The sky is falling!!! Yoshinoya is no longer serving beef bowls...tuesday saw lines outside Tokyo area Yoshinoya's topping 50 people at all times of the day as the beef bowl chain, in a landmark decision, decided to no longer sell them. To replace the guyodon, i think that's how you spell it, they have introduced a kimchi-don, a curry-don, and a yakiniku-don. Tuesday saw people inhaling beef bowls in record numbers and even a few arrests over the last few precious beef bowls, which consist of rice topped with stewed beef and onions. Some people prefer a raw egg on top while I, myself, prefer a half cooked (han-juku tamago) egg on top. Also possible condiments include pickled ginger, soy sauce (shouyou), and crushed red pepper.

At one Yoshinoya a brawl erupted when a man walked in and ordered one of the beef bowls and was politely told they no longer exist. He chose to respond with violence. Then a man who had just sat down joined in this violent tirade. In response to this another sitting down who was engulfing a curry-don looked up and said "what are you two stupid?? Don't you read the news?" It just happened to be the lead story on the front page of every newspaper in Japan and the lead story on every newscast, even surpassing the highly controversial SDF depolyment to Iraq. In response to this the man who said the aforementioned words was pummeled about the head and torso by the two angry men. The store then erupted into an all out riot and police with riot gear had to be called in to save the Yoshinoya from erupting into total beef bowl anarchy.

All of this over a 360 yen ($3.20 USD) fast food meal. Why all of this hullabaloo you ask? Yoshinoya has been serving the world famous beef bowls non-stop since 1899 and the deicision to stop has angered many a nihon-jin to the point that they feel a violent outburst will bring one falling magically from the sky. So much for a pacifist society right?

Also, in other news, a man decided his own fate by jumping on the tracks in front of a shinkansen, or bullet train. This guy, however, went out in grand fashion...almost cartoon-like. No one will ever know if he timed this or what but this guy had two bullet trains going in opposite directions and jumped in between them. He first was hit by one train and then bounced onto the other train which then catapulted him onto the tracks of a local train which then ran over him and crushed his jelly-like, lifeless corpse into a fine paste. The first bullet train kept going on to the next station, gaping hole in the front and all, the second bullet train stopped, and the third train made sure the guy was good and dead but not only running over him, but stopping with the train resting on his corpse. This guy went out in Wyle E. Coyote style. I swear I never heard of anyone going out in such a blaze of glory.

In other suicide news, another guy jumped in front of a train and caused a half hour delay inconveniencing myslef and miho last weekend. That was annoying. Had to go out to Shinjuku instead of Shibuya and then take the Oedo Line to roppongi instead of the bus from shibuya, which is much more convenient by the way. When this happens the family of the aforementioned muppet who kills himself has to pay several tens of thousands of dollars to have him scraped off the tracks with a giants spatula and shipped wherever his final resting place is. Way to pour salt in the wounds JR (Japan Rail).

What beautiful weather we are having in Tokyo as well. It's warm and getting warmer, in the mid-50's during the day now...if i was going to kill myself I would atleast wait until it was a rainy day...why meet your maker on such a beautiful day? The way people think baffles me hehe...If the person who killed himself last weekend on the Keio Inokashira Line used to read my blog I am glad I have one less reader...now there are 4 of you hahaha. How dare he inconvenience me like that? Shmuck...I would have given my left arm to be there when the guy who bounced around the shinkansens jumped cuz I woulda played the ending theme song to Looney Tunes with Porky Pig stuttering out "That's all Folks!!" and been rolling on the ground laughing...what a tool.