Swimsuit campaign girl

REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Swimsuit maker San-ai’s spokesmodel for 2010 Nanao, left, receives a tiara from 2009 spokesmodel Satoko Miyata during her unveiling event in Tokyo on Tuesday.

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Toyota Japan’s sexy new topless ad featuring transgender model shocks viewers

TOKYO —
A racy new Japanese ad campaign launched for the 2012 Toyota Auris, or Corolla as it’s known in some markets, has been causing a commotion for boldly challenging convention — and probably not in the way you would think.

Have a look at the commercial here.

The star of the commercial is 19-year-old Ukrainian transgender model Stav Strashko.

The commercial ends with the campaign’s tagline “Turn Your Rear to Common Sense” (常識にお尻を向けろ).

Check out a short interview with Stav about the commercial here.

RocketNews24

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Atsuko Maeda posters displayed in Akihabara in run-up to her 'graduation' from AKB48

TOKYO —
The upcoming “graduation” of AKB48 member Atsuko Maeda, 21, is being commemorated by a “photograph exhibition” at JR Akihabara Station.

The “graduation,” a word used by the idol group’s management as a euphemism for quitting or leaving the group, is being marked by a series of 150 posters of Maeda displayed in and around the station in an exhibition that has been named “Shuku! AKB48 Sotsugyo Kinen: Maeda Atsuko Poster-ten.”

The photos include those used in magazines and other publications during the seven years since she joined the group in 2005.

The exhibition is scheduled to open on Aug 24, to coincide with the first day of AKB48’s three-day Tokyo Dome concert. The posters will be displayed until Maeda’s “graduation” on Aug 27.

Japan Today

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Taiwan’s Weather Girls form girl group in Japan

TOKYO —
Taiwan’s adorable dancing meteorologist girl group Weather Girls have been a lot of things: Japanese school girls, ninjas, super sentai heroes…wait, notice anything similar?

Since it launched in summer 2010, their video series has taken off in Japan more than any other country, likely because most of the monthly video themes are taken from Japanese culture. Many of the themes even have the girls speaking endearingly broken Japanese, which just scores them more kawaii points.

Now, as if to capitalize on that popularity, the Weather Girls have sent seven of their best to Japan to form a brand new idol group called…Weather Girls!

According to their Facebook page, the girls arrived in Japan last month and will be releasing their first single, “Koi no Tenkiyoho” (Weather Forecast of Love) on Oct 17.

While the regular Weather Girls program rotates most of its cast each monthーwe counted a total 34 girls over the past 2 yearsーthe idol group will keep the same 7 members: Yumi, Dara, Hijon, Esse, Mia, Mini and Nue.

So can the Weather Girls stay afloat in a country already flooded with cute young girls dancing around in skirts? Some fans seemed concerned that their still-imperfect Japanese will hold them back, but like we said before, that’s one of their most charming points!

RocketNews24

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Tenjin Matsuri

PHOTO BY KAMASAMI KONG

Girls prepare for the famous Tenjin Matsuri (festival) in Minami-Mirimachi, Osaka. The two-day festival, which begins Tuesday, is one of the three biggest summer festivals in Japan, along with the Gion festival in Kyoto and the Kanda festival in Tokyo. The 1,000-year-old festival culminates in a huge fireworks display.

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How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan

TOKYO — Your daily life changes when the environment around you changes. Many people who go abroad find their daily routine changing to adapt to the environment, sometimes without being aware of the change.

The website MADAME RiRi, which covers offbeat and interesting topics in Japan and around the world, gives some examples of how foreign people’s daily life has changed after they moved to Japan.

—I have become addicted to tissues. (American living in Hokkaido)

“When I first came to Japan, I avoided people who were distributing pocket tissues. However, now I collect them whenever it starts to get cold outside. In fact, I am uncomfortable if I don’t have tissues in my pocket when I leave the house.”

—I started to sleep on the floor. (Canadian)

—I got used to the unavoidable humidity on July, and say “I’m sorry” when I hit bump into people accidentally, and keep pushing the Open button in elevators when I get to my floor. (American living in Korea)

—I take my shoes off inside the house obviously. (American living in Tokyo)

—I cannot live without five finger socks. (American man)

—I still take my shoes off at the door when I return to my home country and I go to the convenience store 8 times a day. (Danish man)

—I spend more money than before. I feel like everything is an adventure here. (Englishman, 36)

—I serve green tea when a guest comes, eat soba noodles at the station every morning. I have changed my life to adapt to the train schedule. I have started sorting the trash out into burnable and non-burnable. (Frenchman)

—I take a hot bath every night. (American man)

—I got used to eating rice with most meals. Now I love it! (French woman)

—I got used to being treated as a foreigner. (American man)

“Japanese women became interested in me and people touch my long blond hair.”

—I got used to living in a small apartment. (American woman)

—I no longer drive a car and eat less meat and fewer snacks. (American man from U.S. Midwest)

—I think before talking, have become humble and am satisfied easily even at the small things in my life. (Austrian man)

—I carry a dictionary everywhere and am more tolerant. (American living in Japan for 15 years)

—I lost my sense of humor, became perverted, I sleep in trains, became addicted to vending machines, stopped going for a walk to smoke. I have become serious about everything. (Dutchman)

—I pay more attention to my appearance than before, and I walk and read more than before. (American man living in Tokyo)

—I got used to speaking simple English slowly, I spend a long time taking a hot bath and I bow slightly when I apologize or out of appreciation. (American woman)

—I can sleep easily. (Belgian man)

—I eat breakfast properly. (Mexican man)

“I used to drink only orange juice or coffee for breakfast before.”

—I cannot live without green tea. (Finnish woman)

—My height is 194cm, so I am careful not to hit my head anywhere. I use the air conditioner in summer. I don’t go to friends’ houses or invite them to mine. (French man)

—“It is usual to invite people over in France, but in Japan, I found it is more usual to hang out outside. Eating out is cheap in Japan.”

—I walk on the left side of the road. (American man)

—I eat less than before. (Canadian man)

“Now, I cannot eat a whole meal when I go out for dinner back in Canada.”

—I lost 15 kg in an year. (American man)

—I have fewer dislikes when it comes to food. I have even started eating raw fish. (Mexican woman)

Source: MADAME RiRi

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Weird cosplay: AKB48 meets AK-47

TOKYO — What could be better than seeing a cute girl dressing as a member of AKB48 and dancing around in a uniform? A cute girl dressing as an AKB48 member firing military-grade weapons, apparently.

The following video comes from Hyper Douraku, a Japanese gun enthusiast website that has teamed up with otaku favorite and “image” DVD (footage of girls in skimpy outfits in various poses) star Mii Aihara.

Dressed in a variety of hugely impractical outfits from AKB48 to “Resident Evil’s” Jill Valentine, Mii heads down to the firing range to squeeze off a few rounds as part of the website’s “Guam Shooting Tour 2012.”

Why? We have no idea.

That Mii girl clearly knows a thing or two about guns. As well as loading her own ammo before trying out the rifle, she manages to fire round after round without blinking an eye. To look at her you’d think butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but she’s clearly trained any ready to take on the world at a moment’s notice.

Quite what the other visitors to the firing range thought when they spotted this girl in her elaborate outfits is anyone’s guess, but we’re fairly sure that few gun fans are used to sights quite like this.

But the website isn’t just about skimpy outfits, no, no! There are some genuine gun-related tips to be found here, too.

Perhaps concerned for Mii’s safety in the evening, the team provided the model with a handgun to go with her nightdress. Quite why she’d need to kill silently, we have no idea, but this led the team to wonder “Could a pillow be used as a makeshift silencer?”

Finally, Mii took the time to leave a few words for her fans, thanking them for visiting the site and taking the virtual tour of Guam with her.

“I had a great time,” she says. “If any of you ever find yourselves in Guam, you should definitely include a trip to fire off a few live rounds in your schedule!”

A perfectly normal, everyday sentence if we ever read on.

Source: Hyper Douraku

RocketNews24

External Link: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2012/11/23/weird-cosplay-when-akb48-and-resident-evil-meet-ak-47-assault-rifles/

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Itano, French Kiss launch Seven & i's rainwear

TOKYO —
With the rainy season around the corner, Seven & i this week launches its “Rain style collection” of fashionable and functionable rainwear. AKB48 singer Tomomi Itano, 20, and AKB48 sub-act French Kiss are image characters for the TV commercial campaign.

Itano said, “I don’t like rainy days, but I wouldn’t mind going out in the rain in this gear.”

French Kiss singer Yuki Kashiwagi, 20, said she is always referred to as “ame onna” (a woman whose presence seems to cause rain), while her colleague Asuka Kuramochi, 22, said the weather is always bad when the group has outdoor shoots, so the rainwear will come in handy.

Japan Today

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