Japanify Me - Cool and Sexy Japanese News

Japanese High School Girl wins Miss Nippon

Here's a rarity. In the the 41 year history of the Miss Nippon contest, only three times has a Japanese high school girl ever walked away with the top prize. That is until just recently, when Marino Miyata becamse the fourth high school girl to win the whole 2009 contest, at the young age of 17.

It is not known whether or not Marino Miyato will try her hand in the entertainment industry, though it would certainly be a viable option for her after such a promising result so early in her career. We'll have to wait and see what path she decides to pursue.

In the following picture (courtesy of Japundit) Marino Miyato is the number 10 contestent standing in the center:

Hot Japanese Idol Idol of the Day: Aki Hoshino

WOOOO! Japanese guy provides own Commentary over Mario game.

This is one of the best videos I've seen in a long time. I mean, this guy is either drunk (as the video title says) or he just has a really REALLY fun personality. With broken English, and possibly a little bit of tourette's syndrome mixed in there as well. Watch him play Mario here, as he comments along the way with sporatic shouts of "Woooo!" "Oh my god!" and various expletives as well. 





I played Mario as a kid as well, but I don't think I enjoyed it to the same extent as this guy. Apparently this one was making the rounds on niconicodouga, and it's easy to see why. I'd love to see him to a sequel to this one, but next time show a video of himself rather than just audio. I wonder how he would respond to this:

Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: Manami Ono

source: mmonly

Fake Nipples for sale in Japan

Cheers to Tokyo Times for pointing out this pointedly pointy story. It seems that despite the current winter chill, many ladies in Tokyo feel that it's just not nipply enough. As a result, they're turning to these plastic fake nipples, oddly named "nipple phermone."

Fake eyelashes, I can handle. Fake fingernails, no problem. Hair extension, piece of cake. But fake nipples. I don't know about that one. Personally, I'm a little tempted to go out and buy two pairs and wear all four simultaneously just to see what effect they have. I'm sure that would attract more than a few stares.

No word yet on whether or not these fake nipples were made in China.

Moving right along...

Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: Sora Aoi

Robert Downey Jr. Interrogated by Japanese Customs

Here's an interesting video that I came across on youtube. It was filmed as a part of Newsweek's Oscar Roundtable, and includes not only Downey Jr., but also Brad Pitt, Mickey Rourke, Anne Hathaway, and others as well. Robert tells of his recent trip to Japan to promote Iron Man, and his experience when Japanese authorities suddenly noticed his somewhat lengthy criminal record.

Anyway, I'd better let Robert explain the story in his own words. It's really pretty amusing:




You gotta wonder if Downey will ever come back to Japan after that. And if he does, will Japan even let him in? Probably not... That's too bad, because however disfunctional his personal history might be, he is a pretty damn good actor. I thought he was awesome in Tropic Thunder. But surprisingly he wasn't nominated for that...

Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: Kazusa Sato

Manga Jesus

No, your eyes are not deceiving you my son. Behold the Manga Jesus in all his glory.

This is way ridiculous... Apparently Jesus needed a  bit of a makeover in order to appeal to the younger crowd these days, and what better way to do that than to give him a Manga makeover.  Personally, I find this to be extremely offense -- not as a Christian, but as a manga fan. This is just weird... 

But if the Church does need some help marketing, allow me to make a few suggestions for future storylines which might help you guys market the Son of God a little bit better:

• Jesus vs Baikin Man
• Detective Conan: Who Crucified him?
• Death Note: "I wrote his name down! Why is he still here?!"

In all seriousness though, I'm very curious to see if this kind of "repackaging" of Bible stories offends any Christians out there.  I mean, is Christianity a religion? Or is it now an industry, complete with marketing and PR departments?

Source: Praxis Habitus

Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: Nonami Takizawa

Aquarium Toilet in Japan

I hadn't seen this video before, but even though it's a little old I thought I'd post it anyway. Japan has always been known for having somewhat unusual toilets, but this one has to take first prize. Can you imagine trying to do your business surrounded by fish and turles staring at you from every side?

I suppose if the Little Mermaid could drop a deuce in such circumstances, I suppose you could too if you put your mind to it...



The notes for this particular youtube video say that this is located in a cafe in Akashi Japan. I'm told that that's somewhere not far from Osaka, so if you find yourself in that neighborhood, and in need of an emergency stop, this might be just the place for you.

Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: Eiko Koike

A Geisha and her Finger

This shot is classic. Uploaded by Sushicam on flickr, this picture catches a Kyoto Geisha in a very unlikely pose:



This is a surprising shot, given that Japanese people are typically among the most polite on the planet -- and Geisha especially so. I don't know if this was a special request on the part of the photographer, or if it was a spontaneous moment on the part of his subject.  But whatever happened, the result was one gem of a photo!

Taking photos in Asia can be a little strange sometimes.  As a general rule, it's always good to ask permission to make sure that your not being too intrusive upon your subject. But if you happen to be a tourist, try to make sure you know how to say "Do you mind if I take a photo?" in the local language. My Japanese not great, but I try to muster a "Shashin deki masuka?" on such occasions.  Someone please correct me if I've fudged up the grammar there...

How about you? Have you had any unusual experiences taking photos in foreign countries?

Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: Hitomi Aizawa

Ai Iijima put chickens in my bed

Here's an old video of Ai Iijimia, famous television personality who sadly passed away this past Christmas Eve. After doing AV films in her early career, she moved on to publishing, and eventually to mainstream television appearances like this one.

In this particular video she visits a friend's apartment in the early hours of the morning, and gives her a bit of a rude awakening.  First she (or rather her accomplice) scatters chicken feed around the bedroom. Then they proceed to bring in the chickens.

Of course, hilarity ensues...

Awesome. It was particularly cute that one of the chickens happened to lay an egg in the room, which I presume the unfortunate victim fried up for breakfast. I can't imagine what it must be like to wake up to a room full of chickens. Well, it's better than crabs, at least.

It's really sad that Ai-san's life had to end as it did, because she seems to full of joy in times like this one. Her death is still being investigated at the time of writing.

Japan's New Ping Pong Prodigy

Japan has already had one ping pong child prodigy in Ai Fukuhara, and now it seems there's an even newer, younger kid on the block. Meet Miyu Hirano. She's eight years old, and already beating the snot out of kids in higher age brackets. Even high school players! Check out this feature that TBS did on little Miyu-chan:



If Miyu is any indication, then Japanese ping pong should have at least one bright spot in the years to come. She has said that her ultimate goal is to snag an Olympic gold medal. She does have quite a bit of time to prepare. If Tokyo is successful in its 2016 Olympic bid, she might get a chance to compete for a medal in her home country. She would be 16 years old, if she were to compete in 2016. I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't nearly this productive when I was 8 years old. I spent most of my afternoons pickin' my nose and watching Transformers. Ah well... Here's to Miho-chan. Lets hope her next 8 years are as good as her first 8. Very impressive kid.

Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: China Fukunaga

Wrap your lips around this, Wendy

Ok. I know you're wondering what's up with the wacky headline, but stick with me - I am going somewhere with this. Check out this video of Wendy, an American in Japan, who likes to drink beer the hard way:






I've seen some crazy beer-drinking feats in my time, but never anything like that. This is just the thing to bring you your 15 minutes of fame, as Japanese TV absolutely loves these kinds of stories. I've come to enjoy these interesting little variety shows, because you never know what kind of crazy stuff you're going to see on there. But you gotta give it to Wendy though. If you can wrap your lips around a beer mug -- well, that's a feat that's going to get attract attention no matter what country you're in. Hats off to ya!



Related: Drinking beer in Japan
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Hot Japanese Idol of the Day: Kana Tsugihara