something japanesy

these barcodes are actually printed on japanese bottle of tea and snack packages! soooooo cute !!! japanese creative agency "design code" which has only 4 guys started design barcode in 2004. they got cannes lion 2006 titanium award (international advertising Festival). click the hyperlink below to link to check their products, now you wanna get one of these, huh? and.... hope barcode hair style will be changed like these???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4dKxdoma68

japanese cerebrate the meeting of orihime (vega) and hikoboshi(altair) on the milky way which is river made from stars. they are allowed to meet only once july 7th a year on the milky way.we decorate bamboo tree, hang origami decorations, small piece of paper writing wishes. this is very romantic festival. what's your wish? make a wish........

you have no idea what this is !!!


this is the clip for making your nose bigger i mean higher. japanese don't have big nose like greek. as you know, japanese face is very flat, small and liner eyes, low nose.



my niece is only 5 year old girl. but she already has complex about her small nose, so she is using this clip few times a week. i might not recognize her, when i see her next time?

have you ever tried wasabi before? if you don't know yet, let me introduce you. wasabi is japanese hot spicy horseradish, in form of a green paste used for sushi. hot,strong,sinus-searing pain.... yeah yeah now you remember one, huh?



wasabi is a root vegetable like ginger that is grated into a green paste. grated tube ready to eat wasabi is available in supermarkets, powder wasabi to be mixed with water to become a paste is as well.

body oxidizing = aging. antioxidants prevents aging(antiaging). vitamin c, e and CO Q10 kills "Free radical" cause damaging to human body has a defense system of antioxidants. wasabi has "Sulfinyl" which activate antioxidants GST(Glutathione s-transferase). GST power is getting weaker after 40. so eating wasabi works for anti-aging.

now, how do we eat wasabi? eating sushi everyday? too much ! drink with sake, wasabi creamy pasta, wasabi mayo on the toast, wasabi avocado shrimp mayo soysauce...... don't eat only chunk of wasabi !

okinawa is japan's southenmost prefecture, has hundreds of islands surrounding beautiful beaches and diving spots. okinawa people okinawans are also known as world's longest live people. their life expectancy is pretty high 82, compare with normal japanese 79 and americans 76. their lifestyle is very simply, eat healthy. I read a book "Okinawa Program" that introduces their diet plans.


BUT now okinawas are #1 fattest prefecture in japan. wow! what happened over there? long life is for only old okinawans, young okinawans eat fat foods don't walk just drive cars. yeah...they have no trains.

now it's cherry blossoms season every where in japan.
its just beautiful gorgeous !! cherry blossoms colors are very light soft pink, very japanese. you really feel spring. but cherry blossoms don't last long, 1-2 weeks only. japanese people enjoy watching them, drinking, eating, singing, chatting under the tree.
we call " OHANAMI" ohana = flower, mi =watch.





when you go to see cherry blossoms in japan, you also see many many people are wearing mask. no no no ! we don't have bird flu nor SARS nor anything.. they have hey fever, pollen allergy from march to may. usually they use disposal one every single day.
looks like a gas mask for terrorist, right?

"kobe [kobee] beef please."



why english changes pronunciation so much?

KOBE [kobee] →[ko bay]
KARAOKE [karree okee] → [kara okay]
SAKE [saa kee]　→[saa kay]　　
BONSAI [bon zi] →[bon si]

also changes companys name too !

NIKON [nai kon]　→[ni kon]
KYOSERA [kee yo sera] →[kyo to]

check real pronunciation with me. click to play !

japanese fast food "mos burger" will start catering service in japan.
do we have burger king and mac donald catering service in US?

"mos burger" has many unique menus such as "rice burger". this is american hamburger and japanese rice ball"onigiri" corroboration !!
new rice burger just arrived, called "katsu curry burger".

rice, curry, pasta salad, cabbage, deep fried pork, and rice.
mmmmmmm sounds yummmy, looks yummy!
can i order it from overseas?

"i know you're so excited, even you say no."
"no! i'm not excited !!"
"honey,i know how you feel."
"how do you know??? you never understand my feeling !"

NEC just invented LED flower "kotohana". microphone sense your voice tone, express your feeling by color through LED.
green is stable, yellow is fun, blue is down, red is exciting.

kotohana works over the Internet, so even from far away the flower's LEDs can light up to reflect your true emotions to your honey.

japanese phone company NTT docomo just introduced kid's cell. concept is keep kids safe !! kids will carry their own cute cell to talk with their family and friends.
it's not just a cell, has lots of features. fun fun games, mail, camera, video call even study on the cell, attacking alarm: protect from child molester, gps tracking system: parents can check where kid is by their cell and computer.limited use: can't use 22:00 to 6:00, can't go to improper site. you might need this for your hubby or boyfriend?

miso is fermented soybean paste, salty taste butter texture, pretty healthy food, also prevents breast cancer too. we use miso very much for japanese food. not only miso soup, grill fish with miso, even eat uncooked miso itself with cucumber. miso soup diet? fermented soybean works for loosing weight! try 10oz miso soup every morning.

3/3 is the "hinamatsuri" or girl's festival in japan. this is the celebration for girls only ! don't worry, we have boy's festival on 5/5, actualy 5/5 is national holiday but girl's one is not.....why??? we display dolls, pray girls health and happiness, drink sweet non-alcohol drink "amazake", eat sweets "sakuramochi".

do you need new gadget? idog is the music pet robot. he can be your ipod speaker, also can be your pet robot. when you pat and talk to him, he express his feeling, sings a song. lots of fun ! now Japanese toy maker "Sega" created another pet, "ifish". you go with doggy ? or fishy ?

do you know "sudoku "? sudoku is the japanese logical puzzles. now getting popular in US. it's also known as number place. since my brain is not logical, took 12 min for me. wanna play ? just give a shot !

setsubun is the day before the beginning of each season. february 3rd, we celebrate spring setsubun, pray our health, throwing soybeans out and in the door (mame-maki), while chanting "oni wa soto ! fuku wa uchi !"means demon out ! luck in ! when i was kid, my dad pretended to be a demon, putting demon mask. after that we eat number of the age soybeans. if you're 50, you have to eat 50 soybeans ! soybeans are very healthy food, good for you.



lately "ehomaki" is popular in japan. non stop eating uncut big sushi roll while facing the yearly lucky direction (this year is SSE). close eyes and make a wish. strange, huh?

warm biz? japanese goverment recommend that keep 20℃ (68°F) in the office, even it's cold. feel cold? wear more! this is one of the global warming project. they have cool version "cool biz" keep 28℃ (82.4°F!) in summer, even it's hot. no tie no jacket in the office. 82.4°F can you stand that? think eco.