Children's Day

Happy belated Children's Day :)

There were the Golden Week Holidays in Japan from the end of April to the beginning of May includes こどもの日, Children's Day on May 5. Some people got a 10-day holiday for the GW!!! Mine was not that long but still I really enjoyed relaxing days with my family and friends. We had picnics so did many others since the weather was very clear and beautiful. 

I wish we had the GW every month!!! 

Happy 2013 ♡

Happy New Year to All :)

Hope the year of 2013 may delight you and your loved ones!

My おみくじ（O-mikuji）was 末吉（Sue-kichi）this year. Not bad :) 

Learn about おみくじ on Wikipedia in English

KYARABEN /DECOBEN- Decorated BENTO

Hi How are you doing?
In Japan, Autumn has begun! I felt the chill of early morning in the air.
I love this season. Yay! Just  because Japanese summer is too humid for me. so, I feel relieved right now.

Anyway, It's good season to make BENTO.
Decorated Bento 'KYARABEN/DECOBEN' would be fun to make.
also, It could be a good way to interest picky kids to healthy food.

Let's take a look!

PANDA!

Hello Kitty!

via HAPPY DAYS

super mario brothers.

via 短時間でかわいいキャラ弁当

CHANEL

Halloween

via キャラ弁倶楽部

and on youtube.

OMG! They are too cute to eat. I can't eat them!!!
but it's fun to see! Don't you think?


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Japanese Expression "Kimo-Kawaii"

Konnichiwa! Hello! Hola! Bonjour!

I saw this video on Yahoo! JAPAN's web page this morning.

キモかわいい脚のはえた紙飛行機の折り方

How to make a Kimo-Kawaii paper plane with legs on it...!!!

The expression "Kimo-Kawaii" is used commonly among the younger generation in Japan these days.

Kimochiwarui + Kawaii = Kimo-Kawaii

Kimochiwarui (きもちわるい・気持ち悪い) means disgusting / gross.

Kawaii (かわいい・可愛い) means, of course, cute / pretty as everyone knows.

So... Kimo-Kawaii is used for something gross but cute at the same time. haha

This Nameko (なめこ) character is one of Kimo-Kawaii and popular now.

NAMEKO official website

Enjoy Japanese Kimo-Kawaii ♡

Japanese Wedding 'WAKON'

Our member 'Wai' just got married with a sweet taiwanese guy!!!
Congratulations, Wai !!!!!

I think all girls dream of their wedding. because marriage is a serious matter affecting the rest of their life!
and, Of Course,  We love fancy wedding dresses!

Japanese traditional style wedding WAKON 和婚 has made a remarkable comeback since some Japanese celebrity did.

Here is Wai's Wedding photos!

@ Shrine

a pinkle swear.

Happy Wedding Wai! May your life together be full of happiness!

It Girl! Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Who's that girl? Who's that girl? Who's that girl?
She is Kyary Pamyu Pamyu! Japanese It Girl!

Madonna was singing 'I live in American dream~♪' in her song "American Life"
I think Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is living in HARAJUKU dream. She is a famous blogger, a model for Harajuku fashion magazine, and a singer.




I actually don't understand this kind of style. maybe I'm too old to understand.
It's creepy, weird, but I must tell you I can't stop humming her songs!
Be careful,  It is addictive!



Do you like her?

Living dolls for OTAKU.

Hi there.
I just read '15 years old Living Doll' article on internet.

It's kind of interesting She is so into Japanese culture. and I guess she is trying to be like a Japanese girl.





Honestly, I have mixed feelings....I'm very happy to know she is interesting in our Japanese culture. but... ahhh,  hmmm, Are we look like so OTAKU or ANIME or LOLITA?

Well, She is cute though!

Crazy Polka Dots in Osaka

Konnichiwa! Hello! Hola! Bonjour!

Yayoi Kusama's exhibition is now in Osaka!

- YAYOI KUSAMA Eternity of Eternal Eternity -

I saw her another one in Paris too.

Can you believe she is over 80 years old now and still painting!?

I just love her ♡

Thinking to be her for Halloween if I get a chance...!!!

Gyaru Fashion

I found this video from YouTube and have interested in this girl wearing Gyaru Fashion.

I'm curious that so so so many people watched this video (over 180,000 times!), and seems most people likes this kind of fashion.

Gyaru means girl or gal. They loves fancy decoration for nails hairs, make-up, clothes, and even they do wear circle contact lenses to enhance the size their own eye.

I don't wear Gyaru Fashion, but it's cute and lovely. It's looks fun!

How do think about Gyaru Fashion?

Funny Crazy Japan!

Hoping that 2012 will treat you, your loved ones and the world super well♡

I cannot believe that it is already 2012! Time really flies... I totally do not know how I got here!!!

On New Year's day, my friends and I went to Hatsumode (初詣・はつもうで - the first shrine visit of the year) in Kyoto and we found a very funny drink vending machine on a train platform...!!! You see vending machines everywhere in Japan and, additionally, they have hot drinks during winter! So nice, huh?? Even though it is easy to find vending machines here, this one was very unique!

What do you think?? ... kinda gross!? haha

You can buy a can of しるこ (sweet red bean soup), みそ汁 (Miso soup) and コーンポタージュ (corn potage soup) for 120 yen, 1.5 USD each! Though, I did not buy any of them... I was too timid and had no courage to try them... yes, this is not a daily thing even for me! None of my friends tried them either!

Please let me know how delicious they are if you ever try them!!! :)

Ashiyu

Hello there! this is Yumi.
I am living in Hokkaido which is located on northern part of Japan.
It's cold here and it has snowed the last couple of days.

Today I would like to introduce one of my favorite things, hot springs.
We call it ONSEN.
You can go there all four seasons, but its much best in winter.
I assume that a lot of people already know about it.
but, how about 足湯(ASHIYU)?


Usually we soak in the hot springs naked.
Just like him!

But if you think it's too much to take a bath with naked strangers, you can put only your legs in the water, just like a big footbath.


if you have a chance to visit Japan, you should try one.
Don't forget to bring a small towel to wipe your legs!

Omiyage

Konnichiwa! Hello! Hola! Bonjour!

Since childhood, I almost always buy some Omiyage (gift/souvenir) whenever I travel somewhere. What do you usually buy for Omiyage and for whom? I think Japan has a pretty unique Omiyage style. Omiyage here often will be edible something to share with families, friends, classmates, coworkers or/and (!!!) neighbors. Yes, people sometimes buy a lot to share with a large group of people!

The edible Omiyage is usually local specialty products with a particular region. And plus, it is preferred to be in a nice box, and make it more perfect if they were wrapped individually then it makes much easier to share with a bunch of people. Now you see CHA NO KA which I mentioned before is perfect for Omiyage! What do you think about our Omiyage culture in Japan so far?

When my friends and I took a trip to California, my friends were having a very tough time to find the edible Omiyage there even though we went to Disney Land! I think you know what I mean if you know Disney Land in Japan. The gift shops in Japan's Disney Land are always super crowded and of course, they have nice and perfect Omiyage in kawaii (cute) boxes. The Omiyage business in Japan is very big! My friends were very busy looking for Japanese style Omiyage in the US till the last. They were saying like, "One more thing to buy. Just need some edible Omiyage in a nice box!" Luckily, they found a nice box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts... the box said "USA". Yes, it was so funny but my friends were happy that finally they were able to buy boxed Omiyage!

I am not that a big Omiyage shopper compared to others, but I like to buy some for my family, friends and myself. I often swap Omiyage with my friends too. It is fun to imagine the place where you have not been yet! And it is yummy to taste, of course!

Enjoy some Omiyage that I got from my friends now :)

Candy from 鳥取 (Tottori) where a Japanese famous manga (Japanese comics) artist, Shigeru Mizuki is from. So the candy has his character faces on each! How cute!

Specially blended Coffee from 滋賀 (Shiga) where has a famous mascot called ひこにゃん (Hikonyan)!

Kewpie doll from 愛媛 (Ehime) where is famous for 松山城 (Matsuyama castle)!

You can enjoy more Kewpie dolls with tubuko DX :)

Guy Thing?

Konnichiwa! Hello! Hola! Salut!

So since I love traveling and enjoy meeting new people from all over the world, I get many opportunities to introduce myself to someone who is not from Japan. And many people say like...

Oh, I love Sushi!

I love the Japanese culture!

I love the Japanese video games!

I love Manga (Japanese comics)!

..........

Yes, I do too. Well honestly, I am not a big fan of Sushi... (I know what you might say... people tease me like, "Are you really Japanese?!"...haha)

Anyway, I love playing video games and reading Manga, definitely. I am pretty sure these things are not only for boys, we -GIRLS- love them too! Though I am not good at playing games at all... but I enjoy it!

So, a friend of mine plays the guitar very well. He made a short video of him playing a video game song and posted it on YouTube. Can you guess what happened then? His video is on CAPCOM's official website now! I thought this is super cool and would be nice to share with someone who loves the video games or the Japanese culture! Hope you enjoy it :)

And here is the link to the website :)

http://www.capcom-unity.com/snow_infernus/blog/2011/10/18/monster_hunter_theme_on_guitar_plus_tab