Owakudani (大涌谷) egg man
This is the guy in Owakudani that has the thankless job of putting the eggs (dozens at a time in these wire baskets) into the boiling sulfur water. The smell is unbearable. I suppose he gets used to it. We couldn’t stand to be in this location for more than a minute or two. The kurotamago (黒玉子–black, hard-boiled eggs) that he is transporting are sold to tourists for outrageous prices. Eating them is supposed to give you a longer life. I have a hard time believing that working in sulfur everyday will do anything but shorten your life. Needless to say, we didn’t partake.
Kanji Box is a cool, little application for Facebook which allows the user to learn and/or test their Japanese skills. It’s mostly a reading application, but you are likely to pick up a few new words along the way. You need not know any kanji to use this application as there are also kana quizzes. You can change the level of kanji tested to any JLPT level or Japanese grade level you wish to quiz yourself at whatever stage you are at in your kanji studies.