No, that’s not an idol video, or at least it’s not sold that way. The video is from a DVD series by record label Avex called Miteru Dake (Just Looking). As you can see, it features girls — pumped-up breasts and all — just, well, looking. The idea is that it’s for shy men, to practice looking girls in the eyes. Via Japan Probe, but read more at Clast.
Comments (1) Category: SocietyJapan Probe has posted some disturbing news regarding the newly launched iPhone 3G in Japan. According to the terms on the Sofbank website: “If you have less than 15 months left on your visa, you wont be able to make a contract, but they’ll sell the phone to you without a plan for¥80.000.”
What??? That’s absolutely ridiculous, and would mean that I can’t get one. Yes, my current 3-year visa expires next summer, as which point I will renew, like I’ve been doing for the past 8 years I’ve lived here. So this means you can only get a new phone when you’ve just renewed a visa?
Of course I can’t check for myself to see if they are really enforcing this rule, since I’ll only be back in Japan at the end of the month, but if this is true, then I am not going to be a happy camper.
UPDATE: Someone posted the following comment in the thread:
Marxy over at Clast examines how a ridiculous survey report conned the media into believing that 94.3% of Japanese women in their twenties own a piece of Louis Vuitton.
Comments (1) Category: Society • StoresOver at Clast, Marxy examines booms as a marketing strategy, and the end of an era. I’m just sorry I missed out on 1957, the year of the Calypso Style.
Comments (0) Category: Fashion • Society
Neojaponisme hosts a video documentary by Ian Lynam on sexual assaults on Tokyo subways.
Comments (0) Category: Society
Over at the Clast blog, Marxy examines the relationship between Shibuya-kei and the newly-coined Akiba-kei.
Comments (3) Category: Society
PingMag covers a phenomenon any Tokyo resident is very much used to seeing: the desire by some to add green to the city in a variety of ways, but mostly by creating islands of flowerpots.
Comments (0) Category: Society
Japan Post has launched Japan’s first mobile post office in the form of the van pictured above. It includes an ATM, and is set to be used in the Aichi prefecture’s rural areas — last year’s privatization saw lots of closings of regional offices. Via Japan Today.
Comments (2) Category: Society
A reader sent me a link to this article, and I’m having trouble believing THE NEW YORK TIMES would publish something like this. Camouflage vending machine costumes? Come on, this is fodder for tabloids or even THE ONION.
Comments (6) Category: Society
My friend Lisa writes the feature for this week’s edition of METROPOLIS (673).

Even though urban renewal can be an exciting topic — I’m a sucker for big projects that “positively” transform neighborhoods — Joi Ito tears down the “Chuoism” happening out in Chiba.
Comments (0) Category: Architecture • Design • Society
Lisa has a fun piece in the new issue of WIRED (14.10) on the Japanese urawaza (secret tricks) phenomenon. I love how they illustrated the article.
Comments (0) Category: Art • SocietyI think the title says it all, behold: “Master Topic List for First-Time Neomarxisme Readers.” Basically, it’s your way to get to all of Marxy’s best essays.
Comments (0) Category: Society • WebJean Snow is a daily contributor to Wired magazine's game blog, Game|Life, covering game news from Japan and beyond.

Arcade Mania is currently on sale through Amazon Japan, with the same edition available for pre-order on Amazon US (to be released January, 2009).

Tokyolife: Art and Design covers Tokyo's cultural output of the past few years, covering the works of over 80 influential creatives. Jean Snow provided coordination assistance.

The Superfuture Superguides are a series of PDF travel guides to some of your favorites cities, updated monthly, and obsessively compiling the best places to shop, eat, and drink. The Tokyo guide is edited by Jean Snow.

He is also the design/culture editor at Neojaponisme, a web journal covering social and cultural aspects of Japan. Read the manifesto, by founder and chief editor W. David Marx, here.
PauseTalk is a regular series of events that take place at Cafe Pause on the first Monday of every month, with a start time of 20:00. The idea is to create a forum where Tokyo-based creatives can get together and discuss their own projects, as well as cultural currents of the city. The next edition happens October 6.
He writes a monthly column covering Japanese product design for The Japan Times, called "On Design." It appears on the fourth Tuesday of every month, in both the print edition and online.
He also contributes a weekly round-up covering the latest product and interior design happenings from Tokyo and Japan for MoCo Loco. It gets posted on Wednesdays, and you can find links to previous posts here.
- Big in Japan 8
Jean Snow, Jesper, carlito, Jesper, Erik, Jean Snow [...] - Kiiiiiii Lives! 5
Lawrence, Jean Snow, Marxy, Jean Snow, Ian - Bape Book Launch at Colette 4
Jean Snow, Karl Hab, Jean Snow, Myke - Please Do It at the Pub 4
Jean Snow, parker, Shawn, Simon - PauseTalk Tonight 2
Jean Snow, La Carmina - Foreign Magazines Disappear from Japan 7
M2, Joseph K, Jean Snow, Nick, Jean Snow, Ola [...]
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