Japan, the land of completely normal things, has invented a bra that's also a small rice farm. Bra manufacturer Triumph has created the over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder because "young Japanese women have taken a tremendous interest in agriculture." Suddenly, so have the men!

Japan's embattled Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, sitting on a 24% approval rating at home, may have done himself in by wearing a multi-colored plaid shirt that has pissed off the entire country. That, and his wife is totally nuts.

[Sumo students attempt to make babies cry in the "Sadism Competition"—no, sorry, that's the "Crying Sumo Competition"—at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo. Tradition holds that crying is good for the health of the babies. Pic via Getty]

[Canadian singer (got totally shut out at the Junos, burn) Justin Bieber arrives at Narita Airport in Japan yesterday (today? tomorrow?); image via Splash]

Learning a foreign language is an excellent way to enhance cross-cultural understanding and foster communication amongst diverse groups. Becoming a prostitute is an even simpler way to open yourself up to wholly unknown worlds. Why not try both at once?

Here in America, Starbucks has already transformed itself from a safe haven for aspirational faux-yuppies into a place for hobos to hang out. But abroad, Starbucks' slate is still clean. China and India: Starbucks is coming for your culture money.

Japanese filmmaker Kenichi Tanaka put together a short animated documentary that highlights some of the social and environmental problems that face his country, ranging from alarming food waste to chopstick consumption to an alarming suicide rate.

California has finally realized the only way to rescue itself from the sinking tarpit of its fiscal crisis is to pimp out Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's why the Governator is doing ads in Japan, tagged with the slogan "It's-Got-Everything-fornia!"

Somehow the Japanese can still get away with publicly donning "black face." This hilarious clip shows what Americans look like to the Japanese. And yes, that's a fat version of Stevie Wonder.

America's Next Top Model is no longer about modeling. It is about shaming aspiring models with ridiculous physical challenges. Last night: Walk down a runway with giant swinging pendulums. It's exactly like Japan's MXC, only funnier. Mashup proof inside.

Nothing puts a smile on a child's face like a full grown man dressed as an Afghan Hound frantically trying body-morphing, terror-inducing tricks in the backyard, while simultaneously shilling potato chips (or some strange Japanese bastardization thereon).

During auditions for the long-running Japanese Ultra Series (think of it as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' primogenitor), the hopefuls erupt into a fully costumed recreation of Michael Jackson's Thriller video, taking their Ultra Monster mash to the streets.

The Way We Live Now: Austerely. Everyone is! Greece is. Nevadans are. You know Chile's not living it up. Everyone is dead broke, it seems...except the fancy Japanese. Are we gonna stand for that?

A 7.0 earthquake has hit Japan's Ryukyu Islands, 50 miles off the coast of Okinawa.

The sole indicator of this silent woman's corporate ties is her ketchup and mustard ensemble. Her existence and back-story—her relation to Ronald and her placement in fast food mythology—are, like so many Japanese imports, shrouded in mystery.

What happens when a worst actor contender is exulted by the country that's culturally craziest? Witness this weirdness summit in the series of Pachinko game commercials from Japanese brand Sankyo, starring our own freakish national treasure, Nicolas Cage.

Big news for fans of Kansho Tagai, a.k.a. Mr. Happiness, Japan's most famous 49 year-old rappin' Buddhist monk: He's ready to move into a new medium—"mixing Buddhist chants with tap-dancing." Is the Buddhist hip hop audience ready? [Reuters]

Tragically, travel accommodations for kitty businessmen have always been sorely lacking... until now! With the continuing wonders of Japanese culture, feline professionals have their own hotel and transit consultants to cater to their every wish and whisker.

Tokyo's struggling to "clean up" its Roppongi neighborhood, where Nigerian hustlers steer suckers into shady bars where they're drugged and robbed. You'd think that business would fall off naturally, right? But this next drink might be the un-spiked one! [LAT]

In Hausu, six schoolgirls stay with an aunt/geisha/vampire at her spooky estate and are killed off in ludicrously horrific manners. For the final showdown, the remaining girls confront pure evil: a lampshade and a demonic cat vomiting endless blood.