watashi to tokyo

Autuamn has come!

Wow...ha ha ha check this site: Public hair art. Why do you say public hair because you won't show them on public?? In Japanese, we say Inmou ( Shadow hair) Or Under hair :-)

Ah...20 country, 12 week bus tour from London to Sydney. Basically you sleep in tents! Wow, it would be a tough but fun trip. This is funny news from the UK too. "Cyber cheats married... to each other." However, is this true or I shouldn't take this seriously. In Japan, you shouldn't take seriously some articles of Tokyo Sports. Here is a short article from Wiki. Some said all of their articles are false except for the date. I remember Clinton shaked hands with Alien.

I could sense Autumn had come when I walked by McDonald's, because they sell TSUKIMI burger now. Here is the official site. Traditionally we eat odango. I love Chinese Moon cake (I need to eat without seeing calories). Do you have some special food for the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Do you know Heineken Japan has a cool music site. And they will have an all-night club music event "Connect 07" in Kokugikan. Boom Boom Satellite (their site is cool) -- you know them on Apple Seed and Takkyu Ishino (Takkyu means table tennis in Japanese ) etc. I want to go to these events.

One more event. The international CG event "ASIAGRAPH 2007" will be held in Akihabara Tokyo. Here is the official site. It will be fun to visit.

"Top 5 Selling Pet Robots In Action" As a robot lover, I am glad to see 3 Japanese robots ranked in. icat is ugly.....By the way, why do they have P names? Pleo, Paro, PaPeRo.

My PC was broken again and again

My private Note PC died a few weeks ago, I use my work IBM note at home too but it was broken too. Today I got a new NOTE at work but it took long time to set up everything. I wonder I am radiating energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. sigh...So sorry today's post is short.

I thought this would be a great birthday present to my friend; Automatic self-cleaning cat litter box: Litter-Robot. BUT it's 46000yen! in Japanese yen. expensive.

This is the nice site that you can listen and see the lyrics of Japanese children's songs and folk songs. Good job :-)

In Parco museum, they have the events of "Cute of Kyoto; Kyoto Department". Japanese, Mordern but Traditional. Every products has high sense design. I want some small paper bag of Pyon Pyon Dou. I will go the exhibition. And I found this Viertual Kyoto. You can see Kyoto in 3D models. Pretty nice! I tred to find 3D Tokyo map, but I couldn't. I wrote TEITSU would make real Akihabara in Second life and PS3 will make 3D world "HOME" and they will build real Tokyo in the that world. You can see the movie here, check it out.

JR Chuo line is the mecca of animation

I may say that Japanese animation culture is developed along the JR Chuo line. There are famous animation studios such as Studio Ghibli (Sprited away), Production IG (Ghost in the shell; check this Matrix comparison video, fun), and Studio 4C(Animatrix). A famous manga shop Mandarake in Nakano and many famous manga creators live along Chuo line. (One of them is Kazuo Umezu. Recently I read the news he tried to paint this house in red and white stripes but the neighborhood strongly opposed it.) From October 6th to 14th, an animation event "Kichijoji Anime Wonderland" will be held in Kichijoji. Kichijoji is a station of the Chuo line and a sort of center of such animation culture. H.I.S Experience is a travel agency that makes Japanese tours for foreign visitors. They say they will make a "Kichijoji Anime Wonderland tour" on the tour, and you may visit the Ghibli museum, "the animate" shop "animate", a maid cafe in Kichijoji, Harmonika alley and also Studio 4C (their Genius Party is the theme of the event), etc.

Since the price of flour is going up, some products are raising their prices. Nissin will raise the price of instant noodles after 17 years without changing. (Their promotion animation "Freedom" was made by Sunrise, and they are in JR Chuo line too!) Glico isn't raising the price of Pocky but the size of one package will go down. By the way, do you know the Glico-Morinaga case is an uncleared extortion crime? I remember I was so scared to see The Fox-Eyed man on the TV.

Drink Milk!

We call a not-so-funny joke a "chilly joke" (samui joke), it's sort of slang. When somebody tells a trashy joke, you can reply "Oh Chilly! (samui!)". In the same way, we use the word "sore" (itai) for something or someone that is self-satisfied, a misconception, or is an annoyance. Last week, some sites picked cars with animation print like this, this and this. "Ita-sha(car)" stands for Italian cars that we admire usually, but we call those animation cars "Ita-sha" (sore car) in a voice loaded with sarcasm. Ahhh itai ne!.

Talking about Itai topic! Finally, the maid cafe craze is slowing down, so some shops try to provide weird unique service. On the other hand, we have some another "theme cafe" topics. I wrote about a butler cafe cafe before, and last week I read about eyeglass cafe, hero cafe and this funny one this scientist lab coat cafe. Hmm in this way, we have various cafes for every fetish.

These 1,2,3,4 are foreign "drink milk" TV ads. Interesting, because we have exactly the same concept TV ads, and they are funny too. This is a great one; acrobat shopping. This is Matrix classroom. These TV ads are a series and this is an old one.

By the way, I didn't like milk when I was a kid, so my mom let me drink coffee milk or strawberry milk. I don't drink such flavored milk recently. Green tea milk, banana milk, melon milk, orange milk, fruit milk, they look nice.

Your brain inside

Today I was 50 minutes late for work, because the train stopped, because someone jumpped into the train. I wrote Chuo Line of JR it well known as the suicide line. This is the site records the accidents on the Chuo line. Wow a lot...Golden Gate Bridge has certain spots where people jump. When I wrote this post, Adam explain about the spot. I wonder if some make the Chuo Line a suicide station and a spot map. I suppose there is some reason people chose that spot.

Ken of "What Japan Thinks picked this intereting topic "Brain Insides Maker". I love it! It seems to be just a joke, but I must consent to the results always. Here is my result. My brain seems to be filled with 10% desire and 10% love, 40% rest and 40% problems. Yes, it's me. ha ha ha. I am not sure you can use this site though, because of the font setting. Try it!

Here are the meanings of each Character:
悩-Worry, trouble
罪-Sin
嘘-Lie
金-Money
欲-Desire
幸-Happiness
逃-Escape
疑-Suspect
休-Rest
愛-Love
寂-Lonely
眠-Sleeping
友-Friend
秘-Secret
食-Food
遊-Play
無-Nothing
国-Country
悲-Sad
悪-Bad
変-Weird
謎-Mistery
私-Me
妄-delusion
H-Sex

Actually, this type of site is very popular in Japan, this site checks your ingredients. They say 62% of me is electric wave, 26% is stock, 7% is mental block and 6% is key of success. Hmmm it's very persuasive for me.

Fake suicides

Still too hot. An old Lesser Panda in the Zoo had to die because of the heat. My work is 28 degrees for Cool Biz campaign. I am tired of the summer heat. My physical tiredness makes me mentally down. I am blue, when I am thinking of rush train to my home. The trains use the energy-saving way, so people have to sweat in the train, I must be patient even if a guy's sweaty arm or back is touching me on the rush train...orz.

On such a day, fake suicide collection! Do you know the book "The Book of Bunny Suicides". I have never seen it, but I can see cute bunny on Google images. Monkey Suicide seems to be a photo sharing site. Ah cute...I like this, this and this. I want to upload it though, I need to buy the monkey first?? Is it a popular monkey? This is Barbie Suicide. Wow why naked? This is funny too, fake suicide photos.

Our foreign and defense ministers

At the ASEAN regional forum, traditionally they have a night gala dinner and the foreign ministers give some performances. Japan's foreign and defense ministers Taro Asao did the Billy's Blanks Bootcamp in Samurai costume. Check this article and this is the TV news. hmm, Taro Aso is well known as a Manga fan. Actually he is called "Rozen Aso" because he was seen when he read Rozen Maiden in ANA's VIP room in Narita airport.

Regain is a sort of energy drink. In the 80s it was released with the copy "Can you fight for 24 hours," and appealed to white colors in the bubble days. After the bubbles, they TV ad to a little bit softer mood like a supplement. But they have just started again a "fighting salary men" ad. This is funny, check it out.. The story is a train is stopped because of an accident and the salary men rush to their company by running and swimming. Ha! I feel this is the sign an economy bubble will come again.

When you draw the Sun and the Moon, what color do you use? I read in western countries, kids draw the Sun in yellow, the Moon is white. But in Japan, we draw the Sun in red and the Moon is yellow. It's interesting. I read this in the book I am reading about the "Heart Sutra" written by Sahiya Hiro. I like this translation. Everything is empty itself. It is what it is because you take it so, think it so, feel it so. Some think the Sun is yellow, some think the Sun is red. Even the same thing is different for each of us because it is empty. His book is very easy, understandable and interesting. (Actually I hardly know about the Heart Sutra or Buddhism) Some are translated into English.

Rights organizations pressure YouTube Japan. Those organizations insist YouTube delete all videos with copyrights from Japan once. They call it "Reset." Sooner or later many videos from Japan will be deleted from YouTube again.

the election day

I played this game yesterday, it took a long time to go out from the town ( that is the goal of this game). But it was pretty nice game " Daymare town". 

I saw this Magnetic Fluid art in Yokohama before. They are Japanese artist and this is her official site.　you can check othre movies. check the "Protrude, Flow" it's great.

I will go to the election later. Today is Upper House election day. LDP may fall shorter, Morgan Stanley says it will be Bloody Sunday for the LDP.

Summer is horror season

Cats know his death timing, so I can accept this story "Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths".

Summer is horror story season. Yahoo Japan opened  a special "horror" site. They collect city legend movies, horror movies, horror TV, horror videos (looks scary), haunted house guide etc. I recommend to check those movies. Even though you can't understand Japanese, you will be able to be scared of those videos. He is basically a comedian but he is a well known ghost story teller because he has the ability to sense ghosts (maybe). Yahoo avator added some horror items. I made my own avatar Japanese Ghost version.

The site show the result of scary Japanese horror movie and video ranking.
No.1 Ring : Some made video sequences cut-up + layed-down to end credits track. こわい This is the U.S Ring official site. これもこわい
No.2 Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) : Here is the trailer.
No.3 Juon : You make check creepy trailers on youtube. This was remade as the Grudge in the U.S.
No.4 Honogurai Mizu no Sokokara (Dark water) : Here are some clips on youtube.
No.5 Hontouni atta kowai hanashi (real horror story ) : This is TV series aired in 1992. I found some clips.
No.6 Gakko no kaidan : Horror stories happend at the school.
No.7 Kansen : Go to this site and click the left door.
No.8 Shikoku : Chiaki Kuriyama of KILL BILL debut on this movie.
No.9 Inagawa Junji series : Yes the guy who Yahoo Japan picks, his official site are full of horror story.
No10. Kuroiie (Black house) : Here is the trailer.
I saw Ring and Shikoku. But Juon seems the most horrable for me. What do you think?

Rainy season is over?

No matter how many times I see this, I am amazed. Did I link this before? . Our brain and eyes are very interesting.this picture, it looks like a diorama? But it is not a diorama, it's the real Tokyo. That is not because of sensory errors, it's from camera lens magic. He said he can take such diorama type photos with CANON TS-E. Here are other photos that look very cute. He took more such experimental photos: here are long-exposure photos. Moving things have disappeared. Here are High Dynamic Range Photos. I wonder if we remember things and places like that photo. (this is the page of HDR in wiki.)

Look at

I think the rainy season has finished in Tokyo today. Finally I can see clear blue sky but it's too hot outside. This morning, the train was a little bit less crowded than usual because summer holidays have started in school until the end of August. How about me? Here is the list of average summer holidays for workers. Australia 1.5month, Spain 1month, Sweden 25-32days, France 5weeks, Poland 46days, Germany 33days, Italy 32days, Norway 25days. Are these paid days-off or not paid? My summer vacation is paid, but guess what, it's only 5day. Actually, the average of Japan is 5 days!!! Booooooooooooooooooooooo. How long can you take it?

Last December I went to Universal Studios in CA, but it was not a great place for me (or I am too old to enjoy it or I am difficult to entertain). I have never been to Universal Studios Japan, they have some different attractions from the U.S. On the net, this became a topic: "The Real One Piece Show." Most comments complain, but I think they did a good job, at least on the poster. Talking about modifying, this one is interesting: modified Peanuts guys. I thought someone Japanese drew them, but it seems to be an American guy.