watashi to tokyo

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!!

News from foreign country. "Height of Chaos"; Indian video. Hmm, considering that it's very cold and hard to get food, I think people should find him and at least keep him warm and let him eat, but he might not be happy with that...   werewolfboy in Russia.

Yasumasa Morimura is a Japanese artist who is very clever at mimicking. He can be not only Japanese but also Einsteinian and Guevaran too.

This is what's served for dinner in a Japanese prison.  They say one prison sometimes serves McDonalds to give prisoners a feeling of society outside. Tonight they will eat a small cake for Christmas dinner.

The prediction

The Tokyo said the Japanese government will let electric makers discontinue the Incandescent light bulb as an effort to combat global warming. I liked the warm mood of incandescent light, though I can get a not so bright, nice fluorescent bulb now. I appreciate the government decision.

I love mysterious topics. I plan to watch TV again after a long interval. The show is ""The prediction : Jucelino Nobreaga da Luz". I checked the wiki but they only have Portuguese and Japanese entries for this person, so I wonder if he is not famous in the world? They say he predicted the September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes, the terroristic attacks on the World Trade Center, Gore would get the Nobel prize, etc. The interesting one is he claimed in court that the U.S government should pay him a $25 million reward because the U.S caught Saddam Hussein because of his prediction. He missed most of his predictions in 2006, but he hit some of them in 2007. His closest prediction is a big earthquake in Sumatra again. I hope he misses this prediction. I wrote about how the American psychic Joseph McMoneagle found a Japanese comedian's missing father before. Both McMoaneagle and Jucelino Nobreaga predict economic bust from the NY market around 2010 or 11. Interesting, we will see.

Talking about predictions reminds me of the scientist Tomokichi Fukurai, who was a professor of Teikoku Univ (Tokyo Univ). He is known for his studies on "Nensha" (sense copying), but his theories never gained widespread popularity, and in 1919, he resigned his post at the university to continue his research. By the way, he studied the Nensha with three psychic women, Chizuko Obune, Ikuko Nagao and Satako Takahashi. Chizuko Obune is the model of the horror novel, movie of "RING"". Yes, Sadako was actual person.

UFO

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!.

Japanese government says existence of UFOs unconfirmed. Hmm, I don't think the Japanese govenment will say yes even though a UFO fell down in front of the Diet Building. Recently I really feel this country is very conservative, wimpy, and lacking in policy. By the way, NISSIN is the maker of cupnoodles, and they have instant fried noodles called "UFO." Have you ever seen it? This is crazy UFO TV ad. That American guy will be Don Frye. He says, "guys shouldn't leave a noodle, guys should leave a name."
Anyway, unfortunately no big topic in Tokyo today. Sorry for the short post.

I enjoyed reading this much: "Does Time Really Slow Down during a Frightening Event?" It's very interesting.

Black toilet paper was released already, but this is not yet: "black tissue". Hmm, I like that. A tissue box destroys the fine mood of a stylish room easily.

CyberGadget released a Famicom game adapter, "the cyber Familator Lite". Do you still have any Famicom games now?

Tonight we're having "Bonenkai" for my job section. We will go to a Sushi place. My favorite Sushi is Anago, Kohada and Botan Ebi. I hope the sushi place has them tonight.

I will buy on ebay

Cute ad, "John Lewis's Shadows".

I love this, Football plans .

I mentioned Akihabara started a free tour service for foreign people. This is the movie of the tour.

Doshisha University Academic Repository shows some pages of the "Sketches of Japanese manners and customs" (J.M.W. Silver). The book was publised in 1867 and you can read some pages in Google Book Search too. It's interesting. Check them out. And this is a Tokyo Univ collection of old ads from newspapers. I like tthis one. Good smile.

Yahoo Japan and eBay have started the site "Sekaimon." I can buy items on eBay from Japan with my Yahoo ID. Yeah! And also eBay customers in the U.S. will get a channel to buy stuff from the Yahoo Japan site by the middle of next year!! Unfortunately "Sekaimon" is too crowded and I can't access. I will check it later, to see which item is good to buy even if we pay tax, a high delivery charge, etc. From now, Japanese will buy your item :-).

Small topics

This is the windows of illusion in Kyoto. I like the round window of Japanese traditional buildings. They were built to cut the scene and make the scene into a different dimension like a painting. You like it? You can order it here, it's not so expensive.

Ha! It's a cute Christmas card at first glance, but a little bit weird...she is sadistic, isn't she?

Wow!! Whose souvenir? By the way, I like the airport -- the "air" is different there. It'll be because people's energy will be up there. Getting away from the bustle of everyday life is important, right? Anyway, I enjoyed this: the travel IQ challenge. I couldn't go far from level 6; I realized I confuse South America and Africa. Anyway, the map should be bigger; I couldn't point to exactly the place even though I knew it.

This is the official site of Japanese artist Mitil. She integrates animals and plants. I love the Buffalo one "Trunk in me". Check it out.

Fragile is an adventure game for Wii. The stage is a "ruin." Here is the trailer.. That's nice but real ruins are more beautiful...

Japan McDonald did it

Ha! Funny, Fake magazine covers with your picture "MAGMYPIC".

I really enjoyed reading this news from the UK: "Subway announcer fired over spoof messages". "We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly." Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (sorry I laugh too much?)

This is Japanese sweets wagashi photos collection on flickr. They are beautiful.... the taste is good too, very natural and not too sweet. Since most of them don't include butter or flour, calories are lower than western sweets. Check my post too.

I picked the Indian Thriller a few days ago, and I found this today: "Indian Matrix". Hmmm, not so bad, but I think they should use their talent and skill for some original stuff. It's impossible to watch it without laughing.

Banpresto is the toy maker of BANDAI NAMCO Group. They sell a sort of lot "Ichiban Kuji" series at toy shops and convenience stores. You get a 500 yen lot and get one item from their TV character selection. I like the Ichiban kuji because items are not for kids and they have good sense. In November they sell Gundam series. Here are 7 items. This is Char eye musk, you can cool down your eyes. This is good sense Japanese towels. This White base USB connector will be nice as gift for Gundam fans. I like this most: ZAKU HEAD planter...hmm, sentimental.

This year, we had a lot of food scandals. Akafuku, Shiroi Koibito, Meat Hope, Fujiya. They all used tricks on consumers! I can't find any news on foreign news sites, though McDonald's Japan did the same. 4 Mac shops changed the date labels of salads and yogurt, then sold them. It was brought to light by an in-house whistleblower. We had such a lot of food scandals, some traditional shops had to close. However, Mac didn't stop such silliness? It's nasty. It will be big news.

Three days weekend over

I enjoyed a three-day weekend. I went hiking at local area, enjoyed hot springs and ate sushi for dinner. Taking a hot bath while looking up at the perfect moon on a chilly night, that's great.

I remember some of them: "The top 10 IT disasters of all time".

Someone added some English subtitles to this cats talking. Cute, enjoy this this "what's really said".

This is a great site: "trailer club". You can see 70s movie trailers. From Japan, they picked mushroom man "Matango". Thank you.

This guy will like Japanese arts. Hmm, but he makes it more spicy in his style.

This is the pocky board. People share pocky and draw something. Please access and do something. I tried, but someone took my pocky and I'm very frustrated. You can fight with Japanese to keep a pocky there.

This is a fake sign of a Japanese train, and this is original. Weird, but it's funny.

This is a new Japanese movie "Midnight eagle". The story is ...A top secret American forces strategic bomber known as "Midnight Eagle" suddenly vanishes in the Northern Alps. Its payload is a specialized nuclear warhead. If it were to explode, the entire nation of Japan would be hurled into an unprecedented calamity. Ha ha ha. Here is the trailer..... that's not my type. あー見ないね

R2D2 item

Cute Great escape!

I am eating Autumn season special Apple KitKat. I love this! In the kitkat line up, apple is the best now. I didn't know they has "Exotic Tokyo" taste (I have never seen it on the shop), I will report it when I find it.

I tried to find good topic but I couldn't find any today, actually I was hooked these U.S news.
Unexplained Blue Cloud Floats, Darts Around Customers At Gas Station : I have no idea! What is that? Invisible man?
Woman Finds Boyfriend Dead In Cat Door : it was cold out side? He wanted to open the key so much.

This may be a good Christmas gift for StarWars fan. R2D2 Soy sauce pot, R2D2 Pepper Mill, they have Shampoo bottle too.

Small topics on the Interenet

I know, I know. I shouldn't say "Yeah! you win!" but I must say it in the end on this video.

I found this program today AnitFreeze. They say "AntiFreeze offers a last recourse when you find your computer in a hung state." That's nice. I will try it.

The famous rocks in the world.@That number isn't the rankings because I don't think Meoto iwa is the most strange rocks. Strange rocks are called KIGAN in Japanese. Yahoo Japan travel has a collection of Japanese Kigan Spots. This rock is said to look like a woman looking out to sea (her backside). This is called the Virgin Mary rock.

The price of a Gundam cell phone is 100,000yen!! But I didn't know that the mono-eye moves on the Zaku Head battery charger during charging. Cool!!

Juan sent me this funny article that was in The New York Times:
"While Americans want to protect themselves from criminals, or even strike back, the creators say many Japanese favor camouflage and deception, reflecting a culture that abhors self-assertion, even in self-defense." I might agree with this. I care way more about preventing crime than needing protection from crime. HOWEVER nobody would use that vending machine camouflage. It was a joke. How can that be serious???

A new style of restaurant has opened, it's called "Ashi-yu dining" Ashi-yu means foot bath. You can eat healthy foods while taking a foot bath under the table. You don't need it? I think it would be nice to take a foot bath while eating hot pot at an outside Terrace.

Nekonabe

Nice Panda fashions from China.

I am a ruins fan and actually check the 'Gunkan Jima (Island)' site sometimes still now. Today I found another great site. The site has a huge collection of ruins in Japan. Of course he has 'Gunkan Jima' and the very famous place for ruins fan 'Maya Kanko Hotel.' That building has some class in a destroyed way. This is the 'Ashio Dozan' (Ashio Copper Mine) . This site has Ashio Dozan history in English, 'It's time to come out of the dream.' This and this are ruins of a U.S base in the Tokyo area. They don't looks like Tokyo. I wonder why ruins are so beautiful... ( I said the same before? Yes, I said it is monono aware.) They are at the mercy of the elements and do not resist time. But I must say this ruin is ugly. That is the amusement park 'Gulliver Land' located near the Mt.Fuji. The park was built on the site of the Aum Shinrikyo of 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attacks and related incidents. The buildings haven't broken yet and keep their vivid colors. Gulliver is still laying down there without seeing Mt.Fuji...ah weird. I tried to check if I could see it on Google map, but that area is unclear (just a few blocks next to it is clear though).

In Japan, we buy Tobacco at shops like supermarkets and convenience stores and vending machines. At a shop, the shop staff judge or ask customers their age. But vending machines don't have such a barrier now (some machines ask for a driver's license card). But from next year, we need a taspo card to buy tobacco from a vending machine. (This means foreign travelers can't buy tobacco from a vending machine? Maybe.) A vending machine maker will release the new machine tomorrow which can judge ages by camera. The machine checks your bone structure, wrinkles, etc., and judges if you're over 20 years old. They say the machine has about a 90% success rate of judging age and automatically it asks for a driver's license card when it is hard to judge. Hmm, I wonder if it works fine for foreign people. Maybe Asians will be okay though.

'Neko nabe' is a boom on the Internet now. Nabe is pot, but don't misunderstand -- it doesn't mean we eat cats. It is a movie where cats are sleeping in a pot. I saw it a few months ago on the Internet, but I didn't think it would be such a big boom. I think this is the original one I saw first. Here is the result of Neko nabe on YouTube.

This is the official site of Japanese artist Takashi Yamaguchi. Check his work and animation page. There are nice 3D works. I downloaded 'wPendulum' from Lab page. I think it has a relaxation effect :-)