Once Upon a Tokyo

Hotaru means Firefly

Check out how I learned a new word.

It's from a site named Hotaru.

(After the message, you can click on the top link and write your own message.)

Hello, Insides!

Perhaps just in time for Halloween, there's a new Hello Kitty design. This time featuring a special cutaway scene for you to learn your Hello Anatomy.

 

It's a new line from Medicom Toy, whose website is a who's who of Japanese pop culture toys.

more Japanese inventiveness

when walking down the hallway is too much--- there's the Honda U3-X, now under development/concept as a "personal mobility unit." Apparently, it has the latest in "balancing technology" and can shift/adjust according to slight changes in weight and leaning.

Random Stuff as We Wait Thru the Week

The busy-ness of the week continues, and as the deadline of the Fall Play performance, it's likely only to get worse! But as I'm trying to continue to keep up with Da Blog as much as possible, let me use bullet points:

• Students in a private high school in Japan are not used to standardized testing-- it took over 25 minutes for some to fill in a PSAT form, often because they had to learn how to bubble in their names, etc.
• In conjunction with above: Students in a private high school in Japan do not know their own address.
• Irrelevant to the above: Students in a private high school in Japan do not know what the acronym "PB & J" stands for. Of those, only a fraction knew what a "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" is.
• The weekend after a typhoon has beautiful weather in which to go camping.
• When looking for a beach to camp on, the big six-foot sign that says "no camping" is really more of a suggestion.
• Don't bring bananas on a camping trip in Japan-- they're too ripe to hold up to the rigor.
• S'mores ingredients are very expensive once you actually find them, but they taste as amazing as your remember as a kid. 

'Bout time clothes did more than just look good

Here's an odd scoop. Apparently someone in Japan has made a suit that will fight off the flu. I guess you could say it's "bug repellent?" Full story at the Telegraph.

"You're going to like the way you heal. I guarantee it."

Yeah, I have no idea what this is about

It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time

During World War II, the Americans came up with a great idea-- put tiny time bombs on dozens and dozens of bats, put 'em all in a big bomb, and toss it out over Japan. Bats, after all, fly quietly, operate at night, carry heavy weight, and nest in eaves and rafters. They even spent $2 million dollars on developing it. Of course, at the same time, there were some nuclear scientists developing an atomic bomb, and we all know how that turned out.

(Wikipedia is your friend.)

"But he wasn't as tall, obviously."

Yesterday was Sunday, and on the metro on my way home from church, I saw my dad's Japanese twin. Yes, it was a guy on the other end of the train car that looked EXACTLY like my dad would look if he were a Japanese man. It definitely was the beard above all-- salt and pepper but neatly trimmed and low but neatly tracing the outlines of his face-- and the more roundish glasses. He was wearing a casual yukata (traditional Japanese male kimono) which my dad really doesn't wear, but he did have one of those circular straw hats that I associate with carnival barkers and/or the 1920s, which I could totally see my dad wearing. Seriously, I was going to ask to take the guys' picture he looked like him so much, but he got off at the very next station. Weird.

In other news, I feel bad about my post that kind of made light of the fact that manga artist Yoshito Usui was lost after hiking alone. His body was found, the apparent victim of a fall into a ravine. Many people are upset that we've lost a funny and creative man. Full story here.

Japan: Keepin' It Classy

And now in the sarcastically-named "Keepin' It Classy" column, there's this:
the KISSCOMI application for the iPhone.

Yes, it's an application that will display various manga girls (and in other apps, actual photos) which you **actually kiss** by pressing your lips to your iPhone!

You will then be rated and scored. And encouraged to kiss some more.

To be really creeped out, visit the official website. Or don't. It's probably best if you don't. The application is, after all, rated "9+" for "infrequent/mild mature/suggestive themes."
Pucker up!

What's new at Tokyu Hands

Got purposefully lost in Shinjuku this weekend, both just to enjoy the Big City and also to seek out potential props and set dressings for the Fall Play. Shinjuku is great because there is both a four-story tall art supply store called Sekaido and, of course, Tokyu Hands.

Ah, Tokyu Hands. A giant 6-story department store for hobbies, sundries, and crazy crap.

Case in point: Dog Milk

No, it's not what you think. (You were thinking that, weren't you?) This is a special dry milk that you can mix for your dog. Because you wouldn't want your dog drinking from another species' milk, would you? That would be gross.

Or maybe you can steam it and mix it with your special Doggie Latte, I'm not sure about that part.