Mutsukian company, a Kyoto-based diaper museum operator had a fashion show for 170 kinds of adult diapers in the Shinagawa Community Hall in Tokyo on Sept. 25.

Models strut stage in adult diapers
Associated Press — September 28, 2008, TOKYO — One after the other, the models strutted across the stage to bouncy ’80s dance tunes, all showing off designs of the same article of clothing– adult diapers.
Japan has one of the world’s most rapidly aging societies, and the fashion show Thursday proved the country’s diaper producers are intent on keeping… a booming market for adult diapers…more…

From the Japanese carmaker you’ve ever heard of, Mitsuoka Motors, here’s the new update of the “Orochi Kabuto,” which is named after a mythical Japanese monster (Orichi) and “helmet” (kabuto).

According to AFPbb.com (in Japanese) the car has a 3.3 liters V-6 and first deliveries of the car are scheduled for the beginning 2009.

See the official details of the car including prices (10 million yen) on this machine translation of the website.

The rest of Mitsuoka’s line-up of retro cars look like a bit of 60s Britain in today’s Japan…. But, unlike my ‘76 MGB, all the Mitsuoka’s cars all run because they are based on a Toyota drivetrain and sub-chassis and come with a Toyota warranty. The catch is that the original Toyota that each Mitsuoka model is based on is 50-70% cheaper and functionally better in terms of handling.

PROP Co., Ltd. of Shinjuku, a safety equipment manufacturer maker, is showing off its new for airbag for the elderly at the International Home Care and Rehabilitation Exhibition going on now at Tokyo Big Sight.

If a person wearing this new personal airbag skips and begins to fall, acceleration sensors will rapidly inflate the upper and lower bags just before the person touches the ground. The president of the company, Mr. M. Uchida (age 82), is modeling his safety device that only weighs slightly more than two pounds (1.1kg).

The BBC has a 2-second video of the Butt-Bag in action (prefaced with a crappy 30 second commercial).

Click to view.

Be sure not to miss PROP Company’s other great safety products such as their patented classroom “CRAZY CATCHER ®”.

In Japanese, the name for this polearm
for knife maniac attacks is a “sasumata.”
(See Wikipedia for more info.)

According to the Nikkei (subscription required), Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd is pushing its new unicycle-riding robot at the CEATEC Japan 2008 exhibition in Makuhari Messe in Chiba just east of Tokyo.

This robot is actually meant to represent a kindergarten girl. As well as riding forward and backward, the girlie-bot can balance even when stationary.

Besides the trippy photos of Murata’s robots bicycling on Mars with a fawn, check out their creepy TV commercials of other versions of their cycling robots here.
Click to view view.

Nothing can surpass the brilliance of Tokyo Gas’ slogan slapped on the side of thousands of their company’s trucks proclaiming, “MY CITY — MY GAS®.”^*
However, this TV commercial for the robot girl of Tokyo Gas shows continued creativity.

Click to view on Tokyo Gas website.

To quote the breathless copy of the TOKYO GAS website (machine translation):
“Is it a beautiful woman robot in search of charge and husband meet the needs of making a comfortable home?
While many homes use electric, this home can enjoy warmth of comfortable gas with eco-will cogeneration.
— eco-will household cogeneration —
With gas cogeneration, when I [Robo-girl] generate electricity I also use the exhaust heat to supply hot water and heating, eliminating the waste of the energy. I can generate electricity with gas at your home, as well as hot water and heating thus saving about 40% of your annual cost of electricity. That’s about 30,000 yen a year with cogeneration.”

*The slogan MY CITY — MY GAS®
was created for the 1970 Osaka Expo
for use at the Japanese Gas Industry Pavilion.
It was used actively until the mid-1980s.

“Licca-chan,” Japan’s Barbie doll knock-off has gone diamond doll.

At the Seibu Department Store in Tokyo, Tomy Toys is presenting a Licca-chan doll wearing 881 diamonds a totaling 51.4-carats and worth about US $935,000.

This diamond doll is part of an exhibition of “Girlish Culture” geared toward what they describe as, “happy adult by fashion.”

Read more the official website of the exhibit at Seibu’s flagship location in Ikebukuro Tokyo - September 23 through 29.

Fake Chanel clothes for pets–This could only be a serious problem meriting coverage on the national news in Japan (FNN Sept. 12, 2008).

[FNN]….Police arrested a clothing retailer in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward on suspicion of selling fake Chanel clothes for pets….

Click to view video.

Yesterday Sony showed off its new clunky, wireless stereo headphone, the “DR-BT160AS” that uses Bluetooth to wirelessly transmits music from an iPod or cellphone.
Butt-ugly, ain’t it?

Since the middle of August, my local COSTCO Japan has had Christmas crap out.
Even in the Western world I hate this crass jumping the gun.
However when it has been 30C/85F degrees for the past 80 days in un-religious Japan, is about as out-of-context as this BUKKAKE Angel.

UPDATE!
Welcome spam blogs to Dr. Kazuo Kawasaki’s eyeglass frames, series 704.

Sarah Palin’s style: the issue at hand Los Angeles Times - September 7, 2008 …in a little more than a week, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 44, has stolen the campaign’s style spotlight, causing a run on Kawasaki 704 eyeglass frames …more...

The Sarah Palin frame is the Kazuo Kawasaki 704 series. Without the lenses, those imported eyeglass frames alone cost $375 suggested retail. With her special-order color–34 gray–and with the gradient bifocal lenses she uses, the total package can run to $700, ouch.

Clickie.