100 Yen Sushi (Ma Fellow 'Muricans)

I recently went to a local 100 yen sushi place with my family. What is 100 yen sushi, you might ask? And how does it work, you may inquire? Well, watch and learn, ma fellow 'Muricans, for I have made you a video of wonders. 

Babes and Tommy Lee Jones

So Yumi and I went to Tokyo Gameshow 2012. It’s like E3. E3 is a GIANT video game technology exposition held every year in LA, and all the big-name video game companies show up tooting their digital horns and showing off and comparing their new soon-to-be-released electronic wizardry. Like a few years back, when Nintendo showed up with a slightly better version of the Wii with an updated controller, Sony brought their new Wii rip-off controller called Move, and X-Box showed up with the Kinect, which uses NO CONTROLLERS. Awwww, sorry Nintendo and Sony. You better go fill out a police report, because X-Box just stole your thunder! 

E3 is primarily industry-only, press included, of course. Many gamer nerds drool buckets just thinking about scoring a pass to get an early peek at what’ll be on everyone’s Christmas list this year, and also to get a peek or three at the “booth babes”. Booth babes are used to add a hint of class and elegance (snicker-snicker) to the whole affair and added a balance of estrogen to the testosterone-laden atmosphere. 

Someone's Booth Babe from E3 2009

Recently, there's been talk that E3 will go in a less exploitive direction and will phase some of the babe out of booth babe. Fans fear there will only be Booth People of the Female Persuasion, sporting the pant-suit/ponytail/pumps triple-combo-of-death. Fact is, women are fast catching up to the predominantly male demographic in the video game industry, and companies at trade shows like E3 need to adapt their marketing strategy to match their changing buyers. And they need to just plain not make women feel like a leg of lamb. Whatever happens, there will always be plenty of Freudian huzzah to be had, even if it will be constrained to the virtual experience.

ANYWAY. Tokyo Gameshow. Twenty twelve. Like E3 but in Tokyo and Open-To-The-Public. MASSES of otaku (Japanese fan-nerds) sweating like pigs- myself included- in grids of very well-established ticket lines for hours before the doors open, some of them with mysterious little luggage cases. And not just Japanese nerds, oh no. Tokyo Game Show is the single most likely place in Japan to see a white guy outside of a Harajuku eikaiwa. And we snarrrrrl at each other. We didn’t come to Japan to see other Caucasians! Go home, white devils, and leave me and my cell-phone camera to my Japanese Booth Babes and Cosplay Addicts! 

That’s right, Japan is still going strong in the Booth Babe tradition. Less top-obsessed than America, Japan is a leg-culture. Usually, you’d be hard-pressed to find a neckline cut lower than clavicle-level. Hemlines of skirts, coincidentally, are just about that high. A little cleavage is going the extra mile at this particular event. I’m not ashamed and I’m not gonna lie. You can’t help but notice these things when you’re unabashedly pelted by it in an ultimately corporate event. But sex sells. This is how money is made. Like this guy, for instance. He gets paid to stand there and keep his bright little light on the pretty lady, wherever she may shift her negligible weight. At least, I think he gets paid for that….?

Not only are there still booth babes everywhere you turn at Tokyo Game Show, but there is also the formidable Cosplay presence. Cosplay is short for Costume Play. Fans of anime, video games, card games, etc, dress up in extremely well-executed costumes of their favorite characters. This is where the aforementioned “mysterious luggage cases” come in. There is an entire section of the sprawling facility devoted to Alter Ego Check-In. Many otaku, who already paid good money for their tickets, head immediately to this section and spend an impressive chunk of time donning their hand-crafted, labor-intensive costumes and getting their hair and make-up just right. The slouchy, shy little guy who wouldn’t look his own shoes in the eye suddenly reappears 129 minutes later- A LEADER OF MEN AND GODS!!! Confidently, Otaku-Man strides forth and heartily embraces his Cosplay Brothers and Sisters-in-Arms. I really have to hand it to a lot of these young men and women- their creativity, attention to detail, and talent are actually pretty astounding. Many of them do film-quality stuff and should be employed as such. Aaaaaaand then there’s This Guy:

Pikachu FAIL!!!

Between buildings is a general-use area that has been organized by the masses as a combination lunch-room, nappy-time sleepy-sleepy spot, 

and impromptu Cosplay runway. 

Amateur and professional photographers alike line up to get their non-photo-bombed shots of the best of the best. It’s all very civilized and respectful. 

I’m continuously impressed with how well-developed Japan is as a social whole, especially at an event devoted to celebrating anti-social hobbies, such are video games.

Videogames? Were there those at Tokyo Game Show, 2012, too? Oh yeah, I guess there was that element. I must have gotten distracted, somehow. Some interesting differences between American and Japanese video game trends: In America, we like to blow sh*t up. It’s all about the first-person shooters. In Japan, there are endless social games- primarily, dating simulation games. In them, you have to say the right thing at the right time to try to get the girl or guy of your dreams to, well- you get the gist. These games are for guys and girls, they’re available on consoles, computers, and cell-phones, and many people will spend more time choosing and chasing their digital mates than they will anyone in the realm of the flesh. Also, sports games are huge- soccer and baseball games are pumped out faster than Fast and the Furious sequels. That’s not to say that Japan doesn’t love a good first-person shooter… actually, I’m not sure. Japan might not love a good first-person shooter. Anyone? Also, the Resident Evil series in Japan is called Biohazard, which I think is neat. 

Unfortunately, there were no big crazy techno-revelations while Yumi and I were there. The weekend before was an industry-only exclusive event and I think all the interesting stuff was shown at that.

One strange thing that interested me more than that whole crazy event is a corporate crossover campaign that’s everywhere at the moment. Japanese coffee staple Boss Coffee has teamed up with Softbank (a cell-phone service giant). What the? Japan is crazy about big-business crossovers and this one is just plain weird. Imagine Starbucks teaming up with T-Mobile. And to top it all off, it features the face of Boss Coffee, none other than Tommy Lee Jones, playing opposite the face of Softbank- a little white dog. 

That’s right folks. For years, squidgey-eyed star of MIB fame has been the spokesman for a Japanese coffee company, and has a slew of mind-blowing commercials to show for it. Check these out!

 

Yumi and I recently got set up with our cell phones (a process more complicated than buying a car, I kid you not) and we went with Softbank. Check out the little gift that came in the bag with our iPhones. That’s a can of coffee with reception bars on the bottom, for those of you who don’t read Dog with a Japanese Accent.

And just because this made me happy:

Green o'Lantern, Protector of the Universe, meets his nemesis, Ninja Chef!

 

All this technology-babble makes me just want a breath of fresh air, so here’s a little video I made of a walk from a little nearby grocery store to my apartment building. There are several buildings in our complex, all laid out in a sort of horseshoe around a wooded park maintained by the complex. There's an old-school playset (of the totally unsafe and therefore awesome breed) that I would have loved as a kid, including a zip-line and a very unique Boulder Slide. So this is my front yard. Hope you enjoy: