Anime Icon Gundam RX-78-2 built in free-standing life size scale for the 30th anniversary of Bandai has now been completed. The said Gundam is stationed at Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan. The behemoth will stand 18 meters tall free from balancing support.

The Gundam is scheduled for public viewing this July 11 until August 31st, what is next is sure unkown, but perhaps it should not be dismantled and be kept for more viewing pleasures by otakus and the likes.

This comprehensive gallery shows the iconic mecha in magnificent detail.

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A Filipino couple was deported from Japan on Monday (April 13, 2009) due to illegal immigration, Their daughter, Noriko, was left behind in Japan to continue studying in the local school.

Parents of Noriko, Arlan Cruz Calderon, 36, and his wife, Sarah, 38, left Tokyo’s Narita airport bound to Philippines, seen off by their daughter, Noriko, and a crowd of reporters, said public broadcaster NHK.

Her parents were forced to leave because they used illegal passports to enter Japan during the 1990’s. The couple stayed in the country undetected until her mother was arrested two years ago. (more…)

Impoverished Nation, North Korea, launched a rocket that passed over the Japanese territory. The defence ministry detected a “flying object” which looked like a rocket that went eastward passing through northern Japan then going to the Pacific Ocean.
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Japan manga man revives story-telling with modern twist

Rikimaru Toho doesn’t mind being stared at as long as he can hold the gaze of passers-by long enough to entice them to stop and sit down for an unusual show: a comic book reading.

And stay they do, hunched on low plastic stools inches away from Rikimaru, who offers the equivalent of an animated movie for the ears, his vast vocal registry bringing to life any character, from humans to robots.

The roaring overhead train, orange street lamps and the station walls comprise the setting for his performances of “manga” comics in Shimokitazawa, the cradle of Tokyo’s underground culture.

“I find it appealing to do, and to offer something that one doesn’t usually experience,” said the 34-year-old, whose real name is Satoshi Arikawa.

“By making all kinds of voices including female ones, I enjoy watching my audience’s reactions, and I am very grateful to them,” he added, with a slight bow of his head.

With long, black, dishevelled hair held in place with a rudimentary bandana, along with glasses and a black goatee, Rikimaru’s looks invite as much curiosity as his punchy voice which swings between bass and falsetto.

From action hero Kenshiro of the popular “Hokuto no Ken” series to the earless blue cat Doraemon and the lovelorn heroines of “The Rose of Versailles,” Rikimaru has done them all. And that’s not everything.

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Danny Choo from DannyChoo.com tells us his experience about the new Fiber Optic/Optic Fiber/Optic Fibre Connection he recently bought.

Some of his reasons are:

-Can physically keep our private home network separate from an externally facing server – rather not have our private stuff on the same network.

-Want to have the freedom of disconnecting our private optic fiber modem for various reasons – cleaning up, moving things around etc – cant really disconnect the line for a live server all the time.

-Save 12,000 USD per year that some of the dedicated hosting costs.

-The most important reason is so that I can learn the process of how to do all the settings involved in setting up a server at home from scratch.

Surprising (at least for me) is that the optic connection he got is at 100Mbps! A Hikari line from NTT which costs a measly 1,022 yen per month for the first year and goes up to 6,720 yen for the second year. It’s a Flets Home Type promotion that he found on kakaku.com. With that promotion, he doesn’t pay the setup fees and modem rent. Nice… Compared here in my region, 768kbps with 1.2mbpsSpeed-on-Demand costs 899 php which is about 1700 yen and installation fee is 1999 php. A 2 mbps would be a luxury here…

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