Giant Tetsujin statue in Kobe

A giant Tetsujin statue is being built in Wakamatsu Park in Shinnagata, Kobe. It's called the Kobe Project.







You can find many more photos and more information about the project here. Via.

*Previously: Tetsujin desktop wallpapers.

*Buy Tetsujin toys at eBay.

Mickey Mouse/Hulk mashup by Paolo Rivera (link roundup)

Mickey Mouse/Hulk mashup by Paolo Rivera, who writes about the acquisition here.

And a few more links:

1. Where the Wild Things Are cupcakes.

2. Egg painted with a scene from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

3. Manga-style sign in Japan says, "Wearing a mask is adult etiquette!"

*Previously: Mickey as the Super Skrull.

*Buy A Nightmare Before Christmas toys at eBay.

Amanda Visell's Skunk King (link roundup)

Amanda Visell's Skunk King wooden sculpture. More photos here.

And a few more links:

1. Just assume everything you put on a computer will eventually be public knowledge - - the iPhone and iPod Touch’s Mail app doesn’t properly delete email.

2. Is this how Gizmodo advertises the Slanket?

3. McDonald's Japan has a new ad campaign mocking white foreigners.

*Previously: McDonald's Japan hired 1,000 actors to line up in front of its new minimalist store.

*Buy Amanda Visell toys at eBay.

Tear-off business card (link roundup)

Business card with tear off strip by Extreme Group.

And a few more links:

1. The Tokyo Film Festival, whose theme this year is green, won't show The Cove, which is about the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan. (Turns out the movie was produced by Fisher Stevens, who starred in two of my favorite guilty pleasures, an excellent episode of Columbo, and Hackers.)

2. Recently had a great time playing through the shooter game Let's Go Jungle! at Chuck E. Cheese with my son.

3. Elephant with a prosthetic leg. Via.

*Previously: Dean Kamen's prosthetic arm.

*Buy prosthetics at eBay.

Legendary Surfer t-shirt design (link roundup)

Japanese demon surfing on a giant carp - - a t-shirt design by Matheus Lopes Castro up for vote at Design by Humans.

And a few more links:

1. One of the book covers I highlighted recently is actually part of a bit of a scandal - - it features a white girl with long hair, even though the book is actually about a black girl who has short "nappy" hair. The author was not pleased. (Which all adds up to tell me, whoever decided on the cover did a good job.) Via.

2. The letter "U" as a plush monster (scroll down).

3. An impressive list of incredibly stupid serial killer ideas.

*Previously: Armored carp.

*Buy oni at eBay.

Bit.Trip fan art (link roundup)

Commander Video from Bit.Trip by Ty 'Glitch Ritual' Dunitz. See also, creepy Obama. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Holographic bird cage.

2. Camera for the blind.

3. Clever idea - - a drawer with a slide out step.

4. Check out the inside of the Great Buddha statue at Kotoku Temple in Kamakura, Japan.

*Previously: Inside the heart of every Lego enthusiast beats a heart made of plastic.

*Buy vintage cameras at eBay.

Boba Fett's design looks good on everything (link roundup)

kaNO's Hi-DeF robot DJ vinyl figure combined with Boba Fett's colors - - 150 of the figures will be on sale along with some other special items at ToyQube's booth at Comicon. Relatedly, you can find out why he's called kaNO in this interview.

And a few more links:

1. Julia Child was less than impressed with the blog that inspired the new Julie and Julia movie. Via these sites.

2. Clever revision of Japan's flag.

3. If you have Magic the Gathering cards illustrated by Terese Nielsen, send them to her and she'll sign and return them

4. Serpent sage.

*Previously: Steampunk Boba Fett.

*Buy Magic cards at eBay.

Paintings by Shinichi Maruyama

A small sampling of the paintings on display at Shinichi Maruyama's website. There's two books on sale in his webstore. Via.

*Previously: Meet the Shogunaut.

*Learn Japanese ink painting with these books at Amazon.

Two of my favorite artists, brought low by Madoff

Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins are architects who create intentionally-challenging environments, with the idea being that immersing yourself in such a world keeps your mind sharp.

For example, they created The Site of Reversible Destiny - Yoro Park in Japan. It's a park built into an artificial crater, full of confusing paths and oddly placed furniture. Visiting it was one of the highlights of a trip to Japan I made several years ago.



This video will give you an idea of what it's like:



They also created the Reversible Destiny lofts, which are full of strangely placed windows, sloping floors, ladders, and poles.




Here's video of the interior and exterior of the lofts:



And there's lots of photos of their creations at Flickr.

Unfortunately, Arakawa and Gins invested their money with Madoff. They've already had to close their Manhattan office and layoff staff, and expect to have to sell some of their creations. Their plan to create a Reversible Destiny village now seems to be out of reach.

*Previously: Japanese theme park with ramen hot tub.

*Buy architecture posters at eBay.

Japanese Tree House (link roundup)

Tea house set atop two trees by Terunobu Fujimori, and photographed by Edmund Sumner. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. How to add the undo function to gmail - - which essentially puts a five second delay on emails so you can change your mind. I wish you could make it as long as five minutes.

2. A car dealership in Vegas put handwritten notes on people's cars saying "please call me about your car." When people called, thinking whoever left the note had maybe dinged their car, they found out it was just a salesman trying to entice them into selling their car. Photo here.

3. Six-word reviews of 1,302 SXSW mp3s (and the download links).

4. The 2009 Hugo Awards nominations. Via.

*Previously: Teabag dress.

*Buy Ents at eBay.

Robot park in Japan

My Man in Tokyo sent me these photos he took of robot-themed park in Tokyo:





Check out his site for a photo of a subtly elegant suv.

*Previously: Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi.

*Buy tin robots at eBay.

Trash can with built in hair-removing comb (link roundup)

Hye-Min Jung designed a trash can with built in hair-removing comb to make it easy to get hair off a brush. More photos here.

And a few more links:

1. There's apparently a campaign to discredit toy customizer John "Jin-Saotome" Mallamas.

2. Article explores how the Village Voice games Digg. Via.

3. A blogger points out that the whistleblower who tried to convince the SEC to investigate Madoff could have saved everyone the trouble simply by posting his concerns online. Via.

4. Last year, "four of Japan's top 10 best-sellers were about how blood type determines personality." Although it's illegal, many employers ask blood types at job interviews.

*Previously: Girl spontaneously changes blood type after organ transplant.

*Buy blood type home test kits at Amazon.

Japan-themed desktop icons by Mikio Inose

Japan-themed desktop icons by Mikio Inose. Via these sites.

*Find more desktop icons here.

*Find vintage Japanese toys at eBay.

Dead Stormtrooper desktop wallpaper (link roundup)

Download the dead Stormtrooper desktop wallpaper here.

And a few more links:

1. Excellent headline: "Blowfish testicles poison seven in Japanese restaurant." Via.

2. You can buy enormous 2 liter cans of beer in Japan.

3. How to make a Star Wars snow globe.

4. Plush dastardly villain and tied up damsel in distress.

*Previously: Cheney shredding secret documents snow globe.

*Buy snow globes at eBay.

Feudal Japan-themed vector set

Chris Parks is giving away a feudal Japan-themed vector set.

*Previously: Samurai riding a carp paper toy.

*Buy samurai toys at eBay.

Robot Egg Cup & Spoon Set (link roundup)

Robot Egg Cup & Spoon Set on sale for $8.50 here.

And a few more links:

1. Maroon 5's album cover totally plagiarized?


2. Great American Insurance Company claims deaths by smoke inhalation isn't covered by policy because the smoke was "pollution." Bonus: The fire was caused by a nurse who was trying to cover up her failure to complete some paperwork. Via.


3. Here's what it's like to visit one of those maid cafes in Japan.


4. Fun time-waster - - build an animated squid. Via.


*Previously: Squid found-metal sculpture.

*Buy "Vixens of Vinyl: The Alluring Ladies of Vintage Album Covers" at Amazon.

Christmas greetings from The Space Giants

A Christmas card you'd keep on your mantle long after Christmas, courtesy of Chip Kidd and The Space Giants. High-res version here. And here's some footage of The Space Giants in action:



*Previously: Kidd's cover for Icarus at the End of Time.

*Buy Space Giants toys at eBay.

Road goes straight through high-rise

Road through a high rise in Osaka, Japan. More photos here. Via.

*Previously: Most rocking use of a t-square ever.

*Buy "Space: Japanese Design Solutions" at Amazon.

Classic Japanese art given a modern twist

This is "Heaven and Hell Series III" by Moira Han, currently on display at Gallery 1998 in San Francisco.

There are prints on sale in her webstore including:


"Ukiyo-e Re-Mix Series/ Besieged."

*Previously: Doraemon paper toy.

*Buy Doraemon toys at eBay.

Japan puts a former judge in a parakeet costume to publicize the jury system

If I understand this right, Japan recently adopted a civil jury system and some prosecutors decided a great way to tell the public about it would be to create a cute mascot. This is "Saiban Inko," which is a play on the words for juror and parakeet:




Even better, the angry looking guy is a former judge. Here's video:

Saiban
Uploaded by newsprb

Via.

*Previously: Wind God, Thunder God Bearbricks.

*Buy plush Japanese toys at eBay.