Made in Japan
 

It's pretty self-explanatory: any and all over-the-top, creative, and hilarious examples of Japanese variety / game shows can be featured here in this commons.
So, if you would like to feature something of interest here, please feel as free as you like to post something pertaining to original television from the Eastern Isles. The veritable well is overflowing with great featurettes, like...

[http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/found-n...-tv-100-a.html]


- - - - -


- - - - -
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/1392/117ks.jpg

Darth Vader one was well good!

What is that thing with the cat? I don't want it to be real.

From what I've come to learn, everything on Japan TV is real, and unscripted, the only exception would be the parodies and the kabuki plays (anime not included); they pride themselves on that (I think). They have an initial premise, and it may take abit of practice to have it come to fruition (like hovering port-a-potties) but nearly all of what comes from Japan's myriad of variety / intellect / skill game-like shows is "reality", for better or worse.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/7...usnewlogos.png
The Pileus umbrella

“Ironing techniques by professional craftsmen (shirt)”
 

Crazy-Normal Japanese Thing of the Day:
Leave it to the Japanese to make a task as mundane as ironing a dress shirt utterly mesmerizing.

The aptly named “Ironing techniques by professional craftsmen (shirt)” is part of a larger series of equally attractive instructional videos from Garra.jp.

[putthison.]

Graphic designer Kenichi Tanaka’s animated infographic “Japan — The Strange Country” covers everything you wanted to know about Japan,
but were too busy warbling along to the Cowboy Bebop closing credits song to ask.

In his words (Tanaka): "This is my final thesis project. I created info-graphic, motion piece. My objective is to make Japanese people to think about that everything happening here in Japan, isn’t that normal. So I created this video from foreigner’s point of view, rather than Japanese people’s point of view."

Watch it on vimeo -- Japan: The Strange Country
~ 11 min. in length, short doc.

http://i39.tinypic.com/4iiw5h.jpg


[feingut.]

Animal Crossing in Odaiba, Japan
 

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz...8ifto1_500.jpg

With the backdrop of illuminated Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo skyline, an image of
a shark appears during the Odaiba water illumination show in Tokyo, Japan, on
Friday, March 19, 2010. The 20-minute slide show of ocean creatures projected
on a water screen created by a fountain set along a beach at the Tokyo Bay area,
will be performed four times a day after dark until April 11, 2010.
-- (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Battle Royale and some of their reality shows are pretty fun to watch.

I still don't understand the censoring of their porn, but it makes them come up with some pretty weird stuff.

Thanks for contributing some ideas to the topic. I'll have to see what I can rummage from Battle Royale in terms of cutscenes of competition; but the other thing, I can address that right now:

Censorship in Japan
To put this into terms: before the 1990s, most (semi-)pornographic publications, manga & anime included, implicitly forbade the authors / illustrators to depict the pubic region in any detail at all, and would even go so far as to impose mosaics or black it out all together to not be deemed as "offensive-able", or pornographic. Even showing pubic hair was a no-no, until these rules laxed abit in the past 25 years, and although censorship still holds its roots in Japanese publications, pubic hair is now allowed, and actually because the culture finds that more pubic hair equals sexiness beyond belief, it actually stems the need to use mosaics anymore in print.

Further reading: A beginner's guide to genres of Japanese porn


Sources: wikipedia, an inherent knowledge of Japanese culture since 1983, and Dave Atell's Insomniac show.

I don't know what it is about umbrellas in Japan, because I didn't really envision cultural hubs in Japan having weather aking to London or Seattle, so... (I trail off)

Ah, the contribution!


The Kasapon dispenser, a device which automatically bags wet umbrellas,
has recently been improved with the addition of an “umbrella bag collection machine”—
an extension which cleanly removes water-filled umbrella bags no longer in use.

This lo-tech contraption comes with the hi-tech price tag of $1800,
but the pleasure of never again having to manhandle a cold,
clammy umbrella is surely priceless.

[japantrends.]

PS:

or New York?

New York City gets about 47 inches of rain a year while Seattle gets about 38 inches a year.

Elaborate Japanese prank show
 

The average living quarters of a resident "otaku" [illustrated]
 

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz...98a7o1_500.jpg
「部屋の風通しが悪くて蒸れる。」/「阪元ケンゴ」のイラスト [pixiv]

and to put into perspective, here's a "real-life" example of what an Otaku's studio may look like (interests, hardware, and costumes subject to change depending upon the personality in question):

and the concluding, final third piece in the chronicle on what it means to be an "otaku", and how the trait is nearly-innate for every single Nippon person to inherit and fulfill (though they may deny it).

Short Summary of its history and meaning across channels:
I also know that there nearly 30 differing variations in the Japanese old and new languages that mean something akin to the definition of "obsession", and this is but one (popular) example of the "practice which is both sought and involuntary betwixt".

And with my affinity to give you as much resources as possible, I also came upon a topical article in anecdote about what seems so strange to some, yet still familiar, altogether and over again.

Japanese Obsessions: An Observation into Otaku, Op-Ed | The New York Times

two examples of exceptional Japanese Anime Robo, in Reality
 

http://28.media.tumblr.com/b9vfl4b63...8hzmo1_500.jpg
Tokyo’s Mobile Suit Gundam 30th anniversary life-size RX-78 Gundam statue.
The commemoration has passed, but the legendary statue will make its triumphant return this upcoming summer.


http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr...pwi0o1_500.jpg
Following in Tokyo’s footsteps, the Japanese city of Kobe has erected a mecha defender of its own, the veteran bot Gigantor.
It stands at 59.06 feet tall — narrowly defeating Tokyo’s 59-foot-tall Gundam statue.

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kx...t99uo1_500.jpg

Junya Ishigami’s “balloon” from the Space for Your Future exhibition at the
Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo (2007-2008), is a massive reflecting
object that floats suspended in the atrium of the museum. Weighing just
under a ton, the sculpture, built from light gauge steel trusses and reflective
aluminum panels, is filled with an equilibrium of helium that allows it to hover
precariously over visitors heads below, and is free from any connections to its surroundings.




video portrayal:

[diffusive.]

foreword:
If you do not of the custom, a good to great percentage of Japanese homedwellers and flat owners still make full use of floor-sitting, and therefore, the paraphenelia (furniture) that is catered to making the pasttime more enjoyable is larger there than here (which is pretty much limited to beanbag chairs here in America).

"Land Peel" Furniture
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz...pwi0o1_500.jpg

A flexible carpet imagined in several layers, with the true possibility of unfolding it and of transforming it unbounded.
A project conceived by Shin Yamashita, studying in design with Kyoto Institute off Technology.
“Land Peel” is a modular lounge mat set composed of three individual pieces with extendable
panels that can be reshaped to form various-sized tables and backrests


http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0...5vu7o1_500.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/10ica4k.jpg

[Fubiz™.]

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kz...9nt5o1_500.jpg
courtesy of astromonster zero one

the Hyperedited Ronald McDonald Japanese Symphony Orchestra | MetaFilter

take from it what you will

disclaimer: do not watch more than 20 seconds of any of the videos above if you are paranoid about subliminal messages

example of the orchestra; piece No. 4 - "Beethoven's 5th Symphony"

Japanese scientists have created a power-assisted suit which could make users as strong as Robocop or Iron Man.
Published: 11:10AM BST 09 Apr 2010

The metal-and-plastic outfit boasts eight electric motors that amplify the strength of the wearer's arms and legs, as well as sensors that can detect movements and respond to commands through a voice-recognition system.

Professor Shigeki Toyama and his team developed the power-enhancing suit at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Mr Toyama plans to set up a company to start producing the futuristic outfit by the end of the year.

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/4...ot1612683c.jpg
Kazuya Taira demonstrating the new power-assist suit developed by TAT professor Shigeki Toyama
at the TAT campus in Tokyo. -- Photo credit: AFP/GETTY

The suits can reduce the user’s physical effort by 62 per cent on average.

Industrial robots have long been common in Japan and heavy industries may decide that the suit would help ease any physical pain experienced by workers.

When bending knees the muscular activity is reduced by half, and the suit can also take most of the strain out of crouching.

Fifteen years in the making, the “robosuit” is due to hit the Japanese market in 2012 when it will initially retail for about one million yen (£8,100), a price tag its makers hope to halve if the device is mass-produced.

There are however currently no plans so far to sell the suits overseas.

[telegraph.]

I love this example of purely representative Japanese production: the obstacle course.


(also, there was a big "obstacle course craze" here in America as well, if I recall correctly, and it was mainly Nickelodeon filming its progress and displaying it as entertainment thorughtout the late '80s-early '90s. THough, one cannot forget to include American Gladiators.)

insta-noodle commercial for: Nissin Milk Seafood

re-tracking the Japanesse robo-advancements, another intriguing example of what is eventually to come:


Robot designer and Judgement Day enthusiast Hiroshi Ishiguro recently
introduced the latest model in his line of ultra-uncanny “personal androids” —
the Geminoid F.


courtesy of gizmodo

A 3-foot-long horror story
 

The bathroom in many homes is a very lonely room. You only visit it when you need something, and not for the pleasant atmosphere the room provides. So is it really hard to believe that the lonely bathrooms around the world holds a deep seated grudge for the humans that use it? I think not.

Who else better than Koji Suzuki to put a little fear into this underappreciated room. Who is Koji Suzuki? While the name might not ring a bell, I’m sure you have heard of his work. He was the mastermind behind Ju-On… which was adapted into The Grudge here in the states.

The story “Drop” is set in a public bathroom, a place even more underappreciated than your normal bathroom. But would I be writing about Koji’s latest work if there wasn’t an interesting twist? How about this story takes up just 3 feet of text? And interesting way of measuring a story normally denoted by pages you say? Well this is no ordinary print. "Drop" is printed on, you guessed it, toilet paper.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/506...ptoiletpap.jpg

For just $2.12 a roll, you can have a short story written by a master of horror himself… not to mention it’s perfect reading material during your short or maybe not so short stop. Maybe afterwards, you will have a new found respect and could consider bringing a book into the bathroom just to sit down and read.

[xorsyst.]

Nihonjin Tetris
 

[Human Tetris.]

(comment on the above TFP thread: both the original videos for the game show display broke, but I so happened to be fortunate enough to find that little_tippler's video was still intact elsewhere, so I used that one instead. Enjoy, without all the details.)

again, there's some sort of disconnect for me when it comes to this sort of thing, as I know as much about Japan as any four-year resident is bound to pick up along the way, but there's still thing that eludes me: the fascination and modification towards better umbrella technology and status (and the whole cat-girl thing, but that's another story)

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1...4fjqo1_500.jpg
ブロードソード・アンブレラなんて日本人じゃない！　大和男児はやっぱりサムライ・アンブレラ！｜デジタルマガジン

The above illustrations were made by Takayoshi Mizuki between 1965 and 1972 (also known as the height of the gargantuan-monster-terrorizing-craze.

[existingvisual.] by way of [pinktentacle.]

another parodied commercial, this time for Tuna Fish, I think..



[toplessrobot.]

The Art of Hajime Sorayama

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l17eidOEg21qaf7nv.jpg

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l17ei47w431qaf7nv.jpg

Hajime Sorayama Solo Exhibition at Nanzuka Underground
22nd MAY . 2010 – 19th JUNE .2010
Nanzuka Underground
2F 3-1-15 Shirokane Minatoku Tokyo
108-0072 Japan

[slamxhype.]

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1...g73no1_500.jpg
相澤心也『Cornation』 « Viceland Today Japan (a giant "Chokokorone")

A Chokokorone is a type of Japanese confection, or baked good, usually
illustrated and known by it's distinct spiral shape (resembling a sort of seashell)
and usually is seen as being filled with a jelly, or as is most often common, chocolate.



http://i44.tinypic.com/2lvoem9.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/m4ug4.jpg
Photography and concept by Shinya Aizawa (to view more images of the gallery, just click and view the source url to see this cool concept Photo Series)


[viceland.]

(nevermind, I still have no better clue as to the opening cut BGM montage-remix to the video now, then I did two years prior.)


[Mario + Level Hacks + J-Pop = Awesome]

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1...gciso1_400.jpg
Sumo fighter cycling to work, by Fartusbartus

(and, this isn't an all too-uncommon sight in Tokyo, or anywhere near a fairly-large dojo.)

sights of Japan - "the vending machine"


http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1...a7yjo1_500.jpg
by evasèe

http://30.media.tumblr.com/e21OEcMdK...QG4Vo1_500.jpg

seen in Japan - sneakerware

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0...9k79o1_500.jpg
Classic is New_06 荒木経惟 ｜new balance ×　SWITCH｜クラシック｜シューズ製品｜New Balance Japan

and if you didn't hear the news, Nike is kind of taking over, and laying down the business, across the Ocean in Japan.


I Love Dust, for Nike: Japan

{ Music: Repair Machines, by Vitalic }


[Nike chase on Vimeo]

and then there's the secret Music Video concerning NIKE FREE RUN (featuring a performance by DJ duo Hifana)



[hypebeast.]

Finally, there's the sad (if not tragic), cold corporate story of NIKE's ways, invading a public park, and kicking out its misplaced inhabitants.
(while it might "technically" not actually have been produced & created in Japan, the story is there, which should concern those around the locale.)

Director: Emil Langballe & Maria Samoto le Dous

Having documented the ongoing struggles of the homeless inhabitants of Tokyo's Miyashita Park,
"Our Park" is a short documentary that takes a further in-depth look into public space.
The selling and subsequent purchase of the park by Nike which resulted in its renaming are highlighted.
Furthermore, the artistic aspect of the park is brought to light as it serves as a place for many artists
to convene and promote their creativity.


[hypebeast.]