Gaijin Tokyo Underground

GLAY is one of my favorite Japanese bands, so when i saw thier song "however" on TV i had a otaku moment, but then realized the songs lyrics were changed. At the end it revealed it was an ad for CUP NOODLE by NISSIN http://www.cupnoodle.jp/cm/index.html, which the last few months have made other alternate versions of songs promoting this instant noodle product.






This is the version Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity" promoting CUP NOODLE

Living on a budget would seem hard in the most expensive city in the world Businessweek: Most Expensive Cities 2010, one would find it difficult to afford to even eat. Luckily there are shops like Sukiya http://www.sukiya.jp/, Saizeriya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saizeriya and many small mom & pop shops to eat at for a small amount.

This bowl is a spicy ground meat mix on top of rice and a soft boiled egg comes with a bowl of soup and pickled veggies. This will fill you up and it costs under 500yen. I sat down with a copy of the manga CROWS which I also picked up really cheap for only 105yen from the chain used book store called Book Off http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_Off.



The manga CROWS is by Hiroshi Takahashi 高橋ヒロシ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crows_(manga) who created this series in 1990 who has also made a smin off call WORST, both involving stories of high school delinquents gangs. In 2007 a Movie called Crows Zero, the story of the gangs beginnings was released http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crows_ZERO Visually the movies look good, but overall they lack real interest, but i could be wrong, check it out and tell me what you think.

Music video for the Crows soundtrack, The Street Beats - I wanna change

For those who live outside of Japan and are into many of it's cultures from anime to fashion or whatever, know how difficult it can be to get these items you want. Usually you have yo hit up Ebay or happen to travel to Japan itself to get the items you want at regular pricing, not the inflated internet prices. Many times thats what most people have to do to get their otaku fix.

One item i know my friend Pat back home would love is this Kamen Rider alarm clock. It is being sold at Yodabashi camera and is retailing for just under 4000yen. To find something like this, and at the size it is would probably be paying double it's price, possibly triple the price they way the US$ is floundering these days. If you are in Japan, stock up on your otaku goods, it will probably be the best price you will find!

"Musashino style" is what the city of Musachino http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashino,_Tokyo calls its smoking area in Kichijoji. In the corralled off area for smokers just outside the North side of the station is the manner corner for the terrible smokers.

Now for some great company are these angry looking yellow cigarette themed flamingos. One is there just to stare angry at you and the others are there to swallow up your spent cigarette. Japan loves to make characters out of anything. If you get a chance to stop into Kichijoji http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kichij%C5%8Dji which is about 15 minutes west from shinjuku station off the Chuo line.

I live in the of Suginami http://www.city.suginami.tokyo.jp/ which is part of greater Tokyo. Now Japan is very know for its many many mascots from traincards to toilets. Suginami-ku had a contest for the city to make its own mascot.

Now I have no idea what these characters are, they looke like a mic of a dinosaur and a bug. Never the less, they are cute. Again Japan loves to make items limited time, so for a while 7-11 japan was selling this desert bread. The bread is slightly sweet with strawberry cream filling with the cute girl characters face ready for you to bite off!

Here is a video promoting the bread


Other videos talking about the Suginami-ku characters

For a short while at Lawsons convinnience store was having Hello Kitty promotions which included this cute pastry! Its apple pie in the shape of an apple all Hello Kitty style. I ate at least five of these during their promotion period, but like most items in Japan they are only for a limited time. When visiting or living in Japan, if you see something you want to try, TRY IT becuase it will most likely be gone when you go back.

I work in the area of Tokyo called Kichijoji and i love this area! It has a great mix of food, shopping and fun. There are many great shops for coffee and cake to go to after a dinner from one of the hundreds of restaurants in the area. One shop that stands out for sure, at least in the eyes of a foreigner is this shop known as Lemon Drop http://www.lemondrop.jp/index.html. The name has nothing offensive as far as i know, but its the character that is used for the logo. Whoever decided to design this was not very worldly, for those who know about the time in America where white people posed as black people for entertainment you would know the term "black face". This logo clearly is a black face character, more specifically its probably Al Jolson, the famous jazz musician. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jolson


Performance of Al Jolson sining the famous "mammy im comin' home" bit.

This September marks the 40th anniversary of Mister Donut in Japan http://www.misterdonut.jp/. Mister Donut is holding an event in Yurakucho with displays of past donut releases, uniforms and point card give-a-ways. One of the highlights of the event is the free German Chocolate donut which was part of the original 1971 line up release 40 years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Donut

There will be a follow up post with more pictures of the event as well as a video. For those who know Mister Donut, are you a big fan or not? Mu favorite release is the Old Fashion Maccha chocolate dipped!

Terrible Mister Donut commercial with Ayumi Hamasaki


Old Misudo commercial

Watching Japanese TV can sometime, actually usually MINDNUMBING! But like a lot of bad TV you sait there and keep watching. This was an infomercial i was watching and was wondering what the hell they were trying to sell. From what i understood this is "all natural" because it was made from WOOD! Basically they are selling you trees, made into sawdust, then compressed into pill form. WTF moment for sure!

What do you think of this, would you try it, it is after all, ALL NATURAL

One of the cutest things to be created as of lately in Japan. These little cat balls are know as Nemu Neko, which means sleepy cat. At the game center there is a little booklet about the nemu neko, and it like to bite little mice, but not eat them.

Here is the main site that promotes which one will be available at game centers for each month http://www.chara-hiroba.com/category20_list.php

かわいいでしょう！

An interesting look at Tokyo in the 1980's. This appears to be the Yoyogi area, there seems to be a big dance event with indian style clothing? Not really clear as to what it is, but it does have clips of the famous dancing Elvis' and amazing 80's fashion including men with short shorts and awkward dancing at a nightclub.

I happned to be wandering from blog site to blog site and noticed the new pokemon promos. In 7-11 here in Japan they are promoting the new Black and White game promos a lot, with the new game already having over one million in pre-sales. I for one am not a gamer and wont be picking the game up, but i just couldn't help but notice one character and its "special ability".

It looks like it has a penis spurting water from its chest! I tried looking for more images to see if it was real, but I wouldnt put it past Japanese to create a character like this. Its probably not real, but i think its hilarious!

Japan is definitely a land where the convinience store is an important part of how this country functions. You of course buy food items and many daily item needs, but you can also pay bills like electricity and national health care, send packages, drop off dry cleaning and even buy tickets for concerts, bus to the airport and more. It is no suprise that people would write songs about the "konbini" here are a couple of examples of Japans love for the Konbini.


Hatsune Miku "konbini"




Hatsune Miku original "konbini" sung by halyosy in ballad style.



This video is by the duo known as Briefs & Trunks with their song simply entitled "Konbini".



This one is the same song, but with a fan made video using Denno coil characters in it.

For those of you who are interested in Japanese culture and check out info on the internet probably watch Vlogs on youtube by people who live in Japan. One person who is a Japan Vlogger, or more like entertainer is a girl names Emily or better know as her youtube persona applemilk1988 http://www.youtube.com/user/applemilk1988. She has made some entertaining videos, and has showed her skills in speaking japanese. I have had a few occasions meeting Emily, but all have been negative. She always seems very standoff-ish or "i'm too cool for you". So overall i dont care too much about her since she has such an attitude why would i waste time with her.

Several months ago i heard she was planning on making music. Now i thought "god, why the fuck would someone want to hear her sing!" She had a live event where many Japan Vloggers were invited and could get in 1/2 priced. I was interested in going ONLY because i could meet up with the other vloggers and chat with them, but in the end i had more important plans. I later saw the uploads with her singing and though, not bad.

A few months ago Emily released this song hidamari, under the name of c.cedille.



I have to give credit to where it is due, this girls attitude sucks when meeting in person, but i think she has a nice unique voice that sounds good singing Japanese. I am contemplating on purchasing this album via iTunes, but only reluctant because of my personal feelings towards her. What do you think of her song, is it worth while to buy or not?

Recently there has been a colaboration with The World of Golden Eggs and Disney called Cubic Disney. See more after the jump

I was in the 100yen shop and was checking out the plant selection and this one struck me as queer. It looks like the plant is either playing the flute, or is it playing the SKIN flute?

We headed out to shinjuku and haf some Tahi buffet food, and after went to a camera showroom high up above shinjuku area. It is such a beautiful view of the concrete jungle of Tokyo.

If you dont know what a love hotel is check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_hotel, They are litteraly everywhere. This one with the lovely fountains called La Festae (i have no idea what it means, i cant translate it) Maybe they meant The Festival?? Well this one is located just outside the window of my office. I get to watch the couples pop in and out of this place all day long. At night it gets even better, the whole front of the building is illuminated and changes colors. Fancy right!!

Earlier i posted about butterfinger candy being hard to find in japan as most of the peanut butter snacks are. In a womans item shop called PLAZA http://www.plazastyle.com/plaza/shopping/06/index.html, there is a import snack section. I found they carried reecess peices and whoppers which i love both, but they want 294yen for a tiny box of them. Expensive compared to what they go for in america, but when you need your fix they are available.

Mirror mirror on the wall who's the LAMEST of them all?

In the 100 yen shop i found this beautiful mirror, perfectly titled "LAME MIRROR". Again, japanese language fail. You can get a small size which is kind of lame, or the large size one which is really lame.... and my lame mirror jokes, lame!

At the chain store Seiyu (now owned by Wal-mart) they have some super cool otaku tshirts available now. They have a couple lines that include Kamen Rider, Kikaider and Ultra Man from the Ishimori Design Works Collection. The style is all chibi super deformed versions of these vintage characters. I would like to have picked on up but they are very Japanese sizes, where the LL size seems like an M size. Stop by Seiyu to pick one of these up while they are available.

When you think of a Deli, usually one would think lunch meats, cheese and pre cooked foods like fried chicken, mac n cheese and mashed potatoes. For Japanese Delis its filled with tones of fried foods like, fried fish, fried pork, fried chickem, fried vegetables. Get the point of everything is fried? Well its also super convinient and especially cheap come the later hours of the day. Around 8-9pm depending on the supermarket, the food becomes discounted. Food will get discounted from 10% up to 50%! Tonights dinner selection is some fried fish along with a cheap sushi bento (not really sushi because it only had shrimp and crab, everything else was rice or veggies) aling with a can of root beer. The food was at 30% discount and came to about 350yen. When in Japan, to be budget minded, remember the food discount times at your local supermarket, it could save you tons of money in wich you can used to go drinking later!

I work in the area of Tokyo called Kichijoji. I often have extended break times so i head out and wander about to fill up my time. I usually stop this particular game center often because they have good prizes that are relativly easy to GET. This UFO catcher in particular i have played at least a dozen times, but i have never paid attention to the sign of this one. Yesterday night, after eating some kaiten sushi with my BF, i hinted i wanted to play some games but before heading in he wanted to smoke a cigarette at the smoke area just in fron of the game center. As we chatted is when the sign hit me of what it said "UFO COLON". This is a total LULZ moment for me! I love Japan and its inappropriate usage of the english language.

K-ON! has been one of those series that one gets obsessed about. For me I heard about the series in passing but never checked it out. It wasn't until i won the PV Yui figure from a UFO catcher, posted my winnings on twitter and then had people chime in how awesome the show was that i finally searched youtube to see what the fuss was about. Instantly I was hooked, the characters, situations, comedy, animation and music all worked together amazingly. Then something inside of me sparked, something that had been dormant for years... my inner otaku self had fully re-emerged. I have been living in Tokyo for over a year and a half and i have had access to all sorts of anime, manga and toys, but I did not have the same otaku urges that I had when i was younger, till i met Yui.

Who cant pass these up right! I mean its power rangers and sausages together! AMAZING! I did end up buying the power ranger sausages and cooked them up for breakfast the next day... sadly they didnt tasy like power rangers... just odd tasting pork thingies in my mouth...

In one of the books i use for english lessions is this non-PC drawing of a man from new orleans... ya japan and its social ignorance!

OK, so i really didnt get to win this, but i wish i could! This was in the game center only for display. I think i would def pay for one of these, its just sooooo cute!

We headed out to akhihabara after checking out hakusan station about a possible house we were going to rent out. My BF needed to get new screen cover for his iphone, but before heading to yodabashi camera we went to an old school coffee shop Renoir and ordered the green tea roll cake which had little sweet beans in the center, the yougurt drink was good, but a little too expensive for the size.

I went down the super long shotengai in Asagaya and found a liquor shop that carries a lot of beers from around the world. One beer i picked up was because it had a cute bear on it. Its chocolate, and ive had chocoalte beer before but it was bitter beer. This beer is a sweet chocolate, so i thought i would love it, but i really didnt care for it. BEER FAIL!

My BF and I went and grabbed a quick lunch in Ogikubo at a nice Thai resturant. Their lunch set is about 800-900yen and is excellent! It comes with a great spicy lime soup, spicy sausage salad, Green curry rice and a yogurt fruit dessert.