GotJapan

Popular pop duo Puffy ride a float Thursday modeled after the tour bus in the U.S. cartoon “HiHi PUFFY AMI YUMI” during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade here. It is the first time Japanese artists have joined the parade, the duo’s agent said.

Japanese motorcycle giant Yamaha unveils the concept model of a high-performance hybrid motorcycle, the ‘Gen-Ryu,’ equipped with a 600cc engine and electric motor hybrid system which can achieve over 1,000cc class machine performance at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show in Makuhari.(AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

NEW YORK — Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday Time magazine has named its “i-unit” four-wheel, one-seat electric car one of the “coolest inventions” of 2005 as part of the magazine’s “The Most Amazing Inventions” issue.

The leaf-shaped lithium-ion battery-powered car can reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. The i-unit — measuring 1.1 meters long and 1.8 meters high when it is moving in a low-speed upright mode — can also run in a high-speed reclining position. When a driver shifts the car to the high-speed mode, the car’s shape and wheel base change to measure 1.8 meters long and 1.25 meters high. But its width remains 1.04 meters.

U.S. first lady Laura Bush tries her hand at calligraphy in Kyoto, assisted by a teacher.

Employees of All Nippon Airways Co., biting “waribashi” disposable wooden chopsticks and holding mirrors, beam during a smile training session at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

The line goes around the building at Cold Stone Creamery, the first store in Japan for the U.S. ice cream chain. The store, which opened Nov 3 in Roppongi Hills, is targeting upscale customers, with prices for a single serving costing up to 900 yen. Staff mix ice cream while singing.