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!

Photo of a boy pulling a rickshaw in 1980s Tokyo

John O'Leary, a science teacher at my high school in Tokyo, took this amazing photograph of a boy running with a rickshaw at a school event circa 1980s.

New leading party may provide cash incentive to people raising kids

The Democratic Party, which takes power soon, is proposing to give Japanese families $300 per month per child through junior high school to help combat the aging shrinking population problem:

The DPJ is promising Japan's 100 million voters it will grab money away from bureaucrats and redistribute it to them. Topping their woo-list is a pledge to pay a $300 benefit per child per month to families. Another $10 billion dollars in subsidies will go to the nation's farmers. Other sugarcoated policies include the abolition of expressway road tolls and the removal of a gasoline tax used to fund new highway construction.

Link (Thanks, Alyssa!)

Five facts about the prime minister-to-be Yukio Hatoyama

Here are five quick facts about Yukio Hatoyama, the guy who will be replacing Taro Aso as prime minister:

1. He's a 4th-generation politician hailing from a family sometimes referred to as the Kennedys of Japan.
2. His maternal grandfather founded and inherited Bridgestone.
3. He has a PhD in managerial engineering from Stanford.
4. The Washington Post describes him as "stiff, shy and very rich."
5. Unlike Taro Aso, he can read and write the Japanese language. We hope.

Related posts:
Aso tells poor young people not to get married
Aso and Obama's cheesy happy handshake photo
Taro "I can't read kanji" Aso publicly proves incompetence in Japanese language
Aso to be featured in erotic video game
Aso depicted as a local hero in Akihabara
Japanese politics: The man who can explain it all and make you laugh

The politics of eating whale meat

There's a good story in The Atlantic about a guy who accidentally ate whale meat in Yurakucho, and the politics of whale meat consumption:

"Is that corned beef?" I asked, dumbfounded because the Japanese are not known for eating the deli-sandwich staple. There was even a dab of Dijon mustard on the plate.

"Try it and guess," replied my coworker Shigeo Asanuma, who goes by the nickname Shiggy.

So I did. The meat was salty and chewy, though a bit tougher than corned beef. There was also a strip of white fat clinging to it. I stuck to my guns--had to be beef.

"Whale," Shiggy said.

Say what?!

"I hope you're not a member of Greenpeace."

Link

Robots rehearse romantic kiss for a musical production

Thomas and Janet are humanoid theatrical robots created at the National Taiwan University of Technology and Science. They're slated to perform in the first robot production of Phantom of the Opera &mdash this is a clip of them rehearsing.

via IEEE Spectrum

Woman killed after warning neighbor about feeding stray cats

A 64-year old woman in Chiba was stabbed to death after warning her neighbor, 70-year old Kiichi Hayashi, against feeding stray cats. Hayashi is being held for murder; this is the humble defense he offered the police:

I got angry when I was warned about the cats.

That's all.
Link

xy4va3es56

Cute mameshiba ads on YouTube

If you haven't seen the series of adorable subtitled mameshiba ads on YouTube, you should check them out now. Or when you're in need of a little cuteness.

Ashtray made out of coffee grinds

What a great idea &mdash an ashtray made out of coffee grinds, created by Ryohei Yoshiyuki. So you don't have to have that stinky stale smell sitting in your living room all day.

via Moco Loco

Traffic patterns on Omotesando boulevard

Why is there so much traffic coming this way and so little traffic going that way?

Picture from a Gundam-themed wedding

Shibuya246 has some great photos of the Gundam-themed wedding that just took place in Odaiba, under the life-sized Gundam statue. The groom dressed up as the protagonist Amuro, and the director of the anime series even showed up to give them a special plaque.

Related stories:
Man burns down house after loss of Gundam toys
Giant Gundam rehearses for his big launch day
Life-sized, moving Gundam on display in Odaiba this summer
Gundam-inspired upper house election poster
Gundam decked out in pink jewels

Aso tells poor young people not to get married

Taro Aso is getting some heat for a statement he made about money and marriage in front of a group of young Tokyoites on Sunday night. Here's an excerpt of what he said:

If you don't have money, you'd better not get married... Marriage isn't something that you do because you have money and you don't do because you don't have money. It depends on each individual. However, you can't be confident unless you earn a living. It's difficult for you to be respected if you don't earn money.

Some youngsters found this offensive since they're struggling really hard to find work but can't. I see his point about people gaining respect by earning money, but I don't necessarily think that has to be a prerequisite for marriage.

Link

Penguin piggy bank eats money and wags the butt

The Penguin Piggy Bank eats your money when you tap its break, and then wags its butt afterward. Simple and cute.

Get it here.

Video: This is how Mario really died

After all these years, I finally know how Mario died &mdash I guess he just couldn't make it in the real world. This short film, by the way, was nominated for Best Comedy in the YouTube video awards in 2007.

Video: She and Her Cat, a lovely short animated film

She and Her Cat is a quiet, beautifully poetic short animated short told from the point of view of a very loyal and contemplative cat. It is directed by a well-known animator and voice actor named Makoto Shinkai and won several awards back when it was made in 1999.

Tiny video camera looks like a shirt button

Want to feel like a spy for a day? Wear this tiny video camera that looks like a button on your shirt. It has a mic and a camera on the surface that will record what you see, and the resulting footage can be transferred to a computer via USB. The buttons covers are interchangeable so you can change them to match what you're wearing that day.

Product page (Thanko)

Amazing Mario cake

This Super Mario wedding cake is amazing. Actually, I'm not sure if it's even a wedding cake. It should have its own category &mdash amazing cake. I want it as the centerpiece for my dining table.

More pics at Supersizedmeals.com (Thanks, Kris!)

Rose-shaped cell phone strap makes toilet flushing noises

If you've spent some time in public toilets in Japan, you've probably seen Otohime, the little control panel that makes the sound of flushing while you relieve yourself so that nobody can hear the farts or plops. This beautiful black rose has the same function, except it's embedded in a portable cell phone strap &mdash it makes a flushing noise when you press down on it. While that may assuage the fear of having someone hear you take a dump in the toilet, I'd think it would be even more embarrassing to have this accidentally go off when you're sitting in a train or walking to work.

Product page

Related story: The Healing Log

Pic of Fred Schodt with the emperor's "you're awesome" award

Here's a pic from when Fred Schodt received an award from the emperor back in June for being an awesome bridge between Japanese and US culture. He's photographed here with Consulate General Nagamine, his wife Fia, and a couple of younger relatives of his.

Related stories:
Fred Schodt wins the Order of the Rising Sun
Fred Schodt on MangoBot

Ken Shimura and Pankun the chimpanzee parody The Ring

This wonderfully heart-warming, slightly scary, and hilarious video features comedian Ken Shimura and a celebrity chimpanzee named Pan-kun. In it, Pan-kun acts as Sadako, the ghost from the movie The Ring. In between takes, Shimura and Pan-kun sit in overalls in a director's chair and bond. Super cute.

via Boing Boing

Related stories:
Ken Shimura's Thriller parody, and tips on upping your Japanese joke cred
Monkeys and dogs doing sit-ups

The Happiness Realization Party

Japanese politics has been dominated by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party for half a century, but every once in a while there are these small radical-sounding parties that take a stab at leadership positions. One of the most recent is the Happiness Realization Party. They've just published their manifesto in English this month, which includes goals like a new constitution, reduced taxes, protection against North Korean missiles, and the realization of true happiness.

The Happiness Realization Party is actually the political offshoot of a new religious group called Happy Science, which might be something similar to Scientology, though I don't know for sure.

Link (Thanks, Ted!)

Read more about Japanese politics on TokyoMango's politics channel.

Cell phone strap makes Street Fighter sounds

This may just be the most awesome cell phone strap ever. It looks just like a basic video game controller, but it's actually a toy for Street Fighter otaku, or for people who want to practice their gaming moves while on-the-go. Every time you perfectly replicate the combo of moves for Ryu, Ken, Dhalsim, and Chun-Li, it makes the corresponding sound. Just imagine, you could be busting out Hadokens all day.

Product page (Strap-ya)

Big Man Japan, a movie about a giant ex-superhero

Big Man Japan is a new-ish movie about an unappreciated, outdated superhero &mdash a giant Japanese man who used to be part of a tribe of protectors but is now just seen as a menace to society. If you like Japan and men in diapers and mutant alien creatures destroying cities, you should definitely check it out. I just put it on my Netflix queue.

(Thanks, Vagrant!)

Clockman, a clock with a face and lots of personality

Meet Clockman. He's a black box with a funny face that tells time. Actually, there are four different iterations of Clockman, and they all have different characteristics based on blood type. (In Japan, blood type is said to determine personality traits like a horoscope.) For example, when you hit Type AB's button, he'll say: "I think it's 11am." and if you hit him again: "Didn't I just tell you? It's 11am." Super cute!

via IT Media News (Japanese)

Bach's Cantata No. 147 electropop remix

Here's another strange, funky music video from Omodaka, the electropop band that did the awesome 8-bit music video of kimono-clad women for their song Yosawya-san that I posted last August. It is called Cantata No. 147, and it's a remix of the song by the same name by JS Bach.

Smart design-y spill-proof tray carries eight wine glasses

The stem glass tray is a smart product from a small restaurant in Oita Prefecture specifically designed for carrying multiple wine glasses at once. It's a tray with little holes in it that you can hook up to eight wine glasses in, and a 9th hole for the thumb.

Product page (Japanese)

Flying Fish at Zushi Puzzle

I ate part of this guy's body for dinner last night. It was yummy!

A guide to Japanese beaches (from three years ago)

The first magazine cover story I ever wrote was this Tokyo area beach guide for Metropolis in June 2006. I only mention this now because those of you who are reading TokyoMango in Tokyo are probably dying from heat right about now, and this may help you find a quick escape in the ocean somewhere nearby.

Four hundred years ago, a ship from Mexico wandered onto the shores of this Boso Peninsula town, and the local fishermen’s wives helped them out. Today, two kilometers of soft, white sand welcome visitors to this sister city of Acapulco for hot sun and easy surfing. The atmosphere is so pleasant in Onjuku that it inspired one man to write a famous children’s song, “Moon Desert.” There are fireworks and beach volleyball in August, and high-quality lobster dinners in September.

Life's a Beach (Metropolis)

Limited edition Rilakumma netbook

Great news for Rilakumma fans: you can get an original character netbook for $800 through August 31. It comes with a cute yellow carrying case, too, and a slew of Rilakkuma wallpapers, games, and features. It's made by Bandai Namco, and has 1 gig of memory, an Atom processor, Windows XP, and five hours of battery life.

Product page

Photo of the Japanese elements at the ISS

Photo of the Japanese contribution to the International Space Station.

via Mark Polansky's Twitter feed

Video: Government's ominous meth warning

This short video clip made by the Japanese government aired on TV shortly after the recent drug arrest of actress Noriko Sakai. In it, a "bad" man peer pressures his girlfriend to try meth. She ends up folding to the pressure, then suffers choking coughs, addiction, and hallucinations. Is it just me or do these "drugs are horrible!" videos seem propaganda-ish? This is not only in Japan, btw &mdash I think the American PSAs about smoking, etc are just as bad.

(Thanks, Dave!)

New SF Japantown entertainment center opens Saturday

If you haven't already heard, this weekend is the grand opening of New People World, the new entertainment center in San Francisco's Japantown created by Viz Pictures. It will house a movie theater, clothing retailers straight from Harajuku, tea from Ito-en and food from the delicious Delica bento shop, and an art gallery.

New People World web site

Man burns down house after loss of Gundam toys

This past weekend, a 29-year old man named Yoshifumi Takabe burned down the large two-story house in Kobe that he shared with his mom. It was a suspected suicide & murder attempt based on the fact that his mother had thrown away his collection of Gundam figurines. At least that's what he told police when he was arrested on Sunday.

via Anime News Network

Photo of spilled liquor after Shizuoka earthquake

A lovely and somewhat sad photo showing the aftermath of the earthquake in Shizuoka today.

Link

Super Mario chess set

I am not the best or most avid chess player in the world, but this makes me want to have a chess set in my house. If only because I will have every single Mario character at my disposal, in a box, whenever I need them.

F4F via GizmoDiva

Wat Misaka, the first non-white NBA player

Did you know that the first non-white person to ever play in the NBA was a Japanese-American? His name was Wat Misaka, and he was the first draft pick of the NY Knicks in 1947 &mdash three whole years before African-Americans were allowed to play in the league. This was just several years after he served in the US army, where part of his job was to go to places like Hiroshima and find out what the effects of repeated bombings on civilians were. Some of his family, including an uncle, still lived in the Hiroshima area, while others were interned at a camp in Utah.

Misaki apparently only played three games, but his name lives on on a plaque in Madison Square Garden, and he's also the subject of a new documentary called Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story.

via NY Times (Thanks, Alex!)

Light saber chopsticks

Starting in November, you'll be able to buy these Star Wars light saber chopsticks in Darth Vader Red, Luke Skywalker Blue, or Yoda Green for 1050 yen ($10) each from Kotobukiya. Fun at the dinner table for the whole family!

Link (Thanks, Joel!)

Gabled house in Mitaka by architect Hidetaka Shirako

Check out this cool new house in Mitaka, suburb of Tokyo, designed by architect Hidetaka Shirako.

via Dezeen, photos by Hiroshi Ueda.

Stuffed animal cell phone cases

Why not carry your cell phone around in the mouth of a fuzzy puppy dog toy in a playful pose? Strap-Ya has this in multiple breeds and poses. Cows and hippos, too.

Product page (Japanese)

Nori-P arrested for drug possession

For those of you who have been following celebrity news in Japan, the biggest fiasco this week was the disappearance of actress Noriko Sakai, aka Nori-P, whose surfer dude husband had been arrested last Sunday for possession of drugs. Not sure exactly what kind. Sakai, aka Nori-P, is now 38 has been popular in Japan and all over Asia for two decades. After this drug accusation Toyota pulled ads featuring the actress off of their web site. The actress turned herself in yesterday after leaving her 10-year old son with a friend.

It's always a huge media frenzy when a Japanese celebrity is caught with recreational drugs. I don't think it should be &mdash there are bigger things the country can and should be worried about.

Bento Love: how to cook Japanese food that fits into a lunch box

When I was in elementary school, I was always jealous of the kids who had them &mdash all I wanted in my packed lunch was a sandwich, a fruit roll-up and a juice box in a brown paper bag. Later I found out that the kids who had brown paper bags wished they had the bento box in a cloth purse that my mom always made for me, even though it made me a little embarrassed that my mom cared so much about what I ate. Funny.

But if you're the PB&J type and are looking for an alternative for lunches, a new book called Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love might help you. In it, there are dozens of easy delicious Japanese cooking recipes that can fit right into a standard, rectangular bento box. Some examples: Salt-Grilled Chicken Steak Bento, the two-tiered Spicy Miso Pork Stir-Fry Bento, Stir-Fried Spaghetti Bento. Even if you don't end up packing it as a lunch, it's a great resource for simple Japanese meals.

Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love by Kentaro Kobayashi

Related stories:
Gourmet bento for dogs now sold at a highway stop near you
Review: Japantown bento
Froggy lunch wins top spot at award show

Instant habanero soup

This instant soup (add hot water, wait one minute) supposedly tastes like super-spicy habanero chilis. I wonder if it's tasty? If anyone has tried it, please let me know.

Product page (Japanese)

Fuzzy cat ear headband with earphones

On BBG, I just blogged about these earphones integrated into a fuzzy nekomimi hairband. It comes in black, too.

Product page (Japanese)

Drink bottle looks like the Yamanote Line

Shibuya246 spotted these JR Train Drinks at a store. Has anyone tried it? What does it taste like? Trains? Tea?

Link

Pocky fortune-teller predicts love life accurately

The fortune-telling app on the Pocky web site is strikingly accurate. If you read Japanese, it's definitely worth checking out.

Pocky.jp via My Spiritual

Yoichiro Kawaguchi's alien sea creature sculpture

One of my favorite sculptures by Yoichiro Kawaguchi. I want to take this guy home so he can be friends with Ruby and Malcolm!

Related stories:
Artist/technologist Yoichiro Kawaguchi dresses up a traditional temple
Jellyfish screen by genius man

Bill Clinton meets Kim Jong Il, frees American journalists

Have you heard the great news? Former president Bill Clinton went to North Korea in his private jet and had a non-official meeting with Kim Jong Il. They talked for awhile, took this wonderful photo against the bird-and-stormy wave backdrop in North Korea, and at the end of the day KJI decided to forgive and send back the two American journalists that he had imprisoned. BNO claims that the two women, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, have already left the DPRK with Clinton on his jet, though the NY Times hasn't confirmed that yet. Either way, go Bill Clinton!

(Photo: KCNA via Reuters)

Story about AR Figure Aris on BBG

At Boing Boing Gadgets today, I wrote a feature about my visit to Geisha Tokyo Entertainment, the quirky start-up that created Augmented Reality Figure Aris:

Aris folds her tiny hands across her aproned lap and smiles. "If you need me, please poke me to get my attention!" she says in a peppy, high-pitched voice. "Just don't poke me in a weird place! "

As if to deliberately defy her request, Taisei Tanaka, who is sitting next to me in a soccer jersey and jeans, lifts up Aris' poofy skirt with a stick, revealing the ends of her black thigh-high socks and a glimpse of her blue panties. Aris screams at the top of her lungs. "Please stop! This kind of thing is not good!"

Tanaka has every right to lift up Aris' skirt. He is her creator, after all. Besides, Aris is not a real person; she doesn't even really exist. She is an optical illusion, a three-dimensional projection of a brown-haired girl in a maid outfit who lives inside of a cube that looks like an oversized die. The cube has QR codes pasted on each of its sides that uses image recognition, motion-tracking, and other computer-generated data to project images into space when recorded with a webcam.

Read it here.

Robot bride = creepy

via Pink Tentacle.

60-foot Gigantor monument being built in Kobe

This month, construction begins on the giant Gigantor statue in Kobe. This non-profit project aims to educate and entertain the public and to create a sense of community around the celebration of ths world-famous robot anime. The original Japanese name for Gigantor is Tetsujin 28-Go. When completed at the end of September, Gigantor will stand 60 feet tall. A must-see if you're in the Kobe area this fall!

Kobe Tetsujin Project main page (Japanese)