Interesting (or absolutely bizarre depends on how you see it) video of how some Japanese otaku celebrated their New Year’s Eve at a maid cafe and idol stage in Tokyo’s Akihabara… [video via Japanprobe]
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Introducing the prettiest digital clock ever.
Bijin Tokei (literally beauty clock) is a web application with cute Japanese girls showing you the time on your PC, iPhone, gadget, website etc., which refreshed automatically with a new image every minute.
American actress Kirsten Dunst shot a video in Tokyo’s Akihabara otaku district in a seriously-too-colourful-and-wicked sailor costume on August 27.
The video will be used for an exhibition later this year at Tate Modern in London.
[more images][via Japanprobe and 3yen]
A Japanese ramen restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, is experimenting with two robotic-chef to cook the noodles; would be really cool if the whole restaurant’s operation is automated, with robots serving the dishes as well…
Tokyo has knocked Moscow off the top spot as the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer.
Currency fluctuation is the major factor for the ups and downs; London, Seoul, and Sydney etc. are dropped significantly because of weakened currency.
10 most expensive cities in 2009 [2008 ranking in brackets]
1. Tokyo, Japan (2)
2. Osaka, Japan (11)
3. Moscow, Russia (1)
4. Geneva, Switzerland (8)
5. Hong Kong, China (6)
6. Zürich, Switzerland (9)
7. Copenhagen, Denmark (7)
8. New York City, USA (22)
9. Beijing, China (20)
10. Singapore (13)
A life-sized 18m Gundam model was assembled at Odaiba Island in Tokyo to mark the 30th anniversary of “Mobile Suit Gundam”, the very first Gundam anime series which evolved into a highly successful franchise over the years…
The real scale Gundam can do a few simple tricks, no big deal… but the details of the model itself is still pretty impressive.
The Gundam is going to be displayed for only two months unfortunately, it could turn to be Tokyo’s new tourist attraction if it’s kept for a much longer period.
Video via Akibahobby; check out some of their pics [Jp] as well.
Eating beer cans, swallowing swords, wielding light saber, lesbian kiss, fire show, wacky performance, loud music, booze, dance, girls… that’s what you are going to see from the below video… [by ronindave@youtube, via Japundit]
Founded in October 2005 by ex-French drag queen Adrien Le Danois, Tokyo Decadance had the goal to mix all the most creative, flashy, crazy, exaggerated, extreme, bizarre styles of the Tokyo streets.
The event is now the rendezvous of gothic, cyberpunk, fetish, manga heroine, lolitas, yamanbas, ko gyaru, drag queen, punk, Tokyo jet-set, partymonsters, and also salaryman and ‘normal people’.
The wild party is occasionally on tour in some European cities beside the monthly show in Japan [check out Decadance' Myspace]
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.”