"I can't believe officials from a country surrounded by ocean don't recognise a ball buoy," read one tweet. "OMG! It's a steel mooring buoy people. I'm embarrassed to be Japanese," said another.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. GrrlScientist writes about evolution, ecology, behavior and health. If you keep a freshwater aquarium or freshwater shrimps, then you may ...

With its name literally translating to “moss ball,” the centuries-old art of kokedama has its origins in Japanese horticulture and the practice of bonsai. At its core, a kokedama is a plant ...