Ok, ok, that photo above is a sort of a fake.
The XXXmas Buddy is just my slight photo manipulation. As you can see on the right, the real Christmas Sunshine Buddy that our sponsor J-List is offering actually has a Christmas tree logo on his belly [not an enormous green hard-on].

This solar-powered, fappy-happy-faced robot, the Hidamari no Tami (Sunshine Buddy), nod its head to a nonexistent tune. They give a laid-back relaxing smile to wherever you display them—just put it ‘em the light and they’ll love you forever with festive cheer.

This special Christmas version will make the holiday even more merry, with his ever-happy friendly face gently bobbing side to side, all solar powered. The round-bodied Sunshine Buddy comes with two tiny reindeer like the close-up you can see on the right. It can also act as a card stand if you want to make this a present–just choose from one of the designs included, write a greeting, slip in between the Sunshine Buddy’s feet and the reindeer, and let this good-natured mascot give the holiday happiness.
Buy your own Christmas Sunshine Buddy bot now via JList.com–‘you’ve got a friend in Japan’.

Japanese T-Shirt “It is Forbidden to Urinate Here”
For whatever reason, Japanese men think nothing of stopping to urinate outdoors wherever they might be, on the median of a busy Tokyo street, or while passing a beautiful Buddhist temple. From the 3Yen’s sponsor, J-List, here is a cool shirt that says, “It is Forbidden to Urinate Here,” that’s modeled after real signs you can see everywhere Japan.

A lovely image of a Japanese arch is shown on the shirt, for that extra “classy” touch. This is a standard men’s T-shirt, in red buy it here.

Photo thanks to my friend Masa at MasaManiA.com: Extreme drunkard damage report.

Our sponsor Jlist’s product image

Q: What’s most ubiquitous Japanese food on the planet?
A: The savior of staving college students everywhere, Cup Noodles.

WHOA.
Wait a minute.
What’s with that label that reads “Cup Nude” not “Cup Noodles” or as it is charmingly spelled in Japan “Cup Noodle”?

OK, OK, this is actually a parody product of the 3Yen’s sponsor JList.com. The parody novelty is called an Onanie Cup , and it is another example of Japan’s sense of humor gone wacky.
Each “Cup Nude” parody toy is a satisfying ona-hole with “H” enriched soft jelly (with multi ribbed tendrils inside) that’s fortified with 20 mL of lotion making it exactly what a growing man’s needs for self-satisfaction (see right). No need to add water or microwave for preparation, just pop open the cover and there it is, ready and waiting. Great for gag gifts, pulling jokes on friends, or simply just to show off just how wonderfully wacky Japan can be. You’ll never see a business man eating Cup Noodle the same way again.

It sure beats Cup ‘o Pizza®, doesn’t it?

YouTube video

Above is Yui Aragaki’s Pocky Dance commercial (view full size here).

Japan’s famous snack, Pocky, the original chocolate covered pretzel stick from the company Glico. Yes, yes, “pocky” sounds like a sexual position and “glico” sounds llama spit, but to the Japanese it is the onomatopoetic sound-word for the noise a pretzel stick makes when it is bitten, pokkin (ポッキン).
Enjoy the ultimate otaku snack straight from Japan by ordering from our sponsor, J-List.

A while back I reported on the, ”Princess Heart” a Japanese ‘maid cafe’ for women,
is a womens’ answer to the frilly maids for anime-addled otaku.

These Maid Cafes have charming Japanese women dressed in exotic maid uniforms pour coffee for their male customers, whom they address as “Master.” Now women who are interested in yaoi comics, anime and PC gaming culture can enjoy Japan’s first “BL Cafe”— that is “Boys Love” — male/male erotic manga comics made for women from Japan.

According to the 3Yen’s sponsor, Peter Payne, on his JList blog of Monday, October 29, 2007:
In Tokyo’s bustling commercial district known as Ikebukuro there’s a street called Otome Road (Maiden Road), fast becoming the yaoi answer to the more traditional otaku culture found in Akihabara. On that street is a restaurant called Lily Rose, staffed with incredibly attractive men who look like they stepped out of a BL comic.

Oops, scratch that — the staff is actually all women who are dressed as yaoi-esque males, complete with male names like Keisuke-kun. The employees of the restaurant are known as “gyaru-son,” which combines the word “gal” (i.e. hip young Tokyo girl) with “son” to make “garcon.” Why would women want to eat in a restaurant staffed by women dressed as effeminate men? One patron said: “Because the staff are really women, I can eat without fear of a man trying to pick me up, allowing me to take in the beauty of the ‘men’ around me as I enjoy my food.”

To see more of the Boys Love / yaoi check out the many offerings from JList.com such as BL Style—a bishounen (boy’s love) compilation BL manga featuring the works of eight (a mixture of male and female) top artists, including Yoichiro Kohga, Rie Honju, Aki Senooo, Kumi Yoshimori, and more. Features stories of good, solid yaoi love with lighter themes. It shows the model for the slim men with long hair, or the well dressed intellectual type that inspired BL restaurants.

Or if you dare, check out the interactive Yaoi game on CD-ROM called Absolute Obedience – Zettai Fukuju Meirei. Watch a demo movie (12MB, MPG format) of the kinky game here….
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UPDATE, Oct. 24, 2007!

A soda can version of this Final Fantasy Potion drink is on sale now, and our sponsor J-List has it in stock just for you. Read a review of the Final Fantasy drink as canned soda pop at kotaku.com:
Taste Test: Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Potion
The folks at Suntory and Squaresoft are doing a redux of the Final Fantasy “health potion” drink you can drink when you need to replenish those much needed hitpoints. This is the canned version, with a random Final Fantasy VII character on each can. There are 16 possible graphic variations, including: Tifa Lockhart, Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Aierith Gainsborough, Yuffie Kisaragi, Barret Wallace & Marlene, et al.
Buy it now at J-List.…

When you become tired while engaged in FINAL FANTASY XII, Suntory has the answer for you to pick up the fight: Final Fantasy XII Potion(c)!

Just like the recovery portion that appears in the game, Square Enix has teamed up with the Japanese booze company Suntory to offer the Final Fantasy potion. A genki drink” containing 10 different herbs and royal jelly.

Japanese “genki juice” energy drinks, a major category of product in Japan that promises to improve your health, remove tiredness and give your “genki” (pep) back. This Final Fantasy 10th Anniversary Potion is an extremely limited boxed set that includes a gorgeous potion in a glass and metal container and a commemorative art book, which seemed to sell out completely in Tokyo’s otaku mecca of Akihabara today. Although supply has been extremely limited, the 3Yen’s sponsor, JList.com. been able to get some stock of this “Potion” for you. Featuring the official logo of the Shinra Company, it’s a great item that all FF7 fans should be sure to check out. Get yours before they’re gone! Order now from JList.

In addition to giving you back “genki” (pep), some of these energy drinks promise to revitalize men (wink wink) with Chinese herbs, cure your cold symptoms, and remove your hangover in record time. Although the small single-serving bottles usually provide nothing more than caffeine and vitamins in a sweet syrup, the marketing muscle behind the drinks has turned them into a consumer sub-culture, Japan style, and Japan consumes more energy and sports drinks than any other country. Consumption of Genki juice (with 10,000 times the Min. Daily Requirement of “genki”) is listed on the required question on the official Annual Physical Examination, the Ningen Dock, required of all Japanese. These Japanese energy drinks are listed in the same category as number of cigarettes and the amount of alcohol consumed daily, so consume your Final Fantasy Potion wisely.

In Japanese, more Suntory info is here.
In English find more Final Fantasy XII information on the official Square Enix website.

Japan’s otaku/geek culture continues to spread around the world, and the latest boom is called “dakimakura” (dah-kee MAH-koo-rah), also known as “hug pillows” or “body pillows.” Essentially these are life-sized pillows around which a printed pillow case is wrapped—There’re the ultimate otaku decoration for your room, great to lay around with while watching kinky anime. To learn more be sure to read WIRED magazine’s: Getting in Bed With the Customer.

The 3Yen’s sponsor, J-List.com, now carries the new popular hug pillow covers from Machi Chara and other Japanese companies. Here are the first of the great dakimakura for you….Your very own life-sized version of Choco from Chocotto Sister and Louise and Siesta from the anime Zero no Tsukaima. See all of them on the J-List site now!

The view from Japan
Telegraph – 12:01am BST 14/10/2007—War damage, earthquakes and the rise and fall of the salaryman –the strengths and frailties of post-war Japan all feature in a striking new exhibition. But…how different are they from our own?
‘Japan, if you will forgive the expression, is differently different.’ ….

You can view the exhibition, Eyes Of An Island – Japanese Photography 1945-2007, which the Telegraph’s report is describing, on the online version of The Michael Hoppen Gallery website.

For more (and better) visions of the real Japan, check about these shashinshu/photobooks available from the 3Yen’s kind sponsor, JLIST.com.

Japan Underground
Know the Japan that isn’t meant to be seen — the underground constructions that are made to keep Japan running, without trying to appeal to any aesthetic, just simple function—See underneath the Japan’s concrete towers thought the eye of the photographer Hideaki Uchiyama.

No Music No Life
Feel the joys of everyday life through the love of music as depicted by the Tower Records Japan’s simple statement, No Music No Life. This is a perfect for aspiring photographers that will help you learn about creating Japanese fun in your photographs through the use of scenic locales and creative themes.

Girl’s High School Uniform
Documents the cutest sailor uniforms and the cutest girls from all 52 prefectures of Japan—Of course, these schoolgirl photos are the true “Real” Japan.

What does ‘Wan-wan’ or ‘Gero-gero’ mean?
Let the 3Yen’s kind sponsor Jlist.com sell you the answer and lots more in their new book on sale, Kana de Manga: Japanese Sound FX.

Have you ever wondered what a cat’s meow sounds like in Japanese? How about the grumble of an empty stomach, the wail of a police car’s siren or the crash of an ocean wave?

The Japanese language and manga artists in particular rely heavily upon onomatopoeia – sound-effect words – and this special entry in the best-selling Kana de Manga / Kanji de Manga language-learning series from Japanime is jam-packed with illustrated examples of those sounds (and more!) in action. Featuring more than 100 Japanese onomatopoeia and their English equivalents in categories such as “Humans,” “Animals,” “Machines” and “Nature.” Japanese/English text. From Japanime, the masterminds behind the Kanji de Manga, Manga Moods, and How to Draw Anime Character series.
Buy it now— Kana de Manga: Japanese Sound FX.

Kana de Manga: Japanese Sound FX

Back in June, I wrote the first report anywhere in English about the, ‘Rocobo’ – a moody person’s robot pet.
Now you can buy the Rocobo from our sponsor JList!

Rocobo “Raity” – Interactive Doggy Pet
New from Takara Tomy, Rocobo the interactive robot dog features an LCD face and is interactive by sound and a heart-shaped button on its head. Its 1-inch square face screen shows you his mood and response to your interactions. It sings songs, flaps its ears, and shakes depending on how you ‘treat it’. A very cute electronic desktop pet! And, a full translation of the Japanese instructions will be provided for you with this purchase.

“Rocobo” — a new pet robot from Tomy Corporation will be invading your desktop soon. Advertised as “the moody person’s robot,” the Rocobo reacts to how you treat it—It will shake its body, and flap its arms if you yell at it. Conversely, the Rocobo will glad if you stroke or treat it nicely and will sing a song to you, tell your fortune, smile on its LCD screen or flap its ears.
Annoyingly cute, heh?