TOKYOMANGO

Cute Japanese Movie of the Month: Honey and Clover

On the plane ride home from Rio, I watched this really cute movie called Honey and Clover. It's the first live action adaptation of a popular manga about a group of art students training under a guy named Hanamoto. One day, Hanamoto introduces his cousin's daughter, Hagu, to the group. She's a super cute, talented artist and all the guys instantly fall in love with her. The story unfolds at a mellow but highly entertaining pace—it really does feel like you're flipping through the pages of a well-scripted manga. But it's not annoyingly girly or overly artsy at all—there's a certain innocence to it that even my gadget-loving boyfriend thoroughly enjoyed. (He won't admit it now, but I overheard him telling my dog that he discovered a new movie that he really liked called Honey and Clover.)

Honey and Clover is available on DVD and sometimes shows in theaters. Check out the web site for more deets.

My Mini-Collection of Old School Japanese Toys and Candy

Last time I was in Japan, I found this old school candy and toy store in Odaiba. It was in one of those new mega complexes, but their shelves were stocked with traditional toys and masks and dagashi—dirt cheap candy ranging from little Cola-flavored drops to pork cutlet-flavored strips of mystery meat. Here are some of the things I picked up, all for under $1:

A plastic-and-styrofoam airplane. Is it just me or does it look like a kamikaze pilot plane? These were probably made in the immediate post-war and I remember seeing them when I was a kid.

Man Arrested for Spraying Teenage Girls with Soy Sauce

A 22-year old weirdo named Kenichi Ogawa was arrested today for squirting soy sauce on high school girls with a water pistol. His reason? He was stressed out, he says. We don't know a whole lot more at this time, but we do know that the guy got on his motorcycle in the late afternoon, rolled up next to a 17-year old girl who was on her way home from school, and pelleted her back with soy spray before getting caught.

Link

10 Reasons Why Japanese People Should Emigrate to Brazil

I'm back home after a week in South America. What did I think? I think all Japanese should become Japanese-Brazilians. Here are 10 reasons why (in no particular order):

1. The sunset in Rio kicks the sunset in Tokyo's ass.

2. Brazil has some of the coolest night clubs in the world. This one, called Rio Scenarium, is a giant three-story building on the oldest residential street in Rio. It's filled with antiques, giant comfy couches, live music, and porcelain dolls.

Dentsu, Japan's Biggest Ad Agency

Dentsu is Japan's biggest advertising agency. In fact, it's one of the biggest in the whole world. It was started in 1901 and has 15,000+ employees who work in the 11th tallest building in Tokyo, the Dentsu Building, in Minato-ku. It has a lot of history—the first ever newspaper advertisements and TV commercials in Japan were all produced here.

I've only been there once, to interview someone for a Wired,com story about 2-channel. The reception looked like an alien landing gate; the rest of the office was pretty normal.

Japanese ads are awesome. A lot of them feature catchy tunes that people all over the country sing when they get drunk. I'll dig up some YouTube vids and post them a little later.