OMG. Where have I been?! There’s a tumblr devoted to male hosts, Host Life. Swoon. Thanks Shibuya Nights!
Host Life Tumblr, just discovered it today
swoon
#1 Olympics heart throb: Kohei Uchimura
Summer Olympics is not just about athletics, it’s also about hot athletes. My favorite is Japanese world champion gymnast Kohei Uchimura, recently profiled and photographed by the New York Times magazine.
Kohei is incredibly strong, precise, and focused. He’s the first male gymnast to win three consecutive world all around titles (2009, 2010, 2011). In Beijing he won two silver medals.
And his visual style combines stubble for macho toughness with tall helmet hair that screams mom and eyebrows that have been yanked and angled within a few hairs of their existence. Swoon.
I am selfishly wishing he wins plenty of gold medals, and becomes a regular image of corporate marketing in Japan. I’d much prefer to see young Kohei than skinny Ichiro. Maybe that’s just me?
Who will you be stalking this Olympics?
Introducing Nakamura Shido: Guest post by Kathryn
Guest Post: Created by Kathryn of Project Kathryn.
Readers, you are in for a huge treat!
After I complained that many of my loyal fangirl readers seem fixated on the super-young (at least from the perspective of this cougar, aka milf), Kathryn volunteered to introduce adorable Nakamura Shido. I love how her profile includes Arashi, Kathryn’s favorite group, and Donki! Thanks, Kathryn!!
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Shido Nakamura is apparently a famous Kabuki actor. Not being up with such cultured things like that, I only really noticed him when watching Letters from Iwo Jima (a damn fine movie – I resisted watching it for ages because I hate war movies but I’d highly recommend it).
After that, he became known (to me) as “the guy from Letters… no, not Nino, not Watanbe Ken, the other guy…”
Then I found out all about his kabuki past (he then became “the kabuki guy from Letters from Iwo Jima”) and, suddenly kabuki didn’t seem so boring. I could sit though some traditional Japanese theatre for Nakamura-san.
More recently he was a guest on Arashi ni Shiyagare – http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-variety/arashi-ni-shiyagare-episode-3/ as the “big brother” guest. He taught Arashi how to make ramen in a manly fashion *swoon*. He has a quiet, dry sense of humor you rarely see in guests on Japanese variety shows. But best of all, he talked about how, when he gets lonely in the middle of the night, he goes shopping at Don Quixote! And he loves it when he gets recognised and asked for autographs and photos. He (cleverly, perhaps) didn’t say which branch he shops at because that could possibly be opening the floodgates of fangirl stalking.
Still, good looks, manliness, sense of humor and shopping at Donki = a combination that will win my heart.
Tattoo heaven!
This image of Shuntsuke was taken by the Tokyo photographer Max Hodges. Max, where did you find this guy? The combination of *huge* hair, exquisite tattoo, and his gaze directly into the camera are swoon-irresistible. Max, please ask Shuntsuke to also pose for a back and butt tattoo photograph!
People outside Japan may not be aware that all tattooing is associated with yakuza, and is highly stigmatized. The combination of fine art, naked skin and prohibition make it all the hotter! Fortunately, there are a few public gyms and sentos where tattoos are allowed. No surprise that these places are also heavily gay.
Max, you can make a fortune selling images of Japanese men’s tattoos. I volunteer to help!
Underwear obsession
Just when I feel jaded about the blogosphere, I discovered a new blog InvisibleGaijin that mixes wicked satire and faux news with a focus on men’s fashion. Swoon.
The above is from InvisibleGaijin’s story about Japanese underwear, which connects undergarment obsession with recession and soshoku danshi (herbivores), and in part reads:
Self-professed gaijin with love/hate relationship with Japan, Fuzakeruna Konogaijinme, commented, “Japanese salarymen always turn inwards in recessions, peering into their navels in hopes no one notices they don’t do shit at work. Underwear that makes your balls feel good always sells.”
(Image from www.pants-ya.com. Almost NSFW).
Tokyo Moe 