I don't know what is is, but I like it.

It's a NI_KO_BAN sign
ニコホン印だ！！

JPN's youth least gender prejudiced in the world!

Jpanese youth are the least gender prejudiced in the world!????

Survey reveals Japan's youth least aware of gender
Daily Yomiuri, Japan - Feb 18
....Japanese youths' lower sense of gender difference also was evident when 69.7 percent answered positively to the question "Do you think men should protect women?" Positive responses in the United States and China were between 80 percent and 90 percent. ....
"Do you think women should act with pure femininity?" only 28.4 percent of the pollees from Japan replied yes. However, 58 percent in the United States, 71.6 percent in China and 47.7 percent in South Korea answered yes.
... "Do you think men should act in a manful manner?" 43.4 percent answered yes in Japan, compared with 63.5 percent in the United States, 81.1 percent in China and 54.9 percent in South Korea.
... "Do you think people should avoid premarital sex?" About 33.3 percent answered yes in Japan, while 52 percent did so in the United States, 75 percent in China and 73.8 percent in South Korea.

Mo' Mad Cow!
New Form of Mad Cow Disease Is Discovered
AP / Tuesday February 17, 1:19 PM
Italian scientists have found a second form of mad cow disease that more closely resembles the human Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease than the usual cow form of the illness.
The brain-wasting diseases BSE, known as mad cow disease, and human CJD are caused by different forms of mutant proteins called prions... Italian researchers reports a study of eight cows with mad cow disease found that two of them had brain damage resembling the human victims of CJD. ...the Italians named the new form with amyloid plaques BASE. ...Brown said there have also been some unpublished reports from Japan of cows with a different form of mad cow disease.

Japan's true God turns 50!
Here's the new trailer for Godzilla 2004.
I swear it looks like "Bambi VS Godzilla".
VS

See also.

Lets 'subliminal'!
I hate to defend any Japanese company, but this is crazy. Six frames out of 30 is real OBVIOUS and not "subliminal" at all; about 1 frame of 25 is.

NTV inserts 'subliminal' image into TV program

Mainichi Shimbun, Japan - Feb 16
The program, "Manee no Tora" (Money Tiger), featured a split-second image of Yukichi Fukuzawa from Japan's 10,000-yen note as the program switched ... when recorded and viewed slowly, the screen could be seen turning white before a sepia image of Fukuzawa's face appeared on the screen. NTV officials said the image lasted 0.2 seconds, covering six frames out of 30, a length difficult for most viewers to see.

Ssirum VS Sumo
VS First Sumo Exhibition Held Amid Cheers and Guards

Korea Times, South Korea - Feb 15 --The first-ever sumo exhibition in South Korea got off to a successful start despite early concerns and controversy. The seats in Changchung Stadium were mostly filled on Saturday but many were taken up by Japanese tourists and residents and older Koreans.

They cheered all the players, especially home-grown star Kim Sung-tak, known as Kasugao in sumo. He was defeated in the second round by Mongolian Yokozuna Asashoryu on Saturday... big issue is the rivalry between the traditional forms of wrestling in the two countries. As ssirum and sumo have some similarities, it's natural for them to be compared with a good measure of national pride. Fanning the flames, the sumo exhibition received attention that ssirum never gets.

"I don't think most ssirum people care seriously about the sumo matches in Korea"

40% of Japanese girls are wearing these Feb 14th

Japanese Boots!

"These boots were made for walking"?

Cafe Cat in Kanto

K-cool braille reading cat

"A cat joins its owner reading a book at a Tokyo cafe Friday, Feb. 13. 2004." --- Via (AP Photo/Fri Feb 13,11:54 AM ET)

GET'S GANG WAR!

Akebono tribe vs Sapp crew

On TV tonight Sunday Feb 15, at 8pm on NTV (Nippon Television Network Corp, ch4 Tokyo), it will be the Sapp gumi vs Akebono gumi fighting K-1..just their gumi/gangs not them.
VS


See also...
K-1 rematch against The Beast? Ake baby, say it ain't so
By DAVE WIGGINS Special to The Asahi Shimbun

Oni no nen butsu

Oni no nembutsu

The meaning a "devil's praying".

See larger verison

Two digcams, two girls, one box of Kleenex...

2 digcams + 2 girls + 1 box of Kleenex + 1 pair of panties + 1 bed = 1 strange party

See larger verison
Or visit the original bolg at siuyee.com

Are you gettin' any?
As well known, Valentine's Day is when men judge their worth by the number of boxes of chocolate they receive at their Japanese workplace. However, today is Friday the 13th, many guys won't be in the office to collect their love bounty and many OLS will be snaking out of the giri-choco/chocolate obligations.

Today's the real measure of your worth: Are you gettin' any?

Japanese ramen is evil!

Japanized Ramen is scary.

CRAPTACULAR Tokyo!
Via Rob Pongi's comments on the FG about the "Absolutely brilliant photography here 'Tokyo At Night'

Tokyo at its CRAPTACULAR best!

.
Note the sign with Rob Pongi on it offers "Full Service Lovers" and the vertical blue sign to the right of the mannikin offers "VIOLENCE MASSAGE."

Googlism of me

Googlism for: taro

taro is noted for its colorful purplish
taro is used to make
taro is living in tokyo/tokyo taro
taro is back
taro is onze shar
taro is a technical journalist taro is like any technical journalist
taro is my senior design project
taro is to be potted
taro is taro

Thanks to
http://www.googlism.com/

Sacrilege! Japanese Scalper Page
One of the few esthetic
pleasures here in the Land-of-Concrete(tm) is long hair. Oh, the sacrilege!

Welcome to Haircut Fun Page.

"Please enjoy "Haircut"
Makeover step by step ... Do you like it?
All are young Japanese models.
You can see them who become beautiful by cutting the hair. You might be surely satisfied. Thank you. "

Woman Announcer Insult Relay! III

Woman Announcer Insult Relay! III

Via SomethingAwful.com "You might be wondering what any movie - let alone a pornographic one - would be doing with a title like that."

Why, oh Buddha, why?

Caustic wrote on the FG:

Dakimakura! They're not just for horndogs anymore!

Oh why do these guys go for foam?

See Dakimakura/pillow love...

Posted by trek/taro at 3:46 PM JST
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Pillow talk for gamers

Getting in Bed With the Customer

WIRED / 02:00 AM Feb. 06, 2004 PT...to celebrate the Japanese release of Dead or Alive Online next month, Microsoft is rolling out a special edition Xbox set with an extra-special bonus -- a dakimakura, or "hugging pillow," that features a life-size, front-and-back print of teenage character Kasumi in a skimpy bikini.

"For relaxing times.....make it Suntory time."

Wry Whiskey Humor NY Newsday / Liz Smith / Feb 5

FORGET ABOUT the Oscar; Bill Murray has other concerns. The "Lost in Translation" star says, "I keep looking in my mailbox to see if Suntory whiskey is going to send me a check for doing the commercial in the movie!" .... "I'm still drinking the alcohol, but no offers from Japan for commercials yet!"