Rocking The Casbah Capsule.

As you may be aware, I made a brief sojourn to Tokyo over the weekend. I left early Friday morning by Shinkansen and then wandered the streets of Shibuya for several hours until I could meet up with Andy, my neighbour from olden days.

One of my first stops was to my favourite nerd shop, Mandarake and picked up a few items which I'll show off later. I surreptitiously snapped a photo of a cool Star Trek Phaser Game that I considered buying. I also legitimately snapped photos of some of the display cases. Expensive stuff but very cool!

Also around town, I saw an ad for a Tezuka Osamu collection at Parco that unfortunately would be in town two weeks from now but in its stead, there was a cutesy art display with an awesome stuffed pink dragon that filled up the entire room!

Some of the banners and billboards around town were rather cool, so here are a few that I liked:

I had 3 pints of Hobgoblin homebrew (at Happy Hour prices) and a pizza at old pal Dave's (DJ Mixture) pub.

I finally met up with Andy and we cruised over to a nearby cinema to watch TinTin. I had extremely low expectations walking in and we both enjoyed it immensely. I especially liked the dog, the Williams score and the cameo by Spielberg. Wasn't too keen on the lengthy chase sequence or crane-battle.
(NOTE: Japanese pronunciation is タンタン・Tan-tan utilizing the original French pronunciation If they went by the English, it'd be チンチン・Chin-Chin for there is no Ti sound, only Chi. This is a no-no for Chin-chin in Japanese is a nickname for "Penis!")
After that, I retired to my "Capsule Hotel" up the street only to find that it is a haven for "Rockers"!

Apologies for this post was to have occurred yesterday but Blogger was taking forever to upload photos. Tonight it seemed to go much more quickly.
ps. Here is my tribute to Ronald Searle who I had just learned had died at the end of last year. One of my favourite illustrators, his work on "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" was true genius.

Frogs Pray For Japan.

The common Japanese Tree frog アマガエル (ama-gaeru) can be found all over Japan but are not that easy to spot since they're only 3-4cm long. I haven't seen one in a couple of years but apparently they are not threatened and are one of the few amphibians that are still thriving.

This little tyke has taken up the cause of Japan's recent plight by getting "Pray for Japan" tattooed on its underside. He and 15 of his colourful mates have some sort of deal going but I can't quite decipher it. I pulled this off the website and maybe you can make some sense of it. 

3月11日に発生いたしました東日本大震災から、早くも4ヶ月が経過しようとしております。被災地の方々には、心よりお見舞いを申し上げます。現在、奇譚クラブでは東日本大震災で被災された方への復興支援としてネイチャーテクニカラーシリーズの売上金一部を義援金として日本赤十字社を通じて寄付させていただく活動を行っております。こちらの『ネイチャーテクニカラーMONOアマガエルPLAY FOR JAPAN　マグネット×ストラップ』は奇譚クラブ分の収益全額（コストなどの諸経費を除いた利益）を寄付させていただく復興支援特別商品として制作をいたしました。
I think the little bit of Japlish there is an error, it's not "Play for Japan", it's "Pray for Japan" but you get the idea.

As you can see here and in my fuzzy photos, there are 8 different colours (one is secret) of either a magnet or a strap (I got a magnet) and they cost 200￥ a pop which is a bit steep for me right now, or I'd get them all.

They're about the size of the oxymoronically named Bigリトル (Big/Little) KitKats which apparently don't melt in your hand. Initially it's true, but they do eventually melt, so I don't recommend carrying them around in your palm. You can find these tree frogs in a few of the Capsule stations around the city, I suspect if you buy one, some of the proceeds are donated, but I can't be sure of that.

Cute little buggers though!

I'll leave you with some kung fu frogging.

Japlish, Jenglish...Whatever.

One cannot turn around without seeing some bastardization of my mother tongue by those who mean well but just don't quite get it. For example, this morning I noticed that all of our office workers have these snazzy new blue jackets with the words "Headquarters Secretariat" emblazoned on the back. I know their intentions are good and it adds to a team spirit amongst the dedicated men and women in the nexus of our school (besides they are the ones who draw up my paycheque-don't bite the hand that feeds you and all that.)

Perhaps they are alluding to the speed at which they do their duties or the fast pace at which they work, but I just can't help but think of a certain prize winning horse from 1973...




Another example would be the occasional sign you see posted around the city. Here's one such poster. (Of course, Dog Sauce has an entirely different meaning in Korea.)


Start sending me your examples and I'll try and dig up several more myself.

Hooray for Hollywood!

Let's go see a movie! (映画 = eiga = movie) Houga （邦画）are Japanese movies and youga （洋画）are western movies.

Some youga titles are literally translated like "イデンの東　Eden no higashi (East of Eden)" and "逃亡者　Toubousha (The Fugitive)". Some use English words as they are, though the pronunciation is slightly changed to the Japanese pronunciation. "ロッキイ　Rokkii (Rocky)", "ファーゴ　Faago (Fargo)", and "タイタニック　Taitanikku (Titanic)" are just a few examples.

Here are some examples of Hollywood titles turned Japanese. They all include the Japanese word for love (愛=ai)...(Even if the movie isn't a romance.)

愛が壊れるとき Ai ga kowareru toki (When love is broken) Sleeping with the Enemy
愛に迷ったとき Ai ni mayotta toki (When lost in love) Something to Talk About
愛の選択 Ai no sentaku (The choice of love) Dying Young
愛という名の疑惑 Ai to iu na no giwaku (The suspicion named love) Final Analysis
愛と悲しみの果て Ai to kanashimi no hate (The end of love and sorrow) Out of Africa
愛と青春の旅立ち Ai to seishun no tabidachi (The departure of love and youth) An Officer and A Gentleman
愛と死の間で Ai to shi no aida de (In between love and death) Dead Again
愛は静けさの中に Ai wa shizukesa no naka ni (Love is in the silence) Children of a Lesser God
永遠の愛に生きて Eien no ai ni ikite (Living in the lasting love) Shadow Lands
恋に落ちたら Koi ni ochitara (When falling in love) Mad Dog and Glory
恋の行方 Koi no yukue (The place love has gone) The Fabulous Baker Boys
恋愛小説家 Renai shousetsuka (A romance novel writer) As Good As It Gets