You thought your grandfather was a train buff? Sorry to break the news to you, but ol’ gramps would have been a mere caboose in the train of railway geeks inJapan, where hard-core train aficionados are referred to by the somewhat affectionate term “densha otaku,” or train nerds. They’re famous for feats like memorizing phonebook-size timetables and visiting every single one of the country’s almost 10,000 stations. When they aren’t trying to increase their encyclopedic...
Read MoreMust see: ‘Uncool’ Cool Japan Video Goes Viral
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has never been known as a particularly hip place — even though it’s in charge of the government’s “Cool Japan” push to promote trendy industries like anime, fashion, and Japanese cuisine overseas. But a home-made Cool Japan video shot by two ministry officials and uploaded to YouTube last month has attracted so much criticism that it’s gone viral, prompting Japan’s online community to ask: Can something be so uncool that it’s...
Read MoreCheck out the largest photo of Tokyo ever taken. It’s zoomable!
The largest photo ever taken of Tokyo is zoomable, and it is glorious It took photographer Jeffrey Martin two days of shooting and four months of editing to create the interactive panorama you’re about to experience. At 600,000 pixels wide, it would measure 50 meters by 100 meters if printed at photographic resolution. And yes, it is every bit as awesome as it sounds. Go ahead. Try it. Zoom in on anything you want, like that guy off in the distance taking a photo from his...
Read More