AltJapan

A Maid Man

A photo taken on the set of the latest episode of Tokyo Eye, which covers... The Japan Maid Association's official Akiba Maid Certification Test! These freshly-minted Level Threes joined us in the studio to tell us all about it. It's set to air at the end of next month -- I'll post details when they're available.

That's right: there's now an official Japan Maid Association (motto: "From Fad to Mainstream Culture.") Intriguingly, it doesn't test applicants as to anime or manga knowledge, as you might expect, but rather drills the history of Victorian maids into them so they can (wait for it) get jobs as "real" maids cleaning peoples' homes. Talk about coming full circle. It's like a maid outreach program.

In the meantime (and how's this for a segue?) fans of raw sewage will be excited to hear that another segment will air first: I plunge into the depths of Tokyo's sewer system for an up-close and personal look at, uh, Tokyo's bowels. That particularly fragrant episode airs on May 7th on NHK World abroad (check your cable provider for details) and at 10:15pm on May 14th on terrestrial digital channel 3, subchannel 2 in Japan.

Son of Tsuchinoko

Another year, another failure to find the legendary Tsuchinoko -- and another chance to collect a cool cash prize for bringing back proof of this ever-elusive creature's existence.

That's right: Niigata prefecture's Itoigawa City is at it again, and this time they've upped the reward to a whopping hundred million yen for anyone who can actually bag a specimen of the mythical beast during the third annual Tsuchinoko Tankentai (Tsuchinoko Search Team) event. The entry fee's a cool 4,000 yen, but what's a couple of grand compared to the millions you'll be swimming in once you find one? Don't let the fact nobody's ever managed before stop you: you'll be a veritable cryptozoological superstar if you succeed. The search kicks off on June 8th and lasts through the weekend. Exact times, locations, and other details are listed on the official poster. Happy hunting.

(Hm? What's a Tsuchinoko? Uh... a fat snake. Sort of. Read the scoop from last year for more details.)

Grafitti, Japan Style

Spotted in Harajuku: Gundam graffiti!

RX-78 and Snoop Dogg (?), 2-gether 4-ever:

Just in time for the new movie:

Now we need a Fukuda with a yen sign:

Minnows

Portrait of Hiroko.

It's crowded in there.

These were taken in (perhaps "under" is more accurate?) Key Largo, Florida, last year. It is a testament to my laziness that I never put an album up. We encountered this super-dense school of glass minnows, otherwise known as anchovies, in a swim-through about twenty feet beneath the surface.

High Points in US-Japan Relations

Why do American textbooks inevitably fail to mention the time the Japanese Air Force saved Washington DC from the flying saucers?

Raiding the Ark

Ark's series of six "Arklon" diecast monster toys represent everything that's right about Japanese toy-design.

Originally sold in 1978, these odd-looking playthings are the brainchild of Japanese toy industry legend Saburo Ishizuki. Although ostensibly created as licensed merchandise for live-action fare such as Ultraman and the DeLaurentis King Kong remake, Ishizuki deviously packed the toys full of bizarre gimmicks and modular bodies that let them be disassembled and re-combined like a crazy monster-themed Erector set. Clockwise from top left, you've got Baltan Seijin, Gomola, Red King, Black King, King Kong, and King Joe. That's a whole lot of kings.

Gimme (Photo) Shelter

Hiroko's finally kicked off an official website to showcase her photography! It's broken down into three sections: "Traditional Japan," which includes imagery such as the ningyo kuyo (last rites for dolls) ceremony above; "Natural Japan," which focuses on close encounters with animals both everyday and exotic; and "Worldwide," which features shots from our various exploits abroad.

But don't take my word for it -- her pictures are worth far more than a paltry handful of blog-prose. Click here for the direct link... and check back frequently for updates.

Beware of Catfish

Spotted on a sign in Akihabara: Mr. Catfish cries "I give up!" when confronted by an earthquake-proof bridge structure. Catfish have long been associated with earthquakes in Japan, both in folklore (legends describe a massive catfish deep beneath the earth that causes tremors when agitated) and in reality (some scientists believe that catfish really do grow agitated when earthquakes approach.)

In any event, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government uses a catfish mascot to designate earthquake evacuation routes out of the city, and one also makes an appearance alongside Mr. Book, the official mascot character of our book of mascot characters, Hello, Please!.

Otaku: The Origin

For all the media attention the word "otaku" has gotten abroad in recent years (heck, there's even a magazine named Otaku USA now) the actual Japanese magazine article widely credited as debuting the term has never appeared in English -- until now.

Akio Nakamori's seminal 1983 Otaku no Kenkyu ("Otaku Research") column didn't coin the actual word, which is nothing more than a politer-than-polite way of saying "you" in Japanese. But he was the first to use it to describe the growing demographic of crazy kids that were more interested in anime, manga, and tokusatsu flicks than in fitting into "normal" society.

Nakamori's column didn't get much attention when it first came out because it originally appeared, Kilgore Trout style, in a softcore porn magazine rather than a mainstream publication. But within a few years, "otaku" took root in the Japanese public consciousness to become the de-facto term for referring to the social phenomenon.

And now I've translated it, so you can read it in English for the first time here at Neojaponisme.com. Enjoy!