We don't watch much Japanese TV these days on account of us not currently owning a TV. It wasn't until we chanced upon these three ads playing on loop in an aisle of the Don Quixote discount store in Shinsaibashi that we realised what we might be missing out on.
All you need to know is that Gatsby makes a variety of hair products, shaving products and deodorants for men. And this is a series of ads for their latest product; "Gatsby Body Paper".
As far as I can tell from these ads Gatsby Body Paper is a product that makes it socially acceptable for men to rub their bodies and dance in public. I wish Gatsby the best of luck in cornering what I assume will soon be a very lucrative market.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Is Can Be Kitteh Tiem Nao, Plz?
On Sunday we went to a place in Amerika Mura called Cafe With Many Cats. Yup, pretty much does what it says on the can. For 650 yen, you can sit and play with cats for an hour. The place is customised for feline comfort, with a variety of floor cushions, cat-sized shelves and climbing equipment, a cat-sized drinking fountain and capacious and private litter trays. It was all very clean, not smelly or hairy. There were a few other people in there when we went. It seems like a pretty popular place to go on a date.
The cats were pretty laid-back. Most of the time they just cat-nap, and are completely disinterested in you, whether you are patting them or not.
They were also pretty friendly to each other, which was a novelty to me. My experience of cats is that they will tolerate each other, at best. But in the cafe they would curl up with each other. Mecha kawaii ~~
There were one or two scraps while we were there, though - all involving this cat (who clearly thinks she's pretty good):
Her name appeared to be Connie. She was the alpha cat of the bunch - the most outgoing and friendly towards humans. Also, weirdly friendly towards the other cats, grooming them and such, until they got the shits with her, and it turned into a fight. I sort of imagine it like this:
Connie: Tut, tut. Look at you. You're so unprofessional. You need to take better care of yourself.
Other cat: Oh, fuck off, Connie. It's just a bloody cafe.
It doesn't sound all that exciting, and I suppose it wasn't really, but it was very relaxing. The atmosphere was very chilled out. And they have air con, so I'll probably go back again.
kthxbai
The cats were pretty laid-back. Most of the time they just cat-nap, and are completely disinterested in you, whether you are patting them or not.
They were also pretty friendly to each other, which was a novelty to me. My experience of cats is that they will tolerate each other, at best. But in the cafe they would curl up with each other. Mecha kawaii ~~
There were one or two scraps while we were there, though - all involving this cat (who clearly thinks she's pretty good):
Her name appeared to be Connie. She was the alpha cat of the bunch - the most outgoing and friendly towards humans. Also, weirdly friendly towards the other cats, grooming them and such, until they got the shits with her, and it turned into a fight. I sort of imagine it like this:
Connie: Tut, tut. Look at you. You're so unprofessional. You need to take better care of yourself.
Other cat: Oh, fuck off, Connie. It's just a bloody cafe.
It doesn't sound all that exciting, and I suppose it wasn't really, but it was very relaxing. The atmosphere was very chilled out. And they have air con, so I'll probably go back again.
kthxbai
Friday, July 17, 2009
Interior Design: Buddhism vs. Us
OK, to start with here's some pics of the inside of Todaiji. Clinton was uncomfortable about taking pics in the temple, but not me! I have impinged on far too many European cathedrals to feel squeamish in a Buddhist temple. Anyway, I looked around first, and all the Japanese tourists were taking photos. So, when in Rome...
This is the Daibutsu ("Big Buddha") itself:
And here are a few of his mates... English explanation was sparse, so I have no idea who they are or what they signify. They were very big, though.
Now, from the world's largest wooden building to... Hmmm...
As previously mentioned, we moved at the start of the month. Yesterday the IKEA van came and we finally got the rest of the furniture we needed to fill all our extra space. Chairs! I tell ya, they're a luxury you start to miss after a while. Here's our interior now:
The bell hanging off the light pull is our souvenir from Todaiji.
The new flat is very nice, though it has a couple of iffy aspects. The traffic noise is pretty bad. You'd think on the sixth floor you wouldn't have a problem with traffic noise, but the freeway ringroad runs behind our building, at about sixth floor level, so it's like living on a busy street. Also, the building wobbles. Super reassuring! But on the bright side, we do have a proper balcony, with a proper view:
So, all in all it's an improvement.
I'd like to end this post with a thought from the building across the street:
Aww... Uplifting, eh?
(PS If you're wondering how hot it gets here in summer, while I've been sitting here quietly typing, sweat has been running down my shins.)
This is the Daibutsu ("Big Buddha") itself:
And here are a few of his mates... English explanation was sparse, so I have no idea who they are or what they signify. They were very big, though.
Now, from the world's largest wooden building to... Hmmm...
As previously mentioned, we moved at the start of the month. Yesterday the IKEA van came and we finally got the rest of the furniture we needed to fill all our extra space. Chairs! I tell ya, they're a luxury you start to miss after a while. Here's our interior now:
The bell hanging off the light pull is our souvenir from Todaiji.The new flat is very nice, though it has a couple of iffy aspects. The traffic noise is pretty bad. You'd think on the sixth floor you wouldn't have a problem with traffic noise, but the freeway ringroad runs behind our building, at about sixth floor level, so it's like living on a busy street. Also, the building wobbles. Super reassuring! But on the bright side, we do have a proper balcony, with a proper view:
So, all in all it's an improvement.
I'd like to end this post with a thought from the building across the street:
Aww... Uplifting, eh?
(PS If you're wondering how hot it gets here in summer, while I've been sitting here quietly typing, sweat has been running down my shins.)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Nara, Temples and Deer
With Soph finally back in Japan and having finally moved into our new apartment (more on this later maybe?) we decided it was high time we got out there and did the tourist thing again. So when our friends in Nara invited us out for dinner at their place we decide to make a day of it and go see Todaiji Temple and Nara Park as well.
Nara is a lot greener than both the cities of Kyoto and Osaka, with a large open parkland connecting the various temples and museums its famous for. This leads many of my students, particulary the ones from Osaka, to declare Nara to be "the country". Which is a bit like calling your backyard "the country" because it has more trees than the car-park across the road.
Never the less Nara was really impressive. There were two big items on our sightseeing list. One was Todaiji Temple, a massive wooden temple that houses one of the largest bronze buddha statues in the world. At my guess I'd say it was about three or four stories tall with a huge gold-leaf covered background behind it (I always feel odd taking photos inside temples, even when its obvious you can, so I didn't take any of the massive buddha. But Soph did, so maybe she'll upload some photos later)
Todaiji Temple
The other thing Nara is famous for is its deer which roam freely throught Nara Park and can be found pretty much everywhere you go. Though they're most numerous wherever there are vendors selling shika-senbei (deer biscuits). As far as we could tell the way it works is you buy the deer biscuits, then stand there as the deer proceed to mob you until you have no more biscuits left at which point they lose interest and move onto their next victim. Not bad value for 150yen we thought.
Left: Sophie being mobbed by deer. Right: Clinton not being mobbed by deer.
We spent the rest of our time there wandering around the various other temples and parkland that connects them until we had to go. There was probably quite a bit we didn't get to see, so I'm looking forward to going back there again sometime.
This is us with a tile we donated to help with the restoration of the Todaiji Temple roof, they allow you to write your names and "a message for world peace" on them so it has our names written in Katakana down each side and the Kanji for harmony in the centre.
Nara is a lot greener than both the cities of Kyoto and Osaka, with a large open parkland connecting the various temples and museums its famous for. This leads many of my students, particulary the ones from Osaka, to declare Nara to be "the country". Which is a bit like calling your backyard "the country" because it has more trees than the car-park across the road.
Never the less Nara was really impressive. There were two big items on our sightseeing list. One was Todaiji Temple, a massive wooden temple that houses one of the largest bronze buddha statues in the world. At my guess I'd say it was about three or four stories tall with a huge gold-leaf covered background behind it (I always feel odd taking photos inside temples, even when its obvious you can, so I didn't take any of the massive buddha. But Soph did, so maybe she'll upload some photos later)
Todaiji Temple
The other thing Nara is famous for is its deer which roam freely throught Nara Park and can be found pretty much everywhere you go. Though they're most numerous wherever there are vendors selling shika-senbei (deer biscuits). As far as we could tell the way it works is you buy the deer biscuits, then stand there as the deer proceed to mob you until you have no more biscuits left at which point they lose interest and move onto their next victim. Not bad value for 150yen we thought.
Left: Sophie being mobbed by deer. Right: Clinton not being mobbed by deer.
We spent the rest of our time there wandering around the various other temples and parkland that connects them until we had to go. There was probably quite a bit we didn't get to see, so I'm looking forward to going back there again sometime.
This is us with a tile we donated to help with the restoration of the Todaiji Temple roof, they allow you to write your names and "a message for world peace" on them so it has our names written in Katakana down each side and the Kanji for harmony in the centre.
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