AltJapan

Biohazard Weekend

Halloween's approaching and that can mean only one thing: Hiroko starts hungering for "zombie finger cookies." Before baking:

After:

The recipe is simple: basically, just sugar, butter, eggs, and flour. With cocoa mixed in for color, and almonds for fingernails. If you don't prepare them slightly undersized, they will puff up to the approximate size and shape of kabuto-mushi larva after baking. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Serve with raspberry jam "blood," and bone appetit...

Showa Sammy

Kaiju Kabuki

Hot on the heels of the Map of Terror, my interview with Japanese SFX-master Tomoo Haraguchi, the director of the upcoming film "Death Kappa," is up on CNNgo. 

Tokusatsu fans might be interested to know that the part-time job he mentions having taken in high school involved wearing the enemy costumes for "Ganbaron," which is a super-obscure not-quite-a-sequel to "Mach Baron." Could that be him wearing the gorilla suit in this commercial for the Bullmark Daibaron toy?

Terror Alert

The Tokyo Map of Terror, created by Hiroko and I, is live (or is that undead?) on CNNgo! Behold some of Tokyo's most terrifying denizens!

Didja know how Akihabara got its name? About the "faceless ones" terrorizing a certain slope in Akasaka? The tanuki infestation of Asakusa? The cursed torii gate near Haneda Airport? Hidden gold and murder in Nakano? The Map of Terror chronicles some of Tokyo's scariest locations, and familiarizing yourself with it might just save your life. Because we'd hate to see any of you cursed, eaten, or banished to the underworld. Most of you, anyway.

Flat Horror

I found this set of vintage (early-mid Seventies?) punch-out paper dolls in a Shimokitazawa toy shop last week. The amazingly grotesque cover-art features what appears to be Oiwa-san on the front and a kappa, kara-kasa, and hitotsume-kozo kicking it with a skeleton on the reverse. Called "yako obake," or "glow ghouls," the really scary thing is that they still retain their luminescence after all these years, making me wonder exactly what the hell the manufacturer used (Radioactive isotopes? Photonic energy? Crushed-up human souls?)

Unfortunately, only three cards plus the display monster remained in the set. The one on the left is a ningyo, or Japanese mermaid; the Son-of-Godzilla-esque fellow on the right is a generic monster. The others in the pack were your average skeletons. The cover says there are 30 variations total, and now I've "gotta get 'em all."

Anime: Future and Reality

Cyzo: "The Future and Reality of the Anime Industry Visible in 'Databasing,' 'Regional Branding'"

Japan's Cyzo Magazine reports from the 2009 JAM (Japan Anime Collaboration Market), a symposium held on the 15th of this month.

Some fun facts about fluctuations in the anime space-time continuum, as reported at JAM:

-The direct-to-video OVA boom in 1985 resulted in a drop in the number of televised anime series, but a subsequent rise in late-night anime programming eventually bridged the gap.

-The success of Evangelion in 1995, and the one-two punch of Pocket Monsters and Mononoke Hime in 1997, marked the beginning of serious investment into the anime world.

-The success of late-night anime's ability to promote DVDs resulted in an increased number of productions beginning in 1998.

-The dawn of the 21st century marked a rapid decline in the number of anime created for children.

-Today, an overabundance of titles has resulted in a drop-off in profits per title, a trend that shows no sign of letting up. The sheer volume of series means there is no way for the average fan to purchase DVDs of all of the shows that they like. Anime sales peaked in 2006 and have been steadily declining ever since.

-Meanwhile, debate continues as to whether Japan's clinging to 2D animation techniques truly represents "tradition" or "backwardness" given that nearly every other country's animators have wholly embraced 3D technologies.

Other topics included a talk on "regional branding," spotlighting the success of far-flung municipalities using mascot characters like Hikonyan to attract tourists to events, and the use of specific towns and areas as backdrops for anime productions, which attracts domestic and foreign anime fans on "pilgrimages." Summer Wars was cited as a specific example.

Are furry mascots and Japan's countryside the future of Japanese anime...? In the short term, at any rate, the answer appears to be "yes."

Killer Tofu & Testicles of Terror

Time to go to monster school, people.

Hiroko and I get the Last Word in this month's issue of Metropolis magazine! The illustration is by the talented Chip Boles, whose online portfolio is worth a visit too. (His tokusatsu-esque Himeji Joe vs Tako-Yaki cracks me up every time.)

Yokai Attack San Francisco!

On All Hallow's Eve (afternoon, actually), I will be giving a presentation about yokai at the New People Center in San Francisco's Japantown. The fun begins at 1:00pm on October 31st and admission is totally free! A gallery of legendary Eighteenth century woodblock prints by Katsushika Hokusai and artwork by the manga master Shigeru Mizuki will be on display, and of course, copies of Yokai Attack will be available as well. Check out the New People site for more details -- and see you there!

Wan Wan Monogatari

Discovered in an old minshuku in Tono, Japan: moldy copies of "Screen" magazine from the 1970s!

Is this "lolicon?"

"Disney's happiest motion picture" right next to grindcore's angriest! Where else but in Screen would you see a totally unironic two-page spread of "Lady and the Tramp" and "Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks"?

It's okay, man. ALL of us were crushed when "Wonder Woman" ended. From a column coaching Japanese fans on how to write letters to their favorite stars.

Macross City, 2009

Looks like "Macross" was right. The SDF-1 really DID take flight in 2009 AD.... In the hearts and souls of every pachinko fan, anyway. Remember: if we don't spend every spare minute and yen dropping tiny balls through complicated arrangements of pins, the Zentradi win. The commercials are actually kinda cool!