Today’s Question On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: What is a tsuchinoko? Topics Discussed What a tsuchinoko is How you say “cryptid” in Japanese Tsuchinoko’s status as a U.M.A. (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) What a tsuchinoko looks like Some of the abilities tsuchinoko are said to have The areas in Japan where tsuchinoko tend to live The sounds tsuchinoko …

Let Pikotaro whip you into shape with his latest song. Are you stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic? Are you thinking that you should exercise more? Are you not sure what to do? Maybe you can do some Zumba. Or how about doing a yoga class through Zoom? Or you can forget all that and give working out …

Who knew alpacas could jump-rope? Something I enjoy doing when I have the time is looking around YouTube for forgotten but interesting Japanese-language content. Most of the time, I don’t find much, but every once in a while I strike gold. A while ago I stimbled across a video that would fall under the latter category and eventually led to …

 On This Episode of Japan Station On this episode of the Japan Station podcast, we’re talking about ninjas, the judicial system of 16th century Japan, and more with Susan Spann, author of the Hiro Hattori “shinobi mystery” series of books. About Susan Spann Susan Spann is the award-winning author of the Hiro Hattori series of mystery books. The novels …

Japan’s newest heartthrob is a real baaaad boy. Take a look at the roster of just about any Japanese male idol group and nine times out of ten you’ll find an almost interchangeable collection of beautiful boys. However, the Japanese male idol group *ChocoLate Bomb!! is a bit different. While yes, the majority of its members do indeed fit the …

It’s not like there’s much difference between a man in an orangutan costume and an actual orangutan, right? Every year, just as winter is beginning to loosen its grip on much of Japan, someone dresses up like a wild animal and is chased down by zookeepers holding nets and wielding tranquilizer dart shooting rifles. As strange as this may sound, …

Japanese cat lovers are about to get very violent nose bleeds. At the end of 2017, the editorial staff at the long-running weekly tabloid magazine Shūkan Taishū threw a major curveball at their readers when they announced that they would be releasing a special end of the year edition of the magazine focused solely on cats. Titled Shūnyan Taishū (nya is …

This is why you don’t mess with wild boars. Ferocious and fairly common, wild boar are a major problem across Japan. Run into one of these beasts and, as one man in Fukuoka found out firsthand recently, you could end up in serious trouble. The video below shows a while collar worker walking down a street in Fukuoka City’s Nishi …

Because your cat deserves the finest furniture money can buy. When it comes to furniture there are few places in Japan that can compete with the city of Okawa in Fukuoka Prefecture. Not only does Okawa have close to 500 years of history making furniture, it is also home to Okawa Kagu, a consortium of over a dozen artisans committed …

Is that a lizard in your pocket? A man in Tokyo suspected of stealing close to $2,000 worth of lizards from a Tokyo shop specializing in reptiles has been arrested after getting caught shoplifting driftwood. On Wednesday (Oct. 10) at a little after 6 p.m. a 33-year-old unemployed man named Akira Ymaguchi was arrested after getting caught shoplifting a piece …

Would you like some salsa with your bamboo? On Wednesday (Oct. 10) Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo released a video showing the zoo’s wildly popular panda cub Xiang Xiang and her mother chowing down like there’s no tomorrow. In the video, which was published to YouTube by Sankei News, the one-year-old panda cub and her mom can be seen energetically eating bamboo …

It’s time for your daily dose of cute. In June of 2017 Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo welcomed into the a world an adorable little panda. Xiang Xiang, as she would come to be known, sparked a serious case of panda fever across much of Japan but little by little it seems like that fever has broken. Whereas last summer and fall …