Culture

Oct 05 2007 2 Comments

Japanese Halloween hounds

When it comes to adopting foreign holidays, Japan is fairly flexible, especially if it involves a sizeable amount of shopping, and as such Christmas is now firmly entrenched in the national psyche, with decorations and a festive dinner of fast food fried chicken as traditional as sumo and sushi — sort of.

It’s this somewhat surprising success then that has possibly prompted retailers to hype up Halloween even more than usual this year, with convenience stores in particular stocking suitably scary stuff.

But as bad as some of this merchandise may be, surely none of it can come close to being as comical as this colourful canine clobber.

Aug 30 2007 13 Comments

Japanese whale for sale

“It appears obvious there is almost no market for whale meat, so if the Japanese government will not listen to the conservation argument to stop whaling, perhaps Iceland’s official recognition that there’s no market for the meat could finally encourage Japan to stop its expanded ‘scientific’ whaling program.”

New Zealand Conservation Minister John Carter disputing the supposed demand for whale meat.

The market for whale meat in Japan is probably nowhere near the size so-called ‘scientists’ may suggest, although Mr Carter’s claims that there’s almost none is equally suspect. It’s true that schoolchildren in certain areas are being lumbered with the stuff whether they like it or not, but on the other hand, some people do seem to buy it simply because they want to.

Plus to try and increase interest and tempt those willing to give it a whirl, whale is now available in cute little cans.

And for those after something fresher, supermarkets seem to have finally sussed that presentation could be a powerful tool in boosting whale sales. This for example doesn’t look especially appetising.

But with the addition of a bit of green and a lovely little flower, the minke below is much more appealing.

Maybe.

Aug 23 2007 23 Comments

Cosplay concern

When it comes to borrowing things from other countries, the Japanese are generally very good at it, seamlessly slotting whatever it may be into society and more often than not making improvements along the way.

On the other hand, the path isn’t always so smooth for stuff going in the opposite direction. Admittedly Japanese food has made a successful journey across the seas, especially of late, but other ideas sadly seem to get lost in translation — some of them spectacularly so.

Take cosplay for example, a concept that its Japanese practitioners take very seriously indeed, with the vast majority of them (mostly) managing to successfully pull it off.

Taken away from its natural habitat however, the practice isn’t quite so professional.

Or indeed appealing.

(image via the FG Forums)

Aug 15 2007 2 Comments

Happy holidays?

With today being the middle of O-bon (Japan’s short and sweet summer holiday), huge numbers of people are now either packed in popular tourists spots or trundling along in traffic jams, as millions of Japanese almost en masse try to cram in as much as possible before the worries of work once again wash over them come Monday morning.

All in all a rather sorry state of affairs that invariably results in a huge increase in accidents, with so many people intent on getting away somewhere and having a good time. A trail of destruction that as well as being covered by the press, is also meticulously monitored by the police — each station somewhat morbidly displaying the accident/death toll of the previous day.

As it happens, this particular part of Tokyo suffered only a measly two accidents and no deaths on Monday, with the capital as a whole not doing quite so well, although it also managed to avoid any fatalities.

Figures that perhaps due to so many people migrating away from the metropolis aren’t as bad as they sometimes are.

Not that I regularly take photographic evidence of them you understand.

Just now and again that’s all.

(video via CScout Japan)

May 14 2007 3 Comments

Tokyo troubadours

There are a humongous number of hostess bars in Japan, where stressed out salary men can go and have their egos (and maybe even more) massaged — provided of course they pay the generally far from piffling price.

Of late however, Japanese ladies appear to have decided that they too should fritter away vast sums of money on false affection, with host clubs increasing in both numbers and notoriety. The almost criminal amounts of cash some women spend on their favoured fella being a steady source of material for sensationalist TV shows and tabloids.

Yet these meticulously turned out and not especially masculine men are now increasingly branching out into other forms of entertainment, with a host from one Tokyo establishment forming Club Prince.

A hugely talented pop group that amply proves they are far more than just preening and pristinely plucked poseurs.

Perhaps.

(video via Japan Probe)

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