Planet Japan Podcast

Ep 174: Mayhem in the Potato Patch

Douglas DeLong — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:58:00 GMT

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Happy Birthday to Jen who turns 40 this week! If Doug wasn't so damn old himself, he'd probably feel sorry for her.

The Olympics are here and Okayama has a hometown favorite in figure skater Daisuke Takahashi. Doug is not happy with the flower ceremony, and the Japanese government is not happy with Olympic snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo.

Tiger Woods has finally made his much-anticipated mea culpa and Doug is annoyed by it.

We got some great email from Ian and Hisham, and let us know about the Russian farmer who planted landmines along with his potatoes. Parrot wrote and let us know about an interesting Japanese lesson about how NOT to pick up women.

In the Philippines, there seems to be a rash of killings of karaoke singers, especially those folks who like to sing "My Way." But in happier karaoke news, if you're blind, you can now sing along with everyone else with the invention of braille karaoke.

In our Tech Corner, print magazines have begun to develop versions for the soon-to-be-released iPad. WIRED magazine posted the video below to demonstrate what it will look like on the iPad.

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Two airlines share this week's Dick of the Week award. Southwest Airlines kicked off movie director Kevin Smith for being too fat, and Spirit Airlines kicked off a man and his pregnant wife because the man had the nerve to ask for water for his wife after being grounded for two hours.

We close the show with a tune from an Oakland CA group called Radio Nowhere and a song called picture of you, courtesy of the fine folks at musicalley.com.

That's it for this week. Thanks for listening!

Ep 173: Here Comes Tomo Choco!

Douglas DeLong — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:08:00 GMT

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We were excited to get an actual email from Jesus, even though he's not a big fan of Planet Japan. We also got fun emails from Parrot (who believes that Bob Saget is God) and Grant. A big thanks, also, to Brevard, who sent me an iPhone app called "Tits and Boobies."

The Australian government has made an unusual new regulation for the porn industry - no more small-chested women allowed in porn! The odd reason is that they believe it promotes pedophilia.

Valentine's Day is changing in Japan with the newest trend - tomo choco. Women are giving more chocolate to their women friends instead of their male friends.

Big scandal in the sumo world! Asashoryu, sumo's top dog, has resigned from sumo after getting arrested for assault.

Look out for The Black Widow! Luckily, she's in jail now after being busted for the murder of her benefactor.

Big news in the Tech Corner! Apple's iPad is coming soon! Japan's Fujitsu is raining on their parade by claiming that they had the "iPad" name first. Although the iPad has a great ebook function, the whole ebook phenomenon has not caught on in Japan.

Our Dick of the Week is Paul Shirley, who thinks the whole Haiti disaster is the fault of the Haitians themselves. What a dick!

We close the show with music from a canadian singer named EMAR and a song called The Moon Represents My Heart.

That's it for this week! Thanks for listening!

Ep 172: How to Live in a Toilet

Douglas DeLong — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:49:00 GMT

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We open with a couple of exciting New Year's resolutions.

We share a couple of less-than-positive emails from listeners. We're trying to overcome our disappointment.

In this week's Religion Corner, we learn about a court in Hokkaido which has ruled that the Japanese government cannot grant free land for shrines, the very strange case of "Jesus Rifles" in the U.S. military, and why Muslims and Christians are at odds about what to call God, er, I mean Allah.

We introduce listeners to Casper, the bus-riding cat. It's a very cute story with a very sad ending.

A politician in South Korea has built a giant house in the shape of a toilet. Why didn't I think of that?

Our Dick of the Week is a guy who was flying to Hawaii and thought he'd write a smartass comment on his comment card.

McDonald's Japan has introduced the Texas Burger, the first in a line of "Big America" burgers.

We close the show with some Japanese reggae from Reggae Far East. It's called "Cans" and it's courtesy of MusicAlley.com.

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!

Ep 171: The March of the Penguins

Douglas DeLong — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:34:00 GMT

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Happy New Year to all our wonderful listeners!

It's too cold for the penguins in Hokkaido, so they've been forced to march on parade!

Doug has started his hot new Doug's Hot List! It's a new Twitter service that will keep you up-to-date on the very best New Releases coming from Amazon.com, and he's begging listeners to go there and become a follower or check out the Hot List Store.

Sad news! Wendy's Hamburgers has left the building. The company has ditched Japan for good, although they're hinting that they might come back...someday.

Our friend Darryl has put together some really interesting listening exercises for students of the English language using segments from Planet Japan. You can find them englishworkout.com.

In our Tech Corner, SONY and Real D have partnered together to develop 3-D home entertainment, and iPhone has added a free Kindle app that's pretty awesome.

A Japanese otaku-type has married his favorite anime character. Her name is Nene, and the beautiful ceremony was broadcast live on the Interwebs. No word on whether or not they plan to have kids.

In our Religion Corner we take a look at the sometimes strange world of Catholicism and its odd use of the English language, and of course, the crazy Lady in Red who jumped the Pope. And Doug reminds listeners to check out his rantings on The Preacher and The Skeptic blog.

It looks like a new drug might come to the rescue of those men affected by premature ejaculation. Woo-hoo!

Our Dicks of the Week are the 2 EMT workers in NYC who refused to come to the rescue of a woman having a seizure, who died as a result.

We close the show with some great blues music from The Netherlands. It's called "Crazy Mixed Up World" and sung by Percy Strother.

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!

Ep 170: Who the Hell is Billy Mitchell?

Douglas DeLong — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:53:00 GMT

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We start the show with the happy tale of Doug's Internet reunion with Dian Curtis Regan, his old Billy Mitchell High School crush who became a wildly successful writer of children's books. Check out her website for some great books for Christmas!

We give you the lowdown on Japanese barber shops and the shocking law that's being proposed that would FORCE all discount shops to install shampoo sinks.

We discover two cool new listener blogs from Zero and Emad!

Our Dicks of the Week are a couple of Japanese men who made a rather unusual number of hotel reservations.

In our Tech Corner, we examine the new LED eyelashes for any women wanting to look like a Christmas tree, and applaud the new solar panels about to erected on the Hanshin Tigers baseball stadium.

We wonder why a Vietnamese man would continue to sleep with his wife long after her death.

In our Religion Corner, we visit ChristianChirp.com, the new Christian version of Twitter, and in our Notes From the Looney Bin, we check in on Sarah Palin's biggest fan.

We close the show with a great jazz song called Sweet Blossom and sung by Robin Stine from Florida.

That's it for this time. Thanks for listening!

Ep 169: How to Pass Your Driver's Test

Douglas DeLong — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:04:04 GMT

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We open the show with our favorite wacky, yet actual HEADLINES from actual newspapers.

President Obama came to Japan and created a crisis in Right-Wing World after bowing to the Japanese Emperor. Bowing in Japan? Whoever heard of such a thing?

Our new hero is a 65-year-old woman in Korea who passed her driver's license exam after taking it a whopping 950 times. (Thanks to Emad for the tip!)

Our Tech Corner takes a look at the newest bra from Triumph International - the Golf Bra!

We update our stories on singer Noriko Sakai, who has been given an 18-month sentence for possession of amphetamines, and Tatsuya Ishihashi, the alleged killer of English teacher Lindsay Hawker, who was finally captured after eluding police for two-and-a-half years. For his trouble, we've named him this week's Dick of the Week!!

In this week's Religion Corner, we delve into the amusing and scary bag o' hate mail that has been sent to ProudAtheists.com.

A woman in England has been found guilty of creating a nuisance after neighbors complained that her sexual exploits were WAY too loud.

For the first time ever, Planet Japan presents live music from a couple of local Okayama musicians, Kris McCourt and Mamadu Diabate. They'll be appearing at The New World Beat Festival at Desperado's here in Okayama on December 5th. Check out their YouTube video below...

That's it for this time. Thanks for listening!

Ep 168: Why New York Hearts Godzilla

Douglas DeLong — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:21:00 GMT

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Doug relates the scary tale of his own personal "Neighbor from Hell."

The nation of Japan is totally psyched that the Yankees' Hideki Matsui has become the first Japanese player to win the coveted World Series MVP award.

The notorius accused killer Tatsuya Ichihashi, on the lam for the last two years, has been discovered to have recently gotten plastic surgery.

Back in August, the president of NOVA was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for embezzlement.

In our Tech Corner, just in time for winter, an electronic bra heater is available to keep your boobies from getting too cold. Plus soon there will be a very pricey pair of eyeglasses that will translate a language directly onto your retina.

In our second edition of Notes From the Looney Bin, we dig up more wacky right-wing lunacy from the Twitter machine.

This week's Dick of the Week is Mr. Rodell Vareen, sentenced to prison for buggery (and no, it has nothing to do with bugs).

In our Religion Corner, we take a look at the tragedy of Christian pastors in Africa who have been accusing children of being witches, and as a result hundreds of kids have been tortured and murdered. Check out The Preacher and The Skeptic for a more in-depth discussion of this horrific situation.

We close the show with a tune from Lee Coulter called Earthquake, courtesy of Musicalley.com.

That's it for now. Thanks for listening! See you next time!

Ep 167: Notes from the Looney Bin

Douglas DeLong — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:19:00 GMT

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Shownotes

Happy Halloween! Foreigners have taken to partying on the increasingly out-of-control Halloween train on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo. We've unearthed this shocking documentary video!

We update stories about the death of the former Finance Minister and the case of the dueling kidnappings. CBS recently interviewed the husband in the case.

We have three Dicks of the Week, since we completely forgot to name one last time. Our first Dick Award goes to the Heene family, otherwise known as the Balloon Boy family.

Our second award goes to the jackass judge in Louisiana who refused to marry an interracial couple, and our third award goes to the Wendy's district manager who had some odd priorities.

Our brand-new segment is called Notes from the Looney Bin and looks at some of the crazier things that right-wing types have put up on the Twitter machine.

We close the show with a brand-new single that our friend, IreneB, just sent to us. its called Dedicated and its from her Metamorphosis CD.

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!

Ep 166: How to Save the Planet by Taking a Pee

Douglas DeLong — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:48:00 GMT

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Shownotes

Doug was recently interviewed on an exciting new podcast called Over There. Listen now if you dare!

Foreign residents may soon be able to vote in local Japanese elections! Woo-hoo!

A giant custody brouhaha has busted out between an American man and a Japanese woman after both parents try to kidnap their own children.

The former Japanese Finance Minister has been found dead after embarrassing himself on the international stage a few months back.

Another brouhaha has been caused by an American documentary called The Cove, a film about the killing of dolphins in the Japanese town of Taiji.

ANA Airlines in Japan is going to try an experiment which is designed to save the planet by asking people to empty their bladders before boarding.

In this week's Tech Corner, a Japanese company has come up with a suit that will protect you from the dastardly swine flu virus.

Also, electric cars are great, but way too quiet, which causes problems for blind folks. Enter Vroomtones!

In our Religion Corner, we are shocked to find out that some folks have been praying to President Obama - or maybe not.

Also, a Japanese man has built a giant statue of Buddha out of the carcasses of bugs, so that their souls may rest in peace.

We close the show with a song called Black Hawk White Dove by a group called Kingsfoil - courtesy of musicalley.com.

That's all for this time. Thanks for listening!

Ep 165: R.I.P. Crayon Shin-Chan

Douglas DeLong — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:07:00 GMT

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Shownotes

Once again, we explore how you can know if you've been in Japan.

Thanks to everyone for your donations to Planet Japan. We really, really appreciate your support. It's easy to donate if the spirit moves you. Just go to paypal.com and send your payment to planetjapan07@gmail.com

We check our email and ponder what would happen if one siamese twin killed someone while the other one slept.

Our Dick of the Week is Kanye West, who once again has stolen the spotlight at the VMA Awards. We try to imagine what might have happened if he had interrupted certain historical figures. (Thanks to Takeo Yamada for the tip.) Check out what Adolph Hitler thinks about Kanye West:

In our Religion Corner, we expose Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort's Origin of Species scam as they attempt to give away free copies of Darwin's landmark book. Christina from Romania (below) has a brilliant smackdown of the scam. (The Preacher and The Skeptic debate the matter here.)

The creator of the popular Crayon Shin-chan anime, Yoshito Usui, has tragically died after falling off a cliff, apparently while trying to take a picture.

Some people think that putting blue LED lights on the Yamanote line will stop people from jumping in front of trains. Doug isn't buying it.

Our Blog of the Week is a great new website called Modern Literati, a beautiful site for artists who have a connection to Japan. The creator of the site, Stephen, is looking for artists to become a part of his vision. If you're interested, you can contact him at: info@modernliterati.org.

We end the show with a great song called Criminal from a new band out of Ohio called NotForgotten. It's their first single and it sounds great!

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!

Ep 164: Mr. James' Excellent Japanese Adventure

Douglas DeLong — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:49:00 GMT

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Shownotes

We open the show with a couple of very funny observations from Bill Mutranowski's book, "You Know You've Been in Japan Too Long..."

The Japanese Election is over and it's a big victory for the JDP. The new Prime Minister will be Yukio Hatoyama, whose wife Miyuki claims to have visited Venus. Oookay....

Mr. James is the new McDonald's mascot in Japan. He's a geeky, nerdy American who's got some foreigners crying foul.

As Japan gears up for a big outbreak of swine flu, the government announces a program to use GPS to track school kids.

Our Blog of the Week is Maggie's Mind, a lovely blog from a fellow Okayaman named Maggie (who woulda guessed?) Great pics and fun writing. Check it out!

Our Dick of the Week was an easy one this time. It's the guy in Osaka who was so frustrated with his job that he decided to attack women with his own feces. WTF??

The Yakuza (Japanese mafia), apparently not satisfied to rake in the big bucks with prostitution and drugs, has gone on a crime spree by stealing the lovable Pekochan dolls from in front of the Fujiya sweet shops.

We issue a correction on a story we did last week about the lovely Noriko Saito.

We end the show with a fun interview with two of Doug's colleagues - Carole and Janelle - one leaving Japan and the other just arriving.

Our closing song is from the one and only Caroleanne Birtwell - the voice of Planet Japan. She performs the classic Joan Baez song, "Diamonds and Rust."

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!

Ep 163: Minced Beef With Bread To Go

Douglas DeLong — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:36:01 GMT

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Shownotes

Doug is worried about his appointment to see the death panel and relates his fun times with some Twitter freaks.

The scandal du jour in Japan is the arrest of popular actress Noriko Sakai and her estranged husband after she had gone on the lam.

The new and somewhat complicated jury system has been launched in Japan and has the first trial under its belt.

Big news from North Korea! The nation's very first fast food joint has opened, but you can't order a hamburger. You can, however, order a "minced beef with bread," which apparently makes the government feel better about serving the quintessential American food.

The Bank of Japan has come up with a very interesting survey in Hokkaido which shows the priorities of people in a bad economy. Which is to say that although the number of restaurants is down, the number of sex shops is way up!

The Virgin Mary has made yet another rather disturbing appearance, this time in a condom. Say what??

A woman in Pennsylvania has fallen in love with a gondola ride at an amusement park. And yes, she knows it's pretty weird, but she just can't help herself.

We have a whole bevy of Dicks of the Week this time. First up is a nurse who wasn't all she was cracked up to be. Next is the guy who tried to blame his bad behavior on his cat and the entire Alabama Beverage Control Board for banning a certain wine for its horribly pornographic label (see below). Our last Dick is the moron who threw a dog off the roof of a six-story building. Luckily, the story has a happy ending.

In a happier dog story, Muffy has been found in Melbourne, Australia, nine years after disappearing from its family 1200 miles away.

We end the show with a great song from a German singer named Petzel. It's called Blackbirds and is courtesy of Music Alley.

That's it for this time. Thanks for listening!

Ep 162: Ghost Brides and Stone Babies

Douglas DeLong — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:33:00 GMT

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It's time for the Momotaro Festival and there's dancing in the streets. But watch out for the demons.

We explore the wonderful world of Japanese pizza.

We love our listeners and extend our thanks for their generous donations.

We've got email from Denny Browne, JR, and Emad

One lucky Japanese girl won a Harry Potter contest and was flown to London where she got to interview the cast. She was excited, to say the least.

We update our reaction to the two newest colas in Japan.

The high-tech underpants worn by our Japanese astronaut are back from space and undergoing tests to find out if you can really wear a pair for a month at a time.

In our Religion Corner, we are astonished to discover that the Virgin Mary has been discovered in some birdshit. That's odd.

We take a look at a 92-year-old woman who have birth to a pretty unusual baby.

The world's oldest man has died at 113 years of age and we explore a study that claims that cheerful people die younger than neurotic people. So wipe that smile off your face!

In China, ghost brides are in the news. A man was arrested for digging up a female corpse for his dead son, because apparently you'll be much happier in the afterlife if you're married. Go figure.

Good news! Advertising is now allowed in the Suicide Forest at the foot of Mt. Fuji. With a very high suicide rate, it's a great marketing opportunity for some folks.

In India, some folks like to throw babies off tall buildings. Don't ask. Just watch...

We end the show with music from Daiki and Little Wings. It's called Ala Sola and is courtesy of musicalley.com.

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!

Ep 161: Making Fast Food Faster

Douglas DeLong — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:04:00 GMT

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(Apologies for the fact that my link creator is on the fritz!)

We're back! We've moved into our spacious new Planet Japan studio and to help us celebrate, the legendary Planet Japan Dancers have returned!

We open the show with an appeal to our listeners to help us replenish our coffers so that we can continue to provide the world's most amazing podcast - Planet Japan! Any amount would be greatly appreciated. You can send your donations via PayPal directly to our email address: planetjapan07@gmail.com. Thanks!

Doug is looking to make some extra cash and is appealing to listeners who may have need of his writing, voice, or teaching services.

It's been a strange week on Japanese trains, as we learn why it's not a good idea to fight on a train platform or throw unusual substances on fellow passengers. We also examine a somewhat surprising prohibition on trains and reveal a rather unusual tribute one person has paid to his late father.

Our Dick of the Week is a cop in Denver who got tired of waiting for his breakfast at McDonald's.

In Japan, you'll almost always get your wallet back if you lose it. Apparently that's not the case in some other countries. But in England, they have found a way to increase your chances of getting back your lost wallet.

Happy News! You don't have to feel guilty anymore about swearing when you hit your thumb with a hammer. A new study has shown that swearing actually helps to reduce the pain!

We end the show with a song from one of our favorite Japanese singers, K. Juno. The song is called "Fate," and it's courtesy of Music Alley.

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!

Ep 160: Bikini Jeans and Balloon Dresses

Douglas DeLong — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:02:00 GMT

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We open the show with the happy news that Doug has finally turned Japanese.

We've got mail from Vicki in Argentina, Bagel-san in the U.K. (check out her cool photography site), Kathleen, Cary, and Brevard. Keep those cards and letters coming in!

In our Fashion Corner, we take a look at a wedding dress that's set to be worn in the world's first space wedding, balloon dresses from China, and the oddly sexy bikini jeans from Japan.

In Japan, Coke is adding green tea to its cola, and Pepsi is adding shiso. This can't be good, but we'll check it out for you anyway.

The Japanese government has sent a representative to the U.S. to officially apologize to the survivors of World War II's infamous Bataan Death March.

Our Dick of the Week can be found in the Religion Corner this week. The principal of the Heritage Christian School in the U.S. suspended a student for illegal dancing. Something about low-cut dresses.

In the U.K., residents have taken matters into their own hands and changed the name of their street. I don't know, it seems like a perfectly reasonable name to me.

The moral of our final story is that next time you eat a bird, you should check to make sure it isn't thought to be extinct.

We close the show with a song from Cheryl B. Engelhardt called "Out There."

That's it for now. Thanks for listening!