Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 9:43AM 
A: あらまあ。メロンパンナ、大丈夫？
M: んー、ちょっと凹んでいるだけです。
一週間後
A: あっ、メロンパンナだ！元気そうなぁ。良かった、良かった。
A: あれっ！メロンパンナが . . . あの人と？ 意外な趣味だなぁ。
それから、一週間後
A: あっ、メロンパンナ、また凹んでいるの？
M: カレーパンマンの馬鹿！！
Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 8:56PM
He ought to be ashamed of himself, sitting in that section.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 11:18AM
Looks like I'm going to have to change my profile photo now.
Baikin Man in Japanese Pop Culture, Off Beat Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 12:33PM
If you failed to realize that yesterday, June 6th, was "Roll Cake Day" in Japan, you may still be forgiven by hurrying over to your local Bäkerei or pâtisserie and picking up a Swiss roll.
Just as May 4th is now known by geeks the world over as Star Wars Day (May the fourth → "May the Force" be with you), there are a number of days on the Japanese calendar which by virtue of the way they appear or can be pronounced have come to be associated with certain products or events.
The 6/6 of June the sixth, for example, looks like a Swiss roll, or "roll cake" as they are known in Japan.†
June fourth has been known as Mushiba no Hi (Decayed Tooth Day/Cavity Day) ever since 1928 because 6/4 can be read "Mu shi". It is a day to spread awareness about dental hygiene.
Those of you who don't speak Japanese, but have some experience with karate may be familiar with the most basic way to count in the language: ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, ku, jū. The numbers one through ten, however, can be read in a number of ways, lending them a playful flexibility.
一 1, ichi, hitotsu, i, hi
二 2, ni, futatsu, fu
三 3, san, mitsu, mi, sa
四 4, shi, yon, yotsu, yo
五 5, go, ko
六 6, roku, mutsu, mui, ro, mu
七 7, shichi, nana, na
八 8, hachi, yatsu, yae, yô, ya, ha
九 9, ku, kyû, kokono, kao
十 10, jû, tô, ji
July the tenth is Nattô no Hi, a day to enjoy fermented soy beans. 7/10 (Na + tô).
August second is "Pantsu no Hi", the one day of the year when Japanese wash their skivvies. (Kidding.) 8/2 (Pa + tsu, as in the Japanese pronunciation of "two"). This, I must say, is stretching it a bit.
August the fifth is Taxi Day for some reason. I learned this while riding in a cab in Okinawa recently. Aparently taxis made their debut in Japan on August 5, 1912.
August the eighth and October the first are both possibilities for "Megane no Hi", a day to buy glasses because 8/8 and 10/01 look like glasses.
The twenty-ninth of any month is "Niku no Hi", a day to eat beef or go to a yakiniku Korean barbecue restaurant. x/29 (ni + ku), is Japanese for "meat". And the twenty-sixth of every month is "Furô no Hi", the day to visit your local sentô, or public bath. Senior citizens get a special discount on the day (x/26 = x/ fu + ro).
October thirteenth was recently designated Mame no Hi (豆の日, Bean Day), because according to the ancient calendar when there were only 28 days in a month, the full moon always fell on the 13th of the month. Beans were eaten on that day to celebrate the full moon. Later, the calendar was changed such that the full moon always fell on the fifteenth of the month. This is why today the full moon festival in autumn is still called Jūgoya (十五夜, "fifteen night").
October sixteenth is Ghibli Day, a day to watch animation by Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli, such as My Neighbor Totoro. 10/16 (To + to + ro) Actually, I made this one up. Mr. Miyazaki will have to pay me for the use of this.
The eleventh of November is Pocky Day. 11/11 looks like the chocolate covered stick biscuits.
November twenty-second is "Ii Fûfu no Hi", a popular day for marriages because 11/22 can be read ii fûfu which means "a happily married couple".
Strawberries, or ichigo, are promoted on January fifth. 1/5 (ichi + go).
February twenty-second is Cat Day. 2/22 (Nya, nya, nya). Bit of a stretch, but then cat people tend to be a little nutty. I wonder if there a similar day for dogs. 11/11 would work: "Wan-wan! Wan-wan!" (That's how dogs bark in Japan. "No Woof-woof" here.)
The tenth of February is "NEET Day". Isn't every day NEET Day for these slackers? 2/10 (ni + to)
And finally, the third of March is a day to get your ears checked: "Mimi no Hi". 3/3 (mi + mi)
There are probably more of these "holidays" out there. If you know of any others, send them my way!
† June 6th is also known as D-Day. "D" as in "doughnuts"?
Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 8:45AM
Before you can understand what the "Jumping Dogeza" is, it is helpful to first familiarize yourself with the multitude of ways the Japanese apologize, including "the quintessential apology": dogeza (土下座).
According to the Nico Nico Pedia, "Jumping Dogeza" is performed by first jumping high into the air and upon landing prostrating oneself on the ground. An example of "Jumping Dogeza" can be seen in the following video:
And some examples of "Extreme Dogeza":
Do not try this at home.
The first two videos are part of the Nihon no Katachi (日本の形) series by the manzai duo Rahmens (ラーメンズ).
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 1:09PM
'Tis a good day for the nerds of Hakata: the first twenty-one members of the newly launched HKT48 (Hakata 48) were announced in late October. They include, among others:
Yûko Sugamoto (菅本裕子), second year high school student.
First year high school student, Chihiro Anai
Kyôka Abe (安陪恭加), second year junior high school student
Third year junior high school student, Mina Imada
Nao Ueki (植木南央), a second year junior high school student
Another second year junior high school student, Sayaka Etô (江藤彩也香)
First year high school student, Chiyori Nakanishi (中西智代梨)
And, Maiko Fukagawa (深川舞子), who is in the sixth grade of elementary school.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 10:28AM
If you've been living in Japan for the past few years and still haven't heard of AKB48, why then I commend your ability to completely shut out Japanese pop culture. May nirvana soon come to your quiet mountain retreat.
AKB48 is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group based in Tôkyô's Akihabara district and comprised originally of 48 members (hence the name AKB48). Since their debut in 2005, the group has taken the country by storm, much in the way that Morning Museme did in the late 90s, so much so that it is now impossible to get through a day without hearing one of their songs or seeing their promotion videos, many of which border tantalizingly on lolita porn. Don't believe me? Have a look:
With almost sixty members today, AKB48 seems to have hit a high water mark. It's no surprise, then, that Yasuhi Akimoto, the successful producer of this and other idol groups, has decided to expand the franchise to other cities, including Fukuoka where the group will be called HKT48. That's HKT as in HaKaTa. Other franchises include SKE48 (Sakae, Nagoya) and NMB48 (Namba, Osaka).
The first stage of auditions for HKT48 finished on May 31. (Apologies for not announcing this earlier.) Those lucky girls deemed to have the right stuff will be notified by phone. Stage three which involves the first in-person interview with candidates will begin at the end of June, and the final cut will be announced later this year.
Until then, enjoy another one of AKB48's popular songs, Ponytail and Sush:
