For many years, the so-called “hemline theory” holds that short hemlines predict a rising economy and higher stock prices while longer hemlines mean the economy is in the dumps. Now Japan has come up the “Hair Cut Indicator”–That is, the current fashion trend toward short and messy hair styles for women bodes badly for the Japanese economy.
Japanese women hairstyles track economy ups and downs Reuters - Feb. 17, 2008—Women tend to wear their hair long when Japan’s economy is doing well and short when there is a slump, the Nikkei business daily reported, citing a survey .conducted by Japanese cosmetics company Kao Corp. As for Japan’s future economic performance, the Nikkei pointed to expectations for a trend towards shorter hairstyles....more…
For more about the “hemline indicator”, here is a three minute video clip showing the connection between short skirts, fashion trends and the economy’s financial health.
Sayuki of Asakusa
via sayuki.net
For the first time in the 400 year history of the geisha, a Westerner has been accepted, and on December 19, will formally debut under the name Sayuki…[she] specialized in social anthropology, a subject which requires anthropologists to actually experience the subject they are studying by participating in the society themselves….more…
To explain “gai-geisha” ….
The first word you learn in Japan is “gaijin”–literally ‘gai’ meaning outside/alien/foriegn and “jin” meaning person. Addiltionally, the word “geisha” literally ‘gei’ means the arts and ’sha’ means a person or “doer”.
Therefore gai-geisha means “alien art doer.”
This photo portfolio of Sayuki of Asakusa at keyshots.smugmug.com definitely looks like an alien doer of arts.
Miss Sayuki was lucky to be a Tokyo geisha do not follow the strict, multi-year, ritualized Kyoto apprentice process. The Tokyo training period can be six months to a year —a hell of lot shorter than year it would take to speak Japanese at the geisha level of sophistication—and the five years that a real Kyoto apprentice needs to go through before she debuts as a full geisha.
However, gai-geisha strike me as just elaborate cosplay and reminds me of the true geisha of Japan, Chindoya (ちんどん屋), advertising clowns (See right and more on Wikimedia).
With a diamond coated pot, this new high-powered induction electric rice cooker from National Electric has plenty of BLING for its target of, “responding to the prejudice by meal of post-baby boomers” (crappy machine translation).
Refer to the official National website for more information about the bling-tastic “SR-SV181″ rice cooker that sells for a mere 110,000 yen about $1,000 USD.
Yep, Ronald McDonald is called “Donald” in Japan because…well because it’s Japan. Donald is a cheap clown and enjoys robbing from the poorest…till he got busted today. I’m lovin’ it.
McDonalds to compensate thousands of workers for underpayment in Japan TOKYO–
Thousands of McDonalds workers in Japan were underpaid due the company’s policy of rounding down regular and overtime wages to the nearest 30 minutes per day….…more…
PCs Being Pushed Aside in Japan Associated Press Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007…The PC’s role in Japanese homes is diminishing, as its once-awesome monopoly on processing power is encroached by gadgets such as smart phones that act like pocket-size computers, advanced Internet-connected game consoles, digital video recorders with terabytes of memory….
…Japan’s PC market is already shrinking, leading analysts to wonder whether Japan will become the first major market to see a decline in personal computer use some 25 years after it revolutionized household electronics…
San Francisco Chronicle, USA - Nov 4, 2007….A survey by Seiko Watches in Japan concluded that the number of people there between the ages of 16 and 49 wearing wristwatches fell from 70 percent in 1997 to 46 percent in 2006….
Nissan hopes to launch 2,500 dollar car in India in 2010 Oct 24 10:14 AM US/Eastern
Nissan and Renault hope to start selling a car for about 2,500 dollars in India in around 2010 along with their local partner there, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said Wednesday….more….
Ok, ok, so I joking with the picture above of the Indian trike motorcycle. I suppose Nissan will claim it cannot sell these 285,000 yen cars here in Japan—-They’ll claim that “safety” regulations would almost double the price thus making the car about the same price as the cheapest microcar Japan. For 640,000 yen—about $5,600 USD—you can buy the Suzuki “Alto” —a “kei-car” with a 660 cc gasoline engine for 44 bhp (which I bet has double the gas mileage and runs twice as peppy as my old 1968 VW Beatle).
Waaaaaaay back in the early days of the 3Yen, we said there’s an odd, “compulsion for every Japanese company to make their robots look cute–something well-demonstrated by NEC’s PaPeRo robots (Dec. 2005).”
Well, he’s ba-a-a-ack.
And PaPeRo-mini is even cuter and is now being sold as a “desktop sized personal robot.” PaPeRo-mini( L) is multi-colored and not a “scary” evil silver robot (R) as you can see below it is the perfect playmate for geek girls.
NEC launches mini PaPeRo robot Barely bigger than a laptop, not evil - honest Technology news - Tech.co.uk | 08 May 2007 12:36…PaPeRo-mini stands just 250mm tall - that’s barely higher than a laptop - and weighs 2.5kg. He packs a better CPU (an ARM 9192) and digital signal processor than his bigger brother…more...
Sushi to oust pencils as Japan revamps price data TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Flat TVs and conveyor belt sushi will replace pencils and sewing machines when Japan unveils a revamp of consumer price data …..
Whoa! I never knew their Japanese data was so out of touch with reality. That is, relatively nobody sews in Japan anymore and while pencils are common they are only purchased once a year for less than 0.009% a household budget.
Weather Affects 52 Percent of Economy KoreaTimes.co.kr 08-17-2006 17:35
A survey showed that weather-related volatility directly or indirectly affects 52 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). Weather affects not only every aspect of our daily lives but businesses and economic growth as well, so it has become something that should not be overlooked when running a company.
“The weather has become more unpredictable and violent over the past decades,” said Chung Ye-mo, a senior researcher at the Samsung Global Environment Research Center…”in Asia, industries influenced by weather generate about 52 percent of South Korea’s GDP and up to 80 percent for Japan.“….more....
Right now I’m dead from the heat. Hellishly hot is normal in Tokyo right now, but freaky weather patterns have left Japan with the longest “rainy season” on record. The rainy season was “officially” declared over but Mother Nature has ignored the Japanese government and for weeks both rainy and hot weather has been the rule. It’s hell to keep the windows closed for the rain when the temperatures are over 30C/90F. In one Japanese character/word: “ASE” — sweat as shown above.
Obviously the heat has gone to the heads of these Japanese video girls on YouTube.com.
Right now downtown Tokyo is having a widescale blackout —the first I can remember.
For you folks in the 3rd world where this happens everyday, this is a rarity in Tokyo. A large scale blackout like this has not happened in 30 years. It is even hard to find backup power supplies for computers here–they aren’t needed.
The poor guys in Tokyo Electric will have to report to Diet and aplogize on their knees for this.
When I used to work with the guys in Hitachi and they keep asking me why all the server room plans I approved had UPS added for power back up. When I said it was for blackouts, they first replied that Tokyo isn’t subjected to aerial bombing anymore so there’s no need for blackouts. The concept of power blackouts was unheard of, hee, hee. They kept asking me, “Why would the power company turn off the power?”
For many years, the so-called “hemline theory” holds that short hemlines predict a rising economy and higher stock prices while longer hemlines mean the economy is in the dumps. 
Now Japan has come up the “Hair Cut Indicator”–That is, the current fashion trend toward short and messy hair styles for women bodes badly for the Japanese economy.
- 
sayuki.net
For 640,000 yen—about $
PaPeRo 2005
Weather Affects 52 Percent of Economy
