It’s May, the flowers bloom, the birds lay eggs, the smell of fresh green grass tickles your prefrontal cortex….memories from happy times are triggered and a feeling of nostalgia flows through your body. Life is good. But May isn’t just a month of memories, it’s also a month of renewal, new wallpapers are chosen, Ikea is busier than ever and websites get a sunny make-over. Japanwebshopping has been sporting a very dark look, yeah we are freaks and we’re proud of it! Problem is that it was maybe a bit too otaku and scared away the casual shopper. We went to work and created a lighter and easier accessible site, while still holding on to our beloved black and gray (that we are great Yohji Yamamoto fans is something that goes without saying).
Let us know what you think about it, your opinion greatly matters to us.
A weird title for an even weirder custom, but you haven’t experienced Japan if you never had a person jab his index fingers in your anus.
Ready to Kancho
The rules are simple; you clasp your hands together in the shape of a gun, and when the unknowing victim bends over, you jab your fingers in their anus while screaming “kancho!”. Well nobody ever said that Japanese pranks are mind blowing…
The real meaning of kancho is enema by the way, soif you ever have to visit a Japanese hospital and the doctor announces that you need kancho,then don’t worry that he’ll stick his fingers in the place where the sun doesn’t shine.
Now you can carry a piece of Japanese culture with/on you in the form of these Kanjo telephone straps/ accessories by Takara Tomy. There are 6 types and if you can connect them if you own more than one!
First up is the Boss, then the high-school student and the rock and roller.
They also have a office worker and two bears!
And this is how they look connected;
For 200yen a pop, they won’t deplete your wallet, so for just 1200 yen you can have this complete set of people/bears as mantle piece or for something in your toilet. Unfortunately these aren’t for sale..no you have to buy them from a coin machine, which could make collecting them all a rather pricey affair.
Remember the wise words of Takara Tomy: Tricking is a way of communication which unite the people more intimately. True words because nothing says intimate communication better than a finger poked in your behind…
Now you and your kids can experience the fun of owning a cat without any of the hairballs!
Kids these days sure do get some high-tech toys. Gone are the days of the Furby and the Tamagotchi — now we have actual moving, expressive robots! It’s all the good stuff about having a pet without any of the hard work.
For example, toy company Takara Tomy’s latest robotic pet, Hello! Woonyan, goes on sale in Japan next month. According to the following tweet by the company, the “capricious kitty robot” has a diverse array of abilities, including the following:
“Real meowing! Real movements! It chases after your hand and its toy ball using the infrared sensors in its eyes. We’re now taking preorders for Hello! Woonyan.”
▼ Some of Woonyan’s other tricks include changing eye colors to demonstrate mood swings, singing, dancing, and displaying hidden talents, such as barking like a dog.
Hello! Woonyan joins Takara Tomy’s lineup of other Hello! robotic pets, which include Hello! Zoomer the dog and Hello! Dino the, well, green robotic dinosaur.
Check out the following promotional video to see Woonyan in action:
▼ This commercial has taught us that kids will go positively starry-eyed when they see any robotic toy, and won’t stop staring at it…quiet kids..oh yes!
▼ …now…
▼…or now…
▼ …or even now. Hey, is it even possible to hypnotize a robot?
▼ Dude, that’s actually a little creepy.
Nowadays, robotic pets are so popular that your real, living pets will beg for your attention. “Play with me, too,” your forlorn hamster squeaks…
The only thing that’s not so darling about Woonyan? Its hefty price tag of 18,000 yen (US$161). Maybe mom shouldn’t let the cat out of the bag–or the toy store–after all!
The final item in the Evangelion x Japanese Sword doll series looks awesome…and she’ll cut you if you disagree.
There’s little question that the first two Evangelion x Japanese Sword and Shikinami dolls released last year were pretty freaking awesome. The two previous dolls were of Asuka and Mari, who are obviously beloved characters. Even so, their popularity is dwarfed by Rei Ayanami, perhaps the most charming character in the series. Rei’s doll was previously announced, so this isn’t exactly surprising news, but now we have lots of details to share!
▼ And photos! We love photos.
First things first, if you’ve been holding your breath waiting to give someone your money, you can start breathing again — Takara Tomy, the company producing the dolls, is currently accepting pre-orders on their website. The doll will cost a cool 16,200 yen (about US$137). Unfortunately, Takara Tomy doesn’t ship overseas, but that’s what we’re here for.
In addition to a lovely kimono, Rei comes armed with a sword to cut down anyone who gets in her way. The blade comes with a dragon and Longinus engraved on one side and the phrase “戮力協心,” which is read “rikiryokukyuoushin” and basically means combining efforts to accomplish a task.
▼ Basically, Rei is the ultimate team player.
▼ A few close-ups of the blade
▼ The doll also comes with a scabbard and sword stand.
As you can see below, Rei’s sword and sword stand are bit bigger than Asuka’s and Mari’s versions, with a special piece that can be used to extend Rei’s sword stand. It’s also got the same chrysanthemum print as the doll’s kimono.
▼ We’re pretty sure this doll’s clothes are fancier than any of ours…
There’s no doubt that this doll will be the crown jewel of any fan’s collection — apologies to Asuka and Mari!
Let me first thank you all dear customers/friends who have been putting your trust in our service, without your help we’d all be working for other companies and we wouldn’t enjoy our jobs/lives as much as we do now.
We’ve been getting the most surprising and unusual requests and thereby expanding our horizon in what you want and we learn what makes our fellow human being tick. Communicating with folks from all around the world has been a challenging at times (we had to bring in a part-time Spanish speaker/translator and on a rare occasion a Russian translator), but besides these rare hiccups, chatting with you through Skype/WordPress/mail and Facebook has been a blast.
We also value your input a lot, and a common complain was that our website loaded like snail…our mistake was that we tried to put as much information and connecting links in it as possible, thereby creating a headache for those without high speed internet access.
So we went a bit simpler this time, and changed the look to a more material/metal look. The pages load a bit faster and it’s definitely easier to the eye. Our love for manga and anime are also more present this time around.
This dark metallic look continues in the separate product pages.
We still haven’t completed the whole site yet though(especially the Japanese section), but we’re working hard to have it finished before Christmas.
Thank you all so much for your patience and in the meantime we will continue to be the best/safest/cheapest (and most personal) personal shopper for you.
As technologically cool and fun-sounding as the “Mitsukete-miyou! Iro Kyachi Pen” (lit. “Let’s Find it! Color Catch Pen”) appears to be, it also has the unfortunate appearance of a “massager,” which in Japan, is code for…Well, look, it’s code for a vibrator. Literally no one uses a “massager” for their back or any other non-genital area (and anyone who says otherwise is a dirty, filthy liar and probably also says they never pee in the shower, which we all know is a lie, too), so parents be warned: You and your child may have lots of fun playing with this fantastic, educational toy, but you will also never, ever, ever be able to shake the image of your nine-year-old holding something they might as well have found in your secret fun-time drawer out of your head for as long as you live.
Apparently, the “Color Catch Pen” was awarded a special citation as a “kyoyugangu,” (lit., “sharing toy”) that children with vision problems – and presumably other handicaps – can have fun with alongside parents.
The toy combines a “color sensor” loaded into the back end with a stylus in the front. By pushing the color sensor up against an object, such as an apple, the pen “remembers” the object’s color and can then draw and doodle using that hue. It seems that users can download a free application for their tablet (reports say the tablet is “sold separately,” but promo materials appear to show what looks like a standard Apple iPad, so it doesn’t seem like you need to purchase any kind of Takara Tomy-branded tablet) that features a drawing and coloring program for kids – and, okay, adults – to play around with.
If you don’t own a tablet, the Color Catch Pen still has a few features your child might enjoy, including a “color quiz mode,” that asks kids to identify what color the pen has picked up, and a “color sound mode,” that plays different sounds depending on the color of a scanned object. Presumably, this is where the educational aspect of the toy comes in, allowing vision-impaired kids to learn the colors of various common objects through non-visual means.
Those that do own a tablet can toy around with a few different coloring and drawing options in the robust-looking painting app. But, listen guys, none of this changes the fact that the Color Catch Pen looks like a 3,800 yen (approx. US$35) vibrator.
The Color Catch Pen-slash-“Mom’s Just Going to Take this into the Bathroom for a Sec, okay, Honey?” Pen goes on sale September 10.
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