While watching Japanese TV I’ve noticed that it’s extremely difficult to distinguish one channel from another. OK, so it’s easy enough to spot public broadcaster NHK’s two channels from their programming (boring!), but the commercial networks all seem the same to me. For one thing, they all offer the same mix of light entertainment programmes (mostly wide shows=variety shows) featuring the same TV stars on every channel. More significantly though, Japanese TV channels rarely feature any previews/trailers of forthcoming programmes, schedules telling you what’s going to be on the channel later that night, or information about which channel you’re watching. (more…)

Earlier in the year I wrote a piece about deodorant in Japan called The Axe Effect. In it I talked about the launch of Axe in Japan and I included some Japanese Axe TV commercials I found on YouTube. Since then, a load more have appeared so I thought I’d include three of the more interesting ones here:

Mobbed By Geisha
A continuation of the earlier viral videos I mentioned in The Axe Effect.

(more…)

Space Tarako

To kick off this series here’s a classic TV ad for Kyūpii Tarako Pasta Sauce.

The Product: According to Wikipedia tarako is salted Alaska Pollock roe. I’m not sure, but since the word tara means ‘cod’ in Japanese it may be used to refer to the eggs of a number of different white fish. Whichever fish they come from, tarako are basically red fish-egg sacs that are something akin to the fish version of oviducts (fallopian tubes). Not the most appetising of foods when you think about it! (more…)

3 Japanese Toilet Videos

Japanese Toilet Training

(more…)

The Launch of Axe Deodorant in Japan

For more Axe commercials, see below. Also, three more ads can be found here.

One of the downsides of living in Japan for me has been the unavailability of good deodorant, particularly during the extremely humid summer months when temperatures soar to around 35c. The handful of Japanese deodorants that are available - such as those in Mandom’s Gatsby range, if the word ‘range’ can actually be used for such a limited selection - are a waste of time, being little more than lightly-scented air. Because of this, I’ve had to resort to stocking up on large quantities of deodorant when on overseas trips, something which has in the past resulted in some alarmed looks on the faces of shop clerks when I’ve done this during winter.
(more…)

Not content with just depicting acts of unprovoked violence, this bizarrely-titled episode encourages underage drinking too! Here’s 火事とケンカは森の花 (Fire and Arguments are Flowers of the Forest), which also adds firearms violations to Takora’s lengthy rap sheet.

Following my earlier post about Kure Kure Takora (Gimme Gimme Octopus) I’m going to put some of the best episodes from YouTube on this site. By ‘best’, of course, I mean the most bizarre, perplexing and/or violent episodes. Here’s episode 100, タコラ人形の巻 (The Takora Doll Episode), which features plenty of voodoo doll-style Takora abuse. Enjoy…

The latest cult TV programme from Japan

こちらの記事は現在日本語に翻訳中です。もうちょっと待って、また覘(のぞ)いてみてくださいね

Kure Kure Takora - Greed is good!

The kind of TV shows and films that establish a cult following are typically offbeat, unique or downright bizarre, and there’s certainly been no shortage of these from Japan over the years. Although there are too many to list here, examples with a significant number of overseas fans include TV’s Saiyūki (Monkey Magic), Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets) and Super Sentai (Power Rangers), and the films Kozure Ōkami (Shogun Assassin), Akira, Tetsuo, Ring, Audition, and Battle Royale.

The latest addition to this long list of Japanese pop-culture exports is Kure Kure Takora (Gimme Gimme Octopus), a kids TV oddity from the ’70s. This deranged programme finally reached its overseas audience this year after a number of episodes were uploaded onto the phenomenally successful YouTube website and the show was subsequently shared on P2P networks and reviewed on several blogs.
(more…)