How to park your car in Japan
Have you ever wondered how Japan fits their roughly 78 million vehicles into a habitable area roughly the size of Maine? Well, it takes just the right mix of creativity and precision (it also helps that most of the cars are really tiny). In this post I introduce a few of the methods Japanese people have come up with for getting the most out of their limited parking space.
Flavor Success: Chocolate Soda
Seriously, Japan. WTF? “Chocolate Sparkling” from Suntory.
Do you take some sort of sick pleasure in forcing me to drink these ridiculous concoctions!?!?!? Curse you, curse yo….. wait… This is… actually not half bad.
Flavor Fail: Chocolate Beer
I’m a Sapporo beer fan. I prefer their brews to Asahi and Kirin, and generally rave about their special releases. So when I saw this on the shelf at my local convenience store, I approached it with an open mind. I like chocolate, I like beer, I like Sapporo. Therefore, I like this, right? right…?
The latest otaku craze: lap pillows
I’ve been seeing these around a lot lately at both otaku-ish locations and regular department stores too (two of these 3 pictures I took at Loft in Sakae, Nagoya). They’re an interesting item, playing on the Japanese word 膝枕 (hiza makura), which is made up of the characters for “lap” and “pillow” and usually refers to resting your head in someone’s lap.
Party games with panty hose?
Yep, I’ve been hanging around the 100 yen stores again. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to pull pantyhose over the top of your head? Have you ever wondered what someone’s face would look like with pantyhose pulled over their head?
Well have I got the item for you! Check out this… novel …100 yen Japanese party game. I haven’t tried it myself, but apparently it’s a very funny “tag” of war.
Warning! crazy Japanese signs
Japanese signs are great fun. You really have to admire the amount of detail that went into some of them. Here’s a collection of pictures of various warnings, notices, caution signs, etc. that I’ve come across in my journeys…
Outlandish Japanese flavors: Azuki (sweet bean) Pepsi
Not long ago you could find matcha (powdered green tea) flavored coca cola at convenience stores around Japan. Thankfully that scourge seems to have passed, but the age old rivalry between Pepsi and Coke wages on, and Pepsi has fired back with… sweet bean flavor? all…. right….
Japanglish journeys: the 100 yen store
Not only are 100 yen shops a kind of messiah for tight-budgeted students, travelers and residents, they are an honest to goodness goldmine for top-quality Japanglish. I imagine some of the products they carry ended up there specifically because the maker realized their translation was rubbish.
Recently I made a trip to the Skyle building Daiso in Sakae, Nagoya… here’s what I came away with…
A few random shots
Sorry for the lack of updating but as I mentioned on Twitter, my parents are visiting for 10 days and I don’t have much time for the blog. Of course it’s also a chance for me to get out and about, so I’ve taken quite a few pictures that I’ll be putting here eventually.
For now, here are a couple random shots from my travels so far…
Pizza Flavored Instant Yaki-soba
Japanese people are very good at coming up with flavors and combinations that no one else would dare to attempt. On this point, Japanese pizza is another post in and of itself… but today I just want to show everyone this interesting new product that caught my eye at my local convenience store yesterday.
More from Nihonshock…
