I went to the dentist the other day. In the middle of the treatment, the power suddenly went off. I got little bit nervous, as I had to keep my mouth open. What would happen if the power didn't come back on? Luckily it came back a litter later and they were able to finish fixing my teeth. Speaking of teeth, the Japanese are less concerned than the west with having straight teeth. "Yaeba (a double tooth)" is probably not desirable in the west, but many Japanese find yaeba cute and charming, especially for girls. Some celebrities and models show off their yaeba smiles. "Yaeba" is also often seen in female characters in anime and manga, too.


Japanese Translation

I read an article about a tobacco vending machine that can detect if the purchaser is a minor. In some countries, the purchase of tobacco can be very strict. In Japan, it can be easily purchased from vending machines, which are located everywhere. This newly developed machine has a built-in camera that measures facial wrinkles, pupil size and other features. The population of smokers is quite high in Japan. It is 29.2 % (as of 2007) and the fifth highest in the world following Greece, Turkey, Netherlands and Hungary. I think people are concerned about health nowadays, but when I was little, the men of my dad’s age were almost all smokers. I wonder how effective this new machine will be in preventing youth from smoking?


Japanese Translation