Without a doubt, Japan has some of the world’s best products…. sometimes in the strangest ways.

For example, the most perfect pencil eraser on the planet is from the Sakura company, the Deluxe Foam Eraser W. It’s the perfect eraser in every way— fits as easily in your hand as it does in your pencil case, erases with ease (no need to press hard), doesn’t become dirty fast, and eases cleanly (the leavings are easy to clean up). You’ll be amazed.

Mo’ amazing is Japan’s “kneading erasers” in desert and food flavors such as this CURRY-Scented Neri-Keshi / Kneading Eraser!
For all you Eraserheads out there, here’s a treat that you wish you could eat, but can’t, so don’t. This delicious-smelling eraser comes in a parody style package and looks, and smells (but does not taste!) like real curry. Maybe even more fun once you take it out of the box, so you can imagine that it’s just a simple eraser and then — WOW! — the whiff of curry is upon you. For those of you who sometimes find yourself sniffing even normal erasers, this is your dream eraser. A kneading eraser that can be smooshed and mooshed into different shapes and sizes. Do. Not. Eat. It.

In the same theme, there’s even a cola eraser….the Neri-Keshi / Kneading Eraser — Cola Scent . For all those times when a boring rubber eraser just won’t do.
Buy it now from J-List!

Although my policy has always been, “anything more than a mouthful is a waste”…

The 3Yen’s sponsor, J-List carries plenty of OVERKILL for Japanese breast love. For example, J-List carries a great Japanese “Oppai Ball *G Cup*.” J-List describes that this massive silicon ball is prefect for, “all those times when you need something large, soft and supple to squeeze… a desktop oppai (boob) for stress relief.”

“Stress relief?” Ri-i-ight.

Or mo’ betta’…. Get your very own “Venus Pillow” Oppai/Breast Pillow from J-List. It’s much more cost effective than my previous report, The Silicon Valley of the Dolls. This puerile pillow is perfect for a rest after watching too much anime like the Japanese guy pictured below.

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DEATHTOPIA - Death Topia

I now the image many of you have is that Japan is of a bustling metropolis filled with people, with every square inch of land accounted for and optimized for use. Gee, that’s the way I think of it too since I living just 15 minutes west of ground-zero Shibuya Tokyo.

However, there are plenty of areas of Japan that are used and forgotten—in ruins. Check out this book at our sponsor J-List’s done by the photographer. Shinichiro Kobayashi, as part of his popular Deathtopia series. Japan the way it could be— Barren and empty, rusted and hollow, with nature slowly reclaiming its dues.

Buy Now!

Off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture, there sits an amazing piece of history, the ruins known as Gunkanjima, literally “Battleship Island”, for its high concrete walls around the island and distinct scarcity of greenery make it appear like an abandoned battleship floating on the sea.

Once a thriving city, the island originally named Hashima was discovered to contain outcroppings of coal, and mining began in the later part of the ninteenth century before it was bought by Mitsubishi in 1890. Over the next eighty years Hashima became the world’s most densely populated area of the planet, with over 5200 people living on the island, just a little less than half a kilometer long on its longest end. It contained some of the first concrete apartment complexes in Japan to house the workers, and even had its own pachinko parlours, schools, a movie theater, shopping — everything required for daily living was found on this tiny island. In 1974 the mine was closed and the island abandoned, leaving behind a ghost town sitting on an island.

Damn, I wanna see it but…
All visits to the island are banned by Mitsubishi and it’s strictly monitored by security cams and patrols.

HOWEVER, you and I can see the feral island on this DVD takes us on a 45 minute journey to Gunkanjima, showing the deserted island as it stands today, a ruined city rising out of the ocean. Untouched by vandalism, with only nature taking its gradual but inevitable toll on the concrete structures that remain. Presented in 4:5 in two versions, one with narration in Japanese in 2.0 stereo and a second one with just background music and naturally recorded sounds in 5.1 channel surround. Extras include a virtual map, history, time line, and photo gallery.

Buy : $45.00

Check out the creepy solar-powered fappy-happy-face robot, the Hidamari no Tami — Momo Iro ~ Pink. As they nod their head to a nonexistent tune, the Sunshine Buddies give a laid-back relaxing smile to wherever you display them— just put it ‘em the sun and they’ll love you forever.

Get Happy!

This week’s featured product from our sponsor J-List.com is a Hidamari no Tami —”the Sunshine Buddies.” The solar-powered, Robo Relaxation Birdie, the Kotori Dayori -Solar Relaxation Hummingbird is something for your make your world globally warmer, bright, cheerful and Japaneseque.

This interactive solar toy from Tomy, that never needs a battery change and always has a birdie vibe for your space. The weird thing about this melodic bird is you can take it off its base and hold it in your hand, and it still sings—a robotically pleasing IC-chirping song that changes enough to keep it interesting and relaxing.

Now why a “hummingbird” would chirp is beyond me. However, the colors are totally Japanese vibrant and lively, and compliment the “modern stylized hummingbird design.” Hmmm, it looks VERY “stylized” for a hummingbird.
Buy the Birdie now!

Sometimes it’s the little things that make me laugh here in Japan.

Today, it’s Japanese Truth-in-Advertising.

I just stumbled across an engrish school west of Yokohama called the “Poop English School.” That is, it sounds like the SCAT Engrish School must teach about animal scat (excrement) or bippity-bippity-doo-wop-razzamatazz-
skoobie-doobie-bee-bop-a-lula-shabazz scat singing.

You can find the school in the first and third listings in Google Japan, as it would be a shame to embarrass the school with a direct link. As they say in Japan, “After doing your best, happy poo awaits.”

Check out this movie-themed T-shirt from the Japanese trucker classic by Toho Films, Truck Yarou (Truckers), which is available from our sponsor J-List.com.

The Truck Yarou series is burned into the consciousness of most Japanese and truck fans throughout the world because its Dekotora (Decoration Trucks).

These wild looking Dekotora are a sort of underworld within the trucking community of Japan. Truck drivers add all sorts of fins, wings, lights, and designs to their trucks, so much that they start looking like armored neon mecha bots plowing down the open road. The back of this t-shirt features a wave logo design reminiscent of the famous woodblock print by Hokusai.

Get truckin’ -n- stylin’ at J-List today!

Recently, friend, Bobo-the-Clown, who reports for the MSN-Mainichi Daily News asked me:

What has happened to deco tora? They used to be everywhere, but I haven’t seen one in years. I remember the ones with all the flashing lights like those that appeared in film “Black Rain” were quite common, but it would be at least a decade since I have seen one.

Well, damn if I didn’t find a hot little Dekotora –decoration truck– sitting next my tire and custom wheel shop the other day in Kawasaki, as you can see here.

Yep, dekotora still exist, but there has been a decline for several reasons. First, number of independent truckers has dropped because gas prices and competition so the number of independent-minded truckers who want to dress up their ride has dropped too. In addition, the government has been cracking down the the more hazardous aspects of dekotora—all that chrome has got to be deadly.

Notice in the photo that in the background on the left is a regular blue Isuzu truck that is the same model and year as the dekotora (デコトラ). That’s quite a difference between identical models of that Isuzu truck, isn’t it?

This is daytime photo, but at night is when dekotora really shine with neon, ultraviolet and strobe lights, wild paint jobs, and shiny stainless or golden exterior parts. As you can see these decorations are both on exterior and also in the interior the cab and the trailer. Most dekotora are created by independent truckers out of their work trucks for fun, but some are made by hobbyists just for show and special events—those are sometimes referred to as “Art Trucks” (アートトラック).
The key to the Dekotora popularity goes way back to the movie series that started the boom in 1975, Truck Yaro (トラック野郎). The series featured a rebel trucker who drove his garishly decorated truck all over Japan. That movie series was a huge hit for over a decade. See the YouTube video of Truck Yaro below and check out one of the many home videos of Dekotora on YouTube.

To see more modern examples of dekotora , visit my press photographer friend, Masa-san’s website, MasaMania.com (Sorry, but a free registration is required to see these photos).

Exciting Art truck world
MasaMania.com, 12/21/2006
Decorating truck is one of popular Japanese car customize culture genre.
It’s called Art truck or it’s called also Dekotora, means decoration truck in Japanese….more, including a 200-photo slideshow of these trucks...

Here on the 3Yen I just looove covering cheerful Japanese drink scene such as my recent reports on cucumber cola and octopus-dumpling soda.
However, how could I missed the Japanese drink “Mucos” below after all these years here!?

Quite Interesting: Summer drinks
The Daily Telegraph - 12:01am BST 16/06/2007
….Fizzy pop…
Two of the best-selling soft drinks in Japan are called Pocari Sweat and Mucos….

I’ve never heard of “Mucos” soda in Japan. A quick search of engrish.com reveals all sorts of great Japanese drinks names like Bull and B.J. coffee and I’ve reported on DEPRESSO(tm), the sad coffee of Japan but there’s no “Mucos” to be found.

Never fear—There’s no shortage of other fun-filled Japanese drink names, such as world-renowned tradenames like Calpis and Pocari Sweat that you can check at our sponsor J-List.com.
Buy at J-List.

As far as I know, “Mucos” is mainly the name of a German pharmacological group, MUCOS Pharma GmbH.

Finally, don’t miss my previous 3Yen reports of wild Japanese drinks such as:
— F*ck-u-cup(tm), only in Japan
— DEAD FISH WINE
— “su.no.mo” vinegar drink in a soda can

I spotted on BB this paleolithic Pac-Man, “conceived by Le Gentil Garçon, in collaboration with François Escuilié, palaeontologist, from the comparative observation of human and various predatory animal skulls. 2004, Resin, diameter: 65 cm.”"

You can view the original versions on the artist’s website: 1) a full view of the Pac-Man skull and 2) front view.

This “paleolithic” Pac-Man got me thinking about proto-Pac-Man created by the Japanese game company, Namco. The original name of Pac-Man was pronounced in Japanese pakku-man (パックマン), which comes from the fun onomatopoeic phrase, paku-paku taberu (パクパク食べる) meaning to gooble up or scarf up. Japanese think paku-paku describes the sound of the mouth chomping food. When it was first released in Japan in 1979, the game was entitled “PUCK MAN.” However, when the game was brought to the U.S. by Midway, they wisely changed title to Pac-Man so vandals wouldn’t alter the arcade machine’s name to *UCK MAN. (Wikipedia)

Check out Dots — Pacman the retro toy for Lite-Bright, pixel-art and cute culture fans from our sponsor J-List.com.

Here are some semi-safe pix of the very Not-Safe-For-Work Japanese site featuring “Cool Haruhi Suzumiya Vacuumed.”
Enjoy?

You can learn about and find more pictures of the hit anime series, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, at our sponsor J-List.com.

I especially like this set of gashapon/soundrops of sound samples from the Haruhi anime that are fun to push repeatedly, especially when you have several of them in each hand. There are eight different sound samples in the full set including: “SOS-dan chou Suzumiya Haruhi!” (Suzumiya Haruhi, captain of SOS club!), “Daisuki! (I love you!, 3 times in turns), “Okuretara yurusanaindakara!” (I’ll never forgive you if you’re late!) and other Haruhi-chan favorites.

I stumble across the strangest things on MetaFilter and the FG.Today it was this Japanesque “Cornbrator–Boku No Sexual Harassment” that takes its theme from the Japanese yaoi anime “Boku No Sekusharu Harasumento” –My Sexual Harassment– (僕のセクシャルハラスメント) by Momo Sakura and Kodaka Kazuma. However, rather than using non-native corn (below left), I think a Japanese veggie such as the frightening green goya (below right) would be more “fitting.”

Better yet, the 3Yen’s sponsor, J-List.com offers a far superior vibrator technology from high-tech Japan: The Mandorian Dot - King of the Vibration.
This “King of the Vibration” is of the highest quality and more to the point though it invokes incredible curiosity. The Mandorian Dot, a uniquely shaped adult toy, made of a super soft material that’s not only stretchable, but unbreakable! In addition, there are pinpoint dots covering much of the surface to get to those hard to reach places. Operating on two different levels, there’s Baritone, and High Speed. A wonderful personal massager measuring in at 16 cm (6.25 inches). Don’t disappoint. Order now!