I’m in a weird funk lately. I think my mojo was injured at some point and I’m still working on getting it back.
In Japan they have a saying that もう一回, literally, 1 more time. Apparently in means that three bad things will happen in a row.
This morning, the train I usually use was completely stopped, forcing me to take another route (which also cost more), making me 10 minutes late. Then I spilled tea all over my white shirt in class. Then a meeting I was supposed to attend tonight (and was really looking forward to) was canceled. So I hope all three things are over with today.
So, to cheer myself up, I decided to make a blog post with some fun pics of Japan stuff I’ve run across recently.
So I’ll start with something completely unrelated to Japan and show the new desk I put together from Ikea 
This was in a Jonathan’s restaurant. It looks pretty normal… unless you zoom back into the kitchen there. They have a machine which automatically pours one glass of beer. That’s all it does. First time I’ve seen something like that.
One thing I’ve noticed in Japan is nobody ever sits down. Ever. You never have a chance to. In contrast to Europe and America, where you see benches and chairs in public places, such as malls, train stations, etc, Japan has next to 0. If you ever do find something relatively close to something you can sit on, they have signs like this. Don’t sit and don’t climb. They’re both dangerous.
I’ve recently subscribed to a newspaper in Japan. It’s an interesting newspaper called the Asahi Gakusei Shinbun (朝日学生新聞）and it’s full of mostly readable articles aimed towards kids (and has ふりがな if you’re curious). However, like normal newspapers, I’ve found myself simply going to the comics section and reading that every day instead of the real news.
Hello Kitty orthopedic sandals. Yup.
When to a ドンキホーテ (which is a wonderful play on words from the famous Don Quixote novel, but with a Donkey as the mascot) and checked out these wallet-type-bag things, which have been pretty popular among guys and girls in Japan over the past couple of years and essentially, they’re tool belts.
I also finally found the coolest gadget I’ve bought in years. As you see above these are little keyholder/keychain accesories with D-pad’s on them. Not only that, but they have entire games you can play using only sound (in fact, I think that’s the name of them, Imagination Sound Game, by Bandai). I of course picked up the Street Fighter II game. It’s such a cool idea and so fun, that it deserves its own post. So I’ll get back to that later.
And you thought Kyocera only made crappy, cheap cell phones. It turns out they also make ceramic knives.
The jerky business is pretty big in Japan. Not beef jerky though. Most of the stuff you see here looks like underwater aliens, dipped in hot sauce. It can also get pretty expensive. But roughly $20 for a big bucket of spicy aliens actually goes great with beer.
Or any alcohol for that matter. Speaking of which, these two sake makers deserve some award for making the really appealing looking containers. They would almost fool you into thinking it won’t burn the roof of your mouth simply by smelling them.
In other exaggerations and blasphemous comments, this product will apparently give you the body of Jesus if you use it. Which Jesus, I’m still not sure. I think it may be a marketing gimmick, since their previous product (seen just below it) was called Jedus Body, and it didn’t sell quite as well.
Tired of walking around town wearing a surgical mask? Probably not (it’s so much fun!), but if you are, you can optionally shove these things up your nose and beat 花粉 (allergies) and other viruses without a mask. Of course, if you breathe through your mouth, you’re screwed. But hey, let’s not be cynical.
Spam is considered a delicacy in Japan. Ponder on that. You’re reading that price correctly too. Approximately $5 for the smallest can of the wonderful stuff.
My recent venture of dropping liquid taurine directly into my eyes (which I have running experiments with like here and here). These apparently help with studying. It says so on the box, so it must be true.
We’ve all heard of the wacky vending machines in Japan. Ones that dispense beer (very rare to find nowadays) and used girls panties (even more rare). But this is possibly the rarest find I have seen to date: A milk vending machine. Yup, that’s the only product. It says healthy drink and dessert on the machine, so it must be true.
This 焼酎 Shochu is 神の河 Kami no Kawa (or God’s river). And the english translation is awesome. A bit blurry, but you can find it saying ‘Made From Barley And Aged For A Long Time.’ Glad they clarified that
Alright, I’m off to do something really exciting!
I must be off to do something really exciting, because I wrote it, so it must be true. 
Cheers!
