Strange but sexy image

This image may be trying to make some environmental statement. Shallow me just finds it sexy and more than a little moe.

Yoko Ono still “out there”

Just slightly older than my mother, Yoko Ono continues being fabulous and creative. Great article profiles her life (school with imperial family members), haiku writer at 4 and a half years old, conceptual musician and then artist. With son Sean Lennon as producer, she’s just released a new album, “Between my head and the sky.”

And, as the photo attests, she’s not shy about revealing some decolletage!

Matsui is a champ

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like baseball or most spectator sports. However, I do like good-looking athletes. I am crushing a bit on Matsui Hideki whose Yankees team just won the World Series.

Somehow I never liked Suzuki Ichiro, another famous Japanese baseball player in the US. Not because of his talents, or lack thereof. He’s just too skinny and, well, ugly looking. Yes, I am shallow.

松井様、おめでとう！Which athletes do you think are hot?!

(ps: Major yucks. I think in the background on the left is the rich dude who just bought himself a 3rd term as mayor. Stay away from the good-looking athletes, ok?).

“Decent” apartment building

The English language names of Tokyo apartment buildings are funny. So few have Japanese names. Whether upmarket or downmarket, the names are often so strange. Who can forget “Cram Place“?

This is one of my most recent favorites: the upscale “Park House Decent” building. Have you seen any funny building names in Tokyo?

Ginza character

Leaving Ginza before noon on a Sunday, I came across this delightful couple. The gent was kindly guiding his “character” date across a small street. I wonder what they get up to off-hours?

Poem bar by American Express

A poetic sign for a small pub in Ni-chome, Shinjuku. Sponsored by American Express. Poetry, gays and booze.

More fear of girly men

“Does this skirt make my butt look big?”

How is it that the wonderous Japanese male gender-bending, almost all in the name of heterosexuality, keeps getting bad press and moral condemnation. Another foreign article in Times Online profiles men who like to eat cake, a feminine past time, and dream of becoming house-husbands.

Rather than celebrate freedom and variety, the phenomenon of herbivores and ojo-man has alarmed sociologists who predict the demise of the Japanese nation. One pompous sociologist is quoted with this fearful prediction:

“I worry that herbivorous boys are the future of Japan . . . As young Japanese men become more timid and more averse to taking risks, it will affect the energy and vitality of the society.”

Who knew that a skirt and feminine aspirations could be such a powerful threat to the survival of a proud people? Are girly men Japan’s terrorism?

Update: CNNGo has a profile about Japan’s first men-only nail salon, in Osaka only for now.

More plant love

Are Japanese men teasing me with their plant-love fashion? This California t-shirt reminds me of happy times that are not allowed in this otherwise wonderful and peace-loving country.

Anderson Cooper’s boyfriend: a huge meat head?

Is Benjamin (Antoine) Maisani really Anderson Cooper’s boyfriend? Gawker claims that this co-owner of East Village bar Eastern Bloc is the closeted CNN anchor’s boyfriend. I think Andie can do better than this extreme muscle queen, but maybe he has a rare mind underneath all that meat.

Thanks to Alexander Chee for passing on this breaking news!

Haruna Ai: Miss International Queen 2009

Haruna Ai won the Miss International Queen 2009 transgender beauty pageant in Thailand. First Japanese win. Haruna is also a funny comedian and TV personality.

And she looks good in a swimsuit.