Random Japan

Get spirited away in China’s Ghibli-esque tourist complex

 Cara Clegg

Studio Ghibli’s acclaimed film Spirited Away is beloved around the world for its touching story and beautiful animation, and the whimsical setting has a real-life counterpart. Jiufen, a mountainous area of New Taipei City in Taiwan is said to be where creator Hayao Miyazaki drew a lot of his inspiration for the film, and many tourists visit the area to feel like they’re stepping into the magical world of Spirited Away. But it turns out there’s also somewhere similar in China! Check out these photos and videos of the incredible place.

In Sichuan province, the area famed for its pandas and delicious mapo tofu, is a place called Hongyadon situated in the heart of the city of Chongqing at the point where the Yangtze River and Jialing River meet. There you’ll find a tall, towering structure accessed by a bridge that looks just like a Japanese castle. It looks like something copied straight out of a fantasy movie, but it’s actually a traditional style of building from an area steeped in 2,300 years of history.

STATS

750,000

Packages of pasta recalled by Nissin Frozen Foods because some of the products were found to “contain parts of insects believed to be cockroaches”

42.1

Percent of Japanese people who say they want smoking banned in all restaurants, according to a new survey by the health ministry

51.5

Percent of smokers who feel “no particular place should be off-limits” to them

HA HA, GOOD ONE

   Commanders at the SDF say a recent drop-off in new recruits has nothing to do with the Cabinet’s decision to allow Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense.

   Instead, they say it’s “because economic recovery helped increase private-sector employment.”

   The welfare ministry announced that a record number of people with disabilities are participating in the workforce.

   But at the same time, more than 2,600 disabled people were the victims of abuse in fiscal 2013.

Shinzo Abe Promises

 To Be An Bigger Ass Next Year

 Lucky Bags

   For Lucky People

Your Fries

Are Back In Town

Abe snubs Okinawa’s new anti-base governor



Kyodo

In a veiled attempt to put pressure on Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not meet the newly elected anti-base leader during his three-day visit to the capital.

Onaga, who opposes the government’s push to move a contentious U.S. military base further north in his prefecture, defeated Hirokazu Nakaima in a closely watched election in November, after the former governor approved a landfill project needed to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, stirring strong local opposition.

Following up on recent reports, several government sources said Tokyo has also decided to reduce its fiscal 2015 budget for Okinawa, which was initially estimated at ¥379.4 billion.