TOKYOMANGO

Foreign minister shows off non-existent nuclear power.

Like most alpha males, Taro Aso feels the need to show off his power--especially after his sweeping defeat in the prime ministerial elections in September. So now the foreign minister is strutting around in parliamentary committee meetings, telling people that Japan has the capability to produce nuclear weapons. "But we are not saying we have plans to possess (them)," he adds.

It's kind of like when boys on the playground say, "I can kick your ass in hopscotch...but I won't because I'm nice!" or when the editors at work say, "I can kick your ass in Fight Night....but I have better things to do, like copyfit a feature."

Boys will always be boys.

Full story here.

Vagina book is the new Akiba bestseller.

You just never know what Akiba geeks will get obsessed with next. First it's robots. Then it's Gundam. Then it's PDAs. Now it's medical books about female genitalia. That's right, the newest craze is over a book called "A Guide to Pain and the Female Reproductive System," which, on the streets, is simply referred to as "the vagina book."

Why a bunch of nerdy guys who have probably never touched a woman--never mind experienced reproductive pain--would be placing orders at geeky Akiba bookstores for the already-sold-out, 12-page, 1,900 yen medical guide book is totally beyond me.

"We started selling it in September and news spread over the web, which sent sales skyrocketing. Salarymen in their 20s and 30s are buying most of the copies. But I still have absolutely no idea why it's selling so well," says a bookstore keeper.

One brave 30-something year old salaryman shared his thoughts with us. He says:

I thought I'd buy it to give me some help seducing any women I could bring back to my home.

IF you ever bring a woman home, that is. Good luck to you Mr. Salaryman.

Full story here.

Abe meets Bono and tries on his shades.

Nah...they look better on Bono. But at least the attempt impressed the singer, who said:

George Bush never put them on. The last Pope, John Paul, he put them on, and Prime Minister Abe. Very cool.

Bono and Japan's new prime minister met to discuss the alleviation of poverty this week in Tokyo while U2 was on tour there.

Story here.

Little Black Sambo cell phone strap

The Story of Little Black Sambo was every Japanese kid's favorite bedtime story until it was removed from the shelves in the late 80s, presumably because it was racist. The book was written by a Scotswoman living in colonial India in 1899 and illustrated by an Austrian years later.

Little Black Sambo was about a little African boy who chased a tiger around a tree until the tiger was running so fast he melted into butter. Then the boy used the butter to put on his favorite food--pancakes!

I don't remember the book word for word, so I can't tell you whether I believe the book was really racist or not. The main character is a black African boy with bright red puckered lips. But for Japanese kids to love the book, I don't think it really mattered what color the kid's skin was. On the other hand, while there aren't that many black kids living in Japan, I'm sure the few who did were frequently taunted for resembling the famous character and for turning tigers into butter.

You can now buy replicas of this controversial children's book character as a cell phone strap here.

Girl with very hairy fake eyelashes.

This is not a cut from an audition tape for The Ring. Blogger Geisha Asobi was just fucking around after a haircut, and decided to make several strands into fake eyelashes. They fall off a few seconds later, but homegirl didn't grow 5 years worth of hair only to have it cut off and discarded like a heap of trash. Here are some more pics of her having fun with it.

[via Boing Boing]