We came across these white grapes for sale at a large department store in Kashiwa, a city just north of Tokyo.

While they look very tasty, I’m not quite sure they’re worth the approx. AUD$70 they worked out to be against the Aussie dollar at the time. With a stronger dollar, the Amercians could have enjoyed them for a mere USD$55!

The main part of the sign, which is all in katakana, translates as “Muscat of Alexandria” (ムスカット オブ アレキサンドルア) – a well-known type of “white” grape.

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Wired.com’s Daniel Feit discovers a culinary delight in the back streets of Den Den Town in Osaka – Curry Rice in a Can (カレーライス缶).

The verdict: Not so much.

Popping open the can releases a distinct curry aroma, even if the insides don’t really look like it. Or taste like it: The liquid inside the can is very thin and the faux rice is completely bland. The miscellaneous bits of curry don’t have any distinguishing flavors. The ingredients include chicken, carrots, mushrooms and garlic but each spoonful tasted the same to me: tomato, tomato and tomato.

View full article at Wired.com

Image credit: Daniel Feit/Wired.com

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Yes I know I’m a bit late on this one but I couldn’t resist these posting these awesome videos.

When Google Japan debuted its new Street View service in August 2008, there was such an uproar that by May 2009, Google announced that it would re-shoot all of Street View data it had captured in Japan and also lower the height of the Street View car’s camera pole.

The concerns centred on the fact that the height of the Street View camera allowed a clear view over the fence of residential homes and for the intensely private Japanese, this was just not acceptable. Also raised at the time were the views of car license plates, people’s faces and private information on letterboxes.

So if you’re Google Japan what do you do when things get tough? That’s right – you wheel out a cute animated video to smooth things over. The video shows the steps Google Japan have taken to protect everyone’s privacy from blurring of private data plus how you can raise any concerns you have with Google’s Street View.

I have to admit this style of video is one of the things I love about Japan – their design aesthetic.

ストリートビューのプライバシーについて

ストリートビュー 公開に適さない画像の報告について

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