Photographs from a small group of islands
With what appears to be a bid to boost the already oppressive nature of a Japanese government building, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Tokyo has disallowed discourse in its elevators. In fact, even a wary wee whisper is considered out of line, as silence only is suggested.
A move that has allegedly been watched with interest over at the Ministry of Culture, with rumours abound that it is all set to ban smiling and eye-contact in its building from April.
After hours of trial and error, involving lots of the former and absolutely loads of the latter, Tokyo Times has a new look. Whilst admittedly far from original in its feel, the aim was to create a cleaner and less cluttered look, which in many ways has been achieved — I think.
Whether things will stay that way remains to be seen, but for those of you opting to have a saunter around the new site to see what all the fuss is about, here’s a picture of a man in a silly suit to help pass the time.
“They said I must have a cow’s spirit because my boobs are big. I was told milk was all right, but advised to avoid beef because it would be cannibalism”
Now whether young Horii’s spirit bears a resemblance to that of a bovine is debatable to say the least. Her boobs being somewhat on the big side on the other hand, isn’t.
However to the disappointment of reporters, repeated offers to massage her succulent steaks in a manner similar to that allegedly lavished on Kobe beef cattle, were demurely declined.
For some Japanese ladies, it seems that the more elaborately decorated their nails are the better, with last year’s ‘Nail Queen’ winner Kumi Koda amply demonstrating such adornments.
Yet whilst this form of fashion may on the whole be nothing more than a bit of frivolous fun, it does appear to have a darker side, with some practitioners having to sink to sickening depths to remove decidedly stubborn designs.
The Japanese love of mayonnaise is nothing new, with the egg-based dressing used on a whole host of foodstuffs — fried chicken being the top choice by all accounts. Yet a new restaurant in Nagoya has taken this love to a whole new level, basing the whole menu on mayonnaise; the establishment making sure there are no mistakes in regards to its methods by naming it Mayomayo.
For creamy connoisseurs not able to quite finish off a whole tub in one sitting, the restaurant offers a ‘bottle keep’ service, allowing customers to write their name on the unfinished container and have it kept for a month.
Meaning those whose cholesterol levels have dipped from hazardous to merely high can quickly pop back in and boost it back up. A nice dish of mayonnaise tofu perhaps doing the trick.
Or for something on the sweet side, a cone of mayo ice cream could be ideal.
A devotion to dressing that some of the restaurant’s regulars appear to take a little too far, rather worryingly combining creamy consumption with cosplay.
(via the FG forums)