As the sun sets on another year, it means that back home in England, on the eve of 2009, there'll be a fair bit of this going on....


British brawlers seeing in the new year in traditional fashion.


....mainly because of the influence of this....




....even the beered-up bears in the Arctic will be at it....




....fortunately, in Japan, alcohol only causes this....


A man not looking for trouble.


At the turn of the year, the main concern in Japan isn't alcohol; it's the traditional soft sticky mochi rice cakes that get stuck in elderly people's throats, causing them to be rushed to hospital looking like this....


Hospitals across the nation are on standby for victims of mochi.


2008 was the Year of the Rat, a creature just like this cute little disease-ridden rodent....


Beware - rats have recently learnt to swim to their destination.


2009 happens to be the Year of the Ox - and if the cuteness of the year's animal gives some indication of how the coming year might turn out, then I'm not holding out much hope for the next 12 months....


2009 could be ugly (and rather hairy too).

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28, 2008 at 10:52 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.