Japan Navigator

As the International Herald tribune reports, foreign minister Komura Masahiko has appointed Doraemon as Japan’s first cartoon ambassador. The robot cat, who is especially popular in Asia, promised:

Through my cartoons, I hope to convey to people abroad what ordinary Japanese people think, our lifestyles and what kind of future we want to build.

Perhaps the 22th century feline can help the troubled Fukuda cabinet by employing the “anywhere door” that comes out of a fourth-dimensional pocket on his stomach?

The New York Times and other international media have picked up the story of Akutagawa Award winner Kawakami Mieko and the fact that she writes a popular blog.

Hanami among the Mountain Gods in the Japan Times gives the historical background of Yoshino, the most traditional sakura viewing place in Japan (south of Nara). But be prepared for considerable crowds…

On another spring note (literally), researchers in Scotland and Japan have discovered the secret of how birds know to sing in springtime!

Japanese Food Report has a nice, long article about Kyoto vegetables and Kyoto’s “soul food” obanzai.

Reuters makes it official: after going crazy about Belgian waffles, Japan now has its own secret weapon: the “moffle.” Yes, made from indigenous rice… this is in fact a mochi (rice cake) pressed in a machine to look like a waffle. I haven’t tasted it yet, but moffles seem to be popular desert and the moffle making machines are advertised all over the internet. This YouTube video shows one in action:

See also this article in the Japan Times.