Category Archives: WTF Japan?

Meaningless Wastebaskets of Japan

How do you say, “Don’t even think of stuffing your snack wrappers and pet bottle empties into your room’s trash can”? With the world’s tiniest wastebasket, of course! Seriously, this waste receptacle technically checked the “wastebasket” box at a ryōkan I recently stayed at, but was barely big enough for a single used Kleenex. •

In Japan, you’re never too young to…

Seen at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara think of chickens as walking yakitori. If you’ve never had the pleasure of overhearing what Japanese people talk about at the aquarium, it may come as a surprise that when they see a chicken, the first thing they think isn’t “Ooo, colorful feathers!” but “Yum, skewered and grilled withContinueContinue reading “In Japan, you’re never too young to…”

Frankenthirst

Obviously, the best way to boost the careers of boy band idols who are now stretching the definition of “boy” is to cast them in a stage production of…Frankenstein? Move over Rocky Horror—there’s a new monster on the block! • If you love strange Japanese stuff you’d never see anywhere else…

The most outrageous car show in Japan is back!

Tokyo Auto Salon: The latest, greatest car mods for 2025 This year’s show lacked some of my favorite kitchy offerings of years past, but if you’re a dude whose burning desire is to turn his car into a babe-magnet, Tokyo Auto Salon is the show for you. Manly, eye-popping paint job? Check. The latest inContinueContinue reading “The most outrageous car show in Japan is back!”

Xmas Gifts I Do Not Want To Find Under My Tree

The world’s most dreaded procedure play set When flossing looks like the most fun activity on offer, you know you’re in trouble. • The fermented soybean puzzle The only thing that would make this puzzle featuring clumps of Japan’s most notoriously unfriendly food less fun would be if it were real nattō, which is oneContinueContinue reading “Xmas Gifts I Do Not Want To Find Under My Tree”

Japan’s most iconic sweets, but make them Italian

What fresh hell is this international mash-up? The most iconic Japanese sweets stuffed with cherry tomatoes and basil? Next they’ll be trying to sell us tomato-basil flavored donuts… • If you could use more weird food combinations in your life… •

The name is Bond. Jane Bond.

In this all-female, all-Japanese version of Casino Royale, everybody gets the girl. Nobody can accuse Takurazuka of pulling punches when it comes to portraying everyone’s favorite clandestine operative, and this Bond has more than Q’s gadgets up her sleeve. The eyelashes alone could slay at forty paces. • If you could use more surprising entertainmentContinueContinue reading “The name is Bond. Jane Bond.”

Camping J-style: Don’t forget the rice cooker

If you’re in search of a rugged outdoor experience you can regale your co-workers with at the next company drink-a-thon (but not the kind that produces tales of campfire fails, culinary deprivation or drafty tents), Japan’s got you covered! If you’re more of a back-the-tailgate-up-to-the-fire-ring kind of camper than a backcountry how-much-toilet-paper-do-I-really-need-for-a-week trekker, this traditionalContinueContinue reading “Camping J-style: Don’t forget the rice cooker”

This Year’s Burning October Question: What’s The Peeing Statue Wearing For Halloween?

I had to go check to make sure that the best-dressed nude statue in Tokyo made it through the typhoon safely. And he did! Not only that, he already knows what he’s going to be for Halloween. But…huh? Retro-70s disco witch? As you can see, “witch” costumes in Japan are subject to the same considerable creativeContinueContinue reading “This Year’s Burning October Question: What’s The Peeing Statue Wearing For Halloween?”

Top Ten Crazy Holiday Gifts From Japan 2018

These days, everyone wants “experiences,” not “stuff,” so how about digging into your Santa sack for presents that deliver #youllneverguesswhatwedids that could only come from (where else?)…Japan! This year, give the gift of… 1 …making your own Panda Face sushi and finding out who’s the fastest panda-grabber in the land Seen at the Akihabara Yodobashi CameraContinueContinue reading “Top Ten Crazy Holiday Gifts From Japan 2018”

Gateway To Chrysanthemum Bliss?

Okay, what do you think THIS floral designer got in trouble for drawing in the margins of his schoolbooks…? If I’d come in through this portal, I might never have made it to the annual Shinjuku National Garden chrysanthemum displays, because I’d have died laughing, so it’s a good thing I entered from the otherContinueContinue reading “Gateway To Chrysanthemum Bliss?”

Most Useless Subway Poster In The History Of Useless Subway Posters

Yesterday I was walking through Ueno Station, and I spotted this People dropping dead at their desks (or committing suicide out of despair at their never-ending pile of work) is such a thing in Japan that it’s even been given it its own mascot-like name and kanji spelling: 過労死 (karoshi). And right now, death fromContinueContinue reading “Most Useless Subway Poster In The History Of Useless Subway Posters”

When You REALLY Hate Your Neighbors

Making my way back to Kamakura Station after tossing a  few plates at the Dish-Breaking Shrine, I was walking through a totally normal-looking neighborhood when I chanced upon this. A hedge. But not just any old hedge – isn’t this the freakin’ unfriendliest alt picket fence you’ve ever seen? I mean, it’s all thorns, all theContinueContinue reading “When You REALLY Hate Your Neighbors”

The Slippery Slope, Illustrated

See, this is where tolerance will get you. Let them get away with putting ginger pickles and fish shavings on pizza, say nothing when your spaghetti comes topped with sea urchin eggs, and next thing you know, you’ll be waking up to every child’s worst nightmare: SPINACH PANCAKES. Let’s zoom in on that serving suggestion for aContinueContinue reading “The Slippery Slope, Illustrated”

Pink Food Season Arrives In All Its WTF Splendor

It never fails – every time the big cherry things burst into bloom, I see foods that totally make me want to shout “What the pinkity pink?” I’m not talking about food that should be pink (like sakura ice cream) or is only slightly questionably pink (like strawberry lattes), I’m talking about the HELP EEK WHY IS THAT FOOD PINK specialties that appear everyContinueContinue reading “Pink Food Season Arrives In All Its WTF Splendor”

Thanks For Destroying My Fantasies, Little Host Stickers

Okay, when I spotted this page of stickers at Tokyu Hands featuring smokin’ hot hostboys, I thought they were kinda fun. Even considered buying a bunch of them to give to my favorite hostboy fangirls. And then I looked a little…closer. Ummm…why does this one read “Princess,” not “Prince”? Had to look this one up in myContinueContinue reading “Thanks For Destroying My Fantasies, Little Host Stickers”

The Drunken Pet Vending Machine

So, today I came home and found THIS. I don’t know what kind of shenanigans YOUR gacha-gacha toys get up to when they’re alone in the house, but… These adorable animals are available at the Drunken Pet vending machine for just ¥200 each! This series may be sold out by the time you’re next in Tokyo, but thereContinueContinue reading “The Drunken Pet Vending Machine”

Top Ten Crazy Holiday Gifts From Japan 2016

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when you comb your list of friends & family for those who truly deserve that rare and awe-inspiring gift from Japan… 10. If there’s nobody on your list who needs a MANEATING VAMPIRE PURSE, you need to make new friends. Nom…nom…nom. Spotted this at Design Festa, but it’s also available at malicious.fashionstore.jpContinueContinue reading “Top Ten Crazy Holiday Gifts From Japan 2016”

What NOT To Wear For Halloween

As you can imagine, in the land where Sexy Santa and Sexy Skunk are a Thing (why, Japan, why?), Halloween is the premiere season for Costume Don’ts. AIEEEE NOOOO! Can’t unsee! Who wants to think about Sexy Totoro? NOT ME Sexy Stormtrooper ai yi yi what next? Sexy 3PO? DO NOT TAKE THAT AS A SUGGESTION AContinueContinue reading “What NOT To Wear For Halloween”

Japanese Food Styling Gone Wrong

Okay, as you know, I’ve long been fascinated with Japanese menu depictions of hot dogs, because they can’t seem to resist making them look a little, er, over-eager. But don’t you agree that these take hot dog styling to a whole new level? I mean, how do you even EAT these? They look  like scale models forContinueContinue reading “Japanese Food Styling Gone Wrong”

Essential Gear For The Corporate Warrior

For those times when you need to make a stealth dash to an important meeting through a forest of trees with blood…red…leaves…. And no one will dare question your commitment to the mission when you appear at the obligatory company ballgame outing wearing this samurai baseball cap Saw the red camo shoes at a shoeContinueContinue reading “Essential Gear For The Corporate Warrior”

Twice The Guilt, Half The Pleasure

What’s wrong with this picture? Okay, I totally get that some days it’s hard to choose between a bucket of french fries and a bathtub of ice cream. I even understand that some days you just say FML, I’m having BOTH. But this? No. Just…no. •

Potatosaurus Rex

A few days ago I was climbing the escalators in the hated Skytree* in search of the Sumidagawa Aquarium, and was stopped in my tracks by this. An exhibition of fake food art! Best. Idea. Ever. bwahahahaha EAT ALL THE CHIPS (This extinct denizen of the Junk Food Era was made by artist Katsutoshi Mutō) I admit, this makes me want meContinueContinue reading “Potatosaurus Rex”

The Gods Of Cuteness Anoint The Most Inexplicable Animal Yet

At the time I bought these, I thought I’d better snap them up, because I’d never see another piece of tapir-themed goods as long as I lived. Haha, I thought. Seriously? Tapirs? If there was a vote on which animal is least likely to be described as “fluffy, “winsome” and “cuddly,” I think tapirs would pretty much win the internet.ContinueContinue reading “The Gods Of Cuteness Anoint The Most Inexplicable Animal Yet”

The Best Dressed Nude Statue In All Of Tokyo

Sometimes you’re trudging home and dreading getting on a crowded train, then you find THIS! How great is it that they have a peeing boy statue smack in the middle of the train platform at the otherwise grim Hamamatsucho Station? As if that weren’t cheering enough, for over fifteen years this bronze nude taking a perpetual whizz has been dressedContinueContinue reading “The Best Dressed Nude Statue In All Of Tokyo”

Subway Manners…For Aliens

Because seriously, unless you were raised by Mechagodzilla, how could you not know that headbutting a station employee, grabbing him by his necktie and drunk-pitching your beer in his face are not exactly recommended by Miss Manners? (And if you were raised by aliens, expect a lump of coal in your next Xmas stocking if a wimpy poster convinces you to abandonContinueContinue reading “Subway Manners…For Aliens”

Honest Abe Gets An Extreme Makeover

I thought playing Rhett Butler in an all-Japanese, all-female production of Gone With The Wind was about as gender-bendy as you could get, but now one of the esteemed actresses in the famed Takarazuka troupe is donning beard and top hat to portray America’s most gangly abolitionist! •

How About A Nice Cup Of Civet Poop Coffee?

Yes, I know this rare and elusive cat-snake lives in Bali, but because Japan is the world magnet for weird food experiences, the only place I’ve ever discovered a shop where I could order a cup of civet poop coffee is in Tokyo. The kopi luwat civet poops coffee. Or, to be more precise, it climbsContinueContinue reading “How About A Nice Cup Of Civet Poop Coffee?”

The Deli For Dogs

How can Fifi decide between the tofu rolls and the pumpkin balls? I was cutting through my favorite crazy pet store in Odaiba, when I spotted what I thought was a deli counter where pet owners who had become famished while stocking up on camouflage dog strollers and duck muzzles could grab a bite, but when I looked closer, all the artfully styled foodContinueContinue reading “The Deli For Dogs”

Level Up, Halloweenies!

Because in Japan, dressing up is no joke! Real cosplayers scoff at Halloween as Amateur Night, but for most people, the Big H is a chance to flaunt their secret zombie in public, and even ordinary citizens put serious effort into Doing It Right. Here’s what the rather elaborate makeup “suggestions” look like up close! Here, if you want to beContinueContinue reading “Level Up, Halloweenies!”

Eat ALL The Bugs

Hey, look! A stand selling local honey! Do you think it’s made from the shibazakura flowers this park is famous for? Let’s get some to bring back to Tokyo as a souvenir! Hmm, should we get a big jar or a… Wait. What’s that in the…? No. NO. Please tell me it’s not… …the biggest-assContinueContinue reading “Eat ALL The Bugs”

Jolly Despot Costumes I Would Regret

Is it my imagination, or is this costume designed to resemble everyone’s favorite dictator-for-life? Recently I discovered this primo autocrat disguise, so you can give fellow revelers a choice: laugh at your jokes…or quake in fear as missiles are pointed in your general direction. Saw these at Don Kihote store in Shibuya. •

Haunted Prison Restaurant? Yes, Please!

Abandon sanity, all ye who enter here! Do you even have to ask? Of course Tokyo has a restaurant where you get locked into a cell and made to drink cocktails with eyeballs in them! The creepiness grabs hold of you the second you figure out how to get through the hidden door and head downContinueContinue reading “Haunted Prison Restaurant? Yes, Please!”

The Angry Cat Ghost Vending Machine

Walking through Shinjuku station today, I discovered I had a burning need for angry cat ghosts. Fortunately, there was a bank of gacha-gacha vending machines smack in the middle of the concourse, ready to cater to all my feline spiritual needs. OK, so maybe I went a little overboard trying to collect them all DON’TContinueContinue reading “The Angry Cat Ghost Vending Machine”

Tokyo Design Festa 2015: Seriously, You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

For all your Cat Butt Pincushion needs. Last weekend, Tokyo’s Design Festa delivered a level of craziness so far beyond words that once again, I’m just going to have to show you pictures. First, from the double rainbow world of animal goods… Think you can escape those pesky felines by locking yourself in the bathroom? Think again. The Cat TubContinueContinue reading “Tokyo Design Festa 2015: Seriously, You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”

The Triple-Decker Noodle Burger

Just when you thought America had cornered the market when it came to eating ALL the carbs, Japanese burger chain Loteria one-ups the red-white-‘n-blue with this tri-deck noodle monster. Yes, it’s that carbo-load favorite, noodles on a bun. Times three. Enjoy. •

Nail Queen…From Hell

Too Much Is Never Enough when it comes to depicting the epic battle between Good and Evil, using fingernails. If Scary Nails was the theme of this year’s Nail Queen competition at the Tokyo Nail Expo, the winners definitely did not disappoint! As you can see by the outfit that goes with the winning nails, scaryContinueContinue reading “Nail Queen…From Hell”

Sexy Red Undies Opposite Day

So, there’s this street in Tokyo I’ve written about before that’s known as the “Grandma & Grandpa’s Harajuku” because it’s where all the oldsters go to stock up on the latest elderly comforts and fashions. My favorite store on Koshinzuka Street is the “Red Underpants” shop, which specializes in many, many, MANY styles of lucky red underwearContinueContinue reading “Sexy Red Undies Opposite Day”

Looks Like Santa’s Been Skipping The Gym This Year

Does this suit make me look fat? As you know, I take an avid and unnatural interest in Japanese holiday costumes, and this year is no exception. There were the usual acts of Santa blasphemy – including Sexy Santa, Emo Santa and Thong Santa – but this year there was a decided trend toward puffiness, even in theContinueContinue reading “Looks Like Santa’s Been Skipping The Gym This Year”

Ten Best Stocking Stuffers From Japan!

10. SUSHI SOCKS Because who wouldn’t want their feet to look like two slabs of raw fish? (Seen at Loft in Shibuya) 9. DIY CROSS STITCH PHONE CASE Because: needlepoint phone case! (Seen at Loft in Shibuya) 8. ANIMAL SKELETONS Yes, Real animal skeletons. In pretty decorator colors. (Seen at Tokyu Hands in Shibuya) 7. DEVIL WAXContinueContinue reading “Ten Best Stocking Stuffers From Japan!”

More Christmas Hats From Hell

“What do you mean, you don’t want to sit in shiny alien elf Santa’s lap?” From the Tokyu Hands buyers who brought you the original Christmas Hats From Hell, behold the latest ways to say “Ho ho ho, suckers!” That little goatee of a tree allows the holiday thug to festively mimic O Tanenbaum while keeping his arms freeContinueContinue reading “More Christmas Hats From Hell”

Top Ten Only In Japan Holiday Gifts 2014!

10. What do you give the person who has everything? They’ve already got a one-shot coffee maker. And a one-shot tea machine. But I bet they don’t have a ONE-SHOT MISO SOUP MAKER! Because who doesn’t consume so much miso soup they need it instantly at all times? (Seen at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara) 9.ContinueContinue reading “Top Ten Only In Japan Holiday Gifts 2014!”

Tokyo Design Festa: Zombie Matryoshika & More

You can do this with FELT?! If you’re in Tokyo, get thee to Design Festa RIGHT NOW! It’s on through Sunday the 9th, out in Odaiba at Big Sight. You definitely don’t want to miss seeing (and buying!): Handpainted zombie matryoshka dolls. Elfin anime-style figures, mind-bogglingly crafted from felt. Eyeball clasp purses, leaking a littleContinueContinue reading “Tokyo Design Festa: Zombie Matryoshika & More”

Halloween Costumes I Would Regret

Just because it’s Halloween doesn’t mean you get a free pass in the career-killing costume department. Photos of you wearing any of these are pretty sure to digitally haunt you for the rest of your life. Because all Men Pirates wear plunging v-neck purple vests. And eyeliner. The Scary Doctor, complete with DIY blood. The Splatter Nurse.ContinueContinue reading “Halloween Costumes I Would Regret”