Marriage School Opens In Japan

In search of Mr. or Mrs. Right, dozens of Japanese are attending a newly launched school in Tokyo that aims to turn them into marriage material.

The Infini school offers various classes for wannabe brides and grooms at a time when many people in Japan are either shunning the institution of marriage or are finding it very difficult to hook up with a partner.

The school, which is open to men and women, teaches students how to talk, walk and present themselves elegantly in a bid to capture the hearts and minds of prospective partners and their parents, who are often a major obstacle to successful unions.

Infini, which opened last month, now has about 30 female students. An almost equal number of males has signed up, but those who actually turn up to class are much fewer than their female counterparts.

“I had never even thought that my boyfriend’s mother could play such a big role in my relationship, but now I’ve realized I need to start thinking seriously about how to impress my future in-laws,” said Kozue Sugawara, 29, who joined the school after her previous marriage plans failed.

With women wielding increased economic clout and changing social attitudes toward marriage, more Japanese in their 20s and 30s are single than ever before.

Behave Yourself Tokyo!

Many women taking the crowded train in Tokyo opt for women-only carriages during the rush hour to avoid gropers.

Now, for fear of being accused of groping, some are asking for carriages reserved for men as well.

Ten shareholders of Seibu Holdings, which runs trains in the Tokyo area, have petitioned for carriages reserved for men.

“There have been many cases of groping, as well as false charges of groping, on Seibu Railway,” the shareholders said in a notice seeking a vote at the company’s annual meeting.

“While measures against groping, such as setting women-only carriages, have been effective to a certain extent, no measures have been taken against false charges of groping… In the spirit of gender-equality, a male-only carriage must be introduced.”

False accusations of groping were highlighted when Japan’s Supreme Court overturned in April the conviction of a professor for groping a girl on a Tokyo train.

Judges pointed out a need to be careful in such cases when the accuser was the only source of evidence, media said.

But the shareholder request for men’s carriages may not be implemented, as Seibu’s board of directors opposes the idea.

“The reality is that we have few requests from Seibu Railway users for setting up male-only carriages,” the board said in its reply to the shareholder request.

In Tokyo, around 2,000 people were arrested for groping in 2007, data from the police showed. Many crowded train lines, including Seibu lines, designate a carriage just for women during the rush hour.

A Horror Experience In The Bathroom

In a country where ghosts are traditionally believed to hide in the loo, a Japanese company is advertising a new literary experience — a horror story printed on toilet paper.

Each roll carries several copies of a new nine-chapter novella written by Koji Suzuki, the Japanese author of the horror story “Ring,” which has been made into movies in both Japan and Hollywood.

“Drop,” set in a public restroom, takes up about three feet (90 centimeters) of a roll and can be read in just a few minutes, according to the manufacturer, Hayashi Paper.

The company promotes the toilet paper, which will sell for 210 yen ($2.20) a roll, as “a horror experience in the toilet.”

Toilets in Japan were traditionally tucked away in a dark corner of the house due to religious beliefs.  Parents would tease children that a hairy hand might pull them down into the dark pool below.

Sumo Champ Asashoryu Hints At Retirement

Controversial sumo grand champion  Asashoryu has triggered speculation he is close to quitting the ancient heavyweight sport with a series of cryptic comments to Japanese journalists.

The volatile Mongolian first raised eyebrows when he uttered a few words to the media scrum as he marched off to take a bath following a training session for this month’s Tokyo tournament.

“Do you fancy coming for a drink?” Asashoryu was quoted as saying in Nikkan Sports. “Because this could be my last appearance in Tokyo.”

The 28-year-old made some equally baffling comments later when he took part in a hot-air balloon trip.

“I will do my best to come back next year,” Asashoryu said after joining 60,000 enthusiasts at a balloon festival in Nagano.

Asashoryu’s short fuse has landed him in trouble with Japanese sumo authorities many times, most notably resulting in a ban two years ago for playing soccer while supposedly injured.

Naked Arrest Spurs Sympathy For SMAP Star

What’s wrong with being naked?

That’s what a Japanese TV star asked police who arrested him for public indecency when he was found drunk, naked and screaming in a Tokyo park in the early hours of the morning last week.

His words struck a chord with the public and have now become the slogan on a new range of T-shirts sold by online retailer ClubT.

“They are definitely selling,” said company spokeswoman Nanako Shibuya, who said she could not give precise figures.

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, 34, who shot to fame 20 years ago as a member of boy band SMAP, resisted arrest and was bundled into a police vehicle wrapped in a blanket, media reports said.  Police questioned him at length and also searched his home.

Prosecutors decided not to charge Kusanagi, media reports said.

But the incident has sparked sympathy for Kusanagi. Many Japanese complained the slight, serious-looking actor was treated too harshly, especially after he appeared close to tears during a news conference he called to apologise for his behaviour.

One fan threatened online to attack the Akasaka police station where he was held, the Asahi newspaper reported.

More coverage: http://alindenauer.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/star-found-naked-in-park/

SMAP Star Found Naked In Park

Media helicopters hovered overhead and photographers camped out in front of Japan’s top talent agency after one of television’s cleanest-cut stars was arrested for public indecency.

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi of the pop group SMAP was found drunk and naked in a public park in Tokyo, his agency said in a statement.  He was alone and shrieking at the top of his voice, media reports said.

“What’s wrong with being naked?”  he demanded of a police officer who tried to question him after receiving a complaint about the noise, Kyodo news agency said.

Kusanagi, 34, shot to fame almost 20 years ago as a member of SMAP, the popular boy band whose five members have gone on to monopolise Japanese TV screens in everything from drama to variety and even cookery shows.

The slender Kusanagi is seen as perhaps the most serious of the five, known for his acting skills and fluency in Korean, which brought him fame in South Korea.

“He has such a clean image,” one woman told commercial broadcaster TBS.  ”He doesn’t seem like that kind of person.”

Kusanagi’s agency, Johnny & Associates, a big name in the Japanese entertainment world, issued an apology.

“We apologise deeply for the trouble and worry caused to everyone, especially his fans,” the agency said in a statement.

Japan Cuts Gifts To 100-Year-Olds

Japan now has so many people over 100 that it is cutting costs by reducing the size of silver cups it presents to those who reach that age.

Last year 19,769 people reached triple figures in the world’s most rapidly aging country, compared with only 153 in 1963, the year when the cups were first presented.

“We realized there’s not such a big difference in appearance if we cut the diameter from 10.5 to 9 cm (4.13 to 3.54 inches),” an official at the Health Ministry said. “We also had to think about how to continue to do this for an increasing number of people on a limited budget.”

The cups are presented on September 15, a holiday designated Respect for the Aged Day, to people who have turned 100 in the past year. The cost varies with the price of silver, but the Yomiuri newspaper said it was about 7,000-8,000 yen ($72-82) apiece, including a wooden presentation box.

The Japanese are the world’s longest-lived people, a phenomenon experts have attributed to a range of factors, including diet and widely available health care. There are 36,436 people aged over 100 in a population of 127.8 million.