There have been many ‘shopped photos circulating the net of buildings that look like popular games consoles in previous years, but netizens have discovered a real building in Japan that bares a striking resemblance to the Sony Playstation 3.

The Parks Tower in Namba Parks, Osaka, was completed 3 years before Sony’s current console was released a few years back. There has never been any indication that Sony used a building as a reference for their console design, but it would have built quite the (not so favourable) reputation for Sony if they did.

Via Daily Mail Online

I was watching the video for Uninstall by Chiaki Ishikawa (opening theme for Bokurano), and for some reason the house she was sitting in seemed a little familiar. After getting a clearer shot of the area, it became obvious to me that I’d seen it in another video.

It’s the exact same room that artist Kamui used for her STOMP PV. I haven’t investigated who used this room first, but I do wonder if either of them knew that they used the same place for their shoots. It’s such a strange coincidence that out of ALL the possible locations they could do their videos, they both chose that place.

Well this is interesting. A cute Japanese girl, wearing a school uniform with arm socks, in a small inflatable ball-pit wearing a rubber ducky ball gag and headphones.

It’s strangely cute, but the headphones are an instant-win.

Photo via Tokyo.Japan Times, taken at Design Festa in Odaiba.

Can’t get enough Pocky in your life? Now the ever-popular biscuit stick from Japan has been turned into chopstick form! Available in chocolate and strawberry colours, each pair can be bought for around 400 yen. Those who want to purchase a pair outside of Japan can request them from services such as Rinkya or grab a pair from the new website FlutterScape!

Via Rinkya Blog

Yeah, I’m about as speechless as you (most likely) are. Moeyo spots a brilliant Iron Man cosplayer at a recent event in Japan. Said event also has some upcoming figures on display, including some new cute little Touhou figures.

For some reason I had a vague image of Metroid pop into my head when I initially looked at the above image, but I have no idea why. Perhaps it’s just the way the shoulders look with the arms raised like that.

It also seems as though they used those little push-to-turn-on mini lamps embedded in the hands. Quite a fine costume me thinks.

Shoulder Dogs – The latest in Japanese fashion. Able to balance perfectly on one’s shoulders, Shoulder Dogs come in a variety of different style doggy jackets, including stripes, polka-dot, or plain.
Not recommended for people who don’t enjoy the sensation of warm fluid running down the back of their necks.

Spotted by Shibuya246 at a Sakura Viewing Festival in Ueno Park.

I really wish I had more time to blog right now. I’ve been meaning to make a few posts but heaps of things have been occupying my time unfortunately.

Anyway, here’s a new addition to the growing plushies pile:

A Nico Nico Douga plush tissue box cover~ This was quite an awesome find, incidentally at a store called Niko Niko.

It’s a great change finally having a store in this closed-off part of Australia that sells this kind of stuff. Anime and other Japanese pop-culture doesn’t get a heck of a lot of exposure in Tasmania. However, there is a market for it down here, it’s just that a combination of size and diversity issues makes it hard to cater to this market.

That being said, AICon is just under a week away. I shall be volunteering in the Traders area, so feel free to come along and say hi ^^

Yurako-what? Yurakoro Neko :3 These are another version of the well-known Maneki Neko (lucky cat, money cat, etc) which play noises when you push them or put them in your hand. They are weighted at the base so when you push them, they will always spring back up-right.

There are three different versions available; two white including one with its eyes closed and a black one. The black one is said to protect against bad luck, where as the white cats are said to bring happiness.
The cats have a motion trigger inside them, so whenever you push them or shake them, they will make a noise. At the base of the figurine, there are two connectors which you press with your hand and the cat will make a different selection of noises, including it saying something. If you shake it enough, it gets angry at you!

Below is an advert from Strapya, showing all the sounds they make:

Regardless of what colour you pick, they all make the same selection of sounds.

Churuya-tan seems to have made a new friend :3

Nyoro-nyan~

As it says on the Mameshiba website, Sword Bean is known for his honesty and loyalty.

For those of you who don’t know Mameshiba, they are small dog-faced beans that tend to give random trivia. You can find short animations subtitled on Youtube here.

Below is the Sword Bean Mameshiba video:

I also have an Edamame Mameshiba tissue box cover! He currently sits on top of my computer desk, giving out tissues to anyone in need.

“Give tissue!”