No, electronics are not recycled the same way as ordinary trash. Electronics have their own graveyard, and it’s called Guiyu.

Guiyu is a town in China that is known as the largest electronic waste site on the planet. One million tons of electronics waste are shipped here every year, mostly from North America, Japan and South Korea. Since 1995, Guiyu has been attracting peasants from the area to work as electronics processors. They only receive about $1,50 for a sixteen hours work-day collecting valuable metals and usable parts from broken devices.

Guiyu is a very dangerous work environment, with some of the highest levels of dioxin ever recorded. The soil is saturated with led and other heavy metals while the water from the area is undrinkable. People that visit Guiyu experience strange headaches and metallic taste in their mouths.

Despite this, Guiyu’s electronic waste business is very profitable,  each year producing more than$75 million.

The Eliica prototype created quite a lot of hype when it was unveilled in 2003, both because of its incredible specifications and ugly looks. Eliica is a fully electric super-car created by a team of engineers from Keio University, Japan. The eight-wheeled vehicle is powered by a pack of large lithium-ion batteries that help it go from 0 to 100 km. per hour in just 4 seconds and reach a top speed of 402 km/h.

Each of Eliica‘s eight wheels produce 80 horsepower and its batteries provide power for a 321 km ride. Hiroshi Shimizu, head of the Eliica project, is considering producing a limited series. The exclusive super-car costs &320,000.

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Everyone loves relaxing at the spa, even monkeys. The Japanese Macaques of Jigokudani hotsprings in Nagano have become famous for their visits here every winter. they love bathing in the hot water of the volcanic spa. Although they can whithstand temperatures of up-to -15 degrees Celsius thet are most known for the ridiculous amount of time they spend at the spa.

Developed by Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory, Bambgoo is a fully functional vehicle that runs for 50 kilometers on a single charge. This ecological concept car is 270 cm long, 130 cm wide, 165 cm high and only 60 kg heavy. That’s what’s so special about Bambgoo, its body is made out of bamboo. If you happen to pass through Japan these days, you might want to check it out and maybe even take it for a short drive-test.

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Standard churches don’t usually look like this, but then again, Leaf Chapel isn’t an ordinary church. Designed by Klein-Dytham Architecture, at the special request of a Japanese hotel-owner, the Leaf Chapel is located inside a very popular resort in the Japanese Alps.

Its unusual design was cleverly thought through, because this chapel is as as much a business as it is a sacred place. People of all faiths come here to get married so the Leaf Chapel had to have an ecumenical design, with no identifying iconographies.

 Risonare mountain resort has become even more popular after the addition of the 550-square foot Leaf Chapel.

The Japanese have decided to release a series of woman self-defense instructional images to help them fight-off aggressors. Judging by the moves depicted I have to say I pity the fool who would dare attack a woman trained in these martial arts. that head-blow alone would bring any man to its knees, the other blows are just for fun. Beware women-aggressors, you may become the victims.

Eating sushi off a beautiful naked body, now that’s what I call a meal.

Hadaka Sushi is a restaurant set on the Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, where rich people can serve delicious sushi right off human platters. The art of arranging pieces raw fish on naked human bodies is known as Nyotaimori (which translates as “female body arrangement”) and it is a very old Japanese tradition, so old its origins are unknown.

Not anybody can afford such an extravagant meal, the model alone costs $1100 and the food is extra. But it appears there are plenty of people out there willing to pay such a price, some of them even asked for male model as platters and the restaurant obliged. Although not the first “naked sushi” restaurant in America, it is the first, and so far only, one in LA. And I think it’s going to be a hit, because, as the owner says, “sex sells, especially on the Strip”.

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KAZ is an Italian-Japanese joint project to make an electric limousine.

Keio Advanced Zero-Emissions vehicle, that’s what KAZ stands for. It took 5 years to build and cost $4 million but the result is more than impressive: it has 6 electric engines powering the limousines six wheels, each producing 74 horse-power and 74 lb-ft. of torque. That means this baby goes from 0 to 62mph in just 7 seconds, reaches a quarter mile in 15 seconds and has a top speed of 193.3 km/h.

It’s is powered by 84 lithium batteries that can carry the car for 186 miles on a single charge. It might not be the best-looking car out there but it’s environment-friendly and it runs perfectly.

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A building partially covered with real gold.

Built in 1397 as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Kinkaku is a three-story building, with the last two, fully covered with pure gold leaf. The temple was set on fire by a monk in 1950, but it was restored and the new gold coating dating from 1987 is much thicker than the original one.

Kinkaku is one of Japan’s most beautiful attractions and it serves as a “shariden”, a place where relics of Buddha are stored.

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Now that’s a hell of an idea to attract customers.

This Okinawa Tree-House restaurant, on Highway 58 at the entrance in Onoyama Park in the south of Japan. What may look like a genuine tree is actually a man-made concrete structure, just like the French used to build in the lathe 19th century. Customers actually have to get in an elevator inside the “trunk” to reach the restaurant. I have to say it’s a pretty original idea and the work on the tree is amazing, I couldn’t tell it was fake the first time I saw it.

Come to think about it, snowman is not really the appropriate term, since it actually bears the name Olympia Snowe.

Olympia was “born” in the town of Bethel, Maine and at 122 feet and 1 inch in length managed to toppled the world record previously held by…Bethel, Maine. Her eyebrows are made of skies, her lips out of red-painted tires and she has 2 pine trees serving as arms.

Olympia Snowe, named after Maine’s senior senator, takes the title of world’s tallest snowman from Angus, King of the mountain, who brought the title to the US, from Japan, 9 years ago.

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I have to be honest and start by saying I’m a huge fan of winter and all that it implies, snow, ice, cold weather, the whole enchilada, so I guess I was a little subjective in picking this piece over others. But even you sun worshipers have to admit that these snow sculptures, especially the castles are simply amazing.

These were all sculpted in blocks of snow and ice, during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in China by the most talented sculptures in the world. The festival dates back to 1963 and is one of the four largest ice and snow festivals, along with along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.

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The geoduck or gooyduck is the largest species of clams on the face of the earth. The clam itself is 15 to 20 cm long, which is pretty big but the really impressive part is its long siphon that often reaches one meter in length. it weighs between 0.5 and 1.5 kilograms, but there have been stories about 7.5 kg heavy gooyducks.

The incredible aspect of the gooeyduck isn’t only limited to its size, but also to its lifespan. It has a life expectancy of 146 years, which makes it one of the longest-living organisms in the animal reign.

As repulsive as they look (personal opinion) geoducks are a delicacy in China and Japan, where they are often eaten raw, sashimi style.

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