WTF Fun Fact 12809 – The Japanese Silver Sake Cup

It’s long been a tradition in Japan to send centenarians a sterling silver sake cup to celebrate their big 3-digit birthday, along with a congratulatory letter. But the Japanese silver sake cup has been downgraded because so many people in Japan live to be 100 or older.

Paying respects with a silver sake cup

The sterling silver cup has been a tradition for over 50 years (since 1963, to be exact), but in 2015, the government was forced to change it up a bit.

Handing out that much sterling silver was getting far too expensive – to the tune of millions of dollars. Since 2015,

Now, the celebratory sakazuki is made of silver plated nickel. This halved the cost of the gifts.

An aging population

According to a 2015 article in The Guardian (cited below):

“In 1963 Japan had just 153 centenarians, and as recently as 1998 the number stood at just 10,000. At the last count Japan’s 100-plus age group numbered almost 59,000, and that figure is expected to rise when the government releases new population data before Seniors’ Day on 15 September.

Last year the ministry spent 260 million yen (£1.3m) on giving the cups – each worth about 8,000 yen – to almost 30,000 people, including 25,000 women. Local media pointed out that some people die before the gifts can be distributed, forcing them to be scrapped.”

Japanese women live the longest of any other population (an average of 86.3 years).

Around quarter of Japan’s population is 65 or older, and that population is expected to reach 40% by 2050. The country citizens have not had enough children to replace their current population since the 1970s.

The country houses roughly 80,000 centenarians! So now we’re wondering if the secret is drinking a lot of sake!

 WTF fun facts

Source: “Japan considers cheaper congratulatory cups for soaring number of centenarians” — The Guardian

WTF Fun Fact 12721 – The Wara Art Festival

Niigata isn’t a typical travel destination, but it does draw people in for a unique festival held each year between August and October.

The Wara Art Festival is held in Uwasekigata Park and shows off amazing sculptures made of rice straw left over after the annual rice harvest.

People weren’t quite sure what to do with all the straw, but now tons of it is donated to art students at Musashino Art University in Tokyo as well as local volunteers who are tasked with making giant animal sculptures with it. Some of them are up to 16 feet tall!

The sculptures include gorillas, dinosaurs, bears, rhinos, and more. Underneath is a wood frame skeleton to ensure the sculptures stay up throughout the festival, but over two weeks, more and more layers of wara are added. Some are braided, others thatched – in fact, there are many techniques the artists use to build their sculptures.

If you do go to Niigata for the festival, be sure to try the rice, which is considered to be the best in all of Japan. And according to Japan’s tourism association, the town is also known for its sake as well “thanks to the high snowfall in the prefecture which creates pristine conditions for rice growing. Centuries-old sake making traditions are kept alive by the toji, or Sake Masters, of Niigata. Local sake from breweries in Niigata are revered nationwide for their dry, sharp finish and refreshingly crisp flavour.”

If you visit the park, there are sake breweries within walking distance as well as beer breweries to visit.  WTF fun facts

Source: “Wara Art Festival, Niigata” — Japan National Tourism Association

WTF Fun Fact 12617 – “Flame Grilled” Cologne

It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke, but it did happen in Japan on April 1st. In 2015, Burger King Japan released a limited edition cologne made so men could smell like meat. Because who wouldn’t love that?

It was called “Flame Grilled,” and it was specifically designed to smell just like the fast-food chain’s famous Whopper. It cost $41 and was sold for just one day.

You may recall the shenanigans of Burger King Japan from 2013 when, according to Forbes, “the chain offered a “BiKing” (pronounced like ‘Viking’) an all-you-can-eat Whopper promotion in which customers could eat as many Whoopers as they wanted for 30 minutes after placing their first order for the set. The same year they offered a “Black Ninja” burger, a Whopper patty with a piece of hash brown and a long slab of bacon that resembled a tongue, all sandwiched between two black buns.”

Forbes continued: “The most notable offering by the chain so far has been their Kuro (black) burgers, a culinary oddity that was sold for a limited time last year. The burgers were made with black buns, black cheese, and even a garlic sauce made black by actual powdered squid ink.”

But don’t blame Burger King Japan. The chain has some worldwide weirdness going on. We would have written off the whole fragrance thing as a quick joke, except it wasn’t Burger King’s first fragrance release. In 2008, the chain released “Flame” cologne, and it was available through Ricky’s in NYC. Apparently, it was supposed to be alluring to wear “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” We’re just not so sure that the second part fits. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Burger King’s Flame-Grilled Beef Scented Cologne: Perfect For Japanese Men Seeking Carnivore Women?” — Forbes

WTF Fun Fact 12592 – The Robot Monk

Softbank’s former line of Pepper robots took on many tasks in Japan, including duties in hospitals, retail stores, and even Buddhist temples. Pepper was even programmed to become a stand-in for a Buddhist monk, news outlets reported in 2017.

While the robot monks can deliver blessings and beat a drum, their real purpose is to preside over funeral services in Japan, which has a significantly increasing elderly population.

The robot funerals not only pick up some slack when there aren’t enough human monks to go around, but they’re economical as well. A robot funeral cost about 1/5 of what a regular one would

It’s a question for the ethicists and theologians.

Another interesting fact is that human Buddhist monks have shown the same respect for robots as well, presiding over ceremonial funerals for obsolete robotic dogs in Japan.

– WTF fun facts

Source: “The Robot Priest” — Tech Top 10 List

WTF Fun Fact – PS2 Missile Guidance

WTF Fun Fact - PS2 Missile Guidance

Sony needed special export permits from the Japanese government for the export of PlayStation 2s. The PS2 was so good at processing high-quality images quickly that the Japanese government believed it was possible to adapt it for use in missile guidance systems. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/news/20-years-later-how-concerns-about-weaponized-consoles-almost-sunk-the-ps2

WTF Fun Fact – Excel Paintings

WTF Fun Fact - Microsoft Excel Paintings

80-year-old Tatsuo Horiuchi has created paintings in Microsoft Excel for over 15 years. He uses vector drawing tools developed primarily for graphs and simple shapes to make panoramic scenes of life in rural Japan. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: Tatsuo HORIUCHI’s PASOKONGA-painting with Excel