More Wacky Japanese Stuff
 

I think the picture should go first and the story second. I can't figure out how to do that with a single post (any help?) so here it is in two posts:

This from the New York Times, at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/wo...87a&ei=5087%0A

Some facts:
There are around 5,000,000 vending machines in Japan.
The incidence of violent crime is one seventh the rate in the United States.
The rate of violent crime is falling.
And my favorite:
Does anyone believe for a second that this might actually work, and not leave you standing there looking like a complete twit when the stalker rips open the fabric?

The worst part would be lugging all the bottles of soda around with you all day.

Not really, I'm sure the sales were made for the novelty value.

I wonder if she's planning to make one that impersonates the vending machine full of panties?

MXC

And the ice to keep them cool.
And the change.

I think actually the worst part would be dispensing the bottles....

oh, the swirling milieu of visualizations i got from those last two posts. I think I have a pube stuck in my virtual teeth

Maybe you need to swill your mouth...I think I have a couple of coke bottles somewhere.

Just as she conceals herself, her pursuer arrives.

Looking around... pant pant, "Damn!", sweat sweat, "I've lost her", gasp gasp, "I need a Coke", sweat sweat.

I wonder if you knew that one of the top selling sports drinks is called Pocari Sweat...

I sometimes wonder what a pocari is, and why they are so sweaty.

Meanwhile, the next installment of wacky Japanese junk is ... heart shaped bubble wrap!
(See picture)

But it doesn't end there. Popping the stuff is so much fun you can buy ...
Worried about the environment? take heart:

But there is a serious side to all this:

Heart shaped bubble wrap and square melons - I love the Japanese.

Maybe pocari means replacement.

I've checked three dictionaries, and none show pocari. In fact you can't even write that in Japanese script - there is no "ca" syllable (use "ka" instead).
Mind you, "poka poka suru" means to feel warm, or be warm... hmmmm warm sweat .... yummy yummy yummy. :vomit:

Japan uses about 25 billion sets of disposable chopsticks per year (which is about four per person per week). Some green-minded folks prefer to carry their own reusable chopsticks, but when a girl goes out on the town, what's she supposed to do? This....

Attachment 15601

Would not the hot soup hurt her tender, yet tasty, nipples?

Thats wanton soup. Ba dum dum!

(Worst pun ever?)

I think it's quite an attractive bra. In fact, it's getting me a little worked up. Miso horny.

(This is The Cellar -- lay out a bad pun, and somebody will be along with a worse one very soon.)

lol...the name I came up with for my cornhole team here at the college (for those who don't know, cornhole is a similar-to-horseshoes game we hicks in Ohio play) was MeSoCorny.

You know what I really find "wacky"? Is the fact that you got your information from the NY Times. what up wi' dhat?..

(coke story that is)

Simple.
I am a man of the world, and read the NYT, the Times of London, Le Monde, the Chunichi shimbun, and the Wangaratta Weekly.

[ boring ]
I follow a news-on-Japan collation site which links to any news service mentioning Japan. I found it there.
[ /boring ]

Shawnee: GROAN
SteveD : GROAN :smack:

I was just assuming, since you actually lived there......I don't see how you possibly have time to read all those newpapers. When it's quite obvious you spend an inordinate amount of time here;)

Hicks in Georgia play it as well. I had never heard of it until about a month ago.

Cornhole Board:
http://www.missouriscenicrivers.com/...lewithlegs.jpg

http://www.delmer.com/myimages/CornH...090906-tbn.jpg

http://stumptownzobbles.files.wordpr.../08/corn-6.jpg

My dad made the boards for a while. I helped him with a couple sets, which was fun. The neighbor lady would make the bags and my sis-in-law would paint them. It just got to be too much in materials as my dad would never take money for them.

Fun game though!

Someday I will have to play it.

Words of advice. Place corn bag in dominant (throwing) hand. Balance self with beer of choice in other hand. Heckling is an experience enhancer.

Been a long time since I blew beer out of my nose. Thanks :blush:

bottles
 

A great big ole Arkansas Haw! :lol:

This friendly little mouse, with the blue condom on its head, is Pi-po-chan, the mascot of the Tokyo Police force. Piiiiii-pohhhhh is the sound Japanese police sirens make, and "chan" is a familiar version of "san". So the name translates roughly as "Wee-wah-sweetie".
Yes, the cops in a city of 32 million keep order with a mouse. RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH!!!

Attachment 15789

That inspires fear in the heart of evil doers!

One thing that's kind of struck me as telling in Japan is the drug law. Speed and other 'uppers' carry a much lower sentence compared to marijuana use. I don't think they care what you do as long as you're nice and productive.

Shame, though. The one time I went to visit I remember telling my friends that if there was one place in the world that needed weed, it had to be Japan. It's crazy, the one connection I was able to find was a known member of the Yakuza and he charged about $500 US for an ounce. (!!!) Those folks just don't like chilling out. :headshake

Indeed, the "zero-tolerance" idea has never caught on here. Funnily, a lot of the young posers aspire to the image of the drug culture but don't actually do (can't get, possibly) drugs. There are plenty of wannabes with dope-leaf jewelry or T-shirts, but who've never smoked in their lives.
Similarly when the ecstasy set in the west were all going on the dance floor with bottles of evian, the Tokyo set were going dancing with their evian bottles... without having drugs. :lol:
Drugs are available here, if you look hard enough, but I am not risking the law here. In South Australia, possession for personal use = on the spot fine, pay at the post office, no record. Here, the cops can hold you for 21 days on suspicion without bail or a lawyer, and any conviction would cost me my job, apartment, and visa, plus probable prison time. I'll pass, thanks.

Yeah, it was risky but I was in country for ... similar activities. Did you ever read that blog about the guy that was detained for 21 days in Japan? I'll try to find it, it was an interesting look at the Japanese prison system.

That's how they keep Japan elephant-free.

Not content with heart-shaped bubble wrap, some genius came up with a bubble-wrap calendar:

Attachment 15818

Cute toilet cleaning robot
 

From here.

Attachment 15881

Attachment 15882
So you're staggering home from a hard night on the town, and you stop by the public toilet ... and there is this giant, glowing-eyed robot lady bird that starts talking to you in Japanese about road weather and traffic conditions .... I tell you, the Japanese don't need drugs.

:lol:

I don't get it??? She looks perfectly normal to me... :headshake

You mean ... normal ... apart from the fact that she's talking to a giant lady bird toilet-cleaning robot with glowing red eyes?

I can get round any number of toilets in a day for $30,000 thank you.
And I'll put on a childlike female voice if you like.

PM me for details!

I'm wondering how that thing possibly cleans toilets. I guess oriental, hole-in-the-ground squatting toilets? it could just, you know, roll right over those. Otherwise, it would have to hop up onto western-style toilets.

and that would be just too disturbing.

I was going to ask about the toilets there in Japan. More western style or squat type?

My only restroom experience in Japan was at Narita airport.

It was surely better than the Pakistan restrooms but much less than the US standard.

Don't even ask about the toilets here. It's scary.

I'll wait for Zen but my understanding is within homes and hotels it's mostly Western style - better than Western because they include so many added extras. But a (small) majority of public toilets are still traditional.

But then I've used hole in the ground toilets in both France and Italy, so it's not just a East/ West divide.

Yes, I've read stories about Japanese toilet accessories. Sounds like a wide variation from hole in the ground to cologne automatically sprayed on your rear when your done, sorta thing.

I see I have some homework to do. I'll get back to you with photos.
Yes, I am going to go and take photos in public toilets.

Make sure you take em after the robot's visited, okay? ;)

You realise this is how Slang started don't you? (not specifically toilets) You'll have your own photo thread before you know it...

squatting for elimination is much healthier than sitting. I imagine that a squatting toilet should be as sanitary, too, given that you don't actually sit on it.

But I suppose there'd be splashage. :(

Previous thread re squatting toilets (inc my personal experience in Siena)
Cellar thread, NFW as far as content goes.

Yay! :)

Congrats man. You're now a crazy MFer like me. :lol:

Tip from Slang: don't use the flash. It makes people nervous.

Wow, surreal.

I might try that in my next English class. Lots of chorusing, rhythmic chanting, even singing, great teaching techniques.

To cap it all, did you notice the writing on their halter tops (ok, on their boobs) was in German?

And no, I'm not planning to go flashing in public toilets.

Here's the great Japanese Toilet Report.

Yes there are floor pans. I find the crouching uncomfortable and they're hell if you have a knee problem. The flushing isn't always effective and so they can be stinky. And I'm still not sure which way I'm supposed to face.

Attachment 16005

They also have regular wester style Crappers. This one is my bathroom, notice how everything (shower, tub, basin, toilet) is crammed into a tiny space. I just measured it: 140 x 105 x 195 (high) cm. (55 x 41 x 76 inches).

Attachment 16006

And of course the legendary "washlet" space-age superloo, with electrically heated seat, built-in bidet, deodorant sprayer, non-contact flushing mechanism and - on some models - a background music player to cover the sounds of splashing.

Attachment 16007

This is the control arm, the flusher is visible in the picture above, the green glowing light on the wall behind the control arm.

Attachment 16008

Both the flusher and deodorizer have manual and automatic operation - when the seat detects a big weight reduction (person stands up), it automatically deodorizes. When you move away from the unit, it flushes. It flushed and deodorized after I took these photos even though I hadn't sat on it. Maybe it figured I had taken a leak.

Furthermore, there are also urinals, but only the one person per stall types, not the long trough types. These ones have movement sensors for automatic flushing, mounted at the top ... at least, I think that's what those little camera-looking things are!

Attachment 16009

Also, quite a few toilet rooms have these, and I'm still not sure what they are. I'm not going near it.

Attachment 16010

And to continue with the Asian Toilet theme for a moment:

Attachment 16011


Reuters offers the following caption:

Cool! Thanks Zen.

With the European squatter I know you are supposed to face the door (advice on a travel site I read for Brits & Merkins). As that doesn't work in your case, all I can suggest is the other way than you expect, which I what I personally learned when using one.

Re knees - I found it hell in Siena and I was (comparatively) slim then. Irony is, due to exercise I could probably squat my bulk more comfortably than I did my slimmer frame. Altough I'd need another month's training to manage doing it in heels!

That's the slop sink, for the janitor to fill and dump cleaning buckets.

Well done on the toilets ZG.

Stuck for a Christmas present? Try this:

Attachment 16206

Or you could walk your short pup around downtown and innocently snap photos as he runs up to snorfle in young japanese schoolgirl crotches? :eyebrow:

I hadn't thought of that application ... but if I knew how to google it in Japanese, I'm sure rule 34 would apply.
Although it looks like the camera would point downwards a bit, might not work too well.