This commercial for internet service provider So-net starring Shinoda Mariko (篠田麻里子) may be almost a year old but it’s still quite great. Makes me proud to be publishing this over a So-net connection.

Curry Cook from Kinnikuman (キン肉マン, Muscleman or “Ultimate Muscle” in the US) bobblehead. He came in a mystery box so I didn’t know which character I was going to get. Sure I could have gotten Kinnikuman himself, Alexandria Meat (aka Meat-kun), Robin Mask, or Canadianman, but I’ll gladly take the fighter who wears a bowl of curry & rice on his head.

Komatsuzaki Shigeru (小松崎茂), 1961

The imaginative and amazing Komatsuzaki Shigeru (1915-2001) was a prolific artist and illustrator. Komatsuzaki did everything from character designs to model box art to science fiction concept art and more during his 50-plus year career.

Sadly, most of his original paintings were destroyed in a fire but his art lives on through copies. I have dozens of these so more shall come =)

A nurse-themed hostess bar in Susukino, Sapporo. Considering my thing for nurses, I’m fascinated. Unfortunately as the sign alludes, the “nurses” are probably just typical hostess-style girls with a nurse’s cap and uniform on. I demand a more authentic nurse experience!

The Zeniarai Benten shrine in Kamakura. At the secluded shrine, there is a cave with a spring inside where people come to wash their coins with “the hope that they may be doubled”.

From New Year’s Eve ~ Fans wait outside of the Yoyogi National Gymnasium for a Hamasaki Ayumi (浜崎あゆみ) concert to bring in the new year. Looking towards Meiji Shrine (where the trees are), the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building (skyscraper behind the trees), and Harajuku (where the blue & white buildings are).

Model & actress Eikura Nana (榮倉 奈々) turns 22 today! She’s currently my Japanese celebrity of choice, mostly because she appears in a ton of commercials and in the pages of many magazines.

Dear Japanese companies and advertisers, if you want me to sheepishly buy your products, no matter how ridiculous or useless they may be, get Eikura Nana to star in your commercials. This is a fair deal. I get to run/jump/hop to the TV to watch every time your ad comes on and you get my hard-earned ¥¥¥.

I don’t plan on following the 2010 Winter Olympics THAT much but if 東京事変 (Tokyo Jihen) — specifically 椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo) — were the kind of people that would be competing there, I’d forget to go to work and be glued to the TV for 2 weeks. Too bad…

Tokyo Jihen’s fourth album, スポーツ (Sports) comes out February 24th. Link love

The giant Buddha statue, Daibutsu (大仏) and the moon at dusk in Kamakura (鎌倉).

ブタがいた教室 (Buta ga Ita Kyoushitsu, School Days with a Pig) is thoughtful movie I watched while on a bus recently.

The 2008 film is about a young teacher (Tsumabuki Satoshi) who has his 6th grade class raise a pig with the goal of eventually eating it. The film is especially fascinating because the class debates on whether to eat the pig or not eat the pig were apparently improvised by the children.

Watch the trailer on Youtube. Bonus class photo