English Japanese Newspaper

At my visit school, one of the teachers sometimes leaves these English newspapers on my desk.  The name of the newspaper/magazine is ST and I think it’s part of the Japan Times.  It’s just short blurbs about what’s going on in Japan and around the world, in easy English.  I find a lot of the stories really funny but it could just be because I’ve been funny-deprived and my sensitivity to funny is hightened.  Here I’ll post a few of the stories. 

 Nothing beats a good mascot
In 2007, almost 850,000 people went to Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture.  THat was 61 percent more than in 2006.  One reason for this was the castle’s new popular mascot, a chubby cat called Hikonyan.  Hikonyan was created for the 400th anniversary of the castle. 
But not all mascots have been popular with everyone.
A mascot was created for the 1,300th anniversary of when Nara became Japan’s capital.  He was called Sentokun.  The mascot is a young Buddha-like boy with antlers on his head.  Some people said he was not cute.  Others said the image was disrespectful to Buddha. 
The mascot Marimokkori from Hokkaido has become very popular and has helped businesses in Hokkaido.  But in the beginning, there were complaints.  Many shops said they would not sell souvenirs of Marimokkori.
The mascot represents “marimo” algae found in Lake Akan and “mokkori,” which means swelling of the male groin.
Now there are more than 500 different types of Mokkori characters, including Tokyo Tower Mokkori and Hakata Mentaiko Mokkori.  
(The Japan Times)

Police let kerosene-soaked man smoke
A 45-year old man in Nagoya was taken into custody May 10 after complaints that he was acting violently.  Having poured kerosene over himself, he refused to change his clothes and asked to smoke during questioning at the police station.  Despite a no-smoking rule, the police gave him a cigarette and he quickly turned into a fireball and died.  (Kyodo news)

The next few were published under the heading “Strange news”:

Darth Vader attacks Jedis in Wales
A man in Wales dressed up as Darth Vader from the “Star Wars” films and assaulted members of the Church of Jediism, hitting its founder on the head with a metal crutch.  The Church of Jediism has about 30 members and they say they use the “Star Wars” films as a guide to living a better life.  Jediism is the faith followed by some of the characters in the “Star Wars” films.  (Reuters)

Driver puts seatbelt on beer, not child
An Australian driver has been fined for driving with a five-year-old child without putting a seatbelt on the child.  Instead he put the seatbelt around a carton of beer.  (Reuters)

Man told money would double if soaked
A Vietnamese man in Norway lost 180,000 kroner (3.7 million yen (or about $370,000CDN)) after a Frenchman persuaded him that soaking the cash in a “special liquid” would double the value of the cash.  The Frenchman then stole the cash.  (AFP-Jiji)

This is the kind of news I am up to date on.