Category: Variety Shows

How To Peel A Banana With Your Butt

The poet Bashō is named after the Japanese word for a banana plant. The “bashō” planted in his garden by a grateful student became a source of inspiration to his poetry, as well as a symbol of his life and home.

[Bashō’s] disciples built him a rustic hut and planted a banana tree (芭蕉, bashō) in the yard, giving Bashō a new haigō and his first permanent home.

Fundoshi (褌) is the traditional Japanese underwear for adult males, made from a length of cotton. Before World War II the fundoshi was the main form of underwear for Japanese adult males; however it went out of use quickly after the war with the advent of new underwear, such as briefs and trunks, on the Japanese market.

Pankun and James make Sanuki Udon

Udon (饂飩 （うどん）, Udon) is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle popular in Japanese cuisine. Sanuki (讃岐) udon is a thick and rather stiff type [of undon] from Kagawa Prefecture.

Pankun, (sometimes spelled pan-kun) is a young chimpanzee in Japan often featured on the NTV television show “Tensai! Shimura Doubutsu-en” (“天才！志村動物園”, lit. “Genius! Shimura Zoo”) and the TBS program “Doubutsu Kisou Tengai!” (“動物園奇想天外!”, lit. “Unbelievable Animals!”). Most of the segments feature him and his bulldog friend, James, embarking on a variety of “human” tasks, like buying groceries, planting a rice paddy, or catching insects.

Tamori Imitates Non-Japanese Natto Eaters

Nattō (なっとう or 納豆, Nattō) is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans, popular especially for breakfast. Many non-Japanese find the taste very unpleasant, while others relish it as a delicacy.

Tamori (タモリ) is a Japanese celebrity. His real name is Kazuyoshi Morita (森田 一義) and the screenname Tamori is an anagram of his surname. He was born on 22 August 1945 in Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture. Along with Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi) and Sanma Akashiya, he is one of the big three television comedians in Japan.

Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (黒柳徹子, Kuroyanagi Tetsuko) (born August 9, 1933 in Tokyo) is an internationally famous Japanese actress, a talk show host, a best-selling author of children book,a World Wide Fund for Nature advisor, and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.