Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Odd

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Japanese boarding schools and beverages

The amazing success of maid cafes in Japan has resulted in a sizeable selection of spin-offs, including those based on religion, relief and even race. A trend that has also been turned on its head somewhat with the likes of butler cafes — establishments that apparently attract connoisseurs of both beverages and boy love.

Also, along very similar lines, we now have Edelstein, a newly opened cafe based on a boys’ boarding school.

Japanese boarding school cafe

Hardly revolutionary it has to be said, although as well as the usual selection of food and drinks, Edelstein also aims to reward its more regular customers by offering free photo opportunities with the ‘pupils’.

Japanese boarding school cafe

However, how many visits are necessary for the real authenticity of a spot of boarding school buggery round the back of the bike sheds has yet to be decided.

(via the FG Forums)

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Japanese farting fanatics

Despite their love of costly clothing and cuteness, it’s a well known fact that Japanese girls simply fart for fun, regularly producing bottom burps like burly builders.

A practice that sadly doesn’t decrease after marriage either, with this in-depth and presumably scientific study finding that a staggering 43% of Japanese husbands had to suffer the sound of their partner’s pumping in just the first year of marriage alone.

Japanese girl farting

However, while the reeling off of raspers is far from romantic for most, one or two fellas it seems are more than favourable to the odd fart, with this young man particularly partial to them.

Japanese girls farting

And then some.

(video via the definitely not odorous dannychoo.com)

Categorized: Odd

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Dodgy Japanese doll?

When it comes to replicas of a more risqué nature, Japan takes some beating, with a vast array of silicone sirens available for home, hotel or even hourly use. And it’s not as though such effigies are restricted to recreational use either, as educational dolls are also of a dodgy — even disturbing — nature.

However thankfully not all dolls are of a dubious disposition, and this Japanese schoolgirl-themed offering is surely just a larger than usual toy aimed at those who want their playthings a little more life-like than most.

Japanese schoolgirl doll

Although the fact that the same section of the store is offering similar outfits in suspiciously large sizes may well cast some doubt over such assumptions, meaning there could be more here than meets the eye.

Maybe much more.

Japanese schoolgirl doll

Categorized: Odd

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Japanese canine clobber

The Japanese population may well be shrinking, but the declining number of kids is rapidly being replaced by pets, and in particular dogs, the latest figures suggesting that Japan now has more than 15 million of them in the country.

A scientific survey by Tokyo Times involving a quick trot around town however, found that of these, approximately 94.73 percent are either Chihuahuas or miniature Dachshunds, with a whopping 98.63 percent being unapologetically paraded in clothing of some description or other. A trend that needless to say hasn’t escaped the attention of designers, with all manner of pet brands appearing.

Japanese dog fashion

But such sophisticated ensembles don’t come cheaply, with those after formal wear for their child substitute/fashion accessory having to pay somewhere in the region of 12,000 yen (105 dollars).

Japanese dog fashion

That said, casual canine wear is also available, with these New York-themed outfits faring fairly well*. The gold guns in particular adding a bit of bite as well as bling.

Japanese dog fashion

*eye test extra

(click images for super-sized silliness)

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Japanese rice field rabble

With rice in the Japanese capital looking pretty much ready for harvest, the precious product understandably needs protecting, and in this part of Tokyo at least, suitably attired sentries are seemingly essential.

Japanese rice field

A mesmerising mix that includes at least one mannequin whose jolly jumper is a far cry from the owner’s decidedly downbeat demeanour.

Japanese rice field

Although that said, some of its more dourly dressed colleagues are definitely more disturbing.

Japanese rice field

Plus with a nod towards multiculturalism, more than a few foreign faces help make up the numbers. A motley array that includes some that are focused,

Japanese rice field

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Cosplay concern

When it comes to borrowing things from other countries, the Japanese are generally very good at it, seamlessly slotting whatever it may be into society and more often than not making improvements along the way.

On the other hand, the path isn’t always so smooth for stuff going in the opposite direction. Admittedly Japanese food has made a successful journey across the seas, especially of late, but other ideas sadly seem to get lost in translation — some of them spectacularly so.

Take cosplay for example, a concept that its Japanese practitioners take very seriously indeed, with the vast majority of them (mostly) managing to successfully pull it off.

Japanese cosplay

Taken away from its natural habitat however, the practice isn’t quite so professional.

non Japanese cosplay

Or indeed appealing.

(image via the FG Forums)