yakihito

Ultraman + Pachinko = My Potential New Vice

If ever there was a themed machine to suck me into playing pachinko:

No Country for Tommy Lee Jones

American celebrities have long appeared in commercials in Japan, even when they refuse to do advertisements in the West. Tommy Lee Jones, the venerable star of No Country for Old Men and Men In Black, pushes Boss Coffee in Japan, appearing as the character Alien Jones. In the latest he's in Akihabara and at a maid cafe.

The look on his face while the maid shouts "Moe!" is priceless. I don't think he even had to act. That was just his natural, WTF face.

RoboCop Comes To Japan

This makes me so happy:

Stay tuned pass the first robot, which is pretty impressive in its own right, for the Landwalker. Controlled with the feet, leaving hands free for the guns (which unfortunately just shoot plastic balls).

I swear, the Japanese have their priorities straight when it comes to technology.

As spotted on Japan Sugoi.

Lynch's Tobacco Shop

The first time I saw Vermillion Pleasure Night, a late-night Japanese sketch comedy show, I thought, this is custom made for YouTube. And what do you know?

Here they parody David Lynch:

There are lots more sketches at YouTube. Happy hunting.

Mountain Mama

It's no secret around these parts that I love me some Crunchyroll. I've seen more cool movies and TV shows there than I can count. The latest to suck up my time? Yama Onna Kabe Onna, or "Mountain Woman Wall Woman."

Japan is apparently experiencing a "boob boom," with fattier foods increasing the busts of the average woman. Big bust = mountain. Of course, not everyone is filling out up top, left with just a "wall." In the show, Kyoko Fukada (Kamikaze Girls) is the yama onna, and Misaki Itou is the kabe onna. Can't really go wrong with either, and therein lies the beauty of the show.

Misaki is the manager of the handbag section at a posh Ginza department store, Kyoko the new transfer who's a bit of a ditz but manages to sell lots of handbags thanks to her refreshing attitude and, erm, watermelons (as they're referrred to by the shamelessly ogling male store staff). Also on the staff is Eiko Koike, no slouch in the bustular region herself, and another girl whose name I forget but who was also on Attention Please.

The show's pretty funny, giving Misaki lots of opportunity to display her not-terrible comedic timing, but really it's all about those yama. I'm no boob man, but when the camera can't stop pulling close-ups on button-bursting busts, well, how can a man not enjoy himself?

In The Pink

I still have never seen an episode of Pink Lady…And Jeff, the short-lived (six weeks!) American TV variety show starring Japan's biggest duo of the time, Pink Lady. The show aired in 1980 and featured musical numbers from the duo, plus guests like Blondie, Alice Cooper and Roy Orbison. The "Jeff" of the title is comedian Jeff Altman, best known for playing Boss Hogg's nephew Hughie on The Dukes of Hazzard.

Most of the musical numbers that Pink Lady performed were in English, but here's "UFO," a big hit in Japan that probably really confused the few people in America who were watching:

Of course, things were different back home, where Pink Lady was a massive hit. Check out this video of "Southpaw."

All six episodes of Pink Lady…And Jeff are available on DVD.

I Feel So Ashamed

I just spent 10 hours of my life watching Tokyo Wan Kei, a Jdrama about Zainichi Koreans (Koreans born in Japan) and cross-cultural love. It truly was a Jdrama experience, with no punches pulled: manipulative parents, miscommunication, amnesia, even... incest! It doesn't get much better worse than this.

Should you so desire, you can see it for yourself at Crunchyroll. Oh, it stars Yukie Nakama and Eriko Sato. That's why I started watching.

Sukebandeka Terebi スケバンデカテレビ

Found this while I was trawling around on YouTube. It's two stars from the TV show and movie Sukebandeka, hanging out and watching a guy do tricks on a yo-yo on a Japaese TV show, circa 1987.

What's really amazing from this clip (aside from the clothes) is how little Japanese TV has changed in 20 years.

Bushido In WWII

It's not often that anything on TV makes me cry, but this sure did. It's the story of a World War II Japanese naval captain who ordered his crew to save 442 British soldiers cast adrift. The captain never told anyone what happened. Japan only learned of his actions when the captain of the British crew came to Japan to find and thank the Japanese captain.

Is this ever a movie waiting to be made!

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Originally appeared on Japan Probe.