Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Odd

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Tokyo terrors

Quite what the collective noun for scarecrows is remains unclear, yet the birds in this particular part of western Tokyo must be especially problematic, with a gaggle or even a scourge of scarecrows sent out to protect the harvest.

But no ordinary bird scarers mind, as heading the horde is a sport-sponsored sentinel.

To, ahem, cover all bases however, the inclusion of this effigy of an elderly lady complete with liberally applied make-up appears to have been deemed necessary.

And it being a farm and all that, omitting a copy of a country gent would have been inconceivable.

The final addition of a disturbing looking dancer completing the crowd, its freaky face almost enough to scare off both birds and humans alike.

(click images for super-sized sentries)

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Lesbian longing

Following in the online footsteps of the successful Japanese web diary-turned-novel, Densha Otoko (Train Man), Harukarin Blog has sold well since its bookshop debut in May this year. Yet whereas Densha Otoko documents the feel-good feats of a train riding geek winning the heart of a commuting cutie, Harukarin Blog is far less candy-coated, covering the less traditional territory of a man attempting to save his relationship after his girlfriend comes out as a lesbian, with 23-year-old protagonist Harukarin Nakagawa opting for the decidedly drastic approach of agreeing to his partner’s request that he undergo a sex change. A few snips and the odd injection designed to satisfy her needs and thus salvage the union.

harukarin blog

Such an unconventional approach to saving a relationship no doubt helped to fuel interest in the saga, but for the very same reason many people have quite understandably dismissed the diary as mere fiction, with one online critic writing, “The whole story of a guy’s girlfriend of five years telling him she’s a lesbian and asking him to become a woman is just ridiculous.” Others have also hit out at alleged factual inaccuracies, bursting Nakagawa’s claims that his breasts started blossoming shortly after starting hormone treatment. One mammary malcontent stating, “It’s medically impossible to develop a bust as fast as the writer claims.”

Such criticism has resulted in Ameba Books changing the publication’s title, which was originally Seitenkan Dokyumentari Blog (Sex Change Documentary Blog). Yet despite this, the company remains very protective of its lesbian and laceration laced love story, with spokesman Kenichi Yamakawa boasting, “I don’t really think it matters one iota whether the book’s factual or it’s creative. What’s most important is that it’s a high quality piece of modern literature.”

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Latex ladies only

The introduction of women-only carriages has been a resounding success, with more and more operators offering the service; the early morning and late night commute becoming far less fearful for many females.

The only problem is that once one group gets special privileges, it opens the doors (so to speak) for others to muscle in on the action. Unfortunately my application for a special ‘English blokes in their 30s’ carriage fell on deaf ears; however rather bizarrely, a service exclusively for silicone sex dolls was apparently granted.

latex ladies

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Saintly service

As maid cafes begin to saturate certain areas (almost) as much as Starbucks, conveyors of coffee and cosplay are becoming increasingly hard pushed to come up with new and geeky gimmicks. The people behind the newly opened St. Grace Court in Akihabara however appear to be on to a winner, ingeniously combining morality and maids with these nun inspired outfits.

maids

With surroundings a little more sombre than the usual themed cafe, the staff also add to the ambience with their coy demeanour and heartfelt Christian beliefs.

more maids

And whilst their clothing may be a little cheekier than the garments sported by their convent-cloistered counterparts,

maids in miniskirts

they all faithfully bid customers farewell with an earnest, “God bless you!”

say your prayers

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Samaritans sucked in

”Make money by dating quality women”

Part of an advertisement campaign for a job aimed at men with a few spare evenings free.

Now call me cynical, untrusting even, but an ad like that would make me a little cautious to say the least, especially as it went on to boast, “Dating with rich, quality women is your job.” Yet amazingly around 10,000 men applied, happily coughing up over 30,000 yen (150 pound) each in application and introduction fees — which could arguably be viewed as a rather odd procedure, considering the supposed wealth of the women they’d soon be dating. Still, with earnings of 30,000 yen for a few hours out on a date, or up to 70,000 for taking the trouble of spending the whole night with the lucky lady, they’d soon get their money back. Plus more on top, so to speak.

And so they all promptly paid up, netting the four companies running the scheme over 300 million yen (1.5m pound). Yet none of the men got a single date with a woman of any quality, as it was all a big scam. Can you believe that? By being sent pictures of prospective ‘dates’ which were either shots of the female phone operators hired by the fraudsters, or cut from magazines like this one,

a quality woman

the men’s minds were obviously clouded by their desire to help out these wealthy and well balanced women; who due to reasons unknown felt the need to pay out large sums of money to date — and possibly sleep with — random strangers.

And to think that these sympathetic salary men were conned by unscrupulous individuals intent on benefiting from such benevolence; the chief perpetrator apparently being 49-year-old Noriyuki Sato, who has thankfully been arrested for fraud.