TOKYOMANGO

CELE-BICH: A New Magazine For Celebrity Bitches?

There's a new magazine in Japan called CELE-BICH. Is it a magazine for bitchy celebrities?

Not quite. The words "Celeb" and "Bitch" have slightly different connotations in Japan. The Japanese interpretation of "Celeb" has expanded over the years to refer to a woman who is simply rich and/or wears brand-name apparel and leads an elegant, upper-class lifestyle. "Bitch," meanwhile, refers more to a loose, slutty woman than to "a malicious, unpleasant and selfish woman" as it's more commonly used in the Western world (though it's certainly a versatile word that's used in many different ways).

The publisher reportedly considered a concept surrounding the new "koakuma" (little devil) craze, in which women have embraced an unabashedly deceptive and manipulative approach to winning the hearts of men, as opposed to being innocent and angelic. The problem was, there was already a magazine catering to this market, called Koakuma Ageha. So they decided to create a magazine that can appeal to a wider demographic, "from adults to teens, rich to poor," and came up with---Cele-bich. Because, in the words of the publisher, sometimes celebs want to be bitches, and bitches want to be celebs.

Lots of Sexy Korean Sculptures

Who knew that our neighbors in South Korea had such a vivid imagination when it came to sculptures? Does anyone know what that sign above says? I think there's an English translation below it but I can't really see.

Buddhist Monks Rap to Win Back Believers

Japanese Buddhism these days has been called "funeral Buddhism" because, although 3/4 of the population is registered as Buddhist, people only go to the temples when someone dies. That's why the head monk at Tsukiji Honganji temple in Tokyo decided to hold a fashion/hip hop event last week. Titled the "Tokyo Bouz Collection," the event featured 40 monks and nuns from eight major Buddhist sects blinged out in gold embroidered robes performing a rap version of a Budddhist sutra. They strutted the runway while chanting prayers and throwing confetti that looked like lotus petals.

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The Figurine That Poses Like A Woman

Figurine-lovers had something to be extra excited about in 2007—this year marked the debut of the Revoltech line of female toys that can bend and pose like a girly girl. By modifying the limb structures of standard, ordinarily-robotic figurines, the company is quickly developing low-cost, high-output girly figurine collectibles so that anime-obsessed otaku have yet another inanimate object genre to ogle over.

The one pictured above if Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion. You can buy it here (Japan only).

Hello Kitty Gear for Dudes!

I'm serious. Sanrio Co. is coming out with a brand new men's line this winter, featuring manly products like the ones above. Sure, a cuddly kitty with a ribbon is manly....as long as it's printed on a black shirt or its mouthless face is obscured with bubble letters. I'm sure Sanrio, being the marketing geniuses they are, did their research and there's a huge demand for this stuff. Just not among any of the dudes I know.

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