';