lovegeek Blog

This is me! I saw the Sea Shepherd in Circular Quay. It looks totes like a Pirate Ship and the dudes that man it were KOOL!

In Japan, people rarely talk about Whaling. Especially not with an Aussie like me. It’s kinda a touchy subject, but I had a few comments from co-workers about it being bad, or asking if I think it is bad (I had to work my way around the point in answering that one!). I did catch a vox-pop on TV asking people what they thought of it. As far as I could tell it was split 50/50 between young people and hippies on one side, and traditionalist on the other.

So with the latest confrontation on the high seas between Japanese whaling ships and some stealth protest vessels, where are we in The War on Whaling?

Although these Greenpeace activists do not in any way represent Australia’s foreign policy on whaling, our current government does support them (to a limit, I am sure) and has condemned whaling in our ‘backyard’. Yesterday a big Japanese boat collided with one of the activist’s stealth ships and tore it in half. The Japanese say it was coming towards them, the activist’s say it was sitting still. It probably was coming towards them, head on. These are the guys that jumped onto a ship and were captured for days. They’re mad as pants, and that’s why I like them.

But also revealed today is that Japan has been sending SPY PLANES from our airports to SPY on the Sea Shepherd! SPIES? Really? Is it a matter of pride, or do you guys really eat that much whale?

Regardless, I like the passion that these people have when it comes to stopping whaling. I like that our government semi-supports them, and I like that they do crazy stuff for what they believe in (cos it’s it’s something I believe in). I don’t usually do this on lovegeek, but if you feel strongly about it as well, you can donate to the cause here. After all, they did lose a 2 million dollar ship!

xx

Amy is back from Japan, and come bearing gifts! THANKS for my Tea For Two teapot from Loft and my Kitty Chan bike bell! Watch out Sydney!

xx

Here are some photos from my first roll of film from my Holga 135BC. Sweet.

Yay! My Re-ment toys are finally here from Japan!

xx

This is what my friend Amy suggested we call our imaginary Etsy store that will sell cute things from Japan. She will take care of the Kawaii, while I’ll do the Zakka side, forever.

But srsly, I’ve been meaning to show you this awesome stamp set I got from Village Vanguard in Osaka. They have been great for decorating presents and my Etsy envelopes.

This is what uber famous SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi asked Japanese police last week when they found him drunk, alone and naked in a Tokyo park. In a country know for it’s deep sense of collective shame, his actions have cost him more than a quick slap on the wrist. Kusanagi has suffered public humiliation and offered a public apology. But this has not stopped some TV stations and corporations from dropping him from shows and advertising campaigns. Picture Australia’s John Farnham pulling a stunt like this and you can begin to imagine the brouhaha that is going on in Japan right now.

But what does this mean for SMAP? Can the power group go on with 4 members? Will SMAP x SMAP (their much loved weekly TV show) continue for a 14th year?

In the meantime, here is a  classic photos of the Boy Band, from happier (and fully clothed) times, and Beyonce and Kimutaku - just because they would have beautiful babies together.

Update: Reading through one of my favourite Japanese culture blogs, Neojaponisme, I found great post on The Necessary Empty Gesture of public apologies in Japan. This time in relation to fellow SMAP member Shingo’s apology on behalf of  Kusanagi.

For a little piece of Japan love coming out of Melbourne, you can’t go past this cute blog, ii-ni-kore. Featuring Japanese design and foodie posts, it also has some great ideas for getting your Japan on locally around Melbourne!

From the about page:

ii ne kore is a shorthand version of kore wa ii desu ne, an expression of appreciation or delight in japanese. here i try to post lovely things i delight in and hope they delight others too.

Check it.

xx

If anyone lives in Japan (specifically Osaka) and needs a cute mode of transport, Hon and I are looking to sell our beloved bikes. I am really very sad, but they are only 1 year old and we went around to all the bike shops in our area today in the hope of finding them homes, to no avail :(.

So, if you are here, or know someone that is, please fwd this post or send them a link to our facebook marketplace ad.

Sorry this is so late, Hon went out last night with the camera!

Yesterday I snapped cute things, like me and a few girlfriends getting Purikura (another one of those Wasei-eigo words, derived from Purinto Kurabu or Print Club) and some inflatable road works signs. Kawaii ne!

mads xx

D: Downtown

Above is a photo of a corn chip, raw tuna and cream shoved between two slices of sponge cake. I ate three of these on New Years Eve. Why? Let me explain…

Downtown is a Japanese comedy duo made up of Hitoshi Matsumoto 松本人志 and Masatoshi Hamada 浜田雅功. They have made a career out of their extremely cruel yet entertaining batsu games. In the West their most famous batsu game is definitely ‘Silent Library’ - watch it below.

But for my money, their best work is definitely Waratte ha zettai ikenai 笑っては絶対いけない or ‘Definitely No Laughing’. In these episodes the Downtown guys, plus three mates, are not allowed to laugh for 24 hours. Every time they do they get hit with a wooden paddle (in the first ever installment they got darts shot into their butts, but this never appeared again after that). During these 24 hours the boys are put in different situations, the first being a traditional Japanese hotel, and the latest being at a newspaper office.　Check out this YouTube vid below of when they are at a school. They are in a fake English class.

So back to the image that introduces this post. Here in Japan we were lucky to be treated to 6 hours of Waratte ha zettai ikenai on New Year’s Eve last year. Fueled by alcohol we decided we would make a game of it as well - anyone caught laughing over the course of an hour had to eat the sponge cake, raw tuna, corn chip and cream monstrosity. I succumbed to laughter 3 times. Mads did once.

In Japan we can watch Downtown 2-3 times a week. My favourite of their weekly shows is  ‘Lincoln’ リンカーン, aired every Tuesday night. This week involved one comedian having a parachute strapped to his nostrils with a two-pronged claw. He then had to run towards an industrial sized fan to turn it off causing his nose to be pulled back up towards his forehead. Oh, and there was another segment where three comedians had to dance bare footed on tepanyaki hotplates.

By Dice xoxo