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health (Page 22)
The great debate: Eye-opening survey asks ‘How often do you wash your bath towel?’
- John Stuart Translations
Jun 4, 2013 - Tweet
According to practitioners of feng shui (Chinese geomancy that is supposed to help improve one’s life by bringing in positive energy), when you dry your body with a bath towel, you’re not just wiping away drops of water, but removing misfortune as well. So, if you use the same bath towel the following day without washing it, you’ll just be reintroducing the misfortune you had gone through the trouble of wiping away the previous day.
If that’s true, and the results of a recent survey are to be believed, then some of us are far luckier than others…
- Japan
- (cleanliness • health • hygiene • Imabari Towel • towel • washing)
This summer, live like Japan’s top 10 percent (of armpit odor)
- Casey Baseel
May 29, 2013
Recently, a team of highly-qualified Japanese scientists assembled for a mission, the danger of which was equaled only by its importance to society. On May 22, they announced their findings to the public, revealing that a menace we have always been aware of has grown to staggering proportions.
90 percent of men have smelly armpits. Read More
Report Detailing Potentially Infected Chinese Poultry Used in Japanese Fast Food Sparks Fears
- Andrew Miller
May 1, 2013
An article published in a special edition of Japanese weekly Shukan Bunshu has suggested that potentially hazardous chicken sourced from China may be finding its way into fast food in Japan. The article, composed by writer Shuuji Okuno, begins by posing the following question:
“Would you still be willing to put a chicken nugget in your mouth if you knew the real story? The hazards of China’s domestic chicken meat!”
Our attention well and truly grabbed, we delved inside. Read More
- China, Japan
- (food • health • public health • Toxic food)
The Worrying Aging Effects of Too Much Computer Work
- Andrew Miller
Apr 13, 2013
In the past decade or so, the widespread use of computers in both the public and private sphere has seen the personal computer become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Whether it be creating a chart of company expenditures or simply recording important appointments in a software-based diary, almost all of our work has been a layer of digital varnish. The birth of the laptop computer has meant that work can be done virtually anywhere, with a wealth of information available in a few clicks and taps of the keyboard. As wonderful as all this is, it’s easy to overlook some of the problems that arise from a computer-centric life. Here we’ll take a good, hard look at the downside to spending the vast majority of our day plugging in and screen-facing.
- Japan
- (beauty • Computer work • health • symptoms)
New Line of Coffee Claims to Shed Fat in 12 Weeks
- Master Blaster
Mar 29, 2013
Kao Japan is preparing to release the newest addition to their line of Healthya brand health drinks. In addition to their existing collection of waters and teas, things are getting a little more flavorful with fat-burning “Healthya Coffee.”
Chinese Media Reports Korean Kimchi Promotes Weight Loss
- John Stuart Translations
Mar 26, 2013
As has been previously reported here, kimchi, the super-spicy fermented cabbage dish from Korea, appears to be one of the world’s healthiest dishes. Now, media sources in China are reporting that this fiery condiment is also beneficial for those seeking to lose a few pounds.
- China, Japan, Korea
- (calories • diet • health • low-calorie • obesity • weight loss)
Forget Filthy Fingers, Soon Your Smartphone Can Check Your Pulse Just by Looking at You
- Master Blaster
Mar 20, 2013
Fujitsu Labs recently announced it is finalizing technology which lets you check and monitor your pulse just by pointing a camera at your face. The company claims results can be achieved in as little as five seconds and doesn’t require complicated procedures or extra equipment.
The technology is compatible with ordinary smartphones as well as tablets, laptops, or desktops as long as they’re equipped with a camera.
- Japan
- (health • pulse • smartphone • technology)
Research Shows Eating Kimchi Every Day Helps Lower Cholesterol and Blood Glucose Levels
- Michelle Lynn Dinh
Mar 14, 2013
Kimchi is a fermented cabbage dish from Korea that is often referred to as “Korea’s national dish.” It’s so pungent that those who enjoy eating copious amounts of kimchi have been known to purchase a separate fridge dedicated to storing it. For decades, Korean mothers have sworn by the health benefits of adding kimchi to one’s diet, but now it seems scientists agree as well. New research published in the Journal of Medicinal Food suggests that eating even a small amount of kimchi every day may help lower cholesterol, LDL (“bad cholesterol”), and fasting blood glucose levels.
Warm Up Your Juicers! Substance Discovered in Strawberries Alleviates Allergy Symptoms
- Master Blaster
Feb 23, 2013
Anyone with allergies can tell you that they suck pretty hard. Particularly in Japan, the high density of cedar trees has hay fever sufferers throwing on masks for several months of the year starting about now.
To our rescue comes Koji Kawahara, Professor of Cellular Engineering at Kitakyushu National College of Technology who last year found a component in strawberries which eases allergic reactions.
Professor Kawahara presented his findings at an international biology expo and filed for an international patent. He will likely synthesize the active ingredient into pill form, but can simply adding strawberries to our diet do the trick too?
- Japan
- (allergies • health • strawberriy)
New Head Spa Massage Unit Promises Extreme Relaxation, Makes You Look Like Robocop
- Philip Kendall
Feb 20, 2013
As regular readers may recall, despite being a big hairy beast of an Englishman, this writer has kind of a soft spot for head spa treatments. Although I used to abhor the very thought of entering a salon and allowing a stranger to wash and massage my scalp while being surrounded by guys with floppy fringes and women having their hair dyed orange, I have become such a fan of Japanese head spas since my wife first dragged me along to try one that I now make a point of getting one every month without fail. It probably helps that it’s usually a pretty girl who’s cradling my lumpy Shrek head and running her fingernails through my hair, but it’s nothing short of bliss.
So when I caught sight of the new Mondaile Head Spa iD3 headset from Breo I was genuinely intrigued. It certainly looked futuristic enough to have the potential, but surely a pile of plastic and wires couldn’t really come close to my living, breathing masseuse’s skilled fingertips? The tech lovers over at Japan’s Web R25 put the unit through its paces and proclaimed it “a must” for gadget lovers, but judging from the reactions of at least one everyday user, the device is not without its quirks.
Japan’s Secret Weapon Against the Flu Deemed Ineffective by Ministry of Health
- Master Blaster
Feb 4, 2013
According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) during the period of 14-20 January, the number of influenza cases in the country has exceeded 110,000.
Schools and facilities for the elderly across Japan have been pushing a traditional three pronged attack against the flu virus. First, hand washing is a no-brainer (or at least it out to be). Also, anyone who has been to Japan has probably experienced the country’s love of surgical masks.
The third line of defense, however, is rather unique to Japan: gargling. Although gargling is embraced worldwide as a soothing massage for throats sore from overuse or illness, in Japan it has been widely regarded for generations as a preventative measure against cold or flu viruses.
Man Burns Hole in Stomach After Consuming Chinese Death Soup
- Steven
Dec 20, 2012
Some foods are so spicy that consuming them can leave the more intolerant of us with an upset stomach. It was once believed that eating lots of spicy food could even cause gastric ulcers—a break in the tissue lining of the stomach—but this has since been proven false, the credit stolen by a bacterium known as Helicobacter pylori. If you find yourself retching with pain after lunch at an Indian food buffet, you’ve likely aggravated an existing condition and should probably have it checked out.
So as colorful as the expression is, eating spicy food can’t actually “burn a hole in your stomach”. At least, it shouldn’t be able to, which is why doctors at a hospital in Wuhan, China, were scratching their heads when a 26-year-old man with no history of gastrointestinal disorders was brought in after eating soup so spicy that it opened a hole in the wall of his stomach.
Briefs in Brief: Top Underwear Developments in Japan
- Master Blaster
Nov 23, 2012
Things are getting busy for the unsung hero of clothing, underwear. In recent years developments in the underwear technology sector have been coming in fast and furious.
The following is a report of some progressive underpants that promise to cut smells, back pain and will rub your belly while you sleep.
Radical Japanese Company Advertises Jobs Online: “We do not employ smokers”
- Philip Kendall
Nov 15, 2012
As public perception of smoking becomes increasingly negative, and with the number of smoking areas in restaurants and cafes in Japan becoming fewer and fewer each year, it’s fair to say that those little white sticks that once brought so much pleasure to so many are perhaps on their way out.
As people find themselves becoming more and more irritated by cigarette smoke as they walk though crowded streets, and residents grow sick of sweeping up discarded cigarette butts in their neighbourhoods, smoking anywhere outside of specially designated kitsuen (smoking) zones has become a punishable offence in many urban areas of Japan.
The times, they are a-changing.
But even with so many turning their backs of tobacco and labelling it as un-cool, few could have predicted that a company as large as Hoshino Resorts would actively advertise the fact that they no longer accept job applications from smokers.
Paris Syndrome: A Psychological Condition that Hits Japanese Hardest
- Philip Kendall
Oct 31, 2012
Paris: city of love, romance, food and… mental anguish?
In an article over on Gold Rush, writer Senya talks about the devastating psychological condition that has come to be known as “Paris Syndrome”; a condition that, bizarrely, seems to affect Japanese people in particular, with many visiting the city suffering from symptoms similar to depression that, in rarer cases, results in suicide.
What is it about Paris that has such a debilitating effect on Japanese? What could they do to avoid it or lessen the symptoms?
We delve a little deeper to find out…
- Europe, Japan
- (culture shock • health • psychology)
Jellied Eggs, Pleasing to the Eye and Good for the Skin
- Karen Bremer Masuda
Aug 21, 2012
Did you know that along with the ultra violet rays of the sun, summer heat reduces collagen in the skin? We have enough to worry about with what aging does to our collagen reserves! The winter provides lots of opportunity to boost collagen intake through eating gelatinous ingredients like pork and chicken cartilaginous cuts of meat, in nabe, the hot-pot dish where everyone helps themselves while sitting around a steaming pot of simmering ingredients. But who wants to eat nabe in summer!
Gelatin is the answer! Gelatin consists of collagen and is used to gel things. A web search for good gelatin recipes resulted in finding jellied eggs from this website, ediva, “Jellied Eggs: Great Recipe for Easter”. Well it isn’t Easter but never mind, jellied eggs can also be eaten in the hot summer, a cooling healthy treat. Read More
- Japan
- (collagen • eggs • food • food molds • food presentation • gelatin • health • healthy snack • hors d' oeuvres • protecting summer skin • skin care)
Now You Can Get a 3D Replica of Your Fetus (Because That’s Not Creepy at All)
- Steven
Jul 30, 2012
For expecting couples, visiting the gynecologist for an ultrasound scan can be a memorable experience as it is often their first look at the precious life waiting to be born in the world. Many soon-to-be parents even ask for a black-and-white printout of the scan to commemorate the occasion and then later to embarrass their child in front of his or her friends.
Now, Japanese engineering firm Fasotec has taken prenatal memorabilia to literally the next dimension with “Shape of an Angel,” a miniature 3D replica of the fetus as it lay in the womb.
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Recent Posts
- Japanese government announces criteria for creating backup capital of Japan
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- Tokyo Skytree set to offer breathtaking Diamond Fuji natural phenomenon view this month
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Today
Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
Beautiful Ghibli diorama kits lets you build anime characters’ homes inside yours [Photos]
Japan’s TeamLab digital art group is opening a permanent museum in America
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Starbucks Japan invites us to par-tea with its new Earl Gray Frappuccino [Taste test]
Tokyo Skytree set to offer breathtaking Diamond Fuji natural phenomenon view this month
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Weekly
Japan’s TeamLab digital art group is opening a permanent museum in America
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Monthly
Pokémon Company announces first-ever permanent Pokémon store to open outside Asia
Family Mart releases 47 convenience store socks and stickers, one for every prefecture in Japan
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New Studio Ghibli anime gets extended run at the only cinema in Japan where it’s being shown
Tokyo train station will play Godzilla theme song as new departure melody
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Studio Ghibli creates illustrated Kyoto sightseeing map, available at any 7-Eleven Japan store
Japan ends tax-free shopping system for foreign tourists, new refund request system now in effect
Yearly
Japan announces sudden 400-percent increase in visa fees for foreigners entering the country
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Studio Ghibli has a new anime out, and there’s only one place in the world where you can see it
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Tokyo subway installing new ticket gates that don’t accept payment through Suica or other IC cards
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