Lullaby and Goodnight: Bedtime Accessories Too Cute For Words

When it comes to Japanese products and marketing, you can never be too kawaii. After all, this is the country that uses a cartoon logo, Prince Pickles, to represent its Department of Self Defense.

Of course, there are times when cuteness is completely irresistible. Take bedtime: plush dolls, soft, inviting sheets and matching shorts for couples are all fair game. I especially love the pillows at From Japan With Love that are shaped like cats or big blocks of smiling tofu.

Sleeping Pikachu takes the cake, though. Is it possible to go insane from too much cuteness? From airplanes, cars, clothing, kitchenware, bento boxes or toys, there is no product Pikachu won’t endorse. No wonder he’s tired, poor thing!

Sarah S.

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————

No Pain, No Gain?

“It hurts so bad, yet feels soo good!” Oh baby~ that’s what you’ll say when you grind your feet into one of these handy-dandy bamboo slats. Its curved, hard surface has a way of pushing deep into those biped muscles of yours, smoothing out every tense fiber to the bone. Some call it torture, others call it a soothing massage.

I kept this ‘ashi-fumi ta-ke’ around for years among my odd collection of massage　devices. It was far more economical than the others ($10 or so), yet had the most striking effect on my body. What they say is that the foot is the map to the rest of the body. That is, each area corresponds to a particular body part. Your arch connects to the digestive system, your second and third toe to the eyes, and so on. So when part of your foot really hurts after using the bamboo it means you’d better lay off the booze and get your innards checked by the doctor.

Women especially use this device as a lazy way to　lose weight. They balance themselves on it while washing the dishes or brushing their teeth, taking in the pain as they firm up their calves. But if they’re like me, they’ll give up before anything miraculous happens. And then they’ll move on to the next fad diet like scarfing down a banana every morning.

Truthfully, I don’t really know how much healing power this wooden torture device actually has. But if it can double as a weapon of death then maybe it’s worth keeping around?

Himawari

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————

Sick of Texas Hold ‘Em? Try Your Hand at Koi Koi

Q: Long before Nintendo became famous for Super Mario Brothers, what was it known for?

A: Japanese playing cards.

I’ve never seen a deck quite as pretty as the Hanafuda (“flower cards”), which combines traditional Japanese games with western-style cards.

However, unlike the standard U.S. deck, which consists of four suits — Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs — Hanafuda uses 12 suits, one for each month. The pictures correspond to what’s in bloom during that time of year. Pine, cherry blossoms, plum, willow, chrysanthemum and wisteria are a few examples. There are also colorful images of ribbons, animals, and the moon; even a sake cup, which, like an Ace, counts as both a 1 and a 10. Kampai! 

Probably the most popular game to play with Hanafuda cards is Koi Koi, which comes across sort of like a combination of Go Fish, Mahjong and Blackjack (okay, maybe that last one’s a stretch…). Each card has a point value (1, 5, 10 or 20) and you win by pairing the images up and getting the most points.

Players get eight cards to start, with an additional eight face-up in the middle as the pot. To “capture” a card, you play one of yours and if it matches one of the face-up cards (meaning it’s from the same month), you keep it. If it doesn’t match any of them, you add it to the field.

For complete rules, check out this site.

Decades later, Nintendo is still manufacturing these cards. Some have a Mario Brothers theme. Of course, if you’d rather play on screen, there’s a digital version, too.

Sarah S.

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————

Get Your Good Luck Poop Today

It’s that time of year again when Japanese kids psyche up for grueling, caffeine-infused all-nighters. The new school year begins in April so now is the time when they study their hearts out for those dreaded entrance exams.

As I mentioned last year, students carry around all kinds of tokens of good luck to boost their confidence. And they eat up snacks like Pocky and Kit Kat inscribed with encouraging messages to study hard. But here’s a new product twist: bookmarks stuffed with Koala poop! A zoo in　Nagoya has begun passing out these fragrant products for free to local students. Last year they handed out 300, but due to high demand they’ve increased their supply to 500. What the…?!

The poop has been sanitized and placed in smade from recycled milk cartons. And instead of rotten tuna the bookmark carries the soothing scent of eucalyptus. But still, why in the world would anyone accept anything stained with feces? There is a explanation…

…albeit a strange one. In Japanese, the word for poop is “fun” (pronounced “foon”) which is similar to the word for luck, “un.” So, using this bookmark would be like receiving the luck of a Koala, one of the cutest animals in the world, of course. Though I’m sure not everyone in Japan would be so keen as to keep poop in their backpack, because if they should fall asleep while reading who knows where their head will fall.

Personally, if I wanted the luck of a koala I’d just buy a box of “Koala no March“. It, too, contains a soft, brown substance, but at least it’s edible. (^o<)

Himawari

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————

Supplements to Help You Live, Feel…., and Smell Better

Japan is a nation of health nuts. There is a huge market for dietary supplements; there are even some you will not find here in the United States, the birthplace of dietary supplements.

Take, for example, “Rose Sapuri” that has been selling by the millions. Rose Sapuri is “Perfume you can eat.” It will make your breath slightly scented with a hint of rose. Sounds like something out of Shojo Manga!!! Now you will breathe easily and sleep well at night without worrying about embarrassing body odors. It also claims to improve your skin.

My routine is to start my day with swag of black vinegar in the morning and to end it with “Aojiru(Green Juice)” at night. Aojiru comes in many different varieties, but my favorite is the one made from wheat barley. Just mix the green powder with water or any other liquid, and it’s ready to be consumed. It certainly rid me of irregularities and is supposed to work for many other chronic conditions. Whether it will help me live to be 100? Come back and ask me in 50 years.

Togé Togé

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————

Coin Purses: Buy Them, Trade Them, Gift Them or Make Them

You may have noticed I’m obsessed with shopping in Kyoto. It seems like everything there is adorable – especially gifts and souvenirs. Whether it’s face-blotting paper, candy, charms, stationary or snacks, I’m a sucker for cute and useful items that I can buy in bulk and hand out to my friends and family. Included in this category are Japanese coin purses.

Unless you need it for laundry or parking meters, change is a pain to carry around. It makes noise and gums up the bottom of your pockets or handbag. So I try to make the most of the situation and give my coins a place to shine in a little coin purse that fits inside pretty much any bag and gets lots of attention whenever I use it. Most Japanese coin purses have a beautiful flower design and a “kiss clasp” (awww). The one I got from Kyoto, however, is a bit different; it’s a soft fabric vintage-looking Hato Hasi with a frog charm snap to keep it closed.

Shizen Creations has some lovely pieces to check out. Feeling crafty? Channel your inner Martha Stewart (or MacGyver) and make your own Japanese coin purse with these simple household items: knitting needle, fabric, glue, pliers, purse frame and a paper bag!

Sarah S.

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————

Splish, Splash, Let’s Take a Bath!

Rest and relaxation is multi-million dollar industry in Japan. From quickie-massage parlors to specialized tea and candy, it’s the kind of thing that appeals to anyone trying to survive in this high-stress society.

You’ll find bath minerals, or onsen no moto, among the list of feel-good products. They come in small packets, perfumed by the scents of nature and catered to healing specific ailments like fatigue, aching muscles and nervousness. All you do is turn on the faucet and drop it in.

It doesn’t stop there. In an aim to cater to all demographics, there’s all kinds of wacky themes to these products. Here’s some of my favorites:It looks like a lollipop but please don’t eat it! Drop it in your bath and watch the color change to match the scent of strawberry, pudding, caramel or milk. A few lucky bathers will receive a rare and lucky flavor.

You don’t have to wait ’til Halloween to enjoy a scary bath. Pour it in and bathe in blood red! Monster figurine included.Wanna improve your love life? Well this bath’s for you! Scented with orange and cinnamon, you’ll find yourself feeling more amorous because this pack of minerals is blessed by the love gods.Just like a box of Cracker Jacks, it’s just not the same without the prize. In the middle of this bag of bath minerals is one of 9 different Kewpie dolls. Of course there’s one mystery doll that only the lucky will receive. And last but not least…If people in India are having qualms about “Slumdog Millionaire” I’d hate to hear what they’d say about this product. Still, if you love curry so much you’d bathe in it then here’s your chance.

Himawari

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————

Want Smooth Skin? No Need to Inject Collagen – Just Eat It

As kids we’re told that eating too much chocolate or potato chips will give us breakouts. But is it possible to eat your way to better skin?

Japanese organic cosmetics company Fancl seems to think so. That’s why they’ve partnered with Ito-Yokado, the ubiquitous grocery superstore, to create a series of collagen-infused foods. Yes, collagen – the lip plumper and wrinkle reducer normally available only at a plastic surgeon’s or dermatologist’s office.

Fancl’s food line is also enhanced with kale extract, known for reducing weight.

The whole thing reminds me of Jamba Juice and their boosts. I never know which supplement to add to my smoothie: Protein? Vitamin C to fight off a cold? How about calcium or fiber? It’s probably a placebo effect – just knowing that I’m eating fruit, lowfat yogurt and vitamins tends to make me feel great. (Let’s not discuss the sugar.)

But back to botox. Japanese women really value perfect skin, so it makes sense that they pop supplement pills or drink collagen elixirs. Fancl has simply taken the ball and run with it, infusing bread and sweets with life-enhancing additives.

Do people really believe that eating make-up can make them over from the inside out?

Apparently yes – who am I to argue with Oprah?

Sarah S.

—————————————————————————
Visit us on facebook!

—————————————————————————
Thinking of doing business in Japan? We can make it easy for you!
japanizmo, a Los Angeles based company, provides practical solutions for U.S. ? Japan business projects. Our experienced Japanese staff will support all phases of your business project to seize business opportunities and turn your vision into a reality. >> Learn more
—————————————————————————