Folsom Fair

It hurts so good. Sorry to miss this S/M high holiday. .

Asashoryu triumphs!

I think I fell in love with Asashoryu today. This Mongolian sumo bad boy defeated my previous favorite, sweet Mongolian Hakuho. I even bought a Hakuho towel for my nephew in spring. But now I have fallen for Asashoryu, who is criticized for failing to practice all the time, and for slapping himself silly before matches. His stubble and fat face are somehow enchanting!

And last year he upset the Japan Sumo Association by calling for a 10% salary raise, the first since 2001, to cover the rising cost of food staples such as “bread, rice, cooking oil, mayonnaise and beer”.

Who is your favorite sumo wrestler?

33% of Japanese Men Sit to Pee

According to a survey by Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto, 33% of Japanese men sit to pee at home. The numbers are almost 10% higher than five years ago. Reasons cited include “ease of posture” and “to make cleaning easier.”

Takuji Yano, Toto’s public relations staff, explains, “It seems that people are tending to be more conscious about the bathrooms in their home, such as equipping washlet attachments to the toilet and trying to keep them cleaner.”

Could this be true? Is this self-reported or observed research data?

First Lady Encounter

I wonder what Japan’s new First Lady told Michelle Obama? Did she invite her to visit Venus on the UFO together? To eat the sun with her and her husband? Do you think Miyuki-sama’s stockings are too white? Maybe she should have considered platform shoes!

Pee Wee Herman is Back

I just read that Pee Wee Herman is back, appearing this week on Jay Leno’s show. For all my young blog readers, I am including two awesome Pee Wee Herman clips. Above he talks with Joan Rivers in 1986. Below is a clip from a scene where Pee Wee walks into a biker bar.

Folsom Street Fair

This Sunday, September 27, is Folsom Street Fair. I love the combination of domesticity, family and festish. 400,000 celebrants are expected.

Fall street festival thass

Fall street festivals involve generous amounts of thass (thigh + ass), male intimacy and parking lot beer.

Goodbye summer and men in yukata

One of the best parts of summer in Japan is men in yukata, a light-weight summer kimono. The funniest thing is that when young guys wear them in Tokyo, typically they choose dark and understated ones like the one worn by Tamaki Hiroshi above.

It’s a rare moment for the Japanese peacocks to choose restraint, and the girls in summer wear the most garish colors and patterns on their yukata. At least, as you see in Tamaki-sama’s photo, he hasn’t eschewed the fancy hair-do and extraneous jewelry (including ankle bracelet?!).

Victim Tokyo

An upscale boutique in Harajuku has the unlikely name, Victim Tokyo. Are they selling masochism?

Young internet friends

Sometimes I have to be careful when speaking to people face-to-face about my internet friends. There is no way that it is appropriate to mention my “high school girl” friend I met online, but sometimes I forget. Still, getting to know several expat girls in Asia in their late teens and 20s has been an unexpected result of this blog.

For the record, I have met none of them in person, and being 100% gay I am only interested in friendship and reading their blogs. If anything, I feel mostly like a protective uncle, particularly to the teenager. And I am thrilled to learn about pop culture, boy-obsessions, and male misbehavior from them. We have a surprising amount of common interests!

I just noticed that two of my young online friends have mentioned me recently in their blogs: Marius Mink and MISA from Satellite of Love. I am also a big fan of 20s Canadian professional in Tokyo Green Eyed Geisha.