The horror in the toilet

Some people tend to spend much time in the toilet, turning nature’s call into some sort of ritual. Newspapers, magazines, crossword puzzles, portable gaming devices, are some of the items employed to make this happen. I personally know people who, when in lack of reading material, turn to the labels of the bathroom products! What about you? Have you ever been in dire need of something to read while in the toilet? If you answered “yes”, fear no more!

Or should I say fear more? The fans of J-horror will be able to enjoy their favourite genre, even in the toilet, coming June. The idea of having toilet paper with something printed on, is not new, however, having Koji Suzuki write a horror story and then print it on toilet paper is, well, unusual. The product is called DROP and has been dubbed as “Japan’s scariest toilet paper”. And scary it should be, since Suzuki is none other than the one who wrote Ring, Spiral and Dark water (to name a few).

[via Bouncing Red Ball and AltJapan]

The things I do for love…

Well, not exactly me, I concider my self among the lucky ones that share the same interests with their other half.

While browsing through my RSS this morning, I stumbled upon this post at Heisei Democracy (which btw is an excellent site for those of you who have an interest in Japanese culture).

Shipon, one of the editors at HD, says he is forced to part with most of his doujinshi because his girlfriend does not allow them. To those of you who are unfamiliar with this scene, there are some works that the word “extreme” fails to describe and I can understand that many people will find them disturbing. But collecting doujinshi is a hobby that requires quite the dedication. We are talking about rare pieces here (well in some cases), and about material that can hardly be found outside Japan.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that in order for a relationship to be successful, mutual sacrifices are required, but I find this too much. I mean if the guy wanted to have those things in plain view I could understand his wife wanting him to put them away. But this?

Orson Welles drinks G&G[japanese commercial]

Great men drink great whiskeys… (damn, I’m good!)

Enjoy some Japanese commercials, where Orson Welles drinks G@G

Next time I’m in Tokyo, I must get one of those. I don’t want citizen Kane to touch me with evil and declare war of the worlds, after all…

Link Shots

No time for a propper post, today, so I will share with you some of the things I happened to come across today.

The Facebook of Genesis.
What if God had a Facebook account? A College Humor classic!

The Matrix runs on Windows.
Another one from College Humor. Guess I stayed there a lot today 🙂

An awesome Japanese fountain.
Your daily dose of cool Japanese technology. Come on, admit it, it’s cool!

Clockwork Hand.
Even if you’re not in steampunk, you have to admit this guy.

Enjoy!

Sex Crisis in Japan?

A few days ago, I was reading a very interesting post, about Tokyo’s Salon Erotique, at Pop Japan (the post is in Greek, but you can watch the videos). Having been at a sex shop in Tokyo, having seen what these people are capable of producing, and with a little help from the forementioned post, I decided to spend a fair portion of my next trip’s budget in such novelties (it’s the collector in me speaking, not the sex pervert, honestly 😛 ).

It seems however that all is not going well. The otaku sex industry (ie sex-related stuff for those who actually don’t get any sex) is going through a crisis. You don’t believe me? Take a look at the data Yano Research Institute provides for 2007 and you’ll see I’m right. Maid or cosplay related services face a 18.6 % decrease! If that is not a tragedy, what is?

Now, economics, is not my strong point, but this much I know: If there is limited demand for a product, it becomes cheaper. Hmmm, could this mean?… Yes! More for me! Ha!

See the sounds, hear the colors [Yuri Suzuki]

I came across this guy, over at Technabob’s, who caught this from The Dapper Alchemist. Yuri Suzuki is a Japanese (obviously) artist/designer, who lives currently in the UK, and has a number of interesting projects to show. I suggest you read both posts mentioned above, and then head over to Yuri’s page, to check all the nice stuff. His experiments also include some dj sets, that he offers for download. Be sure to check them out, especially if you’re into progressive house, or fusion (not exactly but close^^).

He’s even designed a mobile tea ceremony set!!!