Amusing Japan videos

For want of a better post to write today, here are some cute, funny, and/or disturbing Japan videos that I’ve come across on YouTube over the years…


Silent Library

This a Japanese game show where a group of people sit in a library and perform random uncomfortable and often downright painful actions on each other while trying to be as quiet as possible. You’ll either think such a game show is really funny or really disturbing (for me, it’s a little of both). At times the contenders look like they’re having a blast while at other times they look like they’re clearly suffering. Only Japan would come up with such a crazy game, and I doubt such a contest would be allowed in America.
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Pantyhose Tug-of-War

There is no end to the variety of outrageous game shows that Japan has so I’m not going to share too many. But here’s another one – the name says it all. I wonder if doing such a game repeatedly could permanently damage your nose.
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Nut Shots

Probably the most disturbing game show of all. Something like this would never be allowed in America.
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Human Tetris

Not all Japanese game shows are so unbelievably painful. Here’s another unique one that’s not nearly as torturous as the previous ones. In this game, contenders must quickly maneuver their bodies to slip through an oncoming panel with a large tetris shape on it.
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Human Bowling

Another, more tame game show. It actually looks like fun as long as the pins aren’t too hard.
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Tama, the Station Master

Tama is an amazing cat who lives at Kishikawa station and has been officially dubbed “Station Master”; she greets commuters and has attracted a wealth of public attention and prosperity for the little town. She even got featured on CNN =D

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Maru

Maru is another adorable Japan cat. His owner has taken videos of him doing a variety of cute and funny things. I believe he even has his own DVDs. This is one of my favorite Maru videos; he does a pretty impressive leap into a cardboard box.

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Hyouta

Hyouta is an extremely tame and extremely cute pet squirrel. Like Maru, he has his own blog and collection of videos.

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3,000 Japanese students form Mona Lisa

As the name implies, this video shows contests where people gather together to form giant images with their bodies. In this one, thousands of students form an image of the Mona Lisa.

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Japan crowds

Unbelievable crowds on Japanese trains during rush hour. I believe something like this has at least a little to do with the suicide rate in Japan.

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Human traffic

The crosswalk in front of Shibuya station is rightly called “the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing.” I walked on this crosswalk when I was in Japan and it is quite intense. This video shows the crosswalk on a typical Saturday afternoon.

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Tokyo wave pool

A wave pool in Tokyo. Crowded would be an understatement – you can’t even see the water 0_o

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Kaiten-zushi camera

I just love this video. Some foreigners put a camera on the conveyor belt in a kaiten-zushi (rotating sushi) restaurant. For some reason watching the various customers’ reactions to the camera is just so entertaining. It’s especially funny when the camera ends up in the kitchen. If it was anywhere but Japan, someone would probably swipe that camera XD

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No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Serious Cat says:

    hehe loved the Maru video, he is so adorable

  2. Mann says:

    There’s an american and british version of silent library, both produced by mtv. I’ve seen some parts of the american version; it’s not funny compared to the original but it’s okay.

  3. Saere says:

    It would be so easy to drown in that wave pool since there seems to be no gap to get back up through if you sink.

    In the sushi video, did they tell someone in the kitchen what they planned on doing? I only understood a few sentences, so it seemed weird that they put the camera back on the conveyor belt.

    In America, the staff would have put it in “lost and found” and then “waited” a few days before one of them called dibs. XD

  4. Yumeka says:

    @ Saere

    In the sushi video, I don’t believe they told anyone about what they were going to do. From what I understood in the kitchen part, the workers were asking what it was at first, assumed it was a customer’s, and decided to put it back. It’s pretty funny how it worked out so perfectly XD

  5. Only in Japan you’d see stuff like this. I’ve actually seen some of the human tetris vids. (The animal vids where adorable! Expecially Maru. ^^ ) I really liked that last video too, it was alot of fun to watch like you said. Has a cinematic feel to it, and its almost art-like.

    No word on this bizarre, but hilarious, gem? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRerwXWTRjM Its an actual Japanese exercise video where they learn english while working out. You just can’t help but laugh at it. XD

  6. Silvs says:

    Human Tetris?!?!
    So its the Japanese fault for that crap!
    We have that in the Uk~ XD

    I’ve heard of Tama before..I want some Tama merchandise!!
    The Maru video were awesome!
    Cats = Comic geniuses <3

    Loved the sushi conveyer aswell.
    Thanks for sharingg. ;3 ♥

  7. Jan Suzukawa says:

    I was going to go to see that intersection in Shibuya on my last day in Tokyo, but was just too tired that day. Next trip. ;)

    Love that Tama video. I read about Tama somewhere. I love calico cats.

    That sushi conveyor belt video is awesome! I love it. It’s like a slice of Japanese life – a peek into the lives of about 15 Japanese couples and families. I love the kitchen part – the obachan who initially picks up the camera, and then the young guy who explains to her that it’s a tourist thing, and then she puts it back on the belt(!). Fantastic.

  8. Crowed trains and the stress of commuting certainly don’t help, but the reasons for suicide in Japan are more fundamental. Until 1997 Japan had annual suicide rate figures between 22,000 and 24,000 each year. Following the bursting of the stock market and the long term economic downturn that has followed here since the suicide rate in 1998 increased by around 35% and since 1998 the number of people killing themselves has consistently remained well over 30,000 every year to the present day.

  9. Saere says:

    “and then the young guy who explains to her that it’s a tourist thing, and then she puts it back on the belt”

    Okay, that makes a lot more sense now.

    @Andrew: I’d heard rumors about suicide in Japan, but I didn’t know it was that bad. o.O I wonder how that compares to suicide rates in other countries. I think that I’ll look it up when I have the time.

  10. Lexi says:

    So this is Japan cool I like the wave video hahaha wait why was there a wave it loved more like a pool wait wtf!!! O.o

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