Garden Menagerie Swarms Kyoto
KYOTO, Japan–An unprecedented plague of nearly Biblical scale inflicted much of Kyoto, Japan over the past weeks. Reports of strange bugs, snails, animals and even walking/talking toadstools of startling size roaming the streets of Kyoto alarmed civic authorities and residents, who found that the most effective means of overcoming the creatures was to jump and stomp on them. The invaders’ apparent similarities to characters in a number of Nintendo video games eventually led police to Nintendo Company Ltd.’s headquarters, which is located within the city, and investigators followed the trail to the residence of Shigeru Miyamoto, popularly known as the greatest video game creator of all-time. Miyamoto cooperated with the authorities as they searched his residence and discovered a broken fence panel in his garden, which had allowed the creatures to escape from his property. “This is my magic garden,” Miyamoto explained, “the source of my creativity.” Unfortunately, Miyamoto did not have a license for what the police deemed were “exotic pets” and he was fined and instructed to build a magic-tight enclosure to prevent future incursions into the city.








