Twentythree

Tells woman that “There is no way for you to save the parakeets except to come home.”

On February 7, in the hours between 1 and 2 a.m., a 20-something woman in the town of Nanyo, Yamagata Prefecture, received a series of messages via a messaging app on her phone. The messages all came from a 26-year-old man who she was acquainted with.

The police have not publicly disclosed the exact nature of the pair’s relationship, but it would seem that the two were perhaps living together, or at least that the man had gained entry to the woman’s home and she knew that he was there, given that one of the messages the man sent demanded that the woman “come home,” and in an attempt to force her to comply with his demand, he’d taken hostages, messaging her that:

“There is no way for you to save the parakeets except to come home.”

The parakeets in question were the woman’s pets, and apparently she had a quartet of the birds, as in a follow-up text the man declared “It’s hard to say no to a friend, so there are four lives that will end.” At some point he softened his stance somewhat, or at least put on the air of being willing to do so, writing that “If you apologize over the phone right now, I’ll spare the parakeets.”

However, despite the man’s threats of criminal violence, his desire to see the woman that night went unanswered. Instead, he got to see the police, as the woman contacted them about the intimidating text messages, and they were the ones who paid him a visit that evening, placing him under arrest on charges of forced coercion.

While the woman, thankfully, appears to have been unharmed, sadly the same has not been confirmed for the birds. In addition to not publicly commenting on the man and woman’s relationship, the police said they were not responding to questions about whether or not the parakeets were safe. Considering that there isn’t really any readily evident reason why investigators would withhold such inconsequential but reassuring information as “Yes, the birds are all doing OK,” it’s likely that at least one of them didn’t make it out of the incident unscathed. If that is the case, hopefully justice will be served, as it was last year when a man was convicted of animal cruelty after kicking creatures to death on Japan’s rabbit island.

Source: TBS News Dig, Livedoor News/TUY News Dig via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso
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Yes, fugu can kill you with its poison, but this one might kill us with cuteness.

Feline lovers in Japan are getting set to celebrate the quasi-holiday of Cat Day later this month, but that’s not the only February day for animal lovers to circle on their calendars, as February 9 is a day to salute blowfish, or fugu, as they’re called in Japanese.

Because the numbers 2 and 9 can be pronounced as “fu” and “gu” in Japanese, February 9 (2-9) is “Fugu Day.” Fugu, famously, is poisonous if not properly prepared, but it’s also a delicious delicacy, and so we were looking to treat ourselves to a fugu bento to celebrate Fugu Day this year. After looking over our options, we decided to place an order with Kobe-based bento maker Awajiya, which we picked for three reasons:

1. Awajiya has a reputation for using high-quality seafood in their bento.
2. Their fugu bento was produced in cooperation with Genpin, a popular fugu restaurant chain.
3. After getting one look at the bento container, we knew we had to have it.

Bento gets translated most commonly as “boxed lunch,” and that’s usually an accurate description, seeing as how nine times out of 10, the containers are square or rectangular. Awajiya, though, is famous for their flagship tako bento, which come in ceramic pots with an octopus motif.

▼ Awajiya’s tako bento

And yes, their fugu bento also come in ceramic pots, which were carefully swaddled in bubble wrap when delivered to us.

But instead of being an earthenware container with a little fugu relief…

…the whole container itself is shaped like a blowfish!

As fugu fans will tell you, they’re not just delicious and potentially deadly, but also pretty cute, with their rounded physiques, eyes, and lips giving them a disarming charm.

All of that is conveyed in the adorable ceramic fugu bento container, which is big enough to have a sense of presence but still fits nicely in the palm of your hand. Even the ceramic glaze is nicely balanced, smooth without being slippery to hold.

In addition to the standard gray fugu bento, priced at 1,680 yen (US$11), we’d seen that there was also a gold-colored fugu bento for 300 yen more, so we added one of those to our order too.

As cute as the fugu bento is on the outside, it’s just as mouthwatering on the inside, where it’s packed with fugu cooked in various ways, vegetables, egg, and rice.

We started with the fugu karaage (fried fugu), which had an enticing touch of firmness to the texture and the refreshingly clean yet pleasantly lingering flavor that fugu is known for.

▼ The gold fugu bento comes with an extra piece of fried fugu, which is why it’s priced higher than the gray version.

We then moved on to the moromi shoyu-yaki fugu, grilled blowfish seasoned with semi-fermented soy sauce, which was richly flavorful with an elegantly gentle aroma. The stewed shiitake mushrooms, green onions, and carrots were all excellent as well, and as we made our way through the rice, we came across tsumire (fish cake) with fugu in it too.

▼ The fugu bento’s tsumire

There’s really only one thing about Awajiya’s fugu bento that didn’t put a smile on our face, and that’s that it was a limited-quantity release that’s now sold out. Considering how unique the container is (and yes, we’re hanging on to both of ours to use as decorations and trinket boxes), it’s probably going to be a while until they’re available again, and they might even end up as a one-time-only deal. However, with Awajiya showing that they’re dedicated to giving both our taste buds and our eyes awesome bento dining experiences, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Related: Awajiya
Photos ©Soranews24
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Tokyo man arrested for stealing smartphone, turning it in to police to claim reward money.

In October, a man walked into a police box in Tokyo and told the officer on duty that he’d found someone’s smartphone and was turning it in as lost property. He also stated, explicitly, “I want the reward money.”

To clarify, the owner of the phone hadn’t posted any public reward notice for it. Under Japan’s Lost Property Act, however, people who turn in lost property after finding it are allowed to claim a reward of between five and 20 percent of its value, to be paid by the owner. That said, not everyone asks for the reward, and there’s not at all a general attitude in Japanese society of “Hey, look, someone lost their phone/wallet/watch/etc. We should turn it in so that we can get some cash!” Most people turn in lost items simply because it’s the right thing to do, with the potential monetary gain an afterthought, if they think of it at all.

This man, though, 57-year-old Mitsuyoshi Nakai, was thinking about the reward money. So after the phone’s owner was tracked down and came to the police box to pick it up a week later, they told him that Nakai had not only said that he wanted the reward, but that he wanted it quickly. The owner, also a man in his 50s, then went to see Nakai and gave him 5,000 yen (US$32). In return, Nakai gave the owner a piece of advice, telling him “You should keep your phone in your bag so that you don’t drop it.”

However, after paying him the reward money, the phone’s owner couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen Nakai somewhere before. While searching his memory, he likely thought back to the last time he remembered seeing his phone before he’d lost it: while eating at a restaurant in Tokyo’s Koto Ward, where he’d set his phone down on his table before getting up to get a cup of water from the self-service station. After contacting the restaurant about the situation, the management reviewed their security footage, and sure enough, it showed that Nakai had been there at the same time as the phone’s owner, and had nabbed it and left the restaurant while the owner had been getting water.

Nakai has now been arrested, though he maintains that he did nothing wrong, saying “All I did was turn in lost property at the police box, so obviously I have a right to receive the reward money.” That summary, though, conveniently ignores the video evidence showing that the property wasn’t “lost” until he himself stole it, and he now faces charges of both theft and fraud, and possibly dozens of cases of each. During the investigation, the police noticed that there are more than 60 records of Nakai turning in lost property, and that he received reward money 14 times, so either the guy has uncanny luck in just happening to find lost stuff, or a whole lot of people have had the bad luck of crossing paths with a serial thief.

Online reactions have included:

“Didn’t he feel embarrassed acting so pushy about it?”
“What a lame-o.”
“You gotta be pretty dumb to hatch such a crazy plan.”
“60 times? Yeah dude, you’re gonna get caught.”
“This is the best comedy.”
“That’s a lot of work he put in for such a small return.”
“Such a ditz. It’d take less time to earn that much money doing a part-time job.”
“So are the 14 people who paid him a reward going to get their money back?”
“They really ought to change that law.”

▼ Video of Nakai being taken into custody

It’s worth pointing out that while the Lost Property Act allows finders to claim a reward, things get a little murkier on whether or not the owner is required to pay it. As shown by the case for which Nakai was arrested, even if the finder wants to claim the reward the police don’t necessarily confiscate the property until the owner agrees to pay it. If the owner either fails to reach out to the finder or otherwise refuses to pay, it would then be up to the finder to file a lawsuit, something that might not be worth the time and hassle, especially if it’s going to open up the details of how the property was found to greater scrutiny and uncover criminal intent.

Source: FNN Prime Online via Hachima Kiko, Sankei Shimbun, YouTube/FNNプライムオンライン
Top image: Pakutaso
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Japan’s first permanent cinema in an airport is called the Family Mart Lovers Theatre…but why?

We’ve seen a lot of things in Japan, but one thing we haven’t seen is a mini cinema inside an airport. That all changed on 1 October, though, when the Faminchu Theatre opened inside Okinawa’s Naha Airport.

While New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido is home to a full-size cinema, the Faminchu Theatre is Japan’s first-ever permanent mini cinema inside an airport terminal, and it gives audiences an intimate viewing experience, with 28 seats inside.

Located on the third floor of the domestic terminal, the Faminchu Theatre aims to create a cultural experience for domestic and international tourists, giving them a new way to while away their wait time before flights. Open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and with 5-10 minutes between shows, the cinema screens roughly five films twice a day. Most are shorts lasting around 30-35 minutes long, with a couple of longer feature films sprinkled in between.

▼ Some of the movies on the roster include 2019 American short Master Maggie…

▼ …the 2017 British sign language short film The Silent Child…

▼ …Oscar nominated shorts Knight of Fortune, from Denmark, and…

▼…The Red Suitcase, from Nepal.

Screenings are provided by Tokyo-based Samansa, a streaming service specialising in short films, with selections rotating monthly. Foreign films feature heavily in the lineup, alongside Okinawa-centic titles to promote the local culture and inspire a sense of wanderlust in the viewer.

Okinawa remains at the heart of the new venture, with locally based Chao Japan Trading operating the cinema, and the name, “Faminchu” being a nod to the popular Okinawan slang nickname for Family Mart. An amalgamation of the words “Fami” for Family Mart, and “-nchu”, a common suffix in the Okinawan dialect meaning “person” or “people”, Faminchu literally means “Family Mart People”, but has been officially translated by the chain as “Family Mart Lovers“, referring to its local community of fans.

The word is so entrenched in the local vernacular that the chain frequently uses it in the branding of its regional products, taking pride in the fact that it tailors to the island’s culture and tastes.

▼ An ad for the Faminchu (“ファミんチュ”) range of foods at a Family Mart in Okinawa.

Image: ©SoraNews24

So why on earth is the airport cinema in Naha called Faminchu Theatre? Well, because Family Mart secured the naming rights, and it chose to crown the cinema with its local moniker.

▼ Faminchu even has its own “TV” channel on YouTube, where they introduced viewers to the new theatre.

As you might expect from a cinema named by a top convenience store chain, the Faminchu Theatre is a convenient way to catch a film before or after a flight. Now if only they served up Famichiki with a side of whisky…that would make for the ultimate Family Mart cinema experience.

Cinema information

Faminchu Theatre / ファミンチュシアター
Address: Okinawa-ken, Naha-shi, Kagamizu 150, Naha Airport, Domestic Terminal 3F
沖縄県那覇市鏡水150 那覇空港旅客ターミナルビル 国内線エリア３F
Open: 6:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
Admission: Short Films 1,000 yen flat rate; Feature Films 2,000 yen (adults), 1,500 yen (seniors/students), 1,000 yen (disabled)
No mid-program entry allowed; tickets bought at the counter (credit cards OK) or online, no advance sales for some shows
Website

Source, images: Press release unless otherwise stated
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Says he remembers parking his car, but can’t remember the exact date he did it anymore.

Because many Japanese apartments and condominiums don’t have their own attached parking spaces, it’s common for car owners to have to find a nearby lot to park in. Usually they’ll seek out a place where they can lease a reserved parking spot on a monthly or other long-term basis, but a resident of Kobe’s Nada Ward apparently decided one night that an automated coin parking lot he found near his condo, one where you pay when you leave, was good enough. So he pulled into an empty spot, got out of his car, and walked home.

However, he didn’t go back and get his car the next day, or the day after that…or the day after that. Just how long was he parked there? Since April…of 2019.

Yes, in the time the man’s car remained parked in the lot, the coronavirus pandemic came and went. The Tokyo Olympics were both postponed and held. Japan became the world’s hottest travel destination. The glacially paced Japanese government approved the morning-after pill for use without a prescription. Through all of these momentous events, the man left his car in the same coin parking spot, for more than six years…and now he’s been arrested for it.

▼ The lot the car was parked in (the vehicle itself seems to have finally been removed)

On February 4, the Hyogo Prefectural Police announced that they have arrested the car’s owner, a 47-year-old man. However, since users of the parking lot don’t pay until they leave, and the man’s car was still there, he couldn’t be charged with theft, fraud, or non-payment. Instead, the charge he faces is Forcible Obstruction of Business, a catch-all category in Japan that covers various kinds of disruptive behavior in stores, offices, and other places of business, with the ostensible specific offense being that by remaining parked in the space for so long, the man was preventing other customers, who would have then vacated the space and paid in a more timely manner, from using it, thus depriving the lot’s owner of revenue.

The car’s owner is an employee in a shipping company, and so presumably not philosophically opposed to the idea of things occasionally moving from one place to another. When questioned by police, he admitted that he had parked his car in the spot, but also said that he couldn’t remember the exact date he’d done so, understandable considering that it was, again, more than six years ago. As for the parking bill he’s run up, it’s grown to more than three million yen (US$19,000).

The man said that he had gone back and tried to start the car up, but that “the engine wouldn’t turn over,” so it’s possible that he hadn’t been intending to leave it in the spot for so long, and that while trying to decide whether to repair, sell, or scrap the vehicle, the days stretched into weeks, months, and then years. Still, a half-decade-plus seems like more than enough time to address any mechanical issues.

That said, the way in which the parking lot owner handled the situation wasn’t exactly normal either. The laws governing parking lot operations must include some sort of time frame for the disposal of abandoned or unclaimed cars, and the grace period before getting one towed away and impounded can’t be six years, right? Likewise, it seems like consumer protection laws would have some sort of clause that prevents coin parking fees from continuing to accrue endlessly without any kind of required communication between the lot and car owner after a certain amount of time, which would have in turn limited the potential benefit to the lot in putting off having the car towed.

Hopefully, the legal mess can be sorted out, and the car will find a more attentive owner.

Source: TBS News Dig via Livedoor News via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso
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It’s a gray area in terms of travel etiquette, but JR has a clear stance on the topic.

Japan is very committed to the idea that it’s important to be considerate to others, even if that means being a little inconvenienced yourself. This is especially true is shared spaces like public transportation, but there’s debate that pops up periodically regarding riding the Shinkansen/bullet train.

Certain Shinkansen cars have reserved seats, like an airliner, and just like with air travel, sometimes there are people traveling as a group who weren’t able to get tickets where they’re all seated next to each other, or couldn’t book the specific seats they wanted. Maybe it’s an excited couple who want to sit by side, a parent with a child who wants a window seat so they can see the scenery the train is whizzing by, or a group with a senior citizen for whom an aisle seat is easier to use. So if they ask you if you’d be willing to give up your seat, do you have an obligation to oblige them?

There are two contrasting schools of thought. One is that the whole point of a reserved seat is that you paid for it, so it’s yours, and you shouldn’t have to give it up to anyone, especially since reserved Shinkansen seats cost more than non-reserved ones. The counterargument to this, though, is that unlike on an airliner, where seats can vary wildly in price even if they’re close to each other, on the Shinkansen all seats within the same car are the same price. Assuming the other person also has a reserved seat, swapping spaces with them doesn’t mean that you’re giving up yours for something of lesser economic value by accommodating the person who’s asking.

But how does Japan Railways Group, the group of companies that operate the Shinkansen network, feel about all this? When asked, JR Central, which operates the Tokaido Shinkansen that connects Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, said:

“Answering in accordance with the terms and conditions shared by all six JR passenger companies, as stipulated in the Passenger Business Regulations, reserved Shinkansen seats are held for the bearer of the corresponding ticket, and cannot be used by any passenger other than that ticketholder.”

That might sound strict, but it’s not an arbitrary stance. Unlike with an airplane, where all the passengers will board and exit the vehicle at the same time, the Shinkansen makes multiple stops along its route, with any number of people getting on or off at the stations along the way. For example, if you’ve reserved seat 5A for a ride from Tokyo to Nagoya, someone else may have booked that same seat between Nagoya and Kyoto, farther down the line. So if, shortly after the train pulls out of Tokyo Station, you give up your seat to someone who’s riding all the way from Tokyo to Kyoto, when the person who booked 5A after your stint gets on the train in Nagoya, there’s going to already be someone else sitting in their seat. They’re then going to have to ask them to move, but that person is probably going to ask them to give up their seat too, meaning that the from-Nagoya passenger essentially has to negotiate for the seat they paid for after boarding. That extra annoyance could trigger arguments between the two parties, and also extra shuffling around of people, luggage, and personal items at a time when JR would really like everyone to settle in as the train gets underway again.

▼ As for why you were going to Nagoya, it was for the Shinkansen/Final Fantasy VII collaboration, naturally.

In its statement, JR Central also explained that giving up your reserved seat to swap with someone with a non-reserved seat is not allowed. The logic here is pretty easy to see, since reserved-seat tickets cost more. There’s an argument to be made that if a passenger wants to trade their more expensive seat for a cheaper one, then they should be able to do so, but this creates an operational complication. On-board JR staff members periodically come by to check tickets, and if someone in a reserved seat has a non-reserved ticket, it’s going to look like they’re stealing someone’s seat, and since reserved and non-reserved seats are in different cars, it’s not like the staff can quickly confirm with the reserved ticketholder that they’ve agreed to waive their right to the reserved seat.

All that said, provided you and the person asking you to switch seats are traveling on identical sections of the route, and have both booked reserved tickets, you can probably get away with swapping since it ends up as a no-harm, no-foul kind of deal. Still, you’re not under any obligation to do so, and JR has your back if you decide to say “Sumimasen, sore wa dekimasen,” (“I’m sorry, I can’t do that for you”) and the company says that if anyone does try to pressure you or otherwise is making you feel uncomfortable about not giving up your rightful seat, please inform a staff member so that they can deal with them and you can get back to enjoying your trip.

Source: Maido na News via Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko
Top image ©SoraNews24
Insert image: JR Central
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What sounds like a crime against food, turned out to be a cute and delicious surprise.

With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, it’s time to start thinking about what to present to your loved one, which in the case of Japan, is almost always chocolate. Chocolate and Japanese Valentine’s Day are so intertwined that it sometimes feels less of a romantic event and more of a nationwide celebration of chocolate. Each year sees the coming of fairly standard chocolates, bizarre creations like ones that taste of fish, and the unexpected ones in the shape of a male masturbatory aid.

This year, we happened to hear about the Popping Candy Chocolate: Omurice Tin from chocolatier Mary’s. The combination of omurice, or omelet-topped ketchup-fried rice, and chocolate almost feels forbidden, as unsettling as putting whipped cream on sushi, or dumping cereal into ramen.

▼ The appearance of the forbidden chocolate?

However, word of mouth was that Mary’s omurice chocolate was actually surprisingly tasty, so with curiosity getting the better of us, we looked up where to pick some up. It turns out that the chocolates are available only at department stores, train station commercial facilities, and online shops, but after checking the Valentine’s corner of our nearest Takashimaya department store, we managed to find them.

Although the omurice chocolate is available all by itself, in the enticing green tin shown below, our heart instantly fell in love with the brown retro cafe menu-themed tin sitting nearby.

This tin contains a nine-type assortment recreating retro cafe menu items, such as melon cream soda and pancakes, in chocolate form.

Since it also happens to include the omurice chocolate we were after, we decided on getting the retro cafe set, officially called the Popping Candy Chocolate: Cafe Menu Tin, for 2,700 yen (US$17).

After closer inspection of the tin upon returning home, we came to the conclusion that it truly is absurdly retro-cute no matter which angle you admire it from.

Opening up the tin, we found:

• Cola Float Chocolate (three pieces)
• Cider Chocolate (three pieces)
• Melon Cream Soda Chocolate (three pieces)
• Mixed Juice Chocolate (three pieces)
• Strawberry Soda Chocolate (three pieces)
• Pancake Chocolate (three pieces)
• Shortcake Chocolate (three pieces)
• Omurice Chocolate (two pieces)
• Fruit Sandwich Chocolate (two pieces)

…all making for a total of 25 pieces.

▼ Even the wrappers are super adorable.

When you unwrap the chocolates and line them up, they look like pastel-colored jewels.

Much like the name of the product suggests, the main feature of this chocolate is the popping candy, which seems like it would be a fantastic fit for the soda-based flavors, but we couldn’t wrap our heads around how that would play out with the omurice chocolate.

In appearance, it’s a small, round shape that, when broken open, reveals a two-layer structure that resembles egg atop some ketchup rice.

Putting it into your mouth, it opens with a gentle, milkshake-like flavor, before the popping sensation starts to go wild, followed by a faint ketchup-like taste.

Rather than being a simple novelty, you can tell that Mary’s were genuinely trying to recreate the flavors of omurice while still maintaining within the realm of “actually tasty chocolate.” Even so, we couldn’t help but feel that the popping candy is quite strong, ultimately stealing the limelight.

Next, we tried the fruit sandwich chocolate.

This one is mostly white and feels like white chocolate overall. Within the milky flavor, the relentless popping candy doesn’t fail to make its presence known once again.

While we originally thought these chocolates would be a mere novelty item, they actually turned out to be surprisingly delicious. If you do happen to spot them in a Valentine’s Day section in a store near you, they would make a pretty great gift. Next, we just need to figure out what to do with our cute empty tin.

Related: Mary’s Website, Online Store
Photos ©SoraNews24
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