November 05, 2006
Wombats
Tokyo Underground Mega structure
Corrugated Cardboard house painting. The painted cardboard shelters in the homeless city that took root in the underground sprawl of Shinjuku station’s western wing in the mid-1990s
Re-post: David Crawford’s Stop motion videos from the Tokyo subway
Orange balls combatting crime (With video)
A very useful guide to buying used panties in Tokyo
Full text of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, 1997
Top 10 ad-tricks in Tokyo’s train stations
A-Z photo dictionary of Japanese Buddhism and Shintoism. (From Look at this)
/// Add it to your del.icio.us /// A Huge Depository of Unusual Japanese Links Here
November 5, 2006 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 01, 2006
TV in Japan
The essentials of a Japanese pantry. The must-have ingredients: Medium grain rice. Japanese soy sauce. White miso (shiromiso). Bonito flakes. Konbu seaweed. Sake. Mirin. Rice vinegar. Dried shiitake mushrooms, etc. (From Blog on a Toothpick)
Vintage portfolios by Tamamura Kozaburo
Some unusual Sumo photos from the official Sumo Association calendar 2000
Snapshots of Hokkaido. (Click on pix to advance)
Dr. Yellow (Click to biggify)
Exit Movie. (Very loud for no good reason – turn down the speakers)
/// Add it to your del.icio.us /// A Huge Depository of Unusual Japanese Links Here
October 1, 2006 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2006
Trendy
All the excitement of Live Pachinko in the comfort of your own bedroom
Pachinko Machine Repair and Service
Don't Sell Salt Illegally: Posters in Occupied Japan. (From Plep)
Re-post: The Japanese make beautiful manholes. See for yourself. More here
Wild Monkeys in Kyoto, and garden sculptures
Joe Nishizawa’s Japan’s underground photography
Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine
NewsFilter: 10 percent of Japanese men in their 40s still virgins
More scary Yamanbas and Kogals
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August 2, 2006 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 11, 2006
Tamari
Deity urinal and Octopus in Tsukiji by Ron Brinkmann
Probably a re-post: Virtual tours of many Japanese gardens
Shimajiro Toilet Training (YouTube)
Zuiikin English, a Japanese TV-show that helps you learn English through a variety of dance moves and badly reenacted scenes from Western movies
Japanese rank their favorite 100 historical figures
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here /// Digg this post /// Add it to your del.icio.us
July 11, 2006 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 26, 2006
Hokey Pocky
Hakone Museum is the first open-air museum of Japan. I can see myself waking its gardens for a few days, enjoying the view of the green mountains all around. (Thank you, Dafna)
Japan's Capsule Hotels. Each capsule has a little control panel. There is an alarm clock, TV/Radio speaker, light and TV on/off switch, volume knob, and some panic button
The Twilight Zone by Sato Shintaro
The Reversible Destiny Lofts, a new housing project in Tokyo which aims to keep residents sharp by throwing them off balance
“Old man bites tenderly”? A weird Library Game game show of some kind. Also, Dough Whacking
10 things to do for free in Tokyo. Depending on the season you can spot people giving away free tissues with a little commercial message almost everywhere
Picture above from The Leonard A. Lauder Collection of Japanese Postcards
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
May 26, 2006 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 22, 2006
Visit to a small planet
Nakano Broadway is a warren of small (and one or two large) shops selling vintage toys and newer collectible vinyl at prices that are in some cases bargainous
Watch “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof in Japanese. (Thank you, Jeff)
Shingo Mama no Oha. Shingo Mama, a cross-dressing Japanese singer, advocates the use of "oha" as an abbreviation for the Japanese greeting ohayō which means "good morning"
Hadaka Matsuri, The Naked Man Festival in Okayama, Ten thousand near-naked men huddled together to fight the cold
Public bathing - Water Therapy for better human
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
February 22, 2006 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 16, 2005
Death in the snow
Live Japanese laundromat webcam. (From ”Boring webcams”)
How to make Monja-yaki? Monja-yaki ("letter-cake") is similar to Okonomi-yaki, except the batter is more watery and does not use egg
Fruit bus stops. (From ”Cardhouse”)
From 2003: Death in the snow. A body is found in the frozen North Dakota woods. The cops say the dead Japanese woman was looking for the $1m she saw buried in the film Fargo. But the story didn't end there
Re-post: Very Tired Japanese Business Men. (Probably drunk, most of them)
No, I’m not going to link to the morning musume vs. The Lizard game show, since you can see it everywhere else
Vintage Kimonos from Kyoto. (A commercial site)
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
November 16, 2005 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 26, 2005
Ukiyo-e
Go to pretty much any Japanese super market or combini and you'll find Umaibou. Literally translated it means "delicious stick"
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, an erotic woodcut made circa 1820 by Hokusai. Interpretations in stained glass by Judith Schaechter, and by New Zealand artists at Otago Stained Glass. Also, NSFW galleries by photographer Juergen Specht
Hello Kitty Vibrator Sale. Now Only $ 189 + $ 4 for priority mail shipping in the U.S
Yosuke Yamahata Photographing the Bomb in Nagasaki Journey. (From ”Folderol”)
Japan on Uncyclopedia. The physical geography of Japan is characterized by upheavals and the depressed. Because so much of the land mass is mountainous, 94% of the population is forced to live on mountaintops so that the limited amount of flat land can be used for cultivating monsters. Being squeezed onto mountaintops has forced the Japanese people to come up with space-saving innovations such as Game Boy Advance
Originally filmed in November 2001, this short video shows an extremely rare and ancient Japanese geisha dance as performed in Niigata, Japan by life-long, professional Japanese Geisha
The Pachinko Museum
Japan Seldom Asked Questions (SAQ). What do Japanese People wear underneath their Kimonos? Why do all the Jizo statues in Japan wear "bibs"? What is the sound of one hand clapping? Many more
Anime Phone Cards. (From Podwall)
(Graphic above from The Octopus News Magazine.) Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
September 26, 2005 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
Tentacle-free
Kamikaze pilots, the original suicide bombers
How to Read and Understand an Street Address in Japan
Bullet train (Shinkansen) photo gallery
At various subway stations in Korea, they often they are decorated at different times of the year with school art projects. Fire safety, future jobs, home life, technology, and so on. The theme of this one appears to be "Screw Japan!"
Japan Tobacco Smoking Manners advertisements
Hokusai’s Great Wave Notecube, Great Wave mug and belt buckle. (From ”blanketfort”). Also, Hokusai Fish by Roy Ahlgren at the Erie, PA GoFish public art
The Save Our Sailors Campaign - Sumo Senshi Caption Contest
Private Photoshoot of Liddo and Sarah's Katamari Fantasy Night
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
July 14, 2005 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 17, 2005
Takenoko
Gathering Takenoko (Bamboo Shoots) for dinner. (From Joi Ito)
Elvis Hair! How Do Things Change in Here? I think I'm not only person who is wondering why Japanese people always make everything so crazy. But, in this few years, I have reached at a conclusion. I guess It's just like a "copy noise". (More inside. From “Pratie Place”)
Family tree of Japanese Buddhas. (From ”Peptide”)
Skin like porcelain. Eyes like Astroboy. The latest trend for Japanese schoolgirls is colored contacts - not green or blue ones that ape gaijin eyes, but inky black lenses that make them look like they have gigantic monochromatic pupils
Kansai is a beautiful airport, created out of nothing. Here is a spectacular set of powerpoints showing how it was built. (Thank you, Philip)
I'm the guy by the pool
cheap digital cameras on the streets of Akihabara. flickr slideshow tagged with Haranjuku Harajuku
Ukai, or cormorant fishing, is a traditional method of river fishing that has been practiced in Japan for some 1300 years. (From Good Shit, source is NSFW)
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
May 17, 2005 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
March 26, 2005
Hello kitty, kitty
This ad for the Gaba language school asks Japanese people to fill in the blank: "If I could speak English, I would..."
Japanese name translation, the only place you can have your full name automatically translated into Japanese katakana symbols
I never thought about it before: How do you use a Japanese typewriter
The glass floor at The Tokyo Tower
Ninjukai’s Belts and Hachimaki Headbands
The new Saga “Near me” robot cat (with German-style accordion music)
Secrets of The Shuriken-do, the traditional Japanese martial art of blade throwing
Dentsu Advertising Museum from the Edo & Meiji eras
Photographer Hiroji Kubota Capturing Japan
Henshin hall of fame, dedicated to Japanese tv superheroes, mostly from the 1970s
Fast food cosplay: The McDonald Girl, the Colonel dude, the apple guy and one more individual
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
March 26, 2005 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 15, 2005
Walking Asimo
The rise & fall of Tokyo Ski Dome, which used to be the world’s first & largest indoor ski area. (From ”Octopus Dropkick”, celebrating one year Blogiversary today)
Move over, crop circles - An enlarged work by Aomori woodblock artist Shiko Munakata (1903-1975), stands out in a rice paddy in Inakadate, Aomori Prefecture
Trailer to Kazuaki Kiriya’s movie Casshern. Review of the movie from Midnight Eye
Japan’s love of robots lies in the history of the ‘Karakuri Ningyo’. (From “Laputan Logic”). Honda's new walking robot, Asimo. An older site: Legged Robots of the World
“A tea ceremony could be divided into three parts, the preliminary part, the middle part, and the final part”. More about Tea in Japan
Nyanko Cat Party Cake plush toy, one of many useless Japanese collectible gift items
Make a reservation at a Japanese Ryokan (guest house)
Andy Gray’s photography of Japan, and a photo album from Hamamatsu Area. Both are from ”Netlex France”, which is today’s “Blog Of The Day”. “Netlex France” is like “grow-a-brain” en francais, and if need be, you can read it in Google translation here. If you wish to have your blog considered as “Blog Of The Day”, or if you know of a blog that should get same recognition, please email me at realhanan (at) yahoo (dot) com, or post a comment at the bottom of this post.
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
January 15, 2005 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 01, 2004
Japanese Salaryman very tired
Japanese Business Men Too Tired, must sleep. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Salaryman who loses at a gentlemans game
How to tie the Sumo wrestler’s Fundoshi (=loincloth. From ”Bifurcated Rivets”)
The International Netsuke Society is devoted to the study and collection of netsuke miniature sculptures
Today’s Kyoto: Beautiful photographs by Akiyoshi Kitaoka , of the “Rotating Snakes Illusion” fame
The Bamboo Museum in Kyoto
Pachinko is the largest industry in the world’s second largest economy, but few people outside Japan have ever heard of it
Bonsai: Worlds within worlds
Kumadori make-up involves bold lines of color with symbolic significance; for example, red to signify virtue or strength, and blue to signify evil. (From Robert Reed)
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
November 1, 2004 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 19, 2004
Resources for Gaijin
Kyoto Kimono - Authentic Japanese vintage kimono, obi, fabrics and unusual items from the markets of Kyoto
Nanshoku Gay Samurai. (From The World History of Male Love. More about Procter & Gamble's gay toothpaste)
Shakuhachi, a site devoted to the traditional Japanese bamboo flute
Toys in Japan: Because real estate is at a serious premium in Tokyo, most of the toy stores I visited were five or six stories tall, each usually organized by type of toy. What I liked most about toy stores in Japan was that there was a wide variety of toys, crazy things that I had no idea they were still making.
More Bento Boxes from Chanpon
Driving in Japan: Philip Greenspun’s observations from his recent trip to Japan
The Ninja Dojo, the ultimate Ninja & Samurai movie website
Tattoos they are a-changin' Why, I ask myself, would a man invest more than 150 hours of his time, over a two year period, in a weekly series of painful puncture wounds that would leave a meter-tall image of legendary little forest-dwelling bear-killer Kintaro indelibly sunk into the skin of his shoulders, back, buttocks, and thighs?
Resources for Gaijin (foreigners) in Japan
Current Eruptions from the Earthquake Research Institute (Unfortunately, the last update on the site is 17 January 2004)
Many More Unusual Links about Japan Here
September 19, 2004 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2004
So You Wanna get a tattoo?
Lost in Translation - Here’s what those cool-looking Japanese tattoos really say
Japanese Temple Geometry. (From "Understanding Japan")
Japanese Sound effects and what they mean
Kodomo no kuni is a huge gallery of beautifully illustrated Children's Books from 1920s Japan. (Via “Beautiful Stuff”)
Every Sunday, it's Halloween in Harajuku - costume play in Tokyo
Many More Exotic Japanese Links Here
August 10, 2004 in Japan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack