Japanese politics has gone so whack that it's not all too unrealistic to imagine a dog running for office. Japan's most famous dog, Jiro Shirato, stars in this mini documentary created to parody election time. It's a Softbank commercial for a Twitter-friendly cell phone. Amazing. (from Tokyomango )

Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto's "1945-1998" is an animated map showing the 2,053 nuclear explosions that took place around the world from the detonations at Alamogordo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the tests conducted by India and Pakistan in 1998. The numbers reveal that, on average, 1 nuclear explosion occurred every 9.6 days during the 54-year period, with the greatest activity in 1958 and 1962. (from Pinktentacle )

Armed former police officer Rolando Mendoza hijacked a bus carrying a Hong Kong tour guide and 20 tourists in Manila on Monday. He released several children and elderly hostages early on, but later opened fire on the remaining hostages after a daylong standoff with police, killing eight before being shot by a police sniper. Hong Kong residents were outraged over the slow response of the Philippine authorities in the rescue. The tragedy unfolded live on television, allowing viewers around the world to watch as ill-prepared Philippine police commandos failed in attempts to storm the bus before the tourists, and the gunman, died in a hail of bullets. (from SMH , see another video of Manila Hostage Tragedy from Apple Daily HK.)

An amazing act on China's Got Talent in Shanghai, the contender is 23-year-old armless pianist Liu Wei, who plays with his feet. Liu Wei lost his arms after getting an electric shock from a high-voltage wire when he was ten. On the most recent episode of the show, filmed at Shanghai Grand Theater, he played Richard Clayderman's "Mariage D'amour" with only his toes. (from Shanghaiist )

PS: Hi, EricHavaby, thanks for pointing that out!

"Floating point," the latest Tokyo time-lapse video by photographer Samuel Cockedey, features views of Rainbow Bridge, Shinagawa station, Ikebukuro, Ochanomizu, and Tsukishima. (from Pinktentacle )