Statue of Colonel Sanders, founder (and mascot?) of KFC franchise, gets a bit of fashion makeover in Japan; some are cool, but mostly bizarre…
Mikoshi is a large portable shrine used in traditional Japanese festivals; but the folks at Akihabara, Japanese otaku centre, had different ideas.
Instead of the traditional setup, the folks created a mikoshi in late April decorated with a PC, anime figurines, manga, video games and misc gadgets.
A mini-festival was then held with female cosplayers (mostly) parading the mikoshi to “drive away the economic downturn and unpleasant incidents.”
Hina Matsuri (雛祭り – doll festival), or Girls’ Day is a traditional Japanese festival held on March 3rd annually to celebrate the girls’ healthy growth.
A beautiful video by Myles (a British traveller) on Tokyo Metropolis, with a blend of traditional Japanese lifestyle and modern pop culture. Awesome choice of soundtrack, “I am Not Zen” by Liverpool band Ambulance…
Japanese chocolate manufacturer Lotte is teaming up with popular ramen shop Menya Musashi to create a chocolate flavoured ramen (chocolate as garnish to be precise).
The name of the dish is Ghana Miso and will be available until February 15th in honour of Valentine’s Day, where Japanese women would give give men chocolate as an expression of love or friendship [via Cscoutjapan]
Seijin no Hi (成人の日; literally adult’s day) is a national holiday in Japan which falls on the second Monday in January each year. The holiday is for young Japanese who reached the legal age of adulthood (20) to celebrate their new status.
A Seijin Shiki (成人式; coming-of-age ceremony) is normally held in the morning at local city offices where politicians and academicians will give speeches reminding the new adults of their social responsibilities. The Shin Seijin (新成人; new adults) would often visit a shrine after the ceremony to make their wishes and go for parties later on.
Young ladies are often seen in traditional Furisode on the day, while guys in business suit or traditional Hakama. Sharing a few 2009 pics by Dannychoo the Stormtrooper in Tokyo; obviously a paradise for photography geeks…
Fukubukuro (福袋; lucky bag) is a grab bag filled with random items and traditionally on sale for a substantially discounted price on New Year’s Day in Japan. Thousands of Japanese shoppers would line-up early morning on January 1st to hunt for the goodies at department stores and various shopping outlets.
According to Wiki, Fukubukuro was originated from Ginza’s Matsuya Department Store in late Meiji period (1868-1912) and has since become a widespread custom in Japan. The practise was probably first used to offload excess merchandises, but has now evolved into marketing and branding campaigns.
The items in the Fukubukuro is not quite as random compared to early days… lots of the lucky bags these days are themed accordingly (gadgets, apparels, toys etc) and sometimes offered by a particular brand. The shoppers have a good chance of getting what they want, or at least not totally unwanted items.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced a month-long ban on visitors to the famous fish auctions in Tsukiji fish market from mid-December, blaming large numbers of foreign tourists for obstructing business [more on Mainichi]
Tsukiji has become a popular tourist spot for the past two decades, but the tourism boom is not entirely welcomed for the wholesale market. The authorities have previously tried to discourage tourist visits, but it obviously didn’t work.
From a travellers’ point of view, Tsukiji fish market is a must visit place for Tokyo visitors; but I can understand the traders’ frustration. Imagine having bunches of tourists disrupting the business everyday but not buying anything; and to make it worse some tourists have not much respect for customs and basic manners.