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!

Japanese full names used to be super long

My mother sent me an interesting article published in The Japan Times earlier this month that digs up the origins of Japanese first and last names. Japanese names used to be super long back in the pre-Meiji period, including clan name, birth order, two ancient titles, and a personal name. The first name-last name simplified combo is only a century or so old.

The story also comes with a fun sidebar that lists the 10 most common Japanese last names. Can you guess what they are? I'll post the answers on Monday.

Link

Reader photo: Myodani Station, Kobe

TokyoMango reader Kevin Menchavez took this lovely photo of Myodani Station in Kobe.

Yoko d'Holbachie's surreal alien creature drawings

Yoko d'Holbachie is a young, super-cute surrealist artist who draws these strange colorful creatures. If you want to see her work in person, she'll be exhibiting at the London Miles gallery in London from Nov 19-30.

Artist's home page

Hello Kitty solar charger

If you love Hello Kitty and care about the environment, this Hello Kitty solar charger strap could be a good fit for you. It also comes with a Kitty-shaped carabiner.

Product page (Japanese)

New toy plays back everything you record backwards

Takara Tomy has a new crazy toy called the Sakasa Master Japan. It's actually a recording device that plays back whatever you say backwards — useful for those who want to make up a secret code language or are linguistically curious. But mostly, just pure entertainment.

Buy it here.

Reader photo: The Thunder Gate by night

TokyoMango reader Gilles Losier took this photo that he describes as follows:

I was in Japan for 2 weeks in June. The second night of my visit in Japan when I was coming back from Akihabara going to my hostel located in Asakusa. When I walked threw Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate). Nakamise was so calm and peaceful, nothing like this during the day time.

Video: Men wearing colorful leggings for fashion

Men's stores in Tokyo are now selling leggings, which some guys like to wear under capris. Funny when the one woman interviewed at around 1:30 says: "I prefer men in jeans." Later on, though, another woman says, "If it looks good, I think that's fine."

Related story:
Boys in skirts are a new fashion trend in Shibuya, Harajuku

(Thanks, Larry!)

Reader photo: Purple umbrella at Gojo City Temple

Reader Jason Sedlaczek took this lovely photo of a purple umbrella sitting quietly at the foot of Gojo City Temple in Nara.

Boys in skirts are a new fashion trend in Shibuya, Harajuku

There's a new fashion movement in Tokyo, and it involves men in skirts. The Mainichi calls them "the skirt boys" — one interviewee, who calls himself Shana, claims he was inspired by Harry Potter robes. He does not consider himself a cross-dresser, however:

Cross-dressers are people who want to be girls. I'm not wearing this because it's what girls wear, but because I like the line and the texture of the material.

Men's fashion magazine Smart is thinking of doing a special section on skirt boys for an upcoming issue. Maybe it's similar to the Utilikilt fad in the US?

The Taste of Tea, a cute-beautiful movie about a quirky family

I just watched a movie called The Taste of Tea. The director is Katsuhito Ishii, and starring actors include Tadanobu Asano from Ichi the Killer and Rinko Kikuchi from Babel. It's about a quirky family living in rural Tochigi and their little obsessions — the dad with his hypnotherapy, the grandpa with his dance moves, the son with his teenager hormones and the adorable little daughter who is convinced that she'll be able to rid her life of a giant spirit of herself that follows her around everywhere if she can perfect a backflip.

The Taste of Tea is full of charming little anecdotes — my favorite was the one in which an uncle recalls the story of how he pooped on a giant egg while wandering around in a haunted forest. Such a great story within a story. The film is several years old, but it got high acclaim at film fests and I recommend it as part of your Japanese movie collection.

Get The Taste of Tea on Amazon

New documentary about wacky inventor Dr. NakaMats

Dr. NakaMats, the kooky inventor whom I wrote about in my io9 column, MangoBot, in Jan 08, is the subject of a new documentary. It's an in-depth look into the life of a guy who claims to have more patents than Edison, a recipe for Super Viagra, a lifespan of 144 years, and who has run for political office several times.

Related stories:
Japan's wackiest inventor saves the world with super viagra
I met Dr. NakaMats in Shibuya
Dr. NakaMats' male model debut
Crazy inventor running for mayor

Azuki-flavored Pepsi

Pepsi's newest unique flavor following this summer's Shiso flavor = Azuki, or red bean. If any of you have tried it, please let me know how it tastes.

Link

Burger King celebrates new OS with Windows 7 Whopper

What better way to celebrate the release of Windows 7 than with a giant 7-patty BK Whopper that costs 777 yen? It's a limited edition burger, available only for 7 days!

Link

Reader photo: Somber Asakusa

Love this slightly somber photo of Asakusa taken by TokyoMango reader Erik Katerborg.

Reader Photo: Hiroshima shrine ablaze in red lanterns

TokyoMango reader Jay Horinouchi writes:

I made my aunt stop her car as we were driving by, because I thought a temple was on fire. But I soon realized it was a tiny shrine that had a bunch of red lanterns for lighting, which gave the surrounding sakura an awesome red diffused glow.

Beautiful!

Man arrested for prank calling the cops 12,300 times

A 61-year old Shiga man was arrested yesterday for calling 110 (the Japanese equivalent of 911) over 12,000 times in a span of nine months. It's not clear why he did this or what he claimed to be calling for, but he was ultimately charged with obstruction of duty. Apparently, the police had someone go to his house four times to personally request that he stop, but the prank calling continued. What a pain in the butt.

Link

Megahouse's Disney character-shaped cookie making kit

Toy company Megahouse has come out with yet another fun family cooking tool — this one's a cookie maker that makes sugar cookies in the shape of Mickey Mouse heads.

Product page (Japanese)

Related stories:
Machine makes teddy-bear shaped pastries
New Bandai somen toy is a giant slide for noodles
Toy pot sticker maker from Bandai goes on sale Saturday
Toy sushi maker for creative sushi parties

Cat toy with spilled guts named after popular song

This toy (?) is called Neko Funjyatta (literally, I stepped on a cat, though it's commonly associated with a kids' song frequently played on the piano known elsewhere as the Flea Song) and features a plastic cat with its guts spilling out.

via Boing Boing

Video: Funny people running in slo-mo to Nujabes song

This video features about a dozen Japanese people running like crazy — literally — in slow motion. It's quite entertaining! (Speaking of running... I just got back from running my first half marathon this morning.) The music is by Nujabes featuring Shing02.

(Thanks, Larry!)

TokyoMango t-shirts shipped, and Reader Gallery

Dear readers who ordered a TokyoMango t-shirt,

I just went to the local post office and shipped off a boxful of t-shirts, which should get to you within a week or so. Please keep an eye out for yours, if you ordered one. And THANK YOU. It took Ben and me almost three full days to make them, but that's a good thing because we ended up selling a lot more than we expected — plus, it was fun.

Also, I'd love to do a gallery of photos on the site of TokyoMango readers wearing the t-shirts. Email me a pic to mango [at] tokyomango [dot] com by the end of the month to be a part of it.

Thanks, and have a good weekend!

Lisa

Video: Keromin and Maywa Denki perform duet at Engadget party

At a party held for Engadget in Roppongi last night, Maywa Denki's newest quirky instrument, the Otamatone, did a duet with the famed theremin-like frog puppet, Keromin.

Pudding in a cup looks like a woman's breasts (maybe NSFW)

I think this may be the perviest flan packaging in the world. It's called Niigata Oppai Purin (Niigata Boob Pudding) and to unveil the nipple-like cups of flan you have to unhook the anime girl's bra.

Hello Kitty's internal organs revealed

Ever wonder what Hello Kitty's insides look like? Here's your answer.

Link

Music video by Sour features fans on webcam

I love this music video from a song on Sour's new album, Water Flavor EP, that David posted on Boing Boing. The people in the frames are fans from all over the world, filmed on their webcams.

Koizumi makes voice actor debut with Ultraman flick

Schwarzenegger stumbled into politics after his Hollywood career peaked, but former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi is just getting his debut in acting — he'll be voicing the part of a minor superhero in an upcoming Ultraman flick called MegaMonster Battle Ultra Galaxy.

Video: Top 10 middle school textbook graffiti genres

In a funny Top 10 list created by the popular TV show Spring of Trivia, a team of researchers went through the pages of 10,000 middle school textbooks and tallied what kind of graffiti was the most common. Among them — bloody noses, unibrows, forehead wrinkles, faux wigs, and the #1 most common type of textbook graffiti = speech bubbles.

via Spoon and Tamago

Pervy iPhone app lets you look up a girl's skirt

This is one of those pervy inventions that is at once brilliant and disturbing — it's an iPhone app that lets you look up the skirts of pretty Japanese women by blowing on or rubbing the screen. Does this encourage train perverts, or does it provide them an outlet that distracts them from doing this in real life? I don't know the answer.

(Thanks, John!)

Related stories:
Widget displays time held up by a hot Japanese girl
Love in 2D, story in the NY Times
Geisha: The company that turned a virtual French maid into a hit product

Space-age robot art from the 1950s

Life Magazine has a great collection of robot art from Japan in the 1950s. Space travel was becoming a hot topic, science fiction was picking up steam, and toy companies were making all kinds of robot and space age-themed trinkets. Here are a few examples, with more at the Life web site.

Golden poop inkan stamp for good luck

A lot of official documents in Japan still require an inkan, or a personalized red stamp. It's the equivalent of a signature in the US, except you have to carry it around with you — each is unique because of the name, obviously, and the font. This golden poop charm is actually a real functional inkan — it stamps good luck on whatever document you need to endorse, be it a marriage certificate or bank papers.

Product page (Japanese)

Four year old killed by two dogs owned by a lawyer

A four-year old boy died today while visiting his grandma. He was mauled by two dogs belonging to a local lawyer, who owned a little yard that the dogs and the kid were playing in at the time of the incident. The lawyer's name is Takamitsu Shikichi. No word yet as to whether charges will be held against him.

Link

Politician's porn past raises questions of aptitude

This is a clip from a porn horror film called Blind Beast v. Killer Dwarf, based on a novel by Edogawa Ranpo (he's kinda like the Japanese version of Edgar Allan Poe). It stars Mieko Kikuchi, aka Mieko Tanaka, a Democratic Party of Japan member. I don't think there's anything wrong with politicians having a porn past, but an article in the Global Post raises an interesting question of whether the contingency of female politicians in the DPJ are truly qualified to hold official positions, or if it's just a PR stunt.

Link (via Hiroko Tabuchi's Twitter)

Visit me at Boing Boing!

Have you guys seen the new Boing Boing? On Tuesday, the award-winning blog got a makeover and had a relaunch. I'm now one of their regular feature writers, which means you can read a lot of my work there now. This week, I wrote about a seasonal fruit called the Red Kuri Squash and told the romantic tale of a man in New Zealand who found a long-lost wedding ring in the ocean. Other writers include BG's Rob Beschizza, science journalist Maggie Koerth-Baker, BOffworld's Brandon Boyer, and, of course, the four legendary original Boingers &mdash Xeni, Mark, David, and Cory.

If you're not a Boing Boing reader already, come visit often!

Super-light, super portable $10 cardboard chair

Forget those clunky collapsible lawn chairs that people lug around to parks and campsites. The new greatest portable chair is a $9, 0.8-lb honeycombed cardboard structure that supposedly can carry even the heaviest person and lasts forever. I might buy one, although I tend to prefer sitting on the ground over anything else when I'm outdoors.

Buy it here (via Spoon & Tamago)

Pretty photo of woman in a Hello Kitty face mask

I'm not crazy about Hello Kitty anything, but I do think this photo of a woman in a Kitty face mask is quite adorable.

Link

Ad features Tommy Lee Jones as a coffee-drinking alien

My friend Erin Biba clued me into this funny commercial for Boss coffee featuring Tommy Lee Jones. I remember when he was on giant billboard ads for Boss, but I don't know if I ever saw this one. In it, TLJ is an alien from outer space who has come to investigate the earth. He's working with a team of cops who outrun him, but ultimately he flies a set of stairs and tackles the bad guy. The commercial ends with the cops saying, "He's not the bad guy. It's the world that created him that's at fault."

American celebrities show up in Japanese ad campaigns a lot. Most of the recent ones, like Brad Pitt for Softbank, have been removed from YouTube because of copyright shit, but you can see a lot of the old ones (Michael Jackson! The Simpsons! Mariah Carey!) on Japander.

Major cosplay party in Roppongi 10/25

If you're in Tokyo later this month — or if you want an excuse to go there — you might check out what promises to be a huge otaku event held not in Akihabara but in trendy Roppongi. Special guests include girls from premium maid cafe @Home as well as LiveDoor founder Horiemon.

CharaPa!'s English web site (Thanks, Ben!

Desktop balding salaryman golf game

In this funny web-based golf game called Eki Golf, you're a balding business man waiting for the train with an umbrella, practicing your golf swing.

Play the game

Lyrics Born to perform at fundraiser for lovely Japanese elderly facility

I often drive by Kimochi, a home for Japanese and Japanese-American elderlies, in San Francisco and think that I would like to live there one day if I'm old and alone. I bet they serve miso soup and rice for breakfast, and watch Japanese TV. That would be a nice comforting space to return to after years of living in the US eating bagels and watching HBO. Kimochi has actually been around since 1971, providing care and services Japanese-style, but they just got a devastating $100K budget cut this summer.

To help out, Bay area rappers of Japanese ancestry are getting together at a fundraiser on October 17th to give a kick-ass performance that will benefit Kimochi. Ok, I have to admit that I have been a fan of Lyrics Born's music for a little while now, but I had no idea he's Japanese.

Did you know his real name is Tom Shimura, and that he was born and raised in Tokyo? Apparently he started his career in hip hop at the college radio station at UC Davis. Music video above just hints at how awesome his music is.

Tix are $75 but if you feel inclined to help out a worthy and important cause + attend an awesome hip hop concert... this is going to be well worth your time.

Buy tickets & get more info here.

Last day to order a TokyoMango T-shirt

Today's your last chance for ordering a limited edition hand-printed TokyoMango t-shirt. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to round up everyone's orders, buy the shirts, print them, and mail them out hopefully by early next week.

Get yours here.

Ex-finance minister found dead at his home

Former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa, a 56-year old Tokyo native who made headlines earlier this year when he made some embarrassing drunken public appearances in Italy, was found dead in his home today. The cause of death has not been announced yet, but his wife discovered him lying face down on the bed hours after he had passed. His father was also a politician and a heavy drinker who died around the same age; he had committed suicide in Hokkaido in 1983 at age 57. I'll update the post as we find out more about the exact cause of death.

via NY Times

Related stories:
Ex-minister Nakagawa accosted Vatican statue, set off alarms
Finance minister's public intoxication signals need for change
New cell phone game pokes fun at the drunken ex-finance minister

Reader photo: Girl and her ice cream

I believe this photo was also taken by reader Caiser, who submitted the pic of a Nara street that I posted last week.

Little blue guy brings good career luck to your home

This cute little blue guy is actually a modern-day house ornament that's supposedly good for feng shui. He brings you good luck in your career — you can put a little personal note in the slit in front for motivation; this guy will sit in the corner of your room, slowly bobbing his head from side to side, just chilling out and bringing you good vibes. You can also get a pink guy for romantic luck and a green one for health.

Product page (Japanese)

Solar-powered twirling figurine stand

What better way to utilize solar energy than to use it to flaunt your figurine collection? This solar-powered figurine stand by Thanko uses sunlight and/or fluorescent light to power up, then slowly rotates so you can put your favorite figurine or gadget on a rotating pedestal.

Product page (Japanese)

Tokyo's 2016 Olympic bid video

Tokyo didn't win the 2016 Olympics, but they did make a pretty cool bid video. In case you missed the news, Rio de Janeiro won, with Madrid coming in as first runner up and Tokyo next. Chicago was the first to go. I love Rio — I went last year, and thought it was a beautiful city.

Related story:
10 reasons why Japanese people should emigrate to Brazil

Profile of Megastar creator in Make Mag Vol 19

For the past several issues of Make Magazine, I've been profiling some talented Japanese makers whom I met on a recent trip to Japan. The current issue, Make Volume 19, features an interview I did with Takayuki Ohira, the inventor of the ever-so-popular Homestar and Megastar planetariums. He's really quite amazing. Please take a read, and if you like it, you should buy or subscribe to Make because it's full of fun, creative stories like Ohira's.

Reader photo: Walking down a path in Nara

Photo by CAISER

Ultraman silhouettes decorate streets of creator's hometown

Electric transformer boxes in the town of Sukagawa in Fukushima Prefecture is currently adorned with these awesome silhouettes of Ultraman characters, to celebrate series creator and hometown hero Eiji Tsuburaya. More pics at Pink Tentacle.com.