Japanese anime predicted the future

The Japanese anime “Akira” predicted over 30 years ago that the 2020 Olympics would be hosted by Tokyo!

http://junkee.com/akira-predicted-the-2020-tokyo-olympic-games-way-back-in-1982

March 23 and 31

If the world famous Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa were still alive, yesterday would’ve been his 100th birthday.

Akira Kurosawa (1910 March 23 - 1998 Sept 6), R.I.P.

I wrote a post last summer about Hollywood remakes of Japanese movies…and of course it includes some of Kurosawa’s classics (such as “Yojinbou” and “The Seven Samurai“).
(Click here to read that post.)

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It has been announced that all homes in Japan must have a 煙感知器 (smoke detector) in every room by 2010 March 31.

A smoke alarm needs to be in every room.

If you live in Japan, and your house doesn’t have smoke alarms, you can buy them at department stores or electronics stores for about ¥2,500 – ¥3,000 each.
(Even if you don’t live in Japan you should have smoke detectors and a 消火器 (fire extinguisher) in your house.)

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What size beer cans are commonly sold in stores in your country?
What types of places sell beer where you live?
In Japan, beer can be purchased 24 hours a day from convenience stores. It’s also sold in most restaurants (including some fast-food places), supermarkets, etc.

There are even beer vending machines in Japan.

Restaurants usually sell beer in mugs or glasses. Or else they’ll give a 瓶ビール (bottled beer), which is usually 633ml.

Canned beer is usually sold in 350ml or 500ml cans. But other sizes are available too.
Japan has very small 135 ml and 250ml cans, the “regular” 350ml can, the “tall boy” 500ml, and a very big 1,000ml can.

135ml, 250ml, 350ml and 500ml cans of Kirin Beer.

アキラ

Yesterday was a holiday here in Japan. Called 「建国記念日」 (“National Foundation Day“).
(Click here to see my short FAQ about it.)

My wife, kids and I went to a カラオケボックス (Karaoke Box) and had lunch there.
After that we stopped by the DVD rental shop and picked up a couple more episodes of the American TV series “Prison Break“.
We’ve been watching a few episodes every month since last November.
We’re enjoying it.
We’re up to episode eight of season two….don’t tell me how it ends. 😉

We also rented a DVD that I wanted to watch…「毎日どっきりvs出川」.
It a show in which a celebrity here in Japan is chosen and the cast of the show play elaborate practical jokes on that celebrity every day for a month.
It was a funny DVD…but not as good as I expected.

Also, this post is titled 「アキラ」 (“Akira“) because I heard that America plans to make a live action movie remake of the Japanese anime titled 「アキラ」 (“Akira“).

The anime is about a motorcycle gang in Tokyo in the future.

Hollywood doesn’t really have a good track record of remaking Japanese anime into movies.
So, I wonder how this one will turn out.
(Click here to see the post about Japanese movies remade by Hollywood…some done well and others not.)

By the way, if you’re in Tokyo now, it’s forecast to snow tonight and tomorrow. So be careful if you go out tomorrow. (If it snows, it’ll probably only be a little bit though).