TOKYOMANGO

Get your hand-printed limited edition TokyoMango t-shirt now (2 weeks only)

My friend Ben and I made a test run of TokyoMango t-shirts on Saturday. They're really nice, do you want one? If so, you can buy one here. Below are the details:

- All shirts are 100% cotton.
- Each t-shirt will be hand-silk screened by me and Ben on his Yudu machine. The shirt logo was custom-designed by Ben. Mango design courtesy of my web designer James.
- The Women's tees come in a t-shirt style (pistacio and white) and a spaghetti strap ribbed tank (yellow).
- The Men's tees come in orange and white. In the pic above, Ben is actually accidentally wearing a girl's tee, but you get the idea... the sleeves will be more manly on the one you get.
- You can choose a custom colored tee for $25. Just shoot me an email with your preference after you place the order.
- The sizes tend to run a little big (except for the tanktops). They might shrink in the wash.
- Some of you will receive a free surprise Japanese toy or gadget with your t-shirt! I'm just gonna randomly stick them into bags, so keep an eye out.
- We're taking orders over the next two weeks only, at least for this first printing. They'll ship at the end of those two weeks, when Ben & I will silkscreen them by hand.
- Last day to order is Monday, October 5th.

UPDATE: T-shirts are no longer for sale. Maybe we'll do another round sometime!

New MUJI excavation kit lets you dig out dinosaur bones

Cool! I didn't know MUJI makes toys. This excavation kit was just released by the no-frills clothing company &mdash it's basically a block of sand and stone that has a fake dinosaur bone inside that you have to try to dig out. This is not just a kids' toy, either &mdash the adult who blogged about it on MUJI's web site claims it took about two hours to excavate the remains. Sounds fun!

Excavation kit on muji.net (Thanks, Tamura-san!)

Dancing Hatsune Miku robot with iPhone 3GS for a head

From my BBG post:

The face displayed on the 3GS screen is actually that of Hatsune Miku, the anime girl depiction of a vocaloid software created by Yamaha that continues to be a huge hit among Japanese web geeks. The music she's singing is Levan Polkka, a Finnish folk song. Videos of Hatsune Miku singing Levan Polkka became a huge meme on the web video site Nico Nico Douga, which I wrote an article about in Wired Magazine last year. The scallion-twirling, someone explained to me, is a symbol of dumbness — only a really brainless person would stand there and twirl scallions all day.

via BBG via Pink Tentacle

The Cove, an upcoming documentary about dolphins in Taiji

The Cove, a new documentary on dolphin killings in the Japanese town of Taiji, comes out at the end of August. I personally love dolphins, and I used to enjoy watching them swim at hotels and aquariums in Hawaii when I was a kid. Then again, if I knew the story behind their capture back then, maybe I would have become a dolphin activist too. Some people are opposed to the eating of dolphins. I would never eat a dolphin, but I eat other meat and think that's fine, so I'm not conceptually opposed to people eating stuff they want to eat. I'm not sure how I'll feel after seeing this documentary, but I'll let you guys know.

Interestingly, dolphins were not considered worthy of captivity by humans until the 1960s &mdash that's when the American TV show Flipper came out.

Related story:
Dolphin slaughter: horrible injustice, or just another meal?

(Thanks, Ken!)

Glasses that fog up when you don't blink

Over at BBG, I wrote about these new glasses that force you to blink every five seconds by clouding over if you don't. They're supposed to help people who forget to moisten their eyes when staring at computer screens.

Link

Blue beer from Hokkaido

This blue beer from Hokkaido is a real product. It contains 5% alcohol and spirulina.

Product page via NotCot

CDs catered towards relaxation sessions with dogs and cats

From the company that makes Bowlingual comes a new product on August 26, a pair of CDs called Relaxing with Dogs and Relaxing with Cats. The two contain classical music tracks with beats that match the heartbeat of dogs and cats, respectively &mdash 80-100bpm for dogs, a little higher for cats. How awesome is that? My mom always makes fun of me because I used to play the classical music radio station for Ruby when she was a baby. I don't know if that's the reason, but she is super chill.

via MySpi (Japanese)

Thriller figurines made in honor of MJ's life

This wonderful duo of Michael Jackson figurines a la Thriller were found by @Densho at WonderCon. (At least I think that's what the Spanish says...) The text on the poster reads "King of Pop Forever, 1958-2009." I am not a figurine collector, but if I was, I would totally get these.

When I was in Japan in February doing research for the 2D love story, I talked to several figurine makers and collectors. It's amazing how much detail goes into making them look perfect.

via Paiki.com

Video from Okinawa aquarium with whale sharks

Apparently, this beautiful aquarium tank in Okinawa is the second largest in the world. Whale sharks! Last year I swam with one on Maui.

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (Thanks, Ben!)

Learn Samurai techniques and watch Zatoichi at the Asian Art Museum

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is having what promises to be a fun event on Thursday, August 27, in conjunction with their Samurai exhibit. It's the latest in their Matcha series, and they're going to have a famous samurai swordmaster teaching Iaido. Also, they're showing Zatoichi.

Way of the Sword at the Asian Art Museum

Hamura Saimin, the best noodle place on Kauai

I just got back from Kauai, and ate twice at this restaurant, Hamura Saimin. It was started by an enterprising Japanese wife and husband, and I think it's now run by their daughter. They make saimin, a Hawaiian version of ramen with spam, cabbage, eggs, dumplings, etc. I love how Hawaiian food is a delicious assimilation of the best parts of different cuisine. And yes, I think Spam is delicious, you just can't think about what's in it.

Gadget makes perfect sunny side up eggs in the microwave

Do you suck at making eggs? Some people just do, and that's okay. That's why there's this gadget (or is it just a container?) that helps you make a perfect sunny side up egg. All you have to do is crack the egg into this bowl and stick it in the microwave for 60 seconds. Easy. You do have to know how to crack an egg without breaking it, though.

Skater (Japanese, via Impress Watch)

Related posts:
Breakfast gadget makes eggs three different ways in a microwave
Egg holder protected by armed ceramic soldiers
The perfectly microwaved boiled egg
Egg-shaped digital photo frame

Curumin, a cute Brazilian musician with Japanese roots

Brazil had some of the neatest music clubs I've ever been to, but it was only recently that I learned about Curumin, a Brazilian artist with Spanish and Japanese roots whose real name is Luciano Nakata Albuquerque. He's 32, from Sao Paolo, kinda cute, and I'm loving his CD, which is called Japan Pop Show.

Get Japanpopshow on Amazon

Curumin's home page (Thanks, Mai!)

Related stories:
10 reasons why Japanese people should emigrate to Brazil
A quick photo tour of Sao Paolo's Japanese district
Brazilian soccer, the predecessor to J-League
Where's Lisa? I'm in Sao Paolo looking for LoveFoxxx

Artsy video shows a designer and his beautiful colored pencils

This lovely video, aptly titled "White Box," shows a designer contemplating his colored pencils and a simple white box on his drafting table. This was actually created by director Makoto Yabuki for architecture firm Sturdy Style.

And if you liked this, or even if you didn't, you should watch Right Place, a short film about an OCD combini man, and Cornelius' awesome music video for Fit.

via NotCot

I'm not here, but there will be blog posts.

Hey guys, I'm off to Kauai for a few days with no access to the Internet. I have some posts saved to publish while I'm gone, so check back for random TokyoMango tidbits even while I'm gone. If you send me an email or leave a comment, I promise I will read it when I get back on Wednesday morning. Aloha!

Hello Kitty Stormtrooper

Did you see this picture of a Hello Kitty Stormtrooper on Boing Boing? Apparently it's hanging out at Comic-Con, which is taking place right now in San Deigo. Wow.

Children Full of Life, a moving documentary about kids sharing emotions in school

My friend Alyssa sent me a link to a 2003 documentary called Children Full of Life, now viewable in its entirety on YouTube (also embedded in this post). The film features a very unique 4th grade class in Kanazawa, where the teacher encourages students to keep journals, read them out loud in class, and then share deep, ordinarily inaccessible emotions with the rest of the students. For example, in the first section, they talk about death. Most teachers would shy away from talking about such subjects in class &mdash they might deem it inappropriate, or opt to spend the time doing other stuff, or maybe it's just not customary to talk openly about such deep emotions in school. I certainly don't know that many classrooms, even in the US, where this is actively encouraged. But this teacher, one Mr. Kanamori, tells the children that their primary goal is to be happy, and that sharing feelings is part of the path to happiness.

Toy pot sticker maker from Bandai goes on sale Saturday

On Saturday, Bandai will release a new culinary toy. It's a pot sticker maker &mdash all you have to do is stick the ingredients in a little box and lay the skin flat in between the two rollers, then turn the lever for a perfectly wrapped gyoza.

Press release (Japanese)

Related stories:
New Bandai somen toy is a giant slide for noodles
Toy sushi maker for creative sushi parties

Photos from Wednesday's lunar eclipse

The Mainichi has a lovely photo gallery from the lunar eclipse seen in Japan on Wednesday.

My NYT Magazine article on 2D Love is online!

My New York Times Magazine story about guys who are in love with anime characters is online. The main protagonist is Nisan, a thirty-something year old man who has a body pillow girlfriend named Nemutan. This is a photo I took of Nisan and Nemutan during our interview, at his favorite salad bar in Hachioji. Read it here, or buy the print version of the NYT Magazine this coming Sunday to read it on paper.

Love in 2D [New York Times Magazine]

Octogenarian marathoner retires

Hats off to Keizo Yamada, the 81 year old "Iron Man" of Japan, who is retiring this year after running three marathons this year, not to mention having represented Japan in the 1952 Olympics and winning the Boston Marathon in 1953. According to Reuters, he's a pioneer in Japanese marathon running &mdash not many people actually ran for fun or health before he did.

I started running this year too. I'm signed up for a half marathon in mid-October. I've been writing about my running progress on Boing Boing Gadgets, if you're interested.

via Reuters

Antique world map from Japan, circa 1850

A world map hand-drawn in Japan circa 1850, two years after the Meiji Revolution opened the nation's closed doors to the world.

Link

Review: Japantown obento

I ate a bento from Japantown the other day. Not bad. Presentation is pretty. The hamburger and egg were really good. The veggies, not so much.

Harry Potter fangirl's hilarious interviews with Ron and Harry

A popular variety TV show called Sanma no Karakuri TV had a contest where 10,000 Japanese Harry Potter fans competed for a chance to fly to the UK, visit the set of the HP movies, and interview Ron and Harry. The winner was a high school girl named Kana Matsuda. Here's a hilarious clip of her interviewing Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley. Watch it! It has subtitles. I'm personally a bigger fan of Ron than Harry, but if you want to watch the video of her interviewing Daniel Radcliffe, it's here.

I just watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the theater on Friday, btw. It was fun!

via Japan Probe

Pyramid-shaped watermelon for sale for $500

If you're hungry for watermelon and very very rich, you might consider buying this pyramid-shaped watermelon, grown by a farmer in Hokkaido, for 52,500 yen. That's just over $500. The farmer attained this shape by putting the watermelon in a pyramid-shaped plastic casing and hanging it upside down. There are sixteen of them for sale now.

Link

Bandai to release real Doraemon robot toy in September

Great news. On September 3, Bandai is releasing a new toy called My Doraemon &mdash it's a real Doraemon-shaped robot that has motion, light, heat, and sound sensors that let it react to its environment and say Doraemon-esque phrases according to the situation it's in. The toy does not have a real four-dimensional pocket that can spew out toys that will let you travel through time and space, make people fall in love with you, or chase bullies away, but just having this wonderful legendary companion bot in your house is just pure awesomeness.

via Impress Watch (Japanese)

Related posts:
Roundup of Doraemon gadgets on BBG
Doraemon voice-activated air pistol remote control
If Doraemon was a real cat...
Doraemon Japanese history board game
Takecopter tour with Doraemon

Hula Girls, a wonderful movie about Hawaiian dance in a 60s coal mining town

Last night, I finally watched Hula Girls, the 2006 film about a coal mining town in northern Japan that won a bunch of awards and was a big hit in film festival circuits a couple years ago. It's about a coal mining town in northern Japan where nothing ever changes &mdash until one day, the owner of the mine announces that he has to fire 2000 people because people are starting to rely on oil, not coal. Instead, the town has decided to open a Hawaiian-themed entertainment resort, and as part of that effort, the project manager recruits a hula teacher from Tokyo to teach some of the coal miners' daughters how to wear bikinis and shake their hips and dance. A lot of interesting issues are addressed in the film, which is based in 1960s &mdash old Japan vs new, changing views of women and work, stigmas about sexiness, etc. But it's a fun, feel-good movie (like Honey and Clover and Tampopo).

Did I tell you it's based on a true story? The Hawaiian resort really exists in Iwaki City, and has since 1966. It's released in the US by Viz Pictures with subtitles. Highly recommended!

Hula Girls on Amazon

Dashi is the secret to Japanese cooking, but Safeway doesn't know it

Contrary to popular stereotypes, the most important staple secret ingredient in a Japanese kitchen is not soy sauce. It is dashi, or bonito fish broth. Apparently, most mainstream American supermarkets have not caught onto this important distinction. I was at Lucky supermarket during lunch today buying groceries and thinking that surely a modern grocery in the diverse city of San Francisco would have dashi, but was surprised to find that their "Asian Foods" section had a dozen different brands of soy sauce and not a single box of dashi.

When I got home, I called the neighborhood Safeway to try my luck there.

Me: Hi, do you sell dashi? You know, bonito fish broth.
Safeway lady: Excuse me?
Me: It's a staple in any Japanese kitchen.
Safeway: Hold on, let me get someone to help you with that.
(She puts me on hold forever. I get sick of waiting and hang up.)

Interesting... I guess I have to go to Japantown to get some.

Piggy bank features dog that happily laps up your money

At the Tokyo Toy Show this past weekend, Japanese company Happinet introduced this funny little piggy bank featuring a happy dog standing in front of a bowl. When you put a 500 yen coin in the bowl, the dog starts lapping at it furiously, tapping the bowl progressively until the coin drops into the base. Super entertaining, which makes it a good way to save money since you have to pay up to watch him in action.

via Impress Watch (Japanese)

Japanese spiderman TV show circa 1978

The opening song to the Spiderman TV series in Japan, circa 1978.

By the way, you should check out Gizmodo '79 &mdash it's an awesome series of posts celebrating gadgets and the 70s. That's where I found this video.

Link

Designer Issey Miyake shares his experience as an atomic bomb survivor

Fashion designer Issey Miyake wrote an amazing op-ed in Monday's New York Times about having survived Hiroshima. I did not know he was a nuclear bomb survivor &mdash I don't think that many did, in fact, he says in his piece that he deliberately buried this part of his past because he didn't want to be remembered as the designer who survived the atomic bomb. He finally decided to come out in this op-ed to encourage President Obama to follow through on his pledge to rid the world of nuclear weapons:

I have never chosen to share my memories or thoughts of that day. I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put them behind me, preferring to think of things that can be created, not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy. I gravitated toward the field of clothing design, partly because it is a creative format that is modern and optimistic.

Link (Thanks, Gen!)

Reader photo: pink-faced snow monkeys

Reader Natalie Buxton took this photo of monkeys playing in the snow in Nagano. It's getting really hot in Tokyo and much of the rest of the world right about now &mdash hopefully this pic will help some of us cool off.

Barefoot Gen, a shocking manga about the atomic bomb

On my nightstand right now: Barefoot Gen, Vol. 1: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima. It's a manga that is famous in Japan for being heart-wrenchingly sad and true. In it, author Keiji Nakazawa tells the story of Gen, a boy who survived the atomic bomb. I am still only halfway through the first volume, and the bomb has not dropped yet, but it's about to. Even the author's foreword is a total tear-jerker &mdash he tells the story of how he survived the bomb with his mom, who was pregnant and had to watch her husband and other child burn to death because she didn't have the strength to remove the debris that was burying them.

Barefoot Gen was actually one of the first manga to ever be published in English &mdash a group of volunteers who called themselves Project Gen took it upon themselves to translate several volumes (there are ten total) in the 70s. Currently, there are eight volumes available in English through Last Gasp. I am looking forward to reading all of them because this is one of those manga that I never read as a kid, but have always wanted to.

Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa

Order spider pizza in Okinawa

Spider pizza was featured on a Japanese TV show recently &mdash it's a real dish that you can order at a pizzeria in Okinawa, owned by the guy who runs an association that promotes insect-eating. I bet if you can get over your arachnophobia it's crunchy and delicious. He makes beetle pizza, too.

via Japan Probe

AFP story claims Japan is "getting its mojo back" through marriage parties

The AFP has a story about Japan's new marriage craze, whereby young unmarried people flock konkatsu parties and search for viable partners. The story's headline is: Fad or Crisis: Japan's 'marriage hunting' craze. I'm sure the facts in the story are true, but this is kind of like if a very credible Japanese news organization did a huge story about single Americans speed dating or bachelorettes going to male strip clubs and calling it some kind of meta crisis that is plaguing American society. Women have ticking biological clocks everywhere &mdash why is it that when it becomes a Japan story all of a sudden it becomes framed as a giant cultural phenomenon brought on by strained social lives, busy work hours, and an entire nation "getting its mojo back"?

(Thanks, Walter!)

Urawaza at my neighborhood travel store

I was at the lovely Get Lost travel bookstore on Market Street in San Francisco just now looking at travel books, and was pleasantly surprised by Urawaza being displayed right by the cash register. By the way, if you've been reading this blog for awhile and you still don't own the book, you should maybe get a copy. It's a great time suck if you need an easy read on a beach vacation.

Urawaza, my Japanese tips and tricks book, on Amazon

Bowlingual Voice, a digital gadget that lets dogs communicate with owners

Several years ago, a doggie gadget called the Bowlingual made waves in Japan after claiming it could translate what your dog was saying every time she barked. Now, Takara Tomy is coming out with a newer version called Bowlingual Voice. There are several key differences between Voice and its predecessor. First of all, Voice is digital &mdash the original Bowlingual was analog. Voice also has a new and improved translation mechanism that has honed its understanding of doggie language to an even sharper point, and thus facilitates real-time two-way conversations between dog and owner.

Bowlingual Voice goes on sale on August 27th, in Japan only, for $200.

Press release (Japanese, via Impress Watch)

Learn to speak English with Barack Obama's speeches

My mom tells me that one of the most popular English-language learning books on the market right now is this "Speeches of Barack Obama" booklet set, which includes a page-by-page translation of Obama's iconic speeches throughout the years &mdash his keynote at the Democratic National Congress in 2004, his battles at the primaries, and his acceptance speech among them. The booklet also includes a CD of the actual speeches by the president. At 1000 yen ($10), it's way cheaper than enrolling in an English lesson taught by amateurs at Gaba, and who better to learn how to speak English than the president in all his motivational oratory glory! Also worth noting that the publisher, Asahi Press, didn't have to pay anybody for the rights to his speeches nor to write original content, so this is just a huge profit-making venture.

Bullet train lunch kit lets you build tracks, eat off moving train

The remote-controlled shinkansen (bullet train) Sushi-Go-Round restaurant kit is awesome for several reasons.

1. It's a kit that comes with its own train tracks, so you can build your own route on the table.
2. The bullet train itself is two plate-sized sushi trays.
3. It comes with a remote control that looks vaguely like a control panel for a real bullet train; a forward and back lever, plus four buttons that make real bullet train noises alerting passengers of an oncoming or departing train.
4. The kit comes with chopsticks and fake sushi, so you can use it as a tool to teach kids how to properly use chopsticks and eat fake sushi.
5. It's cute! (Most important aspect of anything Japanese!)

Buy it for $66 on Strap-Ya

Video: giant Gundam rehearses for his big launch day

Last night, the Gizmodo Japan staff caught giant Gundam in the midst of rehearsing his big launch, which will take place later today. You can see how big he is here, and you also get to hear him speak.

Link (Thanks, Hitoshi!)

Man and two sons to face trial for stealing 323 rice cookers

A 43-year old dad and his two sons, 20 and 17, are about to see their day in court for stealing 323 rice cookers, 70 electric screwdrivers, 56 electric drills, and 39 TVs from hardware and electronic superstores in and around Saitama Prefecture, just outside Tokyo, since July of 2008. They pawned most of their stolen goods and used the money for food, rent, and gambling.

Link

Kimiko Yoshida's amazingly artsy self portraits

If you liked Kimiko Yoshida's amazing photographs of herself dressed up as futuristic brides, make sure you check out her other self-portraits, too. LifeLounge calls it "narcissism at its best" &mdash I'm gonna have to agree.

Kimiko Yoshida's main page

Sixth volume of Tezuka's Black Jack to publish this month

On July 28th, Vertical Inc will release volume six of Black Jack, the amazing manga about a mercenary genius doctor by Osamu Tezuka. I just got my preview copy, and it's awesome.

Black Jack, Vol. 6 by Osamu Tezuka (If you want the entire collection, you can already buy Vol 1-5 and pre-order 6-8.)

Related stories:
Black Jack on MangoBot
Tezuka's Phoenix now available on DS
60s SciFi anime by Osamu Tezuka

NYT article on Tokyo capsule apartments highlights problem of architectural preservation

The NY Times has a great article with pics about the imminent destruction of Nakagin Capsule Tower, a rare survivor from Tokyo's Metabolist architectural era of the 1970s. The tower, created by architect Kisho Kurokawa, is full of apartment units that are actually factory-made capsules with compact built-in furniture and a giant porthole that, for many residents, faces a busy highway. The writer offers this explanation as to why there isn't a bigger movement to preserve this unique building:

all over the world, postwar architecture is still treated with a measure of suspicion by the cultural mainstream, which often associates it with brutal city housing developments or clinical office blocks. Partly, too, it has to do with the nature of housing blocks in general. They are not sexy investments; they do not feed an investor’s vanity or offer the cultural prestige that owning a landmark house does.

Link

Railway company to require employees to pass a smile test

The Telegraph reports that workers on the Keihin Electric Express Railway will soon be required to monitor their smiles using a smile scan software made by Omron. Basically, the company wants all their employees to look cheery on the job, so it's going to take photos of them, rate their smile on a scale of zero to 100, and then show messages of encouragement on the company computer screen so they are reminded of what they should be doing better.

I know this might sound horrific to some people, but I think it's okay. Japan is big on customer satisfaction, and if a simple added gesture can make customers feel better about a company's service, then it's probably worth it. (A cab company called MK Taxi provides super-polite white-gloved drivers that open doors for you &mdash and I always feel like I've lucked out when I hail one.)

Also, smiling is something that the Japanese have been working on for awhile now, and there are even gadgets to help with it, like the oral grip machine and the Beauty Smile Trainer.

Link (Thanks, @Brainopera!)

Sega Toys to release super-realistic Norwegian forest cat robot soon

On July 30, Sega Toys will release the newest of its uber-realistic robotic animal series. It's made to look, feel, and act just like a Norwegian Forest Cat. It runs on four AAs and will retail for about $100. Perfect for cat lovers with allergies or pet-unfriendly apartments!

Press release (Japanese)

Takeru Kobayashi shows off his belly full of hot dogs

The annual Coney Island hot dog eating contest was this past weekend. Once again, the two frontrunners were American Joey Chestnut and Japan's Takeru Kobayashi &mdash Kobayashi had six victories under his belt before declaring he had jaw arthritis and then tying with Chestnut last year. Chestnut beat him this year with 68 v. 64.5 hot dogs in ten minutes. Yeah, gross.

Anyway, this photo proves that, even after all that eating, Kobayashi's belly is still not that huge.

Link

CNN discovers love hotels

Check out this CNN report on love hotels &mdash apparently, love and sex are recession-proof. Good to know.

To learn more about love hotels, check out these books:
Love Hotels: An Inside Look at Japan's Sexual Playgrounds by Ed Jacob
Love Hotels: The Hidden Fantasy Rooms of Japan by Misty Keasler

Link

Beautiful fruit-shaped designer sticky notes

I love these sticky notes shaped like fruits. They are called kudamemo (kudamono = fruit in Japanese, plus memo) and you can buy them individually or in crates of six. They're so pretty!

D-Bros via Moco Loco

Cool new concept for bicycle pit stops

Check out this ingenious concept for bicycle pit stop areas by Tokyo's Store Muu Design Studio. Basically, anybody riding a bike could just ride straight into one of these tables, which locks the front wheel and provides them with an instant table to rest or snack on. The cyclist can stay on his/her seat and just have a regular seated meal. Japan has tons of bicycles, and parking them has become harder and harder as the crackdown on randomly parked bicycles continues. So this is a great solution for those who need to stop for a bite but don't want to get their bikes confiscated. I can totally see a fast food chain or restaurant wanting to install these, but I can also see it causing huge clusterfucks on sidewalks and promptly being banned.

via Shibuya246

Related stories:
Bicycle rule crackdown!
Video: the hen that rides a bicycle
Giant subterranean bicycle parking lot
Gallery of pimped out dekochari bicycles

Foot pee! pack smoothes out callouses

This is not the first time I've seen urine-based beauty products in Japan, but calling something a Foot Pee! Pack takes it to a whole new level.

via Tokyo Times