No. 5: Penguin getting drunk

I guess penguins and beer go together. An unassuming creature that is supposedly symbolic for happy and silly need to drown their sorrow in beer as well. Lol.

No. 4: Scary Insurance Co

This is an insurance commercial. But you wouldn’t know that it’s about an insurance company because the ad looks like an ad for a horror anime movie that is coming out soon. The weirdest thing isn’t about the weird setting the insurance company has chosen for their ad but what’s written in the commercial. It says, “Japan doesn’t exist anywhere anymore, there is no one you can trust.” Wtf?

No. 3: Tarako

You’d think this commercial is about some sort of product invasion and not at all about a pasta. Seriously, why did they think a legion of baby dolls marching towards the kid would relate to eating spaghetti? I don’t get it, it’s just weird. It’s like the first 15 seconds of the ad aims at getting you so weirded out that your brain clambers to find something more normal and what’s more normal than a packet of pasta seasoning, eh?

No. 2: Tarako again

See, it’s the same thing again with those creepy bouncing babies.

No. 1: Disgusting Fingers

What the…. why are all these ladies fingers looked like it’s been dropped into a saw mill?

The Izakaya: the Japanese Pub Cookbook review done by Metropolis has me itching to get a copy. While the title may seem a little misguiding, the book is not just about recipes. It’s also a guide to fine watering holes and good eats around Japan.

Neither restaurant nor bar, the izakaya is more than a place where you can share delicious food and relaxing drinks—though it is certainly that. In many neighborhoods, it is a community hub with a cast of characters and ongoing narratives. The customers will range from locals and regulars to office workers, academics or day-laborers. They will order small-dish delicacies throughout the evening, perhaps in the beginning sharing just a couple of items. The menu is like a road map and the diners are at the wheel, calling out orders as the mood takes them. All dishes are inexpensive, and as the “scenery” and conversation changes, items that initially escaped notice acquire new appeal. No inquisitive diner can fail to broaden his or her horizons, wandering side routes into exciting new food avenues. And as the evening progresses and energy levels rise, you will hear straight talk and the uttering of hard truths that won’t ordinarily be spoken. In short, at the izakaya, people are more themselves.

REad the entire article here…

Highlights from the 2007 graduation ceremony at Udo kindergarten in Shizuoka City, Japan. This particular kindergarten is very old fashioned and adheres to some interesting Japanese traditions. For example the children are encouraged to go barefoot at school and wear traditional geta wooden clogs every day in or out of school. Also, in accordance with an old Japanese believe that outdoor exposure will make children strong and healthy, this school therefore operates with all of its doors and windows open every day of the year, even in the heart of winter. This school’s uniform is very distinct and in our community it is a common sight to spot kids from Udo kindergarten running about in the dead of winter wearing just a light shirt, short pants and clomping along on their wooden shoes. The belief about cold air and healthy kids seems to hold water in this regard as the kids from Udo kindergarten appear perennially healthy and happy.

As ghetto cool and hip hop reign grows over the years in Japan, break dancing amongst the youthful enthusiast is unavoidable. BBC had a piece written about it 5 years ago about the hip hop culture in Japan, but today all things synonymous to hip hop, break dance especially, have taken many Japanese break dancers across the world in competitions.

Here’s a clip taken from Las Vegas:

April 1st, exactly 50 years ago, was the day Japan imposed a ban on the centuries old sex trade. I am sure the regular patrons then went like “yea right, an April Fool’s joke by the government”. But the joke was on them alright, no more bunky bunky at the local brothel lest they wanted a night or 2 years with a heavy slap of fines in their faces.

BUT i won’t say that the sex trade has gone stale since then. If anything, ingenuity has brought sex to a whole new level in Japanese culture. Ahem…you guys (and girls) probably know what I mean, eh?

Anyway, read this article from Mainichi:

Exactly 50 years ago today (April 1), Japan’s formal ban on the centuries old act of prostitution came into effect.

The Prostitution Prevention Law outlawed the world’s oldest profession even though it had long been one of Japan’s most lucrative.

But the law was filled with loopholes and even today the sex business remains one of Japan’s biggest industries.

The fight to end prostitution began in earnest following Japan’s defeat in World War II, with newly liberated women Diet members in the vanguard of the fight.

Read the rest here….

I’ve prepared a collection of Japanese ads that I think is rather funny for your viewing pleasure. Frankly, they don’t beat the funny Thai ads but they’re pretty good ;)

That familiar invisible rock we carry whenever we get mortgages? :P

[insert Transformer transform sound here]

HAHAHAHAHHA…

Fart ringtone rofl!

Last one…

this one had me go wtf for a while :P

Forrest Gump would have had a field trip with this treadmill. I laughed me ass off when i saw that black guy with pink protective gears on, trying to run ROFL!

Ignore the first few seconds of the video. Someone thought it’d be cool to slip in a community message. But watch this guy, he’s like the best straight shooter there is. The NY Yankees could do well with him heh…if and only if they can get him on their team. :P

These are two very interesting videos that touches on the modern day lifestyles of women in Japan. I find that shift has created an alternative look on how the woman live, work and their outlook on relationships. Much have changed in the past 10 years - marriage was an obligation for women in Japan before but now, many older generation are opting for divorces and the younger generation delay getting married. After watching the two videos, I feel that it is the lack of time, despite being more empowered, and maybe, just *maybe* women today are purging the old tradition of being obligated to a marriage - a sort of like an exorcism of such practice, beliefs and customs. If you look at it on a collective mode of things and term “women” as one entity, instead of looking at women as many different individuals.

Or maybe Japan’s women are currently undergoing a new phase of cynicism towards marriage and prefers, what usually used to be a men’s only activity, visiting nightclubs (or Host clubs) and having one or many male gumars (Italian for mistress).

Danchi (団地) is the Japanese word (literally ‘group land’) for a large cluster of apartment buildings. During the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, the Japanese created many such low-rent apartment complexes in the outskirts of urban areas to offset the housing demand of the then-increasing Japanese population. Fewer and fewer Japanese live in the gradually aging danchi, generally desiring individual housing left over from the Japanese bubble — new and exclusive private apartments, called mansion. Many danchi are owned by large corporations, who encourage employees to live alongside their colleagues, sometimes rent-free, in order to foster a corporate ‘family’ atmosphere.

The rent payment for a danchi is much cheaper than the lease of a mansion or mortgage of a used or new house, but usually the prospective tenant must participate in a lottery in order to be assigned an open apartment. The Japanese housing authority then assigns the tenant. Some danchi are extremely new and modern, but since there is a lottery for assignment and many open apartments in the older danchi, it is a risk to enter public housing.

It seems that the Danchi way of living is starting to recuperate again. The minimalistic living style is attracting Japan’s youngest and trendiest and it won’t be long before you see these grey/beige public housing monuments erected and re-glorified again.

Long regarded as eyesores and monstrosities that blighted the landscape, Japan’s concrete block monolithic public housing estates have started attracted a strong following smitten by what they say is their visual appeal, according to Cyzo (December).

The estates, known across Japan as danchi (which literally means “group areas”), are made in a minimalist style reminiscent of architecture during the Soviet Union’s heyday, but the usually pale cream or gray buildings are starting to attract enough fans that their appeal has spawned an admiration industry.

Symbolizing the new look at danchi is the recently released DVD “Danchi Mania: Danchi Purei Hajime no Ippo (Danchi Mania: Your First Step to Playing With Housing Estates).”

“I’d be delighted if people who don’t have a fascination with danchi picked up a copy of this DVD. There are danchi just about everywhere, but I’d say most people haven’t really taken a close look at them. I’d like people to take a different viewpoint when looking at something in their daily lives and discover just how much fun they can be,” Akira Oyama, maker of the danchi DVD, tells Cyzo.

Danchi first popped up in Tokyo suburbs during the 1950s as large numbers of Japanese deserted the country lifestyles their families had maintained for centuries and flocked to the cities so they could take part in the economic miracle then encompassing the country. Urban population growth skyrocketed and the danchi were a quick, cheap and nasty way to house people in a country then working full throttle to try and catch up with the West.

Oyama’s movie provides information on all sorts of housing estates across Japan, giving them unexplained ratings such as “sexy” “evil” or “upper crust.” Much of the material in his video can also be found on the website he operates, also devoted to public housing estates.

More…