Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

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Tokyo housing huddle

Japanese houses, it has to be said, are lacking in longevity somewhat, with an average lifespan of around 25 years. A number that perhaps doesn’t paint the country’s construction companies in a particularly good light.

But whilst constructing things to last may be somewhere near the bottom of Japanese builders’ abilities, making the most of the meagre amount of land available is something they excel at.

Like the art of having houses so close together that if they weren’t different colours it would be hard to tell them apart, for example.

Japanese house

However the more experienced are able to cleverly construct round corners to create valuable extra space and rooms, with some of the latter big enough for a small child to lie down in, or even swing their arms about.

Japanese house

Albeit it in a rather restrained manner.

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Japanese breast boosting beverages

Japanese ladies it would seem are definitely getting bigger in the breast department, as not only does the recently coined phrase ‘bon-kyu-bon’ (big-small-big) apparently confirm this new physique, but one or two undulations are apparently becoming so curvaceous that they are somewhat unflatteringly being compared to cows’ udders.

Not that the whole female population has suddenly become big and bouncy of course, although for those looking for a bust-boost of sorts, one enterprising Japanese company has been successfully selling F Cup Cookies — an edible enlarger that needs little in the way of explanation.

However not content with only light snacks, the same manufacturer is now offering a similar type of transformation in tea form.

Japanese f cup tea

But with both products promising considerable to say the least cup sizes, one can only wonder at what a tendency towards afternoon treats of tea and biscuits could produce. In fact, it may (or indeed may not) be such a fondness that explains the far from natural forms of the rather freakish-looking but unfathomably famous Kano sisters.

Arguably giving the phrase ‘tea for two’ a whole new meaning.

kano sisters

Even when there’s only one of them present.

kano sisters

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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.

Japanese cosplay

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

non Japanese cosplay

Or indeed appealing.

(image via the FG Forums)

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Japanese model mask

Attempting to keep track of the enormous number of Japanese idols would be an especially taxing if not exactly terrible undertaking, with the vast majority of these mostly young ladies conforming to the cute countenance so favoured in Japan.

Take 23-year-old Yuko Ogura for example, a pretty woman and no mistake, but there doesn’t really seem to be anything that differentiates her from the masses of other manufactured models.

yuko oguro

Which just goes to show how much I know, as Ogura’s features must have something going for them, or why else would a Japanese firm have opted to make her the first recipient of a ready for retail ‘live mask’? An object with decidedly doll-like qualities, which depending on one’s point of view, is either desirable or downright disturbing.

Yuko Ogura mask