My favorite photo from this summer’s Nichome Rainbow matsuri. Because of thunder storms, the normally 3 hour festival was shorted. Still, plenty of beautiful people out in the street. I love this girl’s costume and attitude.
girl
Yes, Japan has girls too!
You might not realize from reading my blog, but, yes, Japan has girls, too. I certainly appreciate female fashion, but it takes some extra originality and flair for me to strike up a conversation and snap a photo. These girls were dressed in super 80s neon to attend a concert by Okinawa alt rock band Orange Range. I am sorry I didn’t capture their pink sequined sneakers.
In true fan girl fashion, and being loyal to the theme of this blog, I can’t help but include a photo of the 5 band members!
Wishes at major shrine
Visiting a major shrine in Tokyo, I decided to stop and read some of the wishes written on wooden placards. I had thought they would all be about love and world peace. Of course, many are, but some are hilarious. Not sure if it’s bad to read others’ wishes, but they are public and I could not help myself.
Here are some of the best ones in English. Above: “I want a BMW 3 Series with real leather seats and a Bose sounds system and a GPS nav. system with a cute Japanese girl voice and seat warmers so my butt stays warm in the winter.”
“Simon has clear direction in his life and is determined to be + stay debt free with a house that owns . . . . He understands that it is all down to him– go for it tree!!!”
“Wish my daughter Linting (?) come to her senses + break away from Dario completely and never see him again. Wish good health, safe . . . Heal me + let me live a long healthy happy life.”
Below is what all the cards called ema in Japanese look like underneath the giant tree.
More wish cards after the jump.
“New Half” Showhouse Guppy
I spotted this sign in Shinjuku, and at first assumed it was yet another hostess bar. But, no, it’s a “new half” showhouse named Guppy. “New half” or ニューハーフ (nyuu haafu) is a relatively recent slang for transgender and/or transsexuals, mostly male to female.
Although it’s obviously drawing on English, the slang doesn’t really make sense to me: what’s new about feeling that you are in the wrongly gendered body? And what’s half about gender change? These girls look all girl to me!
Several transsexuals are now popular TV idols, the most famous being the super-charming Haruna Ai (はるな愛). I love her official blog banner with “AI am a girl” headline. She’s on the little screen almost every night.
Men’s hair, or “Fukuyama, you’re a girl!”
Enough about flowers, trees and bombs. Yes, it’s time to re-examine Japanese men’s hair, and to tease the sister-in-law just a bit.
Anyone who follows Japanese male celebrities knows that two men have dominated this field and at any given moment are fronting at least 6 products each, from instant noodles to televisions to hair gel to canned coffeee. The battle is between SMAP idol Kimutaku and singer-actor Fukuyama Masaharo.
Some ladies like one, or the other. It’s rare that anyone likes both equally. As blog readers know, I prefer Kimu, my sister-in-law Fuku. Recently I noticed that as both are becoming solidly “Arafo” (close to 40), they are upping the airbrushing and botox.
Kimu is widely known for his ever-changing hair, generally blondish and curly. Now, Fukuyama seems to be strongly competing as to whose hair is more girlish.
What do you think? Which idol’s hair is more girlish?
Moral outrage over homo Facebook scam
New Berlin, Wisconsin, the New York Times and apparently the international media are ga-ga over the news that a high school boy tricked 39 male classmates into sending him naked photos by posing as a girl on Facebook. He then threatened to make public their naked photos and videos, and blackmailed 7 of them to have sex with him. Apparently this news has made it even to the Taiwanese media, since I first learned about it last week from my SF acupuncturist.
I love how the media is in a tizzy since it involves homo sex. Since they were all under-age, it hardly seems like a sex crime. And no one seems to question why 39 male high school students so willingly sent naked images of themselves to a Facebook “friend” they apparently did not know. Rock on, you clever, dirty high schooler.
Tokyo Moe 