Japanese porn stars do other countries

There’s no use denying it, aside from those mind boggling electronic devices, anime and video games, one other popular export of Japan is its porn. Japanese porn stars are huge all over the world and most especially in other Asian countries. These porn actresses are fantasized by many men because of their looks and of course what they see them do on screen.

In China, there is a big fascination for Japanese porn actresses that even rich Chinese bring them into the country to wine and dine them. There is now a growing industry that deals with sending these porn stars to other countries to “work”. According to a porn industry source, there are currently five people who serve as brokers and act as a go between for these stars and foreign clients.

One reason that porn stars in Japan are also getting involved is because of declining profits for making porn in Japan. With more and more women getting into porn, the salary for the actresses are going down. The prospect of earning more abroad are enticing these women to try out this new opportunity.

Swarovski decorated Mickey Mouse digital player

A few years ago, Swarovski crystals were considered too cool for school. Everyone wanted one and it was tacked on to anything and everything you could think of. With Swarovski’s well past the saturation level and currently experiencing a “been there, done that” reputation, it was a natural move for it to pair with another brand that has acquired the same feel — Disney characters. The 1GB Swarovski encrusted Mickey Mouse inspired MP3 player comes from the creative minds of iRiver Japan and is a part of a five-design collection.

The player will come in either blue, pink, black, white and silver and can even be worn like a pendant. There’s no denying though that anyone who gets this should also have “cheesy” tattooed on their forehead.

The Tokusatsu genre

In a few previous blog post, I talked about my love for the various sentai series that came from Japan. Well, the nostalgia trip didn’t end with writing that post.

I recently went to a toy sale at my local mall and found a whole stash of Kamen Rider 555 action figures. I immediately grabbed a Kamen Rider Kaixa figure (which is one of the coolest figures in the bunch). It was a 12-inch figure that lights up just like in the series — signifying that the armor is powering up.

Getting my hands on a Kamen Rider figure made me think of the other genre that is as popular as Sentai — the Tokusatsu genre. Tokusatsu is a looser grouping, not like the more genre specific sentai. Tokusatsu literally means Special Effects and is actually a contraction of two words tokushu satsuei, which means special photography.

The tokusatsu series runs the whole gamut of subgenres from science fiction, fantasy and even horror and monsters. Some of the most popular tokusatsu series or shows aside from Kamen Rider are the Ultraman series, the Godzilla and Gamera series, and even Doraemon.

The Tokusatsu is another one of those distinctly Japanese pop culture references that make their culture so unique.

A love for Sentai

One of my fondest childhood memories was excitedly anticipating 6pm on a Saturday. No, it’s not because my mother was going to prepare a favorite dish. It’s when Goranger is shown on one of the local channels. Goranger was one of the first Sentai series to come out of Japan. They were also one of my favorite heroes. It’s been almost three decades (!) since I’ve seen Goranger but I still have a soft spot for it. It practically defined my childhood.

Sentai are one of the quirky genres that can be categorically confirmed as purely Japanese created. If you’re confused about what Sentai is then just look at any of the current iterations of the Power Rangers, because the Power Rangers are absolutely Sentai. The Sentai phenomenon spawned so many different titles and heroes that only the most hardcore sentai fan would even recognize all of them. But a common theme does run through all of the sentai series and heroes — the preference for distinctive colors to identify individual heroes, distinctive designs on the helmet, a group of four or five, and unique abilities for each sentai hero. With the emergence of Super Sentai, other conventions became established — separate vehicles that could either form into a robot or enter a robot and a first battle with a villain that culminates with the robot battle.

Adults watching a sentai series now may find it quite silly. But in our childhood, they were the pinnacle of cool. I admit, they are still the coolest things I’ve seen on TV, and I still secretly long to become the Aka Ranger.

Quirky video games in Japan

When it comes to quirky games nothing can beat the Japanese. They have practically invented the genre and the market for games that are so out of this world in concept and gameplay that you wouldn’t even think that it is playable, much less marketable. And yet, the Japanese have proven time and time again that their formula actually succeeds in capturing the imaginations (and the wallets) of gamers.

Of course, most of these quirky games would really cater more or less exclusively to the Japanese domestic market itself. Take for example the popularity of “dating” simulators. These dating games are one of the biggest game genres in Japan but it has yet to really penetrate the market abroad. But thent there are games that are soo out there in concept and gameplay mechnics but still manages to get a worldwide audience.

Katamari Damacy is a puzzle/adventure game. You play the role of an alien who needs to replace “lost” stars in the sky and the only way you can do that is by accumulating all types of things on earth by rolling a “sticky” ball until you reach a desired diameter. It’s a really crazy concept but it became a really huge game when it was released and even spawned a sequel.

I think we should try to imitate the Japanese people’s ability to become open about new changes and ideas.

Hiro Nakamura - The Newest Japanese Hero

Yatta!

Who hasn’t heard of Hiro Nakamura? If you haven’t immediately head on to NBC’s official website and catch up on the latest episode of their series that’s taken the world of television by storm - HEROES. From the very start Hiro has been one of my favorite characters. Played by Masi Oka, who is more than worthy of an entire post for himself, Hiro Nakamura is one of the funniest but coolest characters of the series.

Hiro is a programmer at Yamagoto Industries in Tokyo, Japan who bored with his work and is convinced that he has the power to bend the space-time continuum. He is of course right and is able to go to New York using his powers, which starts his adventures.

Hiro is just one of the many people with extra-ordinary powers around which the TV series Heroes revolves. Watch even just one episode, if you haven’t yet and I can guarantee you that you will be hooked…like all Hiro’s fans are.

Tokyo Midtown

If you are looking for the newest and hippest place to stay, shop and dine in Japan then you’d better head for Tokyo Midtown. Tokyo Midtown, located in Akasaka was completed just this March. New as it is, it is already very popular and is especially well-known for having the tallest building in Tokyo as well as Tokyo’s newest park and the Suntory Museum.

Tokyo Midtown is as stylish as it can get and is made of six buildings amidst lush greenery. The “town” features facilities such as stores, restaurants, offices, hotels, museums and even its own hospital. It was built with the goal of making the most out of the last remaining 10 hectares of land located in the very heart of Tokyo. It seems that the developers were indeed successful at realizing their goals and has made Tokyo Midtown a place where one can dwell, relax, have fun, shop, and even work. They have indeed created a town of functional diversity.

Horror Stories

Who has not heard of the really scary Japanese ghost stories? Movies like The Grudge have reached a very wide audience all over the world, with Hollywood even making their own version of it. Ask any fan, though, the Japanese original cannot be matched. In Japan, ghost stories were called kwaidan or kaidan. Though it refers to horror stories in general, the word kaidan has its roots in the Edo Period folktales.

Today, however, kaidan is not the commonly used term for this genre of stories. More often than not, movies and books focusing on this theme are referred to by the katakana hora or kowai hanashi in standard Japanese. For an old fashioned effect, authors use the term kaidan.

Stories under this genre often have plots that revolve around Buddhist concepts. As such, karma and ghostly vengeance abound. In these stories, ghosts have amazing powers that they use to wreak havoc in their human tormentor’s life. Sometimes, they not only target one person but humanity in general. Try watching one of these films or reading one of these books and you will fully see what kaidan is.
[tags]Japan, Edo Period, folktales, folklore, ghost stories, kaidan, kwaidan, hora[/tags]

Movies at Your Fingertips

For the past few years, home electronics manufacturers have been trying to outrace one another to pack as much data onto a single disk. It is common knowledge that Japanese companies have always been on the forefront of these technologies. It is no secret either, that we have been provided with so many options when it comes to high capacity disk storage – from hard disks to optical discs. The problem sometimes lies in the fact that it may be quite an arduous task to find the exact movie or song that you want.

Again, the Japanese come to the rescue. Japanese company NEC has developed a system which makes searching for content as easy as one two three. Dubbed “topic division technology,” it makes use of voice patterns which are analyzed. The analyzed data is then used as the key words or phrases for searching. As such, one can find almost any content quite easily.
[tags]Japan, technology, NEC, storage[/tags]

Cartoons and Beauty Products

What do these things have in common? Ask the manufacturers of the very popular brand Bihada Ichizoku and they’ll tell you everything. One of the most common sights in drugstores and beauty bars in Japan today is a skincare product that is packaged in the most extraordinary way – a pretty girl with long curly blonde hair backdropped by a scene of hot pink.

This beauty sheet mask is sold by Lovelabo, a Japanese company specializing in beauty products. What they did was unprecedented – they combined their marketing strategy with that of a popular novel and its characters. Though quite new at the time that they conceptualized this strategy, they have been proven right in their choice. To date, the sales of this line of products have skyrocketed beyond the company’s original expectations.

Indeed, having an excellent line of skincare products packaged in such an unconventional manner is a great way to catch consumers’ attention. I wonder where I can get my hands on one?
[tags]Japan, fashion, skincare, anime, novels, marketing[/tags]