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Cell phone company NTT DoCoMo is collaborating with McDonald's to promote the use of "osaifu keitai" to buy Chicken McNuggets and Hot Apple Pies. What this means is that we'll be seeing a lot of cross-pollinated promotional campaigns on the streets, as well as more young people scanning their cell phones at McDonald's counters to pay for their junk food fixes.
Japan's armed forces have come a long way since the Imperial Army days so aptly portrayed in Letters From Iwo Jima. No more kamikaze suicide fighters, no more scary, serious, nationalistic fervor. Cuteness has extended beyond the streets of Tokyo to the war zones in Iraq in the form of a little mascot named Prince Pickles.
In this symbolic official cartoon from the Defense Ministry, Pickles is tugging charmingly on the sleeve of an Iraqi official. I'm not exactly sure why, but my guess is that he's either asking him if he could bring him some tea, or recruiting him for a game of hopscotch.
"Prince Pickles is our image character because he's very endearing, which is what Japan's military stands for," a Defense Ministry official told the Japan Times. Not exactly what you expect to hear from one of the world's superpowers, but then again, we are in the age of American hegemony, and Japan is arguably its most loyal pet. And pets are supposed to be endearing and cute.
We're so averse to light fixtures that aren't covered that we completely overlook the beauty of a light raw light bulb. Here's a cool design concept from product design company 100%: a deliberately bare light bulb lamp that celebrates the smooth curves of Edison's greatest invention. If you unscrew it, it actually looks like a Siamese twin bulb, with two bases and one head. More pics after the jump.
Ever since the subway-gassing Aum cult lost its dear charismatic leader to death row, there's been a split in those remaining. Some wanted to retain reverence for Shoko Asahara, focusing on mantras and religious teachings and 101 ways to kill off the population, while others wanted to get rid of holy names, throw out anything resembling their leader, and think of 102 ways to kill of the population. The latter is led by the super-smart, super-scary, loved-by-the-teeny-bopper-girls ex-spokesman for Aum Shinrikyo, 44-year old Fumihiro Joyu.
Anyway, an "insider" just announced that Joyu is leaving Aum--which, by the way, is now called Aleph--and starting his own spin-off cult with about 60 others. It'll be fun to see what kind of trouble they cause. Maybe we can throw in them in the middle of the yakuza war and watch them all rumble.
Shinzo Abe's not doing so hot. The disapproval rate for his regime is at 41% right now, compared to a 36% support rate. He's several percentage points less popular than he was in January, in part because of his decision to keep Hakuo "Women-are-baby-making-machines" Yanagisawa on staff even after he revealed himself to be a total sexist pig.
Let's see what fancy political stunt he tries to pull next to gain some fans back. I don't think he can pull of an Elvis impersonation, but maybe he could try to embody someone a little less cool but still well-known, like Meatloaf.
In 2008, Chronicle published my book: Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan.
I am also the founder of The Tofu Project, a boutique program that helps Japanese entrepreneurs and creators think deeper, tell better stories, and go out into the world in a much bigger way. We work with companies like Mixi, Japan Airlines, and Salesforce.com.
Sometimes I try to explain Japanese culture on CNN, BBC, CBC, WSJ, ABC (so many acronyms!) or in person at places like the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, ETech, and Ignite!
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