Japan - News/General Discussion

ahochaude wrote:Sorry guys, I don't think I know this clip of Beethoven's. :sweat:

Any samples??

I'm wondering if it's what I think it is...

like "the man" said, you know it, but dont know you do....you may know it as "ode to joy" used prominently during christmas times.

at first glance, i thought this topic would be about natto....

Rio wrote:And no... not a mash fan niether... it sux =.=

Yeah, right.

bmwracer wrote:
Yeah, right.

:evil: HEEEEEEEY whats that supposed to mean?

im entitled to what type of entertainment i like:rolleyes: ,and i *DO NOT* like m*a*s*h .
....LIKE i SAID B4..... it sux :angry:

I have not noticed any strange smells from the things I bought in Japan or had shipped from Japan. I have noticed a strange smell from goods I bought from Taiwan, China, Kores, and Hong Kong. I believe the smell came from the paper goods like the packaging material. This is a wierd topic but I am a little curious about it.

P.s. I used to like M.A.S.H. I no longer watch it though. It has lost it's appeal to me.

Aaaaah! Doing some research on this, I may not be alone on this idea...

http://www.tokyowithkids.com/fyi/cleaning.html

Quoting from the article...

Mildew of course is not unique to Japan, but Japanese mildew is somehow a much more constant factor than I remember from home. Aside from very humid summers and lots of steamy baths, I think a fair bit can be blamed on the modern building materials used in constructing "mansions". If you live in a wooden building you will probably suffer less mildew above the ground floor than in a concrete building. Ground floors are a huge mildew haven no matter what the building materials. If you close and lock up your place for a 2 week trip during the summer, you will come back to a mildew mess. If you can figure out a way to run your dehumidifier the whole time you are gone, it is well worth the electricity bill. If that is not an option then leave the bath fan on, always. I leave my bathroom window open the whole time I am gone (yes, I've got a window, not a unit bath!). Prevention is everything, and ventilation is the best weapon. Once the mildew gets into your clothes, and leather shoes, you will want to leave permanently with no glances back.

Also, though I don't have a direct quote on this, there may be a link between the mildew smell of Japanese books with the type of paper that's used. It appears that the paper used in many manga books and magazines is of a similar quality to the paper used in newspapers. When the acids start to break down, that causes the kind of smell that I may be experiencing. And, if you have other things lying in the same area as the books, the smell will cling to them as well.

I'm going to get to the bottom of this!!!! LOL!

--- groink

Ushiroyubi wrote:FujiTV and KBS tend to use a lot of classical music in their programming.

the man speaks truth... .... asahi.. not much... not sure about KBS though.... but truth non theless

Rio wrote:
And no... not a mash fan niether... it sux =.=

hahaha so true... i agree ....=P oh and dun worry about BMWracer... he just says stuff outta the blue.. if u ignore him he'll go away.... or atleast that's what i've been hopping for the last half year....jk =P

so has anyone gone to other ppl's homes and smelled?.... no? no?...

I'm going to get to the bottom of this!!!! LOL!

excellent work dr. holmes... ah so the smell like spread on to other stuff?.. so its the paper eh?... i wonder how japanese toiletpaper smells now....hmmm

kazuichikun wrote:

like "the man" said, you know it, but dont know you do....you may know it as "ode to joy" used prominently during christmas times.

Maybe you have seen the Milk commercial, "Drink Milk love life." ?

lovelessemotion wrote: excellent work dr. holmes... ah so the smell like spread on to other stuff?.. so its the paper eh?... i wonder how japanese toiletpaper smells now....hmmm

Interesting you mention about Japanese toilet paper. I do know for a fact that some Japanese people visiting Hawaii take home with them several rolls of American toilet paper. One time, while I was at the airport (Hawaii), one Japanese resident going back home brought with him several "cases" of MD toilet paper (amount to about 100 or so rolls). For those of you who aren't familiar with MD, this stuff is double-layered and appears to have the texture of light, soft cotton fabric. I mentioned it to a friend of mine soon after, and he told me the toilet paper in Japan isn't anywhere near as soft as some of the expensive American brands.

Going back to the Japanese paper, the acid of the paper breaks down, causing the smell and also the yellowing of the paper. I know about this from my years of comic book collecting. The fanatic comic book collectors actually pump a gas (one person told me it's helium) into their more expensive books before sealing them, which neutralizes the acid breakdown of the paper. Acid-free or low-acid paper is much more expensive, and is being used in the newer comic books and newspapers. However, many of the Japanese publications like manga and newspapers (and more likely other cultures) continue to use paper that contains the acids.

--- groink

Smiley_18 wrote:

Maybe you have seen the Milk commercial, "Drink Milk love life." ?

hmm, nope....
in terms of america, a lot of people who dont listen to classical music know a lot more than they think they do...like if you throw out names like "barber of seville" "carmina burana" "la gazza ladra" "pomp and circumstance" you'll get a whole bunch of confused faces. but if you play the songs, its like "YEA, I KNOW THAT." they turn up everywhere, commercials, cartoon, movies...wheeee
haven't seen the drink milk love life commercial though

lovelessemotion wrote:hahaha so true... i agree ....=P oh and dun worry about BMWracer... he just says stuff outta the blue.. if u ignore him he'll go away.... or atleast that's what i've been hopping for the last half year....jk =P

Keep hoping.

I ain't going nowhere, chuckles.

hahaha so true... i agree ....=P oh and dun worry about BMWracer... he just says stuff outta the blue.. if u ignore him he'll go away.... or atleast that's what i've been hopping for the last half year....jk =P

I'd miss the Japan Zone updates :(

Rio wrote:

:evil: HEEEEEEEY whats that supposed to mean?

im entitled to what type of entertainment i like:rolleyes: ,and i *DO NOT* like m*a*s*h .
....LIKE i SAID B4..... it sux :angry:

Hey...hold on to your horses..breathe. You have the right to hate a TV show :beaten: Don't be mad, Bmwracer was just joking around ;)

lovelessemotion wrote:hahaha so true... i agree ....=P oh and dun worry about BMWracer... he just says stuff outta the blue.. if u ignore him he'll go away.... or atleast that's what i've been hopping for the last half year....jk =P so has anyone gone to other ppl's homes and smelled?.... no? no?.

I thought you've gone forever..I was wrong and you come back with the same smell there? A very distinctive one :hehe:

Akakage wrote:Hey...hold on to your horses..breathe. You have the right to hate a TV show Don't be mad, Bmwracer was just joking around

Don't worry about it. I guess I'm not allowed to disagree with people.

I thought you've gone forever..I was wrong and you come back with the same smell there? A very distinctive one

Oooh. :hehe:

lovelessemotion wrote:JDORAMA project.. visit a friend/co-worker home that u've never been to and see if there is a smell....

why the hell would u wanna visit a friend just to smell their house?? thats the silliest thing ive heard.. i think its plainly rude imo.. but i know what yall mean though, we all have like different smells, thats why we have a thing called 'purifier' but i do agree how maybe its the things that we have in our houses, like for example asian porcelains and those asian furnitures and other stuff from other places.. specially my mom does gardening so she puts plants in the house

i dont think asian are the only ones who has a smell, heck my mexican friends has a different aroma in their house, and my other white friend also has another smell that i cant explain, theyre not dirty smell though.. just smells good that i cant explain

hmm I got a new Photobook from Japan.. had the new smell that bothered me, But it's gone now.

Reading the Smithsonian Institute's web site, a good way to get rid of any mildew-type smells from books and such is to leave it out under natural sunlight with air circulating for a day or so. You can probably leave the object exposed inside of a room, but it'll more likely take much longer for the smell to disappear. As some of you already mentioned, the smell does eventually disappear if you don't store it away with the smell still lingering. I recently took some Japanese TV Guides (received them from Japan about two years ago) out from storage that were stored in plastic bags, and they still smell like mildew.

--- groink

groink wrote:Reading the Smithsonian Institute's web site, a good way to get rid of any mildew-type smells from books and such is to leave it out under natural sunlight with air circulating for a day or so. You can probably leave the object exposed inside of a room, but it'll more likely take much longer for the smell to disappear. As some of you already mentioned, the smell does eventually disappear if you don't store it away with the smell still lingering. I recently took some Japanese TV Guides (received them from Japan about two years ago) out from storage that were stored in plastic bags, and they still smell like mildew.

Thing is, is it a mildew-generated smell or is it process-related to the book/magazine...

And I wouldn't let the sun beat down on a photobook or something similar: it'll fade for sure... :(