Recently, I went to an old, long-term Japanese friend's wedding and it was really something else! It included a party of over 200 people, wine from the bubble era of the late '80s/early '90s, some well-known Japanese TV celebrities and far too much gourmet food. Indeed, it was quite a wonderful and rare occasion to behold, especially right here in Tokyo.
However, believe it or not, Japan's current marriage rate has recently declined to 5.8 per 1,000 people. This negative trend has spun off such inventions like Japanese Web Sex Technology, and the Japanese Husband Hunting Bra, the Tokyo Love Doll Call Girl Service, as well as i-doloids! Love Dolls for Japan and the rest of the world - the Playboy mag for LOVE DOLLS! Yes, folks, its all too true here in Japan's Adult Toys Robot Nation.
So what the flock of seagulls could possibly be causing all of this? Well, one big reason can be seen in the now very popular 'wakaresase-ya' or the 'breakup service industry':
Sex, lies and splitting up
May 10, 2010
Via Times Online
By Richard Lloyd Parry
"Until the unexpected phone call comes and she learns the breathtaking truth, Rika Suzuki will remember it as a night of fun and excitement in a cheerless and humdrum life. It began with an invitation from a young female friend, Kaori, whom she’d met by chance a few weeks earlier. A group of friends were going out for the evening and, unexpectedly, Rika — 40, and unhappily married — was invited to join them.
They met in one of Tokyo’s smartest restaurants; the beer and saké flowed. Kaori’s friends were flatteringly interested in her, none more so than a man of her own age named Osamu Ota, a successful businessman with a droll and confident charm. When the bar at which they ended up closed for the night, it was Osamu who suggested that they all take a room in an hotel so that the party could continue. And as the others said their goodbyes several hours later, it was he and Rika (not her real name) who were left behind.
The photographs taken the morning after tell the story of what happened next: the discarded clothes and screwed up tissues and Rika, looking bashful but happy, sitting among the churned up sheets of the hotel bed. “These are her earrings on the bedside table, and that’s her belt,” says Ota, who is showing me the photographs. “And these . . . bodily liquids on the sheet — well, these are the proof of what happened.”
In other circumstances, this would be unsavoury, but predictable, sexual bragging. But Rika was the victim, not of a straightforward womaniser, but something more chilling: a meticulously planned professional sting operation.
Everyone involved in that wild evening — from the young “friend” who invited her, to the guests in the restaurant — was an actor, an employee of an agency that specialises in sexual entrapment. The chance meeting with “Kaori” weeks before, the dinner invitation and the act of seduction were commissioned and paid for by someone Rika has never met — the lover of her husband, a woman who yearns for the failure of Rika’s marriage.
The whole thing was masterminded by Mr “Ota” — real name Osamu Tomiya — a member of a peculiarly Japanese profession, part-private investigator, part-prostitute, known as wakaresase-ya — the “splitter-uppers”."
Continued...
5/8/10
Tokyo Koenji Street Show 2010 Video
From Lazysupper - here is a brief but very amusing video of the recent Koenji Street Show 2010 filmed nearby in West Tokyo:
5/2/10
THE Hollywood Celebrity Cult Leader
I was just browsing around the web the other day and found this:
See more at the The Hollywood Celebrity Cult of Evil Pongi
See more at the The Hollywood Celebrity Cult of Evil Pongi
4/25/10
Tenniscoats Live in Ebisu, Tokyo
Here is Tenniscoats performing "Baibaba Bimba" live in one of their recent Take Away shows:
Directed by Colin Solal Cardo
Sounds & Mix by François Clos
Produced by Chryde for La Blogotheque
24 February 2010
Ebisu, Tokyo, Japan
Read more about the making of this video: Tenniscoats LA BLOGOTEQUE (French)
See more about the Tenniscoats (Japanese/English)
Directed by Colin Solal Cardo
Sounds & Mix by François Clos
Produced by Chryde for La Blogotheque
24 February 2010
Ebisu, Tokyo, Japan
Read more about the making of this video: Tenniscoats LA BLOGOTEQUE (French)
See more about the Tenniscoats (Japanese/English)
4/19/10
3/14/10
Left My Heart in Tokyo
Here is "Left My Heart in Tokyo" by Mini VivaThis debut single from last year was very popular and charted well in Europe. Their new album is due out any day now. See more at Viva Mini Viva
3/13/10
Kim Jong Il Party Photo
Despite the current economic downturn, and millions of starving North Koreans, KCNA recently released this party photo of the "Dear Leader":
See more recent photos of the "Dear Leader" at On the Spot with Kim Jong-il
And don't forget to check out the Kim Jong Il 'The Dear Leader' Video
See more recent photos of the "Dear Leader" at On the Spot with Kim Jong-il
And don't forget to check out the Kim Jong Il 'The Dear Leader' Video
3/8/10
3/1/10
Merepeoples - "Sherman"
One of the hottest Japanese alternative rock bands going now, here is the Merepeoples and their newly released "Sherman" video:
Merpeoples bewitch; The Party's . . . party
Sex and magic served up by two new Japanese girl bands
By SIMON BARTZ
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010
Via Japan Times
Four cute young women clad in ghostly white robes prance around in a forest holding twigs: No, it's not an outtake from the classic 1973 pagan spookfest "The Wicker Man." Yes, it is the excellent video for the Merpeoples' spankingly sublime song "Sherman."
Singer/guitarist Charlotte and drummer Rico must be the star pupils in their art-school class, as Merpeoples — completed by keyboardist Sayaka and bassist Ikuko — made the video themselves.
"Sherman," boasting a hypnotic but spiky guitar lick, is the catchiest song you'll hear this year and deserves to be a staple hit on all indie dancefloors. Like most of Merpeoples' eponymous debut album — released Feb. 17 — "Sherman" is dreamy pop melded to post-punk guitar riffage, but the band aren't afraid to experiment, and on the track "Midara na Story" ("Dirty Story") Sayaka's ivory-tinkling conjures up an exotic buzz — like the music from a James Bond scene in a souk.
Shame they spelled "Sherman" wrong.
"You mean it's S-H-A-M-A-N?" asks Charlotte.
I'm afraid so. Sherman is an old U.S. tank. I didn't see a tank in the video.
"Thanks, but on the CD it's in katakana, so it's OK," Charlotte says (she got her nickname 'cos a friend said that in profile she looks like Charlotte Gainsbourg).
Continued...
Merpeoples bewitch; The Party's . . . party
Sex and magic served up by two new Japanese girl bands
By SIMON BARTZ
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010
Via Japan Times
Four cute young women clad in ghostly white robes prance around in a forest holding twigs: No, it's not an outtake from the classic 1973 pagan spookfest "The Wicker Man." Yes, it is the excellent video for the Merpeoples' spankingly sublime song "Sherman."
Singer/guitarist Charlotte and drummer Rico must be the star pupils in their art-school class, as Merpeoples — completed by keyboardist Sayaka and bassist Ikuko — made the video themselves.
"Sherman," boasting a hypnotic but spiky guitar lick, is the catchiest song you'll hear this year and deserves to be a staple hit on all indie dancefloors. Like most of Merpeoples' eponymous debut album — released Feb. 17 — "Sherman" is dreamy pop melded to post-punk guitar riffage, but the band aren't afraid to experiment, and on the track "Midara na Story" ("Dirty Story") Sayaka's ivory-tinkling conjures up an exotic buzz — like the music from a James Bond scene in a souk.
Shame they spelled "Sherman" wrong.
"You mean it's S-H-A-M-A-N?" asks Charlotte.
I'm afraid so. Sherman is an old U.S. tank. I didn't see a tank in the video.
"Thanks, but on the CD it's in katakana, so it's OK," Charlotte says (she got her nickname 'cos a friend said that in profile she looks like Charlotte Gainsbourg).
Continued...
2/28/10
Japan CNN TV Tsunami Warning
Here is the current Japan CNN TV Tsunami Warning:
NHK TV in Japan is now in multilingual emergency broadcast mode repeating updated information and warnings for everyone to evacuate the coastlines.
Japan sees first tsunami waves from Chile quake
February 28, 2010
Via CNN
(CNN) -- Tsunamis from the deadly 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile rippled across the Japanese coast Sunday, appearing to get taller with every wave.
The first one, a 4-inch wave, hit Minami Torishima, according to the Japanese meteorological agency. Minami Torishima is a small island in the Pacific Ocean.
A few more waves later, the tallest one yet at about 4 feet hit the Kuji Port in Hokkaido, the meteorological agency said.
Tens of thousands of residents evacuated Sunday morning from coastal Japan in anticipation of a possible tsunami after the earthquake. Authorities urged evacuees to stay away because a second and third round of waves could gain strength.
The northern part of the main island could be hit by a tsunami at least 9 feet high, according to the meteorological agency.
Sunday's alert was Japan's first major tsunami warning in more than 15 years, the agency reported. In 1960, a tsunami spawned by Chile's 1960 earthquake killed 140 people in Japan.
Continued...
NHK TV in Japan is now in multilingual emergency broadcast mode repeating updated information and warnings for everyone to evacuate the coastlines.
Japan sees first tsunami waves from Chile quake
February 28, 2010
Via CNN
(CNN) -- Tsunamis from the deadly 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile rippled across the Japanese coast Sunday, appearing to get taller with every wave.
The first one, a 4-inch wave, hit Minami Torishima, according to the Japanese meteorological agency. Minami Torishima is a small island in the Pacific Ocean.
A few more waves later, the tallest one yet at about 4 feet hit the Kuji Port in Hokkaido, the meteorological agency said.
Tens of thousands of residents evacuated Sunday morning from coastal Japan in anticipation of a possible tsunami after the earthquake. Authorities urged evacuees to stay away because a second and third round of waves could gain strength.
The northern part of the main island could be hit by a tsunami at least 9 feet high, according to the meteorological agency.
Sunday's alert was Japan's first major tsunami warning in more than 15 years, the agency reported. In 1960, a tsunami spawned by Chile's 1960 earthquake killed 140 people in Japan.
Continued...
2/15/10
Tiger Escapes Tokyo Ueno Zoo!
Here is a recent Japanese TV news clip of a tiger that escaped the Tokyo Ueno Zoo:
2/3/10
Elvis Costello & Nick Lowe - Tokyo 1987
Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe perform (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding live in Shinjuku, Tokyo in 1987:
2/1/10
David Bowie Reflects on Comeback
Below is the Google translation of a recent entertainment news article published in the De Standaard Online daily newspaper in Belgium:
Via Bowienet
Via Bowienet
1/29/10
New Japanese Office - Toilet Paper Recycler
Via DigInfo News
January 29, 2010
"At Eco-Products 2009, Oriental Co., Ltd. exhibited a revolutionary recycling machine called White Goat, which makes toilet paper from shredded paper."
"White Goat won a top prize at the Monozukuri Nippon awards. It has patents pending, and Oriental is getting ready to release it in summer 2010."
January 29, 2010
"At Eco-Products 2009, Oriental Co., Ltd. exhibited a revolutionary recycling machine called White Goat, which makes toilet paper from shredded paper."
"White Goat won a top prize at the Monozukuri Nippon awards. It has patents pending, and Oriental is getting ready to release it in summer 2010."
1/24/10
Japanese TV 'Glee' With Akebono
Via New York Magazine and Youtube
1/20/10
By Adam K. Raymond
"Glee is about to make its debut in Japan and just like Americans, the Japanese make promos in anticipation of such events. But Americans don't make promos like this. Featuring two adorably fat sumo wrestling tweens, retired sumo great Akebono and a cast of fly girls, this promo should result in Super Bowl level ratings. As Akebono would say, "So fun, so Fox!"
Here are two trailers for the upcoming Japanese TV version of this show:
1/20/10
By Adam K. Raymond
"Glee is about to make its debut in Japan and just like Americans, the Japanese make promos in anticipation of such events. But Americans don't make promos like this. Featuring two adorably fat sumo wrestling tweens, retired sumo great Akebono and a cast of fly girls, this promo should result in Super Bowl level ratings. As Akebono would say, "So fun, so Fox!"
Here are two trailers for the upcoming Japanese TV version of this show:
1/20/10
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