japan

It was the baby bump heard 'round the world last August when Beyoncé unveiled her pregnant belly at the MTV VMAs to the tune of 8,800 tweets per second — more than the East Coast earthquake, the women's World Cup soccer final, and even the death of Osama bin Laden. It was a record. Well, until recently that is. According to Twitter, a new record was set on Dec. 9 during a TV screening of Hayao Miyazaki's Laupita: Castle in the Sky, which garnered a whopping 25,088 tweets per second in Japan.

The 1986 film is the first to be created and released by Studio Ghibli, which has amassed a cult following thanks to its library of films that also includes Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, and My Neighbor Totoro, among others.

If you're ever been to Japan, be sure to check out the Studio Ghibli Museum in person — the Disneyland for Anime fans!

In addition to some of the already-known iOS 5 features, citizens of Japan will get a potentially life-saving inclusion: earthquake warnings. Apple has included a built-in feature that connects Japanese iPhones to the national earthquake warning system and will allow users to opt in to push notifications that alert them of an upcoming earthquake within minutes or seconds before it hits.

Since Japan sits on three different tectonic plates, it sees an average of 1,500 earthquakes annually. And as we saw earlier this year, Japan's warning system can help save lives.

Need to catch up on the other features coming with iOS 5? Check them out after the break.

Fly, little bird, fly! In Japan, legend holds that if you fold 1,000 paper cranes, your wish will come true. Following last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami, as well as the powerful aftershocks that are still being felt throughout the region, several organizations have called for students to create their own paper cranes to benefit families affected by the natural events.

Students Rebuild and DoSomething.org have launched the Paper Cranes For Japan effort to collect 100,000 origami cranes and trigger a $200,000 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation to Architecture for Humanity's relief efforts. Simultaneously, OshKosh B’Gosh is in the middle of a Cranes For Kids campaign that will donate an article of clothing to Japanese children for each crane sent into the company, or uploaded to their Facebook page. Want to learn how to make the beautiful paper creations? Follow Modern Parents Messy Kids' tutorial above, or go to their site for detailed photo directions. Now get folding!

Source Modern Parents Messy Kids

Rescue efforts are far from over in Japan, as clean-up and recovery after the devastating earthquake and tsunami last month continue. Luckily, our four-legged friends have not been forgotten in these efforts; for every heartbreaking story about a pet separated from his owner, there's an equally heartwarming one about a sweet reunion.

This pup spent three weeks stranded on floating debris after the tsunami, and was finally reunited with his owners late last week. Watch the amazing reunion video below.

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The best known sushi plate may be Samantha Jones from Sex and the City, but the practice goes way back in Japan, having its own name nyotaimori (female plates) and nantaimori (male plates). Even so, it is not commonplace or even socially acceptable, happening mostly in sex clubs and at gatherings for organized criminals.

Today photos of human sushi platters are floating around, bringing the age-old tradition front and center. Besides the obvious eroticism, why would anyone want to eat off a naked human. Find out below.