Most Honorable and Ancient Links for Friday

Well it has been a few weeks and despite me being busy with a wedding in NYC, a camping trip near ATX, and a cold in my HEAD, the Far East blogosphere waits for no man, so this week you get an extra special long edition of Friday Links, some of which was written almost two weeks ago and makes no sense to me now. Have fun with that!


Cultural Note of the Week!

• James at Japan Probe offers up this chuckle-worthy look at the three top Salaryman Senryu poems of 2007.
• More awesome photography from Evan can be seen here and here.
  

"I see the booze is strong with this one."

• A beer-like beverage aimed at the under-10 crowd? I am 50% terrified and 50% in awe.

Gaijin Gone Wild!

• Sadly there are no girls showing their cans in this clip from Japan Probe, however I think it is pretty funny that most people completely ignore the camera. What this video really needs is some Jacques Cousteau-esque commentary. "And now we are going to see what few gaijin before have seen; the kitchen."
• Speaking of cans, apparently the Japanese go nuts for the melons.
• Japanprobe redeems their image with this post although I have to ask WTF is up with the girl wrapped in warning tape? That's just dumb and not sexy at all.
  

Love Dolls

• I know at least one reader out there is familiar* with the RealDoll line of purportedly uber-realistic love dolls which are available here in the States. Now there is a place in Japan where one can check out the love dolls in situ. I don't think I have anything funny to say about this, really, except, ummm, yuck.
• And here is the man responsible for some of this "fun".
• This one's for the ladies
  

T-Shirt Mania!

• I am a little worried about what Quail Mayonnaise Sause might be. Mr. TunaCan can make all the jokes about mayo jars here he might wish.
• I think LL is the Japanese version of extra-large, however it is still, at best, a large. When I was in Japan and Korea I was unable to find any what I like to refer to as sumo-sized clothes to help with my own faborable impression.
• For the life of me I cannot think of why they can have a choice since 1789. I did a little research and found that this might be the year that Thomas Jefferson brought the first macaroni machine to the U.S., however I doubt this is what is being discussed. My best guess would be that it either has to do with the fact that 1789 was the first year nationwide elections were held in the Uniter States, or, given the Japanese fetish for all things French, this is the year the French Revolution began. Truly something worth celebrating. No, really.
• I actually really like this shirt and would like one if someone cane find it in Sumo size.
• I guess this will work as long as you stay in the correct position, otherwise it could be a little strange.
• "Reach yourself before you gloom," might be my new battle-cry.
• After reading this shirt and trying to guess what they actually mean my brain hurt.
• Despite what this shirt says there will be no scraping of the intuition here. We have standards, dammit.
• For our own good indeed.
  

And You Thought I Forgot About Your Shopping Habit!

• Here we have the No-Constraints Carpet from Panasonic. I actually think this is pretty cool and wound not mind owning one for snuggling purposes.
• An electric car named Beer. It is the first step in the new Fratboy Environmentalist movement.
• This takes lazy to a whole new level which I would like to embrace once they have the Oriental Flavor. (Or is that flava? I just don't know anymore.)
  

*By familiar I do not mean in the Biblical sense but rather able to converse about their existance. If anyone out there does have intimate knowledge of the Real Doll, keep this fact to yourself.