watashi to tokyo

Powered Suit of Nissan Dualis

Wow! I love wet cat photos. Miserable and Lovely... I made this wet cat wall paper before.

I want this "SUGOI cable." You can copy data between two PCs easily with the cable. No need to make a network. My Notebook PC is acting up recently. I should copy data before it passes away.

Nissan DUALIS has unique TV ads with a Powered Suit that looks like a robot. This is the TV ad. You can see other power suit movies on the site. Here are movies on YouTube, 1, 2, 3, 4. Cool but they seem to be evil! Don't you think so? I prefer the vinegar robot. And I will add this TV ad as a car topic; "Car music" of Honda Civic.

I suppose "E" will have the highest frequency in the use of alphabet. No? This site (web translated) checked it about Japanese Hiragana. They picked 10 articles from a newspaper and counted the number of Hiragana. No.1 い (i) No.2 ん(n)　No.3 か(ka)　No.4 し(shi). Only those 4 hiragana account for 26% of the entire 10811 letters. I did not know that.

I can laugh? yes maybe

The Japanese Hotel Mikazuki has a 1.2 million dollar Golden bath. You can take a bath at no fee, but it has a time restriction and the guard would stand at the door. How can I relax in that? Then yesterday it was stolen. It would be melted and made into bars already. Bye bye, vulgar shiny bath.

I checked the Japan page of Uncyclopedia. Ha! It is getting funny and worse. Recently I found some foreign topics about Japan and Japanese.

This is an article from Wired: "Fetish Cafes Cater to Geeks." Originally "Shomuni" was a TV drama about office ladies in uniform; this is their DVD. Hmm, you want to them to serve your shabushabu? ....orz

"Eigo de Shabera night" (Can you speak English? ) is an English study and entertaiment TV program of NHK(national channel). Not only studying English, they have good contents sometimes. I picked this before. Recently they introduced BBC TV shows about Japan. Ahh, really? I admit they are funny but I have never gotten a fish in return for chocolates ....orz

Pato Fu is a popular Brazilian Rock band. ( I didn't know them though.) Their song "Made in Japan" has weird lyrics and a strange video. Here it is. Here are their lyrics. I will add them to my Japan/Tokyo in music collection..

Pato Fu - Made In Japan
Up to now, human beings have had terrible experiences
Japan was the only one that received a hot atomic bomb
They sell good, inexpensive, pretty products to the world
It is revenge for the atomic bomb

A genuine America-made amplifier
is a surprise to open
almost all of it is made in Japan
I thought, "It can't be helped."

made in Japan, made in Japan, made in Japan

There is a secret in the project
NASA has the solution to this
I am relieved about this
NASA is always by our side

人間は、今まで恐ろしい目にあってきた
熱い原爆を一人で受けた日本
良くて安くてきれいな商品を世界に売っている
原爆のあだを返している

本物のアメリカ製のアンプ
開けてびっくり
ほとんどの部品は、日本製
私は、思ったの「ああ、仕方がない」

メイドインジャパン・メイドインジャパン・メイドインジャパン

プロジェクトには、秘密がある
これは、NASAが解決する
これで私は、安心だ
NASAは、いつも私たちの横についてる。

Cloud shape car licence

今日はめちゃくちゃいそがしいので、簡単にすますぜ。よろぴく

Ahhh love this!! This reminds me of this Jesus.　:-)　

"Sakano uke no kumo" (Clouds above slope) is the famous historical novel about three actual guys who lived in the turbulent Meriji Period which was written by Ryoutarou Shiba. The story is set in Matsuyama city in Ehime Pref. Matsuyama city decided to introduce the cloud shape of identification plate for small motor vehicle based on the novel. Hmm, cute and nice idea for local culture.

I found this blog: "an Englishman in osaka" This post is funny: "gate gap phenomenon." Huh, existence of the gate and border will be important, they don't care about practical use. But they may be called Thomason. ha ha

I wrote that $300,000 of Platinum Gundam models were being sold. Today we have this news, a good quality wooden Gundam will be released. The price will be 54000 yen. Yes, expensive but they say Busshi (carver of Buddha) will make it by hand. Hmm, I don't need it but I want to see it once. What? You think Japanese say Gundam Gundam too much? Yes, maybe, I think I didn't miss writing about Gundam at least once in a month. I don't like it so much, but they have become a topic somehow in this country. But American people would be the same for Star Wars, I think. I found this today. They are such lovely Darth Vaders.

I had a good image for Sony. They had cool ads and they seemed to be challenging. We had a funny legend about them, though many people would have such an image of Sony. But recently topics about Sony were not cool at all. You might see this UK news. They showed a dead goat during the game release party of God of War...ridiculous. And I read they make fake blogs often. Then this post says the cruel one would be a PS2 game ad. I know, Sony, Sony America, SCE, these would be different companies, but my image for Sony is getting worse.

Karaoke

I did not see any Karaoke places in my last trip to the U.S. Karaoke won't be popular at all there. But the funny part is all my American friends like it. I went to Karaoke with them last weekend and enjoyed Japanese songs with them.

In Japan, to sing Karaoke, we go to the place "Karaoke box". It is the karaoke place which has soundproof small rooms so that we can enjoy Karaoke in each goup. You can order food and drinks there and the room charge will cost besides the orders. Those costs will be changed by time because people go to Karaoke after drinking or dinner. In day time it is very cheap but at night it costs more. Usually people pick the Karaoke box by Karaoke machine. UGA, Hyper Joy, Lavca, Cyber DAM etc., there are some Karaoke brands and each company has each feature. Good sound, many English songs, a huge number of songs like that. But every Karaoke machine has about 100,000 songs, so it won't be hard to find a song you can sing anywhere.

Honestly, I don't like Karaoke so much. But if I have to go there, I sing only anime theme songs. Why? For me it is embarrasing to show my favorite songs the same as I am embarrased to show my book shelf. Maybe this is a feeling Japanese have. When you read a book in public, to hide the title and cover is normal in this country. Actually when you buy a book in Japan, the store will give you a book paper cover. Maybe we feel there is something "about me" in books and I feel the same in the songs I like. At that point, anime songs can tell anything and it is fun to sing and hear.

Talking about Anime songs, we have anime theme song concerts. Isao Sasaki, Ichiro Mizuki, Hironobu Kageyama are well know anime theme song singers and their concerts are hot like a rock concert. Look at this video on Youtube. Hironobu Kageyama and Isao Sasaki sang the theme of Getta Robo. Getta Robo is an old Robot anime which aired in the 70s and it was remade in the 90s. Sasaki sang the theme song in the 70s and Kageyama sang it in the later one. 　Sasaki is well know as a singer of Uchu Senkan Yamato (Starblazers is the U.S. title) which was a big boom in the 70s. So people were always excited by his singing.

blowfish and anglerfish

I read this news on a Japanese news site (web translated): Blowfishes were included among fishes which were exported to the U.S as anglerfish from China. I thouht it was really serious but I can't find the same news in Google news in the U.S. Maybe it means American won't eat angler which has a light on the head. I read in Califonia one person is in serious condition...It's serious enough!! In Japan, Blowfishes are called "Fugu" and angler is called "Ankou." Both are expensive fish and are enjoyed only in Japanese restaurants. Fugu has poison and only a person who has a license can cook it, and anko is hard to cut so that only a professional can cut it in this way. A Blowfish dish costs about 7000yen to 25000yen in Tokyo. Will you take a risk and a high price for that fish?

One of my favorite ramen shops Ippudo will go to NY. Their ramen has TONKOTSU (pork bone) soup which is murky white and thick. You may feel it is oily at first but you may find it is creamy and has a rich taste. Their noodles are thin, please eat it with a thick order (I think you can order thick or normal). Here is a post about Tonkotsu ramen in English and this is about Ippudo. Try it! It's delicious.

Metal Samurai

I can't find any good topics today!! 

I will walk the Yamanote line on June 9th. On the 9th, we will do real time updating "where we are walking" in this page. Hopefully you will drop a line to say "go Mari! go!" on the message board. I will update about this later.

Casio had questionnaires about "time" (web translated) on the Internet. Japan 9193 yen, China 9735 yen, American 39240 yen, Germany 42869 yen. Those are answers for "the value of an hour." I really can't be sure why Japanese think it's lower than others.

Do you know Skoda? It is a Czech auto maker, and this is their great TV ad. Everything was made from sweets, even the gasoline!

I heard about the Borat (trailer 1. 2) and finally the film comes to Japan. The Japan Times picked him today. The campaign is a little bit strange. They have a mustache discount to see the movie (fake is okay). This is the special site mustache photo competition. This weekend, he will go to a maid cafe in Akihabara. Hmm, I will check again next week.

Another strange movie topic. We have some long-running historical dramas like "Mito Komon" though, the number of such historical plays are decreasing. So Kyoto movie studio started a new short film project to end the deadlock. This is the first film, "Metal Samurai". The Samurai fight by the loud sound of his heavy metal music. orz.....

Eyes can talk as same as mouth

The cat has wings! Wow, but there were some other cats that had wings before. Strange.

As a mask or suit fetish, I like this.

Only Japan? "Pepsi Ice Cucumber" (web translated), it's a cucumber taste Pepsi, of course. I will write about it after the release. Cucumber Pepsi...sounds weird.

Wow!! This is very interesting: "Americans and Japanese Read Faces Differently". Are the windows to the soul the same in the East and West? Cultural differences in using the eyes and mouth as cues to recognize emotions in Japan and the United States." This is article based on this research paper. We have a proverb: "目は口ほどに物を言う." It means "Eyes can speak the same as mouth." There are many similar sayings in Japanese and English though, I can't find a similar one to this. The funny part is my American friends said Japanese talk without any eye contact. Generally speaking, maybe it is true. Some talk without seeing others' eyes, some think fixing eyes on others' eyes is strange. So eye contact and reading eyes will be different issues. And I wonder if this is related to the reason why Japanese manga characters have such big eyes?? Here are the big three of big eyes manga which I picked: "The Rose of Versailles", "Ace o Nerae" and "Glass mask". She looks to be in "a tough" mood, right? See that picture hiding her mouth. Still can you tell she is tough? How about this? Comparing those pictures, the first one has a shining star in her eye, that gives the impression she is in spirit.

I wrote about a royal dog Hachiko. If you are in Japan, you saw him in front of Shibuya Station. The story of Hachi was made into a film in Japan in 1987. Then this September, it will be remade in Hollywood starring Richard Gere.

You prefer Non nice-looking guy?

They say the trend of Japanese women's prerequisites for a partner has changed from "Sanko" which means three high levels (high income, high educational background, and high height) into "Santei" which means three low level (low posture, low risk and low dependency). Such prerequisites might be changed by times and social background, but I may say always women like "nice looking." However, such basic desires are starting to change recently. Here is the Japanese article (web translated). They said, "The time of IKEMEN-worshiping is over." IKEMEN means nice looking guy; IKE means nice, MEN means face (it could also mean man in one). ViVi, which is the very popular girls fashion magazine, conducted a questionnaire on "What type is your next boyfriend?" To my surprise, over half of the answers were "I prefer B-otoko to IKEMEN." B-otoko means B class and also Busaiku otoko (ugly guy)...wow.

One lady said, "I am not such a feminine type and it is difficult to show my weakness or affection to my BF. I have to have a cold attitude to a guy who even likes me, it's a kind of my shyness." She said usually guys had to leave because of her attitude, but only B-otoko, B-guys tried to communicate with her without giving up. (She says her type is this comedian.....oh, impossible for me.)

Other answers are... -When nice-looking guys are nice to me, I wonder, "Will he know how to treat woman like this?" For me, a nice-looking guy is out of my romance. They just make me nervous. -Nice-looking guys tend to sulk easily because of their pride. But B-guys are tough. So that friendship can be warmed easily. -Nice-looking guys know they are cool, so when they dress, they seem narcissists to me. But when I see B-guys dressed, it makes me smile, it's pleasant for me.

One beautiful lady was dating a B-guy, and her evaluation was "UP" because people thought she didn't pick the guy based on appearance. I wrote before, actresses tend to choose comedians. The same is true of this matter. B-guys are not popular because they are B, B-guys try to complement this missing part by attitude, so that they would be comfortable to be for women. I understand this well.

However, I am still suspicious of the trend "the anti-IKEMEN guys." This morning, Johnny Depp came to Japan, and over 2000 women went to Narita to see him. (His fashion was...ok?) Depp, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, in Japan Satoshi Tumabuki, Hiroshi Tamaki ( of Nodame) etc. -- they are of course popular here. Women enjoy those beautiful guys as dreams and prefer B-guys in real life. What do you think?

By the way, in old Japan, a round face and thin eyes like like this face were the standard for beautiful women. Our standard for beauty may change in the future. Come to think of it, there is no accounting for taste. I don't know my handsome is your handsome. Anyway, my friend said the gap between nice-looking and non-nice is so much bigger than others. I want to ask foreign women about this. :-)

The tofu goes to the U.S.

Please look at this video carefully. I could not find anything changing/wrong: "color changing card trick".

I told you, Billy Blanks is too popular and he gets to be a toy on the Internet. Finally his topic was deleted from Japanese wikipedia. I don't know what was happened. I should check it often, damn!

Otokomae Dofu (handsome tofu) was unique tofu which was ranked in "what was big in 2006." Since last weekend, they have started to sell that tofu in New York. Their funky website has English now. The price is a little high at $1.99～6.99 though. If you like tofu, try it. By the way, I checked "what was big in 1987." No1 is Home bakery. No3. NICS products. NICS stands for "Newly Industrializing Countries." In wikipedia, it links to Four Asian Tigers in the English page. No.4 is Big labyrinth. Yes, it was a big boom, but it's hard to find now. No.9 Chemical (acid) wash jeans. Ah yes yes.

Shizuoka Hobby Show was held last weekend. Here is a report, check the side scroll part (very hard to see). I like some nice dioramas like this and this. Talking about dioramas, I like this design group Panto Graph's work. They made this Eva dish on EVA AT WORK of Gainax.

messing up a room

Scary...rusting? Cursing?

Look at this cool robot, I will say すげーかっこいいじゃん！ He looks like a robot that appears in "Pluto." But his work is explaining "vinegar" (movie). The vinegar maker Tamanoi ordered the robot on the 100th anniversary of the company and let him explain about vinegar at their office since July. Tamanoi is proud that the robot has the most knowledge about vinegar in the world. On the Internet people said "it's cool uselessly." I agree.

Kokuyo Design award call for entries. I love that award and wrote about it before. Please try if you have any good ideas.

I picked this charming picture as a fat rabbit. But "AmanitaEater" told me it was not a rabbit. "It is a Vizcacha from South America, they are more closely related to Chinchillas. This photograph was probably photoshopped, since they are not domesticated pet animals." Thank you AmanitaEater, I did not know that animal. Yes, it would be photoshop work!

I wrote this post before: "can't cleaning syndrome" (many links are dead, sorry for that). Are you good at cleaning or do you think your room is messed up too? Check your room and compare it to this. I read only Japanese put stuff on the floor directly (web translated) because we don't wear shoes inside the house. However, because of that, rooms are messier in Japan. I checked Google image with the key word "my room." This is the result.. (I don't think people upload their dirty room on purpose, I can't find such a bad one though.) Ha! Some put their clothes on the floor, but generally there are boxes, bags, and there are not magazines, lunch boxes, and plastic bottles. In Japan, people eat, drink at a low table on the floor, so things are left on floor more easily. Hmm What do you think? Do you agree? The funny part is I found this Canadian guy's room (stuff on the floor), but he stayed in Japan! Is it related? I found this Bud TV ad too. It depends on each person, not nationality. I am not sure.