Tokyo Times

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Western Japan worship?

Whilst Tokyo’s convent-themed maid cafe St. Grace Court may — or indeed may not — allow its staff a peek into the cloistered and less commercial life of their real life counterparts, those who really take such kind of cosplay seriously can now do so at Kyoto’s Ryugenji Temple.

A far cry from more ‘conventional’ Japanese cosplay it has to be said, with the “one-day nun experience workshop” allowing its participants to experience a simplified and far less arduous version of Buddhist nun ascetic training — all for the suitably modest sum of only 8,000 yen (64 dollar).

Japanese cosplay

With Knee-length nylons deemed unnecessary.

Japanese cosplay

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Larger Japanese ladies?

The traditional Japanese diet of fish, vegetables, tofu and the like has consistently kept Japanese ladies at the top of the world’s longevity league table, but whilst a gradual change to more western style meals may well reduce these lengthy life spans, it would appear to be having the opposite effect on the nation’s burgeoning breast sizes.

A newly coined look called ‘bon-kyu-bon’ (big-small-big) attests to the size of this phenomena, with Japanese manufacturers now producing bras with less padding for those ladies who aren’t exactly lacking; however for women not quite so well-endowed, help would appear to be at hand with these curve-inducing cookies.

Japanese boob inducing biscuits

A similar product for men, tentatively titled ‘bulging briefs biscuits’, is rumoured to be ready for release early next year, although some commentators are claiming it may come sooner than expected.

(click image for colossal-sized cookies)

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Tokyo technological titillation

With its sleek design, touch-screen technology and iTunes compatibility, it’s not surprising that North America is going gaga over Apple’s soon to be released iPhone.

In Japan however, the priorities for portable products are a little different — advancements in camera technology in particular garnering a lot of attention. Like the new 5005X for example, a piece of kit* that explicitly caters for the keen photographer.

A phone that Messrs Danny and Hector could possibly have made more than good use of at their recent idol photo shoot in Tokyo.

Japanese phone

*young lady not included

(image via the FG Forums)

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Tokyo television

A few hours in front of the telly or a quick tour of YouTube could possibly lead the casual observer to conclude that Japanese television consists of nothing other than vapid variety shows and banal food-based offerings. Yet whilst such kinds of programmes are admittedly quite prominent, it’s thankfully not all mindless rubbish, with the odd unexpected gem making one sit back and marvel at life’s many unanswered mysteries.

Such as how on earth a man can remove all his clothes in a little under 8 seconds for example.

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Robot receptionist

With Japan’s rapidly ageing population, it’s perhaps not surprising that robotic research is such a high priority for many Japanese companies. Yet whilst some creations can now ride a bike, serve beverages and even, ahem, bring people pleasure, they are hardly beneficial to society as a whole.

That said, the recent introduction of the CB2 baby robot may admittedly go some way towards the lack of youngsters in Japan, but its far from cuddly character could well remain a stumbling block. Mitsubishi’s Wakamaru on the other hand is arguably a sign of the future, with the Tokyo-based company now offering the little fella out on lease as a receptionist.

Japanese Wakamaru robot

With the ability to recognise 10,000 words, respond with basic sentences and move around without bumping into things, Wakamaru may indeed make the perfect receptionist; however whilst guaranteed to be at work on time and never call in sick, at 120,000 yen (970 dollar) a day, the robot’s reliability comes at quite a cost. A price that admittedly does drop if the rental period is longer, coming in at a more cost effective 20,000 yen per day for those willing to sign up for 3 weeks or more.

Japanese Wakamaru robot

And as a bonus he also seems good with kids, although the expression on the face of the young girl at the front does make one wonder where Wakamaru’s left hand is, and perhaps more importantly, what he’s doing with it.

Japanese Wakamaru robot