Save The Woods – Canoe made from disposable chopsticks

merdanaya — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:12:06 +0000

It is a nice idea to be worried about preventing the waste of
waribashi—disposable chopsticks—millions of disposable chopsticks are
thrown away after a single-use.

A former city employee in the Fukushima prefecture town of Koriyama
has built a 4-meter long canoe from 7,382 of used
disposable chopsticks recovered from the city hall cafeteria. Bothered
that perfectly good wood was going to waste after a single use, Shuhei
Ogawara — whose job at city hall involved working with the local
forestry industry — spent the last two years of his career collecting
used chopsticks from the cafeteria.

An experienced canoe builder, Ogawara spent over 3 months gluing 7,382 chopsticks together into strips to form the canoe shell, to which he added a polyester resin
coat. The canoe weighs about 30 kilograms, which is a bit
heavier than an ordinary cedar canoe, but Ogawara is confident it will
float. A launching ceremony is planned for May at nearby Lake Inawashiro.

Japanese man finds homeless woman living in his closet

merdanaya — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:10:36 +0000

You won’t belive it.

A homeless woman has been arrested after living undetected for almost a year in a tiny cupboard in a man’s house in Japan. The woman, identified as 58-year-old Tatsuko Horikawa, was found by police searching the home of the man, who believed he lived alone in Fukuoka.

The resident of the house, who has not been named, became suspicious that he was the victim of repeat burglaries after he noticed food was going missing from his refrigerator.

The man decided to install security cameras linked to his mobile phone and on Wednesday caught images of a woman walking around the house while he was out.

Believing he had detected the burglar, the man contacted police and, after an exhaustive search of the property, officers found the woman hiding in the top of a built-in cupboard designed to store bedding and mattresses.

Behind the sliding door, she had laid out a thin futon and had several plastic drinks bottles, police said. There was just enough room for her to lay down, they added.

Horikawa told police that she had nowhere to live and had first taken up residence in the cupboard, in a room that the man rarely used, about one year previously when the owner of the house had gone out and not locked the door.

Police believe she may have moved between different addresses in the neighbourhood during her stowaway year.

The woman did not apparently steal any money or other items from the house, but did make use of the shower and toilet.The police described Horikawa as looking neat and clean. She was charged with trespassing.

When you go home do not forget check up your closet.

Merdanaya's Weblog » Life

Save The Woods – Canoe made from disposable chopsticks

Japanese man finds homeless woman living in his closet