tim_hornyak

For @nytimes I wrote about Japan's 'Sound Princess' toilet noise-canceling tech entering men's rooms. With comments by @TheDonnaBurke @kenmogi nytimes.com/2025/12/02/rea…

‘There was no village’: Japan’s troubling pattern of family murder-suicides japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/05/1…

Who designed Sony's Aibo robot dog? I wrote about it for IEEE Spectrum spectrum.ieee.org/aibo

@rieglobe Wrote about that for IEEE spectrum.ieee.org/aibo

Did you know Hajime Sorayama created the original concept and body design of Sony’s original AIBO robot dog in 1999?

The boys barely knew each other. Together, they murdered a 69-year-old. The robbery seems to be part of a trend in Japan: gangs of strangers who are recruited online for ‘dark gigs’ thetimes.com/world/asia/art…

Robot monks stride out for Lotus Lantern Festival parade in Seoul. Humanoid robots dressed as Buddhist monks lead a parade as part of the annual Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul, celebrating the Buddha's birthday

@mrjeffu Japan has the highest inheritance taxes in the world files.taxfoundation.org/legacy/docs/Ta…

It's not rare to encounter Japanese who believe that the average Japanese person pays much higher taxes than people in other developed countries. However, when compared to other OECD nations, Japan doesn't stand out for making its people pay very high taxes. The graph used in the quoted viral tweet misleadingly focuses on the tax rate for the highest income bracket - people who make over 40 million yen ($250K). Less than 1% of Japanese are in that tax bracket.

Video: Man in crypto costume enters monkey’s enclosure at Ichikawa Zoo tokyoreporter.com/japan-news/vid…

Two EA-18G Growlers crashed today following a midair collision at the Gunfighter Skies Airshow at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. All pilots appear to have ejected safely.

@LanceAoyama @usembassytokyo Very interesting. I found a bottle of "zaky" in Miyama I think it was. Have to find the pic

good question. The Takeuchi and Ikeda embassies to Europe, then the Tokugawa embassy to the Paris Exhibition 1867, which showcased Satsuma Japansch Zaky, which lives on today. That's not all bad. The Meiji era Iwakura mission was the last such "embassy" I think. The 1920s naval arms reduction treaty talks were not so designated diplomatically, I think.

On May 14, 1860, the first Japanese embassy to the United States arrived in Washington, D.C. This official diplomatic mission, dispatched by the Tokugawa Shogunate after Japan's opening to the world, was greeted with grand ceremonies across the United States and captured the attention of the entire American public. After the ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, this Japanese mission took the historic first step in U.S.-Japan diplomacy.

Aussie friends, please help me. Twice dining in restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto I have been stuck sitting next to Australian tourists who are doing speaker phone conversations. Super loud and disruptive. Is this normal down under? Can I tell them to please stop? Help!

@Scivf4 coordinated wave machines

Can anyone Explain this phenomenon?

A Japanese supertanker has emerged in the Gulf of Oman after last signaling that it was inside the Persian Gulf, indicating a rare, undercover transit through the Strait of Hormuz by a vessel from the Asian country bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

@LanceAoyama @usembassytokyo Wow, what other embassies did the bakufu have?

@usembassytokyo The 1860 Japanese embassy sailed on the USS Powhatan with the Kanrin Maru training ship captained by Katsu Kaishū 勝海舟. Retired, Katsu lived below Hikawa Jinja; his nearby statue is a familiar sight. Katsu was a patron of jūdō founder Kanō Jigorō. kanochronicles.com

lol, people wanting monster wolf noise maker machines have to wait two to three months. Requests from golf courses and construction sites 🏗️

@carlbildt The Japan Tobacco building at left

A glorious morning in Tokyo 🇯🇵 with start of the annual global meeting of the Trilateral Commission. Lots on the agenda these days.

@shinobu_books #google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">yomiuri.co.jp/national/20260…

@robotopia lol, awesome do you have a link to the article?

An enterprising gentleman in Japan created the "Monster Wolf" scarecrow to repel animals. Since it uses 50 different sounds including wolf & human (Ora Ora!), animals don’t get used to it. One farmer praised it saying. "I no longer find bear footprints" 300 units have been sold

HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK 🧵 Following the WHO press briefing, I wanted to compile a thread with the key points. 1/ ISOLATION OF PASSENGERS Concerningly, it seems the WHO are NOT recommending to isolate cruise ship passengers (even high-risk contacts) UNLESS they develop symptoms.

Towering robot is the ‘friendly’ great wall-smasher of China: A humanoid modelled on comic-book war machines is on sale for just over £400,000. But its purchase price is possibly not the point thetimes.com/world/asia/art…