The magazine Tech Notes is conducting a series of extensive interviews with Japanese Ig Nobel Prize winners. Here are links to the first five interviews. All are in Japanese [we present here machine translations of the headlines]: The Ig Nobel Prize interview Laugh and Think [1st] research and Kitazatodai Mabuchi Mr. skin of banana and […]
Tag: Japan
Podcast 29: Eat a shrew, and an epidemic of penile amputations
The secret of why onions make people cry; the scientist who ate and excreted a shrew; the one-armed man who was arrested for applauding; the question of when cows lie down and stand up; and surgical management of an epidemic of penile amputations in Siam; and a cat unexpectedly taking over the podcast — all these all […]
The Kajimoto laboratory (part 2): Muscular laugh enhancement
For another cross-modal human/computer research project [see previous article in this series] which has been developed by the Kajimoto laboratory (a department of The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan) investigates ‘The Enhancement of Laugh by using Muscle activity’, [note: paper mostly in Japanese] “On television show, we are familiar with artificial sound of laughter […]
The Kajimoto laboratory (part 1): Goosebumps
The main research theme at the Kajimoto laboratory (a department of The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan), is human/computer interfaces, especially tactile or cross-modal interfaces. Professor Hiroyuki Kajimoto [pictured] established the laboratory in April 2007, and since then it has produced a series of unique research projects – for example: ‘Facilitating a Surprised Feeling by […]
Hairline Design with Lasers
“Hairline design is a combination of science and art.” say hair transplant practitioners at the DHT Clinic (Bangkok, Thailand) prompting them to invent a new technique which they call ‘Hairline Design Laser‘. (A phrase they like to use: “LASER assisted rapid hairline design”.) “Hairline placement is important. It frames the face and has the most […]
Inspired by the possibility that catfish caused earthquakes
At one time, some people believed that giant catfish caused earthquakes in Japan. This belief led to the production of artworks of those catfish in thought and action. The University of British Columbia has, in its art collection, some of these works. They explain: A number of the prints in this collection feature catfish, known as […]
The effect of foreign sumo wrestlers on the body-mass/human-capital relationship in Japan
This economics study suggests that allowing foreigners to work as sumo wrestlers has been detrimental to the quality of native wrestlers’ wrestling: “Is body mass human capital in sumo? Outcome of globalization and formation of human capital in Japan,” Eiji Yamamura, Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, epub November 22, 2013. The author, at […]
An old, not-quite-dead question about sushi and death
Eating dead live fish has long inspired some people to some speculation about some incidents. This is further speculation about one of those incidents: “Bad Sushi or Bad Merchant? The ‘Dead Fish Poisoning Incident’ of 1852,” Hiraku Shimoda [pictured here], Modern Asian Studies, vol. 35, no. 3, July 2001, pp 513-531. The author, then at […]
Sensing and Sensibility: “Development of Anal Position Detecting System for New-Toilet System”
Technology for the elderly grows more ambitious and, arguably, more adventurous. This paper sets a new standard: “Development of Anal Position Detecting System for New-Toilet System,” Koshi Tokoro, Keisuke Fujihira, and Hiroshi Kobayashi [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan], paper presented at the 2013 Seventh International Conference on Sensing Technology, December […]
A glimpse of Japanese Ig Nobel reportage
Among the many press accounts and reactions to the 2013 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is this one by NHK, the Japanese public TV network, in Japanese, and in English: As the NHK report points out, Japan has long been a leading producer of Ig Nobel Prize winners. Fuji TV also came to the ceremony, and broadcast […]