Japanese TV reports about a dog that is quite possibly Japan’s most spoiled dog. Merumo, a materialistic 10-year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a top model for Japanese dog magazines and holds the title “The Best of the Best of Breed 2004″  given by the prestigious Pedigree Award.

The TV crew visits the apartment where Merumo lives with her two owners (or servants as the case may be). The elevator has a special security system that won’t let you enter the 9th floor without owner’s permission to protect the dog from uninvited guests, curious kids, possible kidnappers, robbers and other villains.

Let’s check out some highlights from the report:

※ Merumo gets a haircut twice a month and spends 8000 yen per visit (about $90).

※ The dog is sensitive to heat so the owners invested into marble flooring for the living room at a cost of nearly 3,000,000 yen (about $34,000).

※ Merumo quenches her thirst from a silver Gucci bowl. When she goes out, they can carry her around in a Louis Vuitton bag or walk her using a Hermes brand leash worth 85,000 yen ($950) and a collar that cost separately 65,000 yen ($726).

※ The owners rent a separate room in the building that serves as a closet for Merumo’s clothes. They even sell some clothes to Merumo’s fans who want to buy her clothes for their own dogs.

※ Since Merumo is a Japanese dog, she also has her own kimono (80,000 yenov or $895).

※ The dog owns 10 fashionable fur coats (one cost 180,000 yen, about $2000) and a lot of other clothes and accessories that cost altogether about 3 million yen (around $34,000).

※ Merumo’s daily meals are prepared from expensive vegetables and first-class Matsuzaka meat. They buy his food at luxurious Takashimaya department store.

What about the owners? The husband and wife don’t have any children, run a private dance school and also have two just as spoiled cats that keep Merumo company. They don’t buy any expensive clothes for themselves and purchase cheap food from a local supermarket. At the end of the report, the wife justifies Merumo’s extravagant lifestyle by comparing him to a child. She says that many parents would spend large amounts of money to send their child to the best schools, so they spend this money on the dog instead.

Japanese railway company East Japan Railway Co. has officially announced the introduction of a new series of Shinkansen bullet train in spring 2013.

The new E6 series trains will be connected with the E5 series on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line and run at the speed of 320 km/h (about 200 mph) in the section between Tokyo and Morioka. The E6 series will run alone at 130 km/h (about 80 mph) on the Akita Shinkansen Line between Morioka and Akita.

The lead vehicle will feature a 13-meter long sleek nose to reduce air drag and noise.

You can see a picture of the new train here.

Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201002030429.html

Mother Nature strikes back! This morning we got a snowy surprise here in Tokyo, for the first time this winter. We’ll see how long the situation will last.

View from our balcony.

What is Tokyo Midtown? As the name suggests, it is situated somewhere in the heart of the Japanese capital. Tokyo Midtown, located in Minato-ku district, is a modern urban mixed-use development, spread out in the area of 569,000 square meters. Here, among lots of greenery, you will find many stores, restaurants, museums, galleries, residential buildings and offices of large companies like Cisco Japan, Konami, Fujifim in others.

Gallery: Tokyo Midtown
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Japanese scientists have invented “elastic water”, a new material that consists of 95 percent normal water with added 2 grams of clay and a small amount of organic components, according to this article by Malaysian National News Agency.

A detailed report about the work of the scientists — published in the latest issue of Nature magazine — suggests that the substance is safe for humans and friendly to the environment and as such, could therefore be used in medicine in the future.

The new material is elastic, transparent and looks like jelly. Furthermore, the report says it can be quickly produced and molded into shape-persistent, free-standing ohbjects because of its exceptionally great mechanical strength and can quickly and completely self-heal itself if it becomes damaged. It also preserves biologically active proteins for catalysis.

If they succeed in icreasing its density, the material could be used for the production of ecologically clean plastic materials without depending on petroleum which is today used in production of conventional plastics.