Adult Adoption – The Secret to Preserving Centuries-Old Japanese Family Businesses
Japan has one of the highest adoption rates in the world, with over 80,000 legal adoptions recorded every year. Yet when it comes to adopting children, the Asian country is lagging way behind most developed countries. That’s because around 98% of Japanese adoptees are bright young men in their 20s and 30s. At the same […]
China’s Increasing “Bride Price” Makes Marriage Virtually Impossible for Poor Bachelors
The shortage of women caused by China’s one-child policy, combined with the country’s economic boom over the last two decades have made marriage a grim prospect for poor men in rural regions. These two factors have bumped up the “bride price” to hundreds of thousands of yuan, sometimes even millions, obscene amounts that most men can’t […]
Japanese Boutique Sells Jeans That Have Been Worn for at Least a Year
The Onomichi Denim Project, a chic boutique in Onomichi, Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture, is a popular destination for denim enthusiasts looking for a pair of truly special jeans. The shop is well-known around Japan and even abroad for selling premium jeans that have been worn by select members of the local community for at least one […]
Adult Wrapping – The Japanese Therapy Craze That Recreates the Comforting Feeling of a Womb
Otona Maki, or ‘adult wrapping’, is a Japanese therapeutic method of correcting posture and alleviating body stiffness by wrapping the human body in a large piece of cloth that emulates the comfortable feel of a mother’s womb. Well-known for their long work hours, many Japanese people develop posture problems and body stiffness. For a long time, […]
China’s ‘Mistress Killer’ Helps Cheated Wives Deal with Adultery
‘Mistress killer’, ‘China’s top ladies’ detective’ or ‘Terminator of extramarital affairs’ are just some of the nicknames that Zhang Yufen has earned during the 15 years she has dedicated to helping cheated wives gather evidence on their husbands’ affairs and helping them exact revenge on their mistresses. Zhang Yufen’s war on adultery is fueled by her […]
Inspiring Paraplegic Athlete Climbs 500-Meter High Mountain in His Wheelchair
On December 9th, 2011, champion rock-climber Lai Chi-wai suffered a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. On the same day, five years later, he climbed Hong Kong’s iconic Lion Rock once again, this time in a wheelchair. 33-year-old Lai Chi-wai is a four-time winner of the Asian Rock Climbing Championships, but on a […]
Wealthy Businessman Donates 90 Houses to the Poor to Celebrate Daughter’s Wedding
Ajay Munot, a rich businessman in Maharashtra, India, has recently built and donated 90 houses to the poor, instead of spending the money on a lavish wedding for his daughter. Munot had been planning to spend Rs 70-80 lakh ($115,000) on his daughter Shreya’s wedding, but after consulting with a local politician, he decided there was a better […]
Nearly All Phones in Japan Are Waterproof Because People Need to Use Them in the Shower
Waterproof smartphones are becoming more common in Western markets, but they are hardly the norm. In Japan however, almost all phones are waterproof, and have been for nearly a decade now. According to statistics, 90% to 95% of phones in Japan are waterproof, because people need to be able to use them while they are showering. […]
Chinese Zoo Puts Husky Dog in Wolf Pen
A zoo in Dezhou City, east China’s Shandong Province, recently attracted criticism for placing a husky dog in a pen populated by a dozen wolves, as a way to create more fun for tourists. Chinese animal lovers raised the alarm about the unusual member of the wolf pack after a video shot by a tourist at […]
Japan’s Unique Museum of Stones Shaped Like Human Faces
Chinsekikan, or The Hall of Curious Rocks is a unique museum in the Japanese town Saitama, just outside Tokyo, where visitors can admire close to 1,000 rocks that resemble human faces. This outlandish tourist attraction is the work of the late Shozo Hayama, a rock enthusiast who spent 50 years of his life collecting strange-looking […]
Hong Kong’s Unique Sanctuary of Discarded Deities
In Hong Kong, when people damage their statues of deities or simply replace them with newer ones, they don’t throw them away. Instead they leave them on the side of the road for people to worship or take them home. One man has been picking them up for over 17 years, and today his colorful collection is one […]
Masked Speed Dating Hopes to Save Shy Japanese Singles
A Tokyo-based dating service is trying to make it easier for shy Japanese singles to interact with the opposite sex by organizing masked speed dating effects where participants wear surgical masks to help them be more outgoing. Surgical masks have been a big part of Japanese culture for many years. Some people wear them on the […]
8-Year-Old Boy Puts on 11 Kilos in 2 Months to Save Dying Father’s Life
Cao Yinpeng, an 8-year-old from Xuzhou, East China’s Jiangsu province, underwent a rigorous fattening up regiment, in order to qualify for a bone marrow transplant necessary to save his father’s life. Earlier this year, Cao’s father was diagnosed with leukemia and doctors told the family that he needed a hematopoietic stem cell transplant to survive. Unfortunately, […]
IKEA Store Can’t Keep Elderly Freeloaders Out of Its Cafe
An IKEA store in Shanghai, China claims it has been forced to enforce special rules in order to keep elderly freeloaders from virtually taking over the place for hours at a time and engaging in blind dating sessions. IKEA is very popular in China. Some people love the furniture mega-stores so much that they spend whole […]
Indonesian Man Returns Home One Year after Being Confirmed Dead by His Family
An Indonesian family got the shock of their life after their husband and father, 62-year-old Waluyo, just showed up at their doorstep one year after they had buried him. He was pronounced dead on May 15, 2015, after supposedly being involved in a car accident. This bizarre story started last year, when Waluyo, from Suryoputran Panembahan village […]