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We shouldn’t be shocked by the various guises, ways and fashions in which Hello Kitty gets pimped. You’d be harder pressed to find something she hasn’t had her faceless mouth all over. But still; Kitty finds ways to make us feel inner shame, sickness, disappointment, yet also a great deal of commendability for her knack for rolling with what ever is popular at any given time. Lady Gaga is currently the world’s ‘it girl’ on the music scene, and Hello Kitty is right there along with her. Do not knock the hustle of Hello kitty. Ever!

[Gaga daily]

Whilst wandering around Nipponbashi, my friend and I couldn’t help but notice certain sights every 6 shops or so. At first we thought it couldn’t be. It had to be a ruse. We were goin’ crazy. Surely not on main streets, in broad daylight and clear view of everybody?! But turns out it was so. Porn shops. Lining the streets like any other shop. Unobtrusively. Just there in clear view of everybody who happens to wander past. Some of stores lucky enough to have forward thinking merchandisers even had HDTV’s set up at the front of the store with videos playing of big breasted Japanese ladies skipping, running through sprinklers in slow motion and bending over to music – all in 1080p. My friend and I figured: we’re guys, we are in Japan and people pounding the pavements didn’t seem to care or be objective and judgmental of the sex shops one way or the other – so we wandered into one or two…or three…maybe five. Okay, six!

It truly was surreal. There were other men wandering around in the shops with shopping baskets like they were walking down the aisle of their local Family Mart, which begged the question: How much porn do some buy in one go? I guess buying in bulk saves trips. It was funny watching other men mooch around like they were in HMV. Shop attendants aren’t as helpful as they are in HMV though. These stores are all about anonymity. The store attendants only acknowledge you if you approach them, which is fair enough. I guess no dude wants a store attendant creeping up behind him yelling “Irasshaimase! What kind of DVD are you looking for? We have a buy one get one free on guzzling and bum sex today!” A couple of the stores have till points where a piece of non-transparent plexiglass or a curtain is placed between the cashier and the buyer, so the transactions were faceless. Again, adding to the anonymity, and also killing alibi’s in cases where a husband is buying porn when he should be buying his family that new rice cooker or heated toilet seat instead.

Sex is a weird thing in Japan. It’s still a bit of a taboo subject, yet it isn’t at the same time. But it sure is funny.

Somebody at Oasis clearly knows what appeals to young otaku men. They ticked every box for this commercial. 2 girls on a bed in netball outfits: check. One girl feeding the other a tasty beverage as she has her mouth suggestively wide open: check. Japanese dialogue: check. Japanese girls screaming “No!” in high pitched voices: check. A city being attacked by sonic rays: check. A J-Pop jingle: check, check, check! All that was missing was some up-skirt panty shots, a school uniform, and a bit of para para.

TV commercials in the UK pretty much suck. It goes in phases. Sometimes you’ll get lots of cool adverts air at a given time, then you’ll get a load of shit ones. So this definitely stuck out to me and my mates when it aired. It threw me through a loop. Because I never though an advert so Japanesey would air on UK TV. Who knows! It could be a new trend thing. Especially as this comes after the Mikado advert.

For those who want to see more of the girls in the ad, you can watch them giggling and mucking about on a laptop here. And if you’ve got a webcam and mic setup on your desktops or laptops, you can play the official Rubberduckzilla games here.

This is one of Japanese’s unique national sports, and a regular sight on Japanese trains. There is no place you won’t find a Japanese person K.O’d. In the street slumped against a lamppost, in shopping malls, in restaurants and eateries, even on train platforms. Anywhere is fair game to look dead and completely out of it.

The Japanese work hard and party hard, so it’s only fair they get to sleep hard too. It’s something you don’t ever really get used to, because each day you’ll find somebody looking more dead and K.O’d in a more uncomfortable position than the last. Only in Japan could young lady be sat on her own in a train carriage fast asleep with her handbag and mouth wide open, and there be a minimal chance of her getting mugged or raped. Gotta love the safety.

God continue to bless Japan.