TOKYOMANGO

Simpson Motorcycle Helmet Mouse

This miniature Simpson motorcycle helmet is actually a mouse. It comes in some super cute colors like red, yellow, pearly silver, and black.

Product page (Japanese)

Miyashita Park and the Homeless in Tokyo

A new BoingBoing TV video brought back memories of a playground I used to frequent in Tokyo called Miyashita Park. It was a mile-long strip of gravel along the Yamanote Line between Shibuya and Harajuku which featured some scant playground equipment and a dried up pond. As a teenager, I got high for the first time on the Miyashita swings; that was also where we ended up with liquor store-bought cocktails on warm summer nights.

The park had a weird mix of couples making out, homeless people living peacefully under blue construction tarps, cops doing their early morning training drills, and kids like us just screwing around. I was always curious about the homeless people—they seemed to have a nice little life set up there, with makeshift kitchens on tree stumps and blankets set up like beds and water from the public toilet to wash their clothes in. The homeless in Japan never beg for money or food—they just make do with what they have, and then scrounge through trash when people aren't looking.

In a college creative writing class, I wrote a story featuring a bum from Miyashita and the sage advice he gave my friend Ben in exchange for a cheeseburger at the nearby McDonalds. So it was nice to see this video—it brought back memories. The video was shot in 2006, and they have since cleaned up Miyashita Park—repaved the streets, kicked out the bums, removed the blue tarps. I wonder where those guys went. Anyone know?

Update: A reader just wrote in saying he walked by there yesterday, and there were still a lot of homeless people living there peacefully.

Glimpses of Elderly Porn Master, Courtesy of CNN

Last week, I blogged about Shigeo Tokuda, currently the most popular porn star in Japan. Here you can see glimpses of his magic. Um, yeah. He's 74. So what?

Oh, and this video also provides the quote of the day: "Ruby specializes in elderly porn!"
If you've followed this blog long enough, you know that my dog is named Ruby, and that she likes elderly porn. Really.

 

Hello Kitty Biker Outfit and Contact Lenses

 

OMG, yuck. Why?  

Origami Infiltrates High-End Fashion

I had no idea that the traditional Japanese paper-folding craft of origami had become such a huge global fashion trend. The Origami Blog showcases all different kinds of ways in which origami is infiltrating our aesthetic, from the leather Chloe clutch shown above to bookshelves to type fonts to haute couture fashion.