The Blog of Death

First a little news tidbit.

A sacred tree (goshin-boku 御神木) estimated to be over 800 years old topples at the Tsuruoka Hachiman-guu Shinto Shrine.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlk9SaEak8s
mytown.asahi.com/kanagawa/news.php?k_id=15000001003110005

A bit unusual, but that news by itself isn't too shocking.

Until you factor in the Death Blog Factor.



An ongoing legend circulating in the Japanese internet forums is regarding the Japanese celebrity Higashihara Aki (東原亜希). Currently 27 years old, she can be see on television in the role of variety shows, sports anchor.

What's remarkable about her, is that a great deal of the things she mentions or makes a remark about tends to meet an untimely demise and implode by sheer chance or bad luck within a timespan of roughly 3 months.

Back on January 16 of this year, she blogged this:

ameblo.jp/higashihara-aki/entry-10435521961.html

(translated by me)

Morning, while it's still warm.

I went to Tsuruoka Hachiman-guu in Kamakura~

So crowded!

But there was a Gingko store there.
So curious so curious

I wanted to eat Gingko~

Gingko!!

Though it may be most commonly seen in nutritional supplement pills in the United States, Gingko tree nuts are edible.

So two months after she blogs about gingko specifically at the Tsuruoka Hachiman-guu shrine specifically, the sacred gingko biloba tree topples in calm weather after surviving countless earthquakes and typhoons over the centuries.

Just a coincidence you say?
Check out this list before making any conclusions.

• Becomes a campaign girl for the Dreamcast --> The Dreamcast is utterly defeated in competition with other gaming systems.
• Dates the Judo athlete Inoue Kosei who was virtually unparalleled in the world at the time, who then suddenly becomes fifth place in the Summer Olympics of 2004.
• Attends the Kano Cup Judo World Grand Prix for the first time in Jan 2005, where Inoue Kosei tears his left pectoral muscle.
• Every horse she selects in horse races, even horses heavily favored to win, always lost. Her record stands at 38 consecutive losses. Many jockeys come forward and ask her to not select them as her favorite.
• 2007/5, The top three horse she selected as her favorite all breaks bones one after another.
• 2007/7/1, on a talk show, jockey Take Koushirou jokingly asks her to pick any horse but his, and she responds with a joke that she'll write his name many many times in her notebook. 2007/9/9, Take falls off his horse with bruises all over, a broken rib and punctured left lung.
• Jokingly mentions she'll write the names of all horses in her notebook (by then dubbed the Death Note) except her favorite, named Vodka. That year, equine influenza spreads in the Japan Racing Association stables forcing races for that year to be canceled. Vodka develops an inflammation of the ankles and cannot race as well.
• 2007/9/23, selects the most favored horse as the one she will bet on in the Kobe Newspaper Cup (horse racing). The record of 100% of most-favored horses winning for the past 10 years is blown away as the horse finishes in 12th place.
• 2007/12/23, after only 3 months as a regular host on the horse racing program "Super Keiba", the show is cancelled after a 20 year run.
• Marries Inoue Kosei in 2008/1/15. 4/29, he loses out on the Judo championships and is not selected to represent Japan for the Summer Olympics.
• Every contestant in the K-1 Kick boxing Grand Prix she has rooted for has been defeated.
• 2008/2/28, appeared in a promotional event for McDonald's --> The brown worm-like parasite Anisakis,Terranova is found from Fillet-O-Fish patties the following day.
• 2008/3/7 Mentions the snack Umai-bo on her blog --> 6/27, an Umai-bo factory burns down.
• She used to be a campaign girl for the money lending firm DIC --> 2008/8/8 DIC goes out of business.
• 2008/8 The Japanese judo team at the Summer Olympics suffer their worst year ever. Higashihara was in attendance.
• 2008/8/15 A rival of Inoue who prevented him from going to the Olympics and is hated by Higashihara wins the gold medal.
• 2008/6/15 Attends a promotional event for a brand of milk at Aqua City Odaiba --> 2008/8/18 A fire at Aqua City Odaiba.
• 2008/8/17 Announces she will hold a wedding with Inoue Kosei at the Imperial Hotel in October --> A fire occurs at the Imperial Hotel.
• 2008/8/21 Higashihara returns to Japan --> The Japanese Women's Softball team defeats the United States for their first gold medal.
• 2008/9 The making-of of a commercial for Myojo ramens starring Higashihara is opened to reporters. --> 9/10 Parasites are found from Myojo instant yakisobas. 10/24 Traces of insecticides are found from ramen manufactured in a particular factory.
• Becomes a campaign girl for Asahi Beer --> Asahi Beer loses it's lead in the beer market.
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare --> The ministry is mired a series of scandals such as bureaucrats mentioning women as "baby-making machines" in discussing the declining birthrate, financial records of pensions are revealed to be a complete mess and some parts are irrecoverable.
• Goes on vacation to South Korea --> The Korean Won plummets.
• Sends a message of encouragement to fellow celebrity blogger Ogura Yuuko --> A fire erupts at one of the Yakiniku stores owned by Ogura.
• Puts photos of a pizza she ate at the family restaurant chain Saizeriya on her blog --> A scandal where trace amounts of the poison melamin is found in Saizeriya pizzas occurs.
• Writes comments of endorsement for a book. --> Publisher files for bankruptcy.

...and many many more (got tired of translating the list)

Anyways, her blog isn't called THE DEATH BLOG without reason.

Either she has precognitive abilities able to unconsciously detect disasters ... or she carries a horrible curse that even one the spirits of the holiest tree at one of the most famous shrines in the nations can't counter.

Scary stuff.