watashi to tokyo

crazy? vulgarity?

I am very impressed to see this Winners Gallery of World Press Photo of the year.

Ha, funny. This article (web translated) says a crowd of demonstrators appeared in Shibuya on the 11th. They call themselves "unpopular guys alliance・and fight the "love bourgeois" and evil commercial system Valentine day. This is the site...orz so so. But I wonder if anti-Valentine is a movement in other countries too. This is funny, my post was linked to this anti-valentines day.com.

You would know Unilever the world's consumer product company. Vaseline, Dave, Lux, modhair, Lipton etc,. I use some of their products. Axe is a guy's fragrance which makes you get a lot of attention from women. This is the UK "Getting dressed" tv ad. Hmm, this means they couldn't wait. Axe brand's official sites seem to be elaborate in every country. It is fun to check them. This is the Canada one; they have a hook up game. This will be the France one; is that a criminal investigation or something? This is the Denmark site; there are many many beautiful women. But I think the craziest one is the Japanese site. Here it is. A beautiful newscaster Marina read many news stories in Japan. "Geisha Riot," "Zen temple panic," "Graduation ceremony happening," in every news story women went crazy because a guy used Axe. Ah, what a site. It's vulgar. I doubt Unilever Japan's common sense.

Meiji and Taisho collction

Matthew Perry came and compelled the opening of Japan, then the last samurai generation Edo was closed by the Meiji Restoration. So the Meiji period was an interesting, dynamic period in which western and Japanese culture mixed for the first time in Japanese history. But even though it was short, the later Taisho period was very unique and it had its own "romantic and and slightly decadent" style.

I found this site "Meiji and Taisho" today. Since the English page is still under-construction, I will link to the Japanese. They say they built this site to introduce the tools, culture, and movement in the most drastic reforming days of Japan. This icon page has English instructions. I can't wait until this desktop page is complete. I hope they develop the site more.

I will link to some collections in my favorite folder. Meiji and Taisho Hikifuda collection: Hikifuda is a kind of paper ad. I like this The Seven Gods of Fortune. Kitche (hang on Robuster), fantasy (the small people are fairies of alcohol), cute (Where's Waldo?) and sometimes unidentified (wow, fashionable; he looks Spanish).

Meiji and Taisho photo post card collection:  These are a series of objective. Would you be happy getting this angry and smiling card?

Taisho and Showa old map collection: This site is not completed yet too, but you can check old maps in real size.

I hate Valentine day.

My co-worker sent me mail this morning. "Hi, Mari. It costs 1500yen for each person to buy chocolates in this section. I will collect money later." This means all women at my work got chocolate for the male co-workers for a Valentine gift. This is a crazy custom. Everybody knows this is a paltry trick by the chocolate makers. I don't want to spend money to buy chocolate for some guy I hardly talk with. It's not a money issue, I don't like to follow such tricks, but if I stop, I feel bad for my women coworkers. I'm not the only woman who thinks like this, but I am not sure we will stop this even though we all are unhappy. You know, we can guess many women will think like this when they buy giri choco. "Ah, maybe I have to buy chocolate for that baldie sitting next to me. But that beer barrel will sulk, if I only gave to baldie...Wow I think I need to send one to my boss to ask for three days off next week. Ah, I want to eat a nice lunch instead of spending my money on this!" Will you enjoy a chocolate when you imagine this? By that I mean, guys can't be happy to get such a gift. Who can be happy in this Japanese valentine? Not women, not guys. Only chocolate makers.

Do you think I post this type of topic every day? he he he. I don't know why, but I can find such posts as nude, strip, or porn very often. I also can't skip kitsch design whenever I find it. Well, Spring will come soon; people's heads are getting into a flower garden mood, right? Panik House.com is an online shop. Their download page is funny. I am not sure: is this a shop of Omote Sando Hills? great window desplay. Check thier official site. I wonder if D&G's theme for guys is "brief." :-)

By the way, EL EL said Dolce & Gobbana sounds like some Banana chocolate sweets. I agree. D & G sounds so sweet to me. I got a mail interview about Natto from International Internatioal Herald Tribune/The Asahi shinbuni shinbun. Here is the article. Hmm, as if I am a big Natto supporter. Maybe it could be true.

Broken Love, Mr and Ms Jocker

Ah, I just realized Daisuke Matsuzaka was not Japanese anymore when I saw his face in American media. I am glad to know he became a big topic in the U.S. like this and this. Gambare Matsuzaka.

Some sites picked this adult video, "Broken Love, Mr and Ms Jocker". The story is great. The evil group Jockers is trying to control the world. A couple of Jockers chase a masked grasshopper who ran away from the group. But basically they are living happily in a poor small apartment. One day Mr. Jocker comes home and sees Ms. Jocker having a love affair with Scal. Mr. Jocker decides to learn how to fight his enemy the masked grasshopper.... like that. Of course, this video story came from Kamen Rider. And Jocker means poor Shocker .　When you check this kind of site, there are many crazy videos (adult only please). Ah crazy. he he he

London Bunny Republic

Yesterday I got on Yamanote line and the inside of the train car was covered by an advertising campaign of London, "TOTALLY LONDON". As a London fan, I checked every poster and I really loved such cute ads... Cute? Yes, I don't know why. I checked China, Russia, North America, and every other page. But I couldn't find any other cute ones. For their Japan campaign, they have this London Bunny Republic. We can see the London Bunny's life style and they say London Bunny Republic will open in Tokyo soon. Lovely...I will go. However, why do they make such cute stuff for only Japan. They think only cute stuff will be catchy to the Japanese?? (I won't deny it though)

Have you ever seen the movie "About Schmidt"? I saw it before but I fell asleep in a later part (boring!), but I remember this part... he went to the bathroom and tried to pee-pee in a sitting position because his wife asked him to do so to prevent making a mess. But he lost his wife so he peed sadly in standing way.

I agree with his wife, from the research, guys・pee fles off all over the toilet. Here is an article (web translation) which made me scared. The Japanese maker TOTO made a toilet with a target though, I don't think it will be enough.

And today I read another research article (web translation), that said about 30% of guys pee in the sitting way at home. The reasons why they sit are...."it is easier," "My wife asked me." Many guys made comments like "it's easy to clean," "I don't want to mess up" too. Consciousness of cleanliness and purity is increasing in guys too. NICE!

One reason why I opened this blog was, I wanted to introduce real nice, cool stuff about Japan. I couldn't accept that people had only impressions of Fuji, Geisha, Ninjya and Harakiri...But I will dare to introduce this cheesy stuff; I heard foreign people love to buy these Sushi candles as souvenirs. Well, it's okay. But seeing such sleazy cheap Kimonos makes me depressed.

Toki memo & Brooktown High : Senior Year

I read Brooktown High : Senior Year was released. It's the first dating simulation game in North America. Here are images and here is the review. Konami America said the game was made based on the Japanese dating game Tokimeki Memorial, after they exhibited the game sample at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006). Hmm, really. What part? Actually both are dating games, but something big is different.

I have never played Tokimeki Memorial (we say Tokimemo), but I knew it was a craze among some types of guys, maybe "Akiba kei". The main character "Shiori Fujisaki" was an idol for those guys. Actually Fujisaki and other girl characters are the greatest attractions of the game. Guys did "Moe" and "ハァハァ" to girls in the game.

"ハァハァ" (hah hah : adjective, the highest class of Moe. Originally it was the sound effects of masturbation. Usually it is written with this face mark.)

Guys did "ハァハァ" to her talking, reactions, and activity, even though girls gave them cold, heartless rejection. And also they did "ハァハァ" to the game's free gift "Shiori Fujisaki” post card with odor and they did "ハァハァ" to a life size figure of Fujisaki. Although the purpose of the game was to go dating or to win her heart, "Moe" love for the character was the reason of the game’s popularity. Was this the point Brooktown High was made for? Do the creators expect the same reaction from American players? I don't think so.

Here are Japanese guy's comments about the Brooktown High : Senior Year. "This is a good sample that Japanese Moe is Americanized." "Hmm I don't think Americans understand the essence of Moe." "Oh, Americans can be romantic or hah hah in this game?"

Hmm, really? My impression is different. This is Brooktown High : Senior Year and this is Tokimemo. It is not the issue of quality of character or aesthetic taste between Americans and Japanese. I think the American Brooktown High : Senior Year seems simply a simulation/ strategy game to win and Tokimemo seems to be a sort of controllable Moe animation. They have different concepts. I suppose Konami did it on purpose because Japanese Tokimemo type games won't be good in the U.S. (I hope so) What do you think? There are many non-Japanese sites about Toki memo"; I want to know their comments about Brooktown High : Senior Year.

P.S  as a woman, I will 引く　(step back psychologically ) when I know he is playing Toki memo...

Youtube agreed

Wow, this Swedish company makes very cool films and ads. Kakkoii! And this notcot has really good sense. Every choice is cool. I wish I could make such a cool site but I would be talkative more than I guessed. :-0

I wrote JASRAC strongly urged YouTube to show warnings on the site. YouTube CEO Chad Hurley came to Japan, and YouTube agreed to display warnings on its Web site in Japanese. I don't know how it will be. Maybe only users who log in as Japanese will see it.

Of course I know lyricists and composers entrust their music copyrights to the JASRAC. JASRAC works to protect the musical copyright or copyright holders. But! Their way makes us hate the JASRAC. Last year end we had this news: "The 73-year-old owner of a bar arrested over piano performances." This site Joi Ito had this post and many people were surprised to read it. Well, you go to the jazz bar with your girlfriend and ask a piano man to play "Fly Me To The Moon" because your GF is a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Then the bar owner has to go to jail. Do you think this is normal? Well, we can't help him, because actually we have such a law and JASRAC didn't do wrong. But still this case is open to question. JASRAC checks every bar in Japan? If this case was a lesson to others, why did JASRAC choose such an old man's old bar in a local city? Bully?

There is more to it. The bar promised to boadcast to JASRAC to show what it is playing every night. Then the court allowed the bar to play classics or non-copyright music. However, the JASRAC appealed against this sentence. Then finally the court ruled to prohibit the playing of music and called for removal of the piano because there is a possibility the bar will break the law again. This is the decision (since it's a Japanese pdf, I am not sure you can open it). The bar is Desafinado in Wakayama pref. They say they are playing classic and non-copyright music, so maybe they still have a piano now. They are carrying out a signature collection campaign in a bid to change the copyright law.

If you enjoy Japanese anime and TV show on YouTube, they will be gone. JASRAC controls everything.

Nice way to kill time

I went to the National Center Tokyo on my lunch time. It is the showroom of Matsushita Electric Industrial (you will know their brand name Panasonic or National) in sio-site. You can try various products of National freely. I used a massage machine and JOBA (riding horse machine). I could lose the same calories as one hour walking by 30 minutes riding on JOBA, and the most recent massage machine is really great! I almost fell down. It is nice, isn't it that I can use them freely?! As a showroom, Toyota Mega web sometimes has interesting events.　I would love to try this i-unit in Toyota Universal Design Showcase. Another of Toyota's show rooms, Amrax, is in Ikebukuro. There are some driving games and a small movies theater with surround system. In the Sony Building, you can check all new Sony products including the Playstation. Those showrooms are reasonable and good to kill your time.

I love Ghost in the Shell. After Stand Alone Complex and 2nd GIG, now Solid State Society is aired. I didn't check all Solid State Society episodes. If I have to choose my favorite episode of Ghost in the Shell, it is the laughing man. That laughing mark was designed by English artist Paul Nicholson. He also designed the logo of "The individual Eleven." Wow, I didn't know that. Here is Paul's official site "Terratag" (how can I enter??). He says he loves Japanese culture, Kokaku, Gundam :-) By the way, I found this information in this UK Adapta which is the nice site about UK cultures.

"Katakori"

Hand made playing cards of body parts; it will be nice to learn Japanese. Actually I am so weak in such English words, it's difficult to remember because I don't use those types of words in regular conversation. And the more difficult part is the verbal description of how do I feel when I’m sick. For example, when I have a stomach ache, I say "My stomach hurts Shiku-Shiku" (しくしく). I checked a dictionary, and they say it's a "griping pain." When I say "My stomach hurts Kiri-Kiri"(きりきり) in Japanese, maybe it will be close to say "it's a sharp pain" in English. A throbbing toothache will be "Zuki-Zuki" pain in Japanese. Well, like I wrote here, Japanese express our pain in "Gitaigo". And it will be harder for foreign people to learn those words in Japanese. (I wrote about onomatopoeias before and Brian pointed out I mixed Gitaigo and onomatopoeias (Giongo) Arigato Brian!)

And a very interesting part is not only the difference of words but also real disease presentation and symptoms. The famous one is "Katakori." In English, it should be translated as "shoulder tension" or "neck stiffness," but our Katakori may be different from what you imagine from those English words. Here is an interesting document on Harvard Univ about "Our pains are a reflection of our cultural and historical circumstances."

Since last week I have a bad Katakori and use a cold patch all day. It might come from such physical reasons as my gym training or bad sitting position at work, but Katakori may also happen from such psychological reasons as stress or depression. Here is a post "Comparison of symptoms in Japanese and American depressed primary care patients" on Oxford Journals. If we Japanese are suffering from "Katakori," does it relate to our society being so stressful? Well, I can agree with that.

I wrote that the director of "Shall we dance?" Masayuki Suo, made a new film "I just didn't do that". He had a press conference in the foreign correspondents club of Japan a few days ago. I read the article and I was impressed by what he said. In Japan, there are women's only train cars in the morning as an action against molesters, but Suo said basically, "Crowded trains are unreasonable. If this happened in a foreign country, foreign women might sue train companies to get rid of such crowded trains." Hm, Indeed. I must say I accept crowded trains because I just have to accept them, but actually it is very stressful. My American friend can't ride it without a book or PSP or such things to which he can pay attention. I accept many stresses and since they are regular things for me, I don't care much. Many Japanese will do the same. But our bodies sense it and Katakori will be a typical sign.

A spide has Munch "the scream" face

Wow did you see this?? Mummified man found in his apartment sitting down for 6 years. jerky. ;-)

A spider has Munch's the scream face was found in Tochigi pref. Wow Kimokawaii!! The same kind of spider was found in Kochi pref before. Hmm cute.*