Everything you ever wanted to know about the birth city of Godzilla, Gundam, all-you-can-eat shabu shabu, panty vending machines, and me.



Former FCCJ cook caught in Australian ice cream poop scandal (Nov 17)
Adam Wood, formerly the head chef at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan, is in deep doodoo. He is among several accused of contaminating the Whyte family's chocolate gelato with poop late last October at Australia's Congee Bay Hotel. The...


High school girl inspired by the Red Sox makes draft (Nov 17)
An Osaka teenager just took the first step towards becoming the first female baseball player to play in an all-male league. Eri Yoshida is a pitcher known for her knuckleball. Apparently, she was inspired by a Boston Red Sox player,...


Masks that make your face smaller (Nov 17)
These bank robber masks are actually made to have special sauna-like effects that tighten pores and make your face appear smaller. The pink one is made especially for women, the gray one for men. I might try this on super...


Taro "I-can't-read-kanji" Aso publicly proves incompetency in Japanese language (Nov 16)
He might have encyclopedic knowledge of manga, but our new prime minister proved at a recent press conference that he can't really read kanji. He mispronounced at least four words written in high school-to-college level kanji by his speech writer....


Boys' Shibuya fashion makes US debut at ETech (Nov 15)
Yesterday, my friend Fumi and I went to Shibuya to interview some young guys and gals about their cell phone using habits. Here are two teenagers who will be making a video appearance at my ETech talk in March. They...


Man visits suicide forest, returns unharmed (Nov 15)
If you ever spent summers in Tokyo watching those freaky psychic ghost shows, you know about Jukai, or the suicide-inducing forest at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Pejk, one of the Studio360 producers I've been working with this week, went...


Runway show flaunts sex appeal of adult diapers (Nov 15)
Adult diapers can be sexy. This runway show held in Tokyo in September is proof that an aging population yields an entirely new sense of fashion. A quote from a 26-year old spectator: It was great to see so many...


Internet cafe doubles as a karaoke joint (Nov 14)
You may not think that the urges to sing karaoke and surf the web come hand in hand, but in Tokyo, they often do. That's why there's KaraNet, the karaoke & Internet cafe that's open 24 hours. The karaoke rooms...


Piggy bank plays Yamanote train platform music (Nov 13)
Taking the train everywhere in Tokyo can be pretty tasking if you're not used to being in a commuter mosh pit, but the Yamanote Line's soothing platform music definitely takes the edge off. Each stop has its own signature tune...


The longest hot dog in the word, and Japan's hot dog obsession (Nov 13)
If you ever need to scratch that hot dog itch, the 55 cm hot dog sold at a Saitama specialty shop is your answer. American processed meats have a huge fan base in Japan. Hot dogs and spam were introduced...


Found in Shibuya: USB Whac-a-Mole (Nov 13)
Need a little more desktop entertainment than stupid solitaire? For less than $20, you can get USB Whack It, a miniature version of Whac-a-Mole powered by USB. I'd get it, except I have this highly addictive bubble wrap-popping game on...


Booger girl and box-headed men at Design Festa (Nov 13)
More fun stuff that Emily found at Design Festa: I saw a guy carrying a giant pole that had a girl with a giant swinging booger attached to it. It was a performance art exhibit that used the entire convention...


I'm speaking about Japanese tech culture at ETech (Nov 13)
I was invited to speak at ETech, O'Reilly's annual flagship emerging technology conference. It will be held in March in San Jose, CA. My thingy will be on Wednesday, March 11 at 2:55PM, and I'll be talking about seemingly strange...


Kenzo Saeki and Toast Girl's tributes to Claude Francois (Nov 13)
I had the great pleasure of hanging out with and interviewing Toast Girl on Tuesday night in Golden Gai. She works in a tiny Chanson-themed bar on the corner. The whole evening was pretty rad, and around 11PM, the dude...


Purikura makes radio host crave boy band concerts (Nov 13)
Kurt Andersen wrote something funny about our outing to a Purikura booth yesterday on the Studio360 blog. An excerpt: Once inside, you’re cued to pose in particular ways — to “vogue” according to prescribed super-cute situations. And then, in a...


Lubricant parodied after popular tea brands (Nov 13)
This looks like it could be on the drink rack at any convenience store, but it's actually bottles of lube that parody popular bottled tea brands in Japan. The green is parodied after Ooi Ocha, but instead of Ocha it...


Fast food udon joint has buffet-style condiments (Nov 12)
When you're hungry in Tokyo in the middle of the afternoon, your options on where to eat are limited. We tried getting sushi or yakitori, but it was 4PM and most places didn't open until 5PM. We finally stumbled upon...


Man avoids bunny rabbit, spends three days in a valley (Nov 12)
Satoru Takeda, a 58-year old unemployed Gifu man, spend three days without food in a valley off of a mountain road after swerving to avoid running over a bunny rabbit. He was injured, and it was cold, and he couldn't...


Shibuya with Studio360 crew on three hours of sleep (Nov 12)
Day 2 of Tokyo with the Studio360 crew = breakfast meeting with the fixer, a quick guided tour of the Tokujin Yoshioka exhibit at Midtown, and a walk-through of Shibuya with producers Leital & Pejk & the show's host, Kurt...


Late-breaking news: I was a Power Ranger for Halloween (Nov 12)
Brian and I were Power Rangers for Halloween, and a bunch of Japanese people walking around the Castro were really impressed, even though we were just wearing plain clothes.