Kumamon, the yurukyara/”loose character” mascot bear of Kumamoto Prefecture, is having his fourth birthday today and stealing all the attention from that hyperactive yellow showoff, Funasshi, the pear mascot (3Yen 2013-07-03) of Funabashi city.
Happy birthday to Kumamon, Japan’s favorite regional bear
The Japan Times | March 6, 2014
…Kumamon—a cute red-cheeked black bear—… has arguably become one of the hottest yurukyara…
… on March 12, Kumamoto Prefecture is celebrating his birthday with a five-day Kumamon Tanjosai (birthday festival)…m0Ar!…
______________________________
Other Kumamon mascot news covered before on the 3Yen includes:
• Creepy ‘Kumamon’ mascot gets crazier
(3Yen / 2013-07-07)
• Japan’s Guinness record for synchronized dork dancing
(3Yen / 2013-01-31)
• Panic disordered characters in the kitchen…
(3Yen / 2012-11-04)
Today is the third anniversary of Japan’s Great Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear Meltdown…
Japan is still — and will long be — a country of ghosts and of gods …
–Pico Iyer | huffingtonpost.com :
Three Years After The Japanese Tsunami: The Winds Of Changelessness
Late at night on the expressway you never know what danger lurks in Japan.
@yasui0601 So I was driving…
こんなのが牽引されてました。 pic.twitter.com/nJCj3wCS2w— かずにぃ (@kazu_clumstay) March 8, 2014
Somehow, I don’t think this is an authorized appearance of Tweety (Wiki) on the road.
J-League football club Urawa Reds put out a big welcome at their soccer stadium Saturday, the 8th. The Reds had this banner hung over their supporter entrance (even though their coach is Serbian and the team has alien players on their roister).
…photographs of the ‘Japanese Only’ banner went viral on Saturday with it believed to be aimed at foreign tourists…
…101greatgoals.com:
Fittingly, the Urawa Reds were losers, 0-1.
← Squat toilets (L) are the bane of my existence here in Japan. My cellphone or wallet is aways falling out and plopping into my own plop, arrrg.
Today, however, I have learned of a remoted-controlled “Robo Squatmobile” (below) that will serve me rather than my poop’s evil intentions. ↓
Remote Controlled Toilet to help you move items http://t.co/GwOi1SDXS7 pic.twitter.com/zpc8FavXN1 — Yuki Rinkya (@rinkya) March 6, 2014
Previous posts of plop about the poop on Japanese squat toilets include:
• BURNING BIDETS! Toto’s ‘Tornado Wash’ toilet (3Yen / 2007-04-19)
• Hi-tech toilet anxiety . . . in Japan (3Yen / 2011-12-21)
• I Sit ‘n’ Pee — It’s Japanese! ↓ (3Yen / 2010-05-22)
In their new collaboration, Japanese air conditioner manufacturer, Daikin Industries and ‘Smart Car’ of Mercedes-Benz unveiled their “Smarpy™” electric vehicle.
According to goofy Google Translate of Mercedes-Benz-connection.com (2014-Feb-28):
At the “Knowledge Plaza” of the Grand Front complex of Daikin Industries in Osaka held a “Smart Fes! (Smart festival)” to unveiling the “Smart fortwo electric drive” the Smarpy™, which is a collaboration “Pichon-kun” mascot of Daikin Industries and Mercedes Japan.
← Pervy Pikachu’s privates* as shown on the left have been a longtime favorite with readers of the 3Yen.
However, Dodgy Domo-kun that was spotted in Nagoya yesterday by Reddit may impeach Pervy Pikachu’s preeminence in prurience. ↓
Via Imgur & Reddit
_____________
Previous puerile Pikachu posted…
• Pikachu having a really good time (3Yen / 2013-05-17)
• Pikachu girls (3Yen / 2009-04-18/)
• Pikaku’s Privates (3Yen / 2008-09-09)
• fisting pikachu (3Yen / 2013-07-21) ↓
..
..
In a previous report we wondered:
Will the über-prestigious Univ. of Tokyo be the 1st to admit A.I. robot students? 
—(3Yen | 2013-08-22)
Increasingly, Japanese news reports say the answer is, “Yes.“
Ky0d0news.jp | 2014 March 2nd
..
Bonten Taro — Sex & Fury is a book “trailer” for the May 5th release of the French publisher Le Lézard Noir about Bonten Taro’s life and works. In the style of a graphic novel, ‘Sex & Fury,’ tells Bonten Taro’s story of being an artist of manga, tattoos, films that touched on themes as diverse as the yakuza, horror, Pacific War, Mishima, enka ballads, and the like.
Sex & Fury, Bonten Taro from didizuka on Vimeo.
Bonten Taro is most famous penning the comic, ‘Half-breed Rika’ (凡天太郎 / Konketsuji Rika), in the Weekly Myojo magazine, which was turned into a popular ’70s movie series by Toei Studios. That series was the source of inspiration for copycats like Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and the copy of the copycat, Tarantino*.
Learn more details at the Japanese website: bontengekigakai.wordpress.com
‘Zipangu’ 
one of the many zippy transliterations for ‘Japan’ including Zipang, Jipangu, Jipang, Cipangu, etc. (Wiki), has become unzipped!
← First it was Japan’s super-secret ‘Zipper Ship’ (3Yen | 2010-12-15).
Now it’s the Japanese Unzipping Public Spaces (Colossal | 2014-02-25 ). ↓
Unzipping Public Spaces One Giant Zipper at a Time
Colossal.com—Jun Kitagawa has been installing these giant zippers in public locations around Japan. These 2D and 3D artworks…more…
See more at the artist’s official website: Work of art Kitagawa (Google Translate)
- 
