TOKYOMANGO

Motorcycle that runs on poop to take its debut cross-country journey

Toto is Japan's biggest toilet bowl making company. You see the logo everywhere you go--at the airport, in department stores, at people's homes. Now you may also see it on the road--the company just released its first hybrid toilet-motorcycle that runs entirely on poop! As the person drives, he can poop into the bowl, and that poop will be turned into fuel for the car. It's actually part of a campaign that Toto is running in an effort to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% in the next 6 years. The motorcycle will be making its way from Kyushu to Tokyo over the next month (departing in six days). Very exciting! I'm not sure who's driving but I'm sure that, in addition to having a drivers license, they had to check his stool to make sure its healthy and fuel-worthy.

Toilet Bike Neo Project via Spoon and Tamago
(Thanks, Jonny Strategy, for instantly thinking of me when you posted this!)

Beautiful short film on motorcycle maker Shinya Kimura

Everything is considered an art in Japan. Here, you really see how motorcycle builder Shinya Kimura perceives his job as more than that. "For me a motorcycle is more than art," he says. "It's something that brings out my instincts, the wildness and vulnerability in me."

(Thanks, Kazu Y!)

Man who looks like Mario creates full-sized Mario Kart, drives it around in real life

Did this guy really construct a real life Mario Kart and drive it into a supermarket in France? So fun!

(Thanks, Bruno!)

Honda Jazz commercial featuring Australian hipsters

My friend Lisa G sent me this funny video for Honda in which Australian hipsters answer the question: How much hipster can you fit into a Honda Jazz? They quote Haruki Murakami and Jack Kerouac while putting beer in the cooler and taking Polaroids of themselves while saying "fair trade!" Silly.

Disgruntled Mazda contract worker drives car into factory, killing one

A 42-year old former employee of Mazda drove his car into a bunch of people at a Mazda plant in Hiroshima, killing 1 and injuring 10. He was arrested on attempted murder charges — however, nobody really knows why the guy was so disgruntled. He only worked at Mazda for 8 days in April, and he quit on his own accord. One expert predicts that this could be a side effect of the discrepancy between the overly protective lifetime employment system and the half-assed contract worker agreements:

Koetsu Aizawa, professor of economics at Saitama University, said the discriminatory dual system of employment was common at major Japanese companies because regular workers, hired under a lifetime employment system, can't be fired.

"Japan still needs to foster the idea of equal pay for equal work," he said. "What many Japanese feel is that regular workers do little work but have big attitudes and get big money. It is a huge social problem."

The manufacturers can better respond to changes in market demand with haken workers because they cannot generally dismiss regular employees.

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