… but this commercial really appeals to me. Well, except for the giant furry pink bear. The less said about that, the better.

Japan is internationally renowned for its love of cute. This is oft exaggerated, but isn’t entirely without merit. What is often missed is the side effect of this obsession, whereby nearly every business, organization, event - or indeed, just about anything - irrespective of size or purpose, seeks to get itself a mascot.

The Aichi expo had these guys -

The Japanese police have this guy -

Hikone Castle has this guy -

The Japanese military settled, famously, on this guy (the one on the left, who won’t be fingerprinted on coming to Japan) -

Nara, one of Japan’s most popular tourist destinations, site of the ancient capital, and famous for deers and temples, didn’t have a mascot. This oversight needed correcting, obviously, so the city government contracted themselves a nifty looking logo that they thought would sum up the charms of their city as cutely as possible.

This is what they got -

According to Yahoo news, there have been a few complaints that it isn’t cute enough. I’m inclined to agree.

source - Yahoo news (only Japanese)

Once upon a time, there was a world where you couldn’t buy a piece of plastic that had a microchip embedded in it. In this world before IC cards, you had to allow yourself enough time to buy a ticket when you went to the train station.

Seriously, who has time for that? No-one, that’s who. So some bright spark came up with the precursor to the IC card - commuter passes. Pieces of plastic, it is true, but flexible! Bendy! No microchip! And best of all, they came in all manner of varieties. With pretty designs.

Sadly, the convenience of the IC card behemoths, Suica & Passmo, means the end of these commuter passes - it’ll all be over come the 14th of March. Which is a shame, as I’d just started collecting them.

Here’s a little gallery of the ones I’ve gathered to date.

Slideshow

The International Herald & Tribune reports on a new suit available from Konaka in Japan, from February next year.

By utilising a special fabric that remembers its shape, the boffins at Konaka have managed to make my dream Christmas present - all you have to do, according to a PDF posted on their website, is reverse the jacket and trousers, put them in the shower for a few minutes, then turn them the other way around, repeat the process, then wait for them to dry.

Awesome.

It’s just the kind of thing I’m looking for, what with all the interviews I’ve been going to lately and dry cleaning being as expensive and time consuming as it is.

(picture from nicolette wells’ flickr stream, used under the creative commons license)

Do you have a longing in your life? A longing for a companion that will sit by you while you read manga and watch anime? She says nothing, does nothing and will submit to your manly will?

Well, it seems that Orient Trading has the product for you. You’ve heard about RealDolls, but here you can get models that look well under the legal age - if that’s what you want.

And now, we have an opportunity to go through a Candy Girl showroom and factory - that’s because we love you, loyal readers. Yes we do - just not in the candy girl way. Thank God.

Segata Sanshiro (せがた三四郎 )is a freaking legend, and I don’t know how I’ve managed to live in this country for 4 years without hearing about him and his devotion to gaming. Being a gamer myself, I bow down to his dedication and enforcement of good gaming practices. Wait - Enforcement? Yes, you read correctly.

Segata was created by Sega to advertise its Sega Saturn gaming console. Although the console ultimately flopped, the legend of Segata Sanshiro lives on. He is a judo master and his name is a play on “Sega Saturn, shiro!” - or “Play Sega Saturn!”.

His videos can be found on YouTube, but this user has most of them. Also, click here for an English explanation of the history, origins and a lot more Segata commercials.