Hong Kong: Ani-Com and Games

Source: Calgary Herald

Young fans of anime and comics pose in their costumes during the Ani-Com and Games Hong Kong (ACGHK) fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 31, 2009. Cosplay, which combines costume and roleplay based on characterisations in Japanese manga, graphic novels and video games, is popular among youngsters in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.

Once a year Hong Kong kids get together to go crazy on the latest in the world of comics and plastic figurines at the Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong. The kids with fertile imaginations let them run riot in the (mostly Japanese-inspired) world of super heroes and cartoon characters, whether that be in 'graphic novels' or computer games, or both. Looks like any other anime convention. I need to get my ass to Calgary's Otafest one of these years. I went like 10 years ago and am still a little scarred.

Tokyo Toy Show 2009

The golfer is really cute! You all know I'm a golf fan! :)

Source: CScout Japan

Once again, we made it out to the Tokyo Toy Show for its 2009 incarnation (see our coverage of 2007 and 2008) and weren’t disappointed. A bit different than what we expected, but economics and other factors are changing the market a bit perhaps. Some old favorites, some new surprises, but still a fun toy show with lots to see.

What’s clear is that there’s still a huge production trend of toys that are used for cooking real food. We used to call those “appliances” back in the day, but if you make them pink, small, and plastic enough they pass as toys apparently.

Below is this year’s video round-up

Youtube Link

A Zipper Pond!

Source: Toxel

Ju Chun, a renowned Taiwanese sculptor, created this breathtaking Zipper Lotus Pond for the Juming Museum, located just outside Taipei, Taiwan.

Japanese music video featuring fans with webcams!

Artist: Sour

This music video was shot for Sour's 'Hibi no Neiro' (Tone of everyday) from their first mini album 'Water Flavor EP'. The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam.

Director: Masashi Kawamura + Hal Kirkland + Magico Nakamura + Masayoshi Nakamura

Youtube Link

That's really cool! Must take alot of coordination and editing!

Colour My Ball

If I played golf this would be my ball :)

Source: Daily Yomiuri

Though pristine white golf balls have been de rigueur since time immemorial, professional and amateur golfers alike are increasingly turning to colored balls in a bid to enhance their fashion credentials--and their score cards.

Earlier this month, Bic Camera Inc.'s Yurakucho store in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, set up a colored golf ball section within its golfing goods department.

"More than half our female customers choose colored balls, and many people are buying them as a present," a store official said. The official went on to say that many people see the white balls as somewhat formal, and as a result, many beginners opt for the more vibrant sporting spheres.

According to a survey by major golf-goods maker Bridgestone Sports Co., 32 percent of amateur golfers said they had used colored balls in 2007, while this figure increased to 39 percent for 2008.

This trend was especially marked among female amateur golfers, with 75 percent of female respondents saying they had been teeing off with the more vivid balls in 2008--an increase of 65 percent from 2007.

Reasons cited for using the norm-bucking product include ease of distinction from others' balls and quick detection after having sliced into the rough.

While there are rules governing the size and aerodynamics of standard golf balls, there are no stipulations regarding color. Though colored balls appeared on the market in the 1980s, they proved no more than a novelty hit due to limited painting techniques and generally low quality.

However, thanks to recent advances in manufacturing techniques, makers can now produce colored golf balls on a par with their paler spherical cousins--a fact that has helped boost the popularity of the eye-catching orbs.

Professional golfers, too, are bringing a splash of color to the fairways. Shigeki Maruyama, who used a yellow ball for the season's opening domestic tour, said, "It's easy to visualize and follow the trajectory [of colored balls]"

Golfers already wear colourful clothes and still wear plaid and funny hats. Might as well have coloured balls. I know on the LPGA Paula Creamer used a pink golf ball. In fact she wear all pink on Sundays. We all know Tiger Woods wears red on Sundays. Perhaps he should start using a red ball!

Geisha’s Dice for iPhone and iPodTouch

Source: Tokyo Digital News

Geisha's DICE is a very simple dice game. The Geisha dealer faces one to about 10 players from behind the tatami table.


Youtube Link


Youtube Link

Looks like a pretty cool game.

I wonder if it could match the greatest movie scene ever involving dice :D


Youtube Link

Sexy Samurai underwear raging in Japan

Source: examiner.com

Sexy Samurai underwear is the new rage in Japan. Tight underwear for men featuring patterns from actual Samurai warrior armor is proving to be a hit with women looking for presents for boyfriends and other men.

Interest in the civil wars of the 15th and 16th centuries is always high in Japan and this latest underwear crazes is capitalizing on this trend.

Rogin, a Tokyo apparel company has 10 kinds of Samurai underwear including those that resemble the designs worn by leaders Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen.

The company is having a hard time keep Samurai underwear on store shelves, even though the price is near $90- $125 each.

A 25-year-old female shopper said she was thinking about buying a pair for her father.

‘‘They seem a bit showy but they’re cool,’’ she said.

The Samurai tights are hot at a time when many women are fascinated with samurai-related TV programs The game ‘‘Sengoku Basara’’ features fictitious good-looking samurai warriors which can't hurt.

Samurai underwear and french maid outfits would make a nice setting in the bedroom :)

Some Asswipe Invents A New Asswipe

Source: Japanorama

What's an eco-friendly way to recycle used office paper and botched photocopies? Here we might mulch it to be used in farming. In Japan they're turning it into toilet paper.

Paperless office? That's what the computer was supposed to usher in but as any office worker knows, it just hasn't happened. Memos, reports, handouts and photocopies just keep coming and coming, much like Publisher's Clearing House Day at the post office. It's enough to make anyone go postal... but now Japan's Nakabayashi Co. has come up with a brilliant solution: recycle the scrap paper into crap paper!

.....more

It's a good idea. The amount of papers going through an office is remarkable. So if there's a way to make it into nice and soft toilet paper for my delicate tushy, then woohoo!

Plastic Spoon Chandelier by Daisuke Hiraiwa

Source: Cube Me

Japanese designer Daisuke Hiraiwa transforms everyday objects into striking examples of found design. Each Lamps are composed of clear plastic spoons that have been punctured with hundreds of tiny holes to allow light to filter through them in beautiful ways.

Paper CV no good anymore. Try Video CV

With the recent economic downturn, this year’s 1.2 million Chinese college graduates are struggling to find work, so some are becoming more creative than ever before to stand out from the crowd. This is a video CV posted on Youku by recent Chinese college graduate Ma Wen for a job related to video production


Youtube Link

Steep Tea Stick

Source: Holycool.net

Use the Steep Tea Stick for the perfect cup of tea. Just load the loose tea into the stick and steep. It's perfect if you hate how loose tea usually remains at the bottom of your cup and you sometimes end up chewing it as you drink. With this little gadget, tea remains inside the stick so you just remove it when you're done steeping and then you're ready to drink your tea instead of chewing it.

That would be great! I'm always guilty of drinking my tea too slowly and have the leaves all cluttered at the bottom. It's pretty gross. So this little tool would be perfect!

The Chopsticks Aid Turns Chopsticks Into Forks for Lousy White People

Source: Gizmodo

I hate the way most white people eat Asian food: Drowning white rice in soy sauce, shoveling cream cheese-stuffed "sushi" into their mouths, pretty much the entire sorry spectacle. The Chopsticks Aid is for them.

It's a fork face that attaches to chopsticks, turning them into a fork. In case Midwestern Whitey McWhiterson is visiting his daughter in the big city and she drags him to an actually decent Japanese restaurant that's not a sorry hibachi joint populated by other middle-aged white folks applauding poorly paid knife-flipping cooks. You know, one that only has chopsticks. This will save him. Not his dignity, but at least he'll still be able to eat. Not that he deserves to.

This is pretty stupid. Why do white people need to use chopsticks to begin with.

I go to Vietnamese restaurants and see white people use a fork to eat Pho.
I go to Japanese restaurants and see white people use forks to eat sushi.

I use chopsticks to eat spaghetti!

There is no right or wrong, you can use anything you want to eat anything you want.