SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Since 2001, the Google Street View truck has been rolling through neighborhoods all over the world, taking photos of our towns and city streets in order add to its parent company’s enormous library of 3D street-level images**.** In the search for the perfect panoramic image, however, Google doesn’t always have time to wait around for the streets they’re mapping to clear, leading to the occasional unintentional photobomber.

Luckily, Google also has a pretty advanced facial technology recognition system, used to blur out the faces of those caught on camera as a way of protecting their privacy. The only caveat is that sometimes it works a little too well, and to hilarious results.

Internet, Japan
(facial blurring • funny • Google • mapping • privacy • Street View)

Google Street View now lets you tour the glowing samurai, dragons of the Nebuta Matsuri festival

Casey Baseel
Sep 8, 2015

Just about every community in Japan puts on a local festival in the summer, but few are as spectacular as Aomori City’s Nebuta Matsuri. For almost a solid week, gigantic floats topped by lanterns shaped like samurai and dragons are paraded through the streets, accompanied by dancers and musicians.

But while Aomori is one of the largest cities in the largely rural Tohoku region of Japan, its relatively remote location in the northeastern corner of the country’s main island of Honshu means not everyone can make it out to see the festivities in-person. As long as you’ve got an Internet connection, though, you can get a taste of the fun with Google’s awesome Nebuta Matsuri Street View that lets you see the amazing floats even closer-up than spectators standing on the sidewalks the towering works of art are carried by.

Japan
(Aomori • awesome • beautiful • culture • festivals • Street View)

Japanese town’s Cat Street View lets you virtually tour its backstreets, meet feline residents

Casey Baseel
Sep 3, 2015

It’s an amazing age we live in, where you can fire up Google Street View and virtually walk the boulevards of many of the world’s cities. But it turns out Google Street View has a bit of a rival in Japan. Granted, its scope is far smaller than Google’s, given that it only covers part of one town, but it shows up the Internet giant by letting you wander its walkways from the perspective of an alley cat, and even provides profiles of all the neighborhood kitties you’ll meet along the way!

Internet, Japan
(animals • cats • cute • Hiroshima • Onomichi • pets • Street View • travel)

Japan’s “Underground Temple” now up for virtual touring in Google Street View

Master Blaster
May 27, 2015

Running underneath Kasukabe City, Saitama Prefecture, lies the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel – a sprawling network of waterways as long as its name. Its 6.3 kilometers (3.9 miles) of tunnels are intended to divert flood water from area rivers.

Also, since the massive project was completed in 2009 its enormous columns and walls are in relatively pristine condition giving the place an almost magical atmosphere. As a result it’s earned the nickname of the “Underground Temple” and has been frequently used in movies and music videos.

Tours run regularly for free which you can join, or just take a peek right now from the comfort of your browser with Google Street View.

Internet, Japan
(engineering • Google • Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel • Saitama • Street View)

Google’s Street View cameras are taking spooky selfies in museums around the world

BUSINESS INSIDER
Jul 5, 2014

It turns out that there are a surprising number of mirrors in museums, so when Google unleashed its Street View cameras to catalog the insides of museums around the world, more than a few of them ended up accidentally taking pictures of themselves, we learn via Quartz.

Spanish artist Mario Santamaría noticed this happening quite a bit and did exactly what one should do upon noticing a trend: build a Tumblr around it.

Titled “The Camera In The Mirror,” Santamaría’s site catalogs the eerie moments in which Google’s cameras photograph their own reflections. You get a peek at them wrapped up in silver cloth or exposed to reveal a surprisingly robot-like body.

Global, Internet
(Google • photos • Pull Partners • Street View • travel)

【TBT】Pigeon people flock to Google Street View in Tokyo

ロケットニュース24
May 22, 2014

If you happen to be looking for directions around Mitaka Station in Musashino, Tokyo you might be in for an eerie surprise. As Google’s Street View camera strapped to a guy’s back passed through the quaint tree-lined path alongside the Tamagawa Aqueduct, it was momentarily surrounded by a group of people standing around wearing pigeon heads.

Internet, Japan
(Google • pigeon • Street View • TBT • wtf)

Enjoy the beauty of Angkor in your underpants thanks again to Google Street View

Master Blaster
Apr 5, 2014

It seems Google Maps and Google Street View is truly unending in their quest to walk around and take panoramic photos of some of the Earth’s most beautiful locations. So far we’ve witnessed the eerie wonder of Gunkanjima and the spectacular sights of Mt. Fuji’s summit all courtesy of Google. And now we are treated to a place found on many people’s bucket list: Angkor, Cambodia.

SE Asia
(Angkor • Angkor Wat • Cambodia • Google • Street View • travel)

Japan dominates the list of most visited Google Street View locations in Asia

Michelle Lynn Dinh
Feb 4, 2014

Thanks to the internet and Google Street View, you can see the world from the comforts of your own home. Eat a turkey leg while touring the Palace of Versailles or walk through the Taipei Train Station in your birthday suit, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing or how little you’re wearing while virtually touring famous sites online.

If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling around Asia, but haven’t quite saved enough time or vacation days, you can always take a virtual tour on Google Street View. Let’s take a look at the top virtual tourism locations in Asia.

Japan
(Google Maps • Street View • tourism • travel)

Google Street View captures view from top of Mt. Fuji, negates only reason to climb it

Mike
Jul 25, 2013

There’s a saying in Japan about Mt. Fuji that goes to the tune of, “You ought to climb it once, but only a fool would climb it twice.”

That’s because, as yours truly learned just last weekend, climbing Mt. Fuji is a lot like spending up to eight hours repeatedly swinging a mallet into your knees as hard as you can. It’s also – at least this year, after having been declared a World Heritage Site – so crowded you’re guaranteed to be spending the climb with your face in dangerous proximity to someone else’s ass at all times.

Lucky for those that haven’t climbed it yet, Google Street View strapped some poor sucker with 100 pounds of weird Google robot gear, maybe gave him a bottle of water and some peanuts, and told him to walk right on up and take some pictures from the top. “It’ll be cool,” they probably said. “We promise.”

Internet, Korea
(cool • culture • Google • Street View • technology)

Google Maps Offers Rare Look Inside Abandoned Fukushima Town

Philip Kendall
Mar 28, 2013

Google Japan has announced that it is now possible for Google Maps users to access street view images of Namie, a coastal town in Fukushima that was severely affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami before being completely evacuated when the nearby Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went critical.