Japanese television is rife with unusual advertisements for a variety of products. Here are some of the stranger ones from recent months.
First up, we have dancing, singing kiwifruits that want you to eat them.
Want to sell ramen? What better way than with sexy naked ladies, tastefully censored by giant ramen cups?
Imoto and Daisuke Miyagawa were searching for the most intense thrill. They traveled the world, seeking the greatest challenge, a true test of their abilities. They wound up in Germany, where they discovered the ultimate extreme sport… a dizzying blend of strength, skill and pure adrenaline known as office chair racing.
A former champion office chair racer, Patrick, agreed to train them. He put them through a rigorous regimen, teaching them how to control their chairs and dodge obstacles
But is their training enough? Will they be able to win the big race?
It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century… and Andrew is ready to ROCK!
The original Japanese version of this song, called Soldiers of Sorrow, was first featured as the ending of the second Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movie, and has since become symbolic of the entire franchise. Rock musician Andrew W.K.’s English language cover of it, along with several other iconic Gundam songs, appear on his new album, Gundam Rock. This album, which becomes available on Amazon today, is part of Bandai’s 30th Gundam anniversary marketing blitz, which thus far has included a 60-foot (18.5 meter) tall Gundam replica statue (complete with themed weddings), a new television series, and an epic animated short, among other things.
Gundam Rock follows in the footsteps of Andrew’s 2008 album, The Japan Covers, in which he covered a variety of Japanese pop songs. Although reviews for his latest venture into Jpop are still forthcoming, the clips that have surfaced on YouTube indicate that this will be an album well worth owning for Gundam fans.
A Japanese TV news report about the album, as well as Andrew’s cover of “Fly! Gundam” can be found below.
TV Tokyo recently held a competition to see who could do the fastest 30-meter moonwalk as a tribute to recently deceased pop star Michael Jackson. It drew some very unique contestants, including a washed-up comedian and an MJ cosplayer.
–Via Japan Probe
Fuji TV, hearing about Hugh Jackman’s love of sushi, decided to take him on a tour of Tsukiji’s famous sushi restaurants. Sound familiar? That’s because NTV did the same thing a few days ago. Hugh was polite and friendly as always.
Of course, these little Tsukiji trips give hope to Hugh’s thousands of fans; they now realize that if they work hard, stay in school, star in an international blockbuster, and are voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive, then they too can get free sushi.
–Via Japan Probe
On a recent trip to Japan to promote his new film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hugh Jackman took the opportunity to learn about Japanese culture by visiting a shrine, a calligraphy shop and a few of Tsukiji’s famous sushi restaurants.
–Via Japan Probe
This otaku couple, who (along with their children) are huge Gundam fans, were the lucky winners of a matrimony contest and got the chance to take their wedding vows in front of Odaiba’s life-sized RX-78-2 Gundam. Naturally, local Japanese TV news picked up on the story…
Three days of packed, sweaty chaos at the height of the Japanese summer has seen 560,000 people pass through Tokyo Big Sight’s doors for the 76th bi-annual Comiket. According to attendance figures this number is an increase of over 10,000 people when compared to last years festival, enough to completely swamp the local public transport facilities. With recorded waiting periods of over 4 hours just to get inside, you’d certainly have to be already cashed up and ready to spend, as the extra attendance emptied every single ATM within the conference center. Cash stricken attendees inside the convention notified others of the large problem via the Twitter website.
With such mind boggling numbers over such a small time period, it seems (judging from the photos of ENORMOUS QUEUES) that you have to be very dedicated and prepared just to get in, i.e. plenty of water and your choice of folding chair and/or cushion…
–via ANN. Photo sourced from aaroninjapan09.
As seen in the video below the break, this year’s Comiket crowd is absolutely huge; it makes Tokyo rush-hour commuting on the subway look like child’s play.
Japanese cats and their antics have been a recent theme at Japan Probe; it would seem that Asian felines are just as amusing and finicky as their western counterparts. First up, we have a cat who likes automatic massages.