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Scientists have known what is contained in the Earth’s core for about 75 years now, but that hasn’t stopped sci-fi authors and artists from doing some wild speculation of their own.
These images by Japanese sci-fi illustrators are really far out, and I’m sure you’ll agree that the Earth’s core would make the awesomest setting ever for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, or a great video game premise-Astronauts Vs. The Earths Core.
Just don’t go looking for science, because these sci-fi illustrations are mostly fiction.
This series of self portraits by Japanese photographer Mariko Sakaguchi finds her bathing in some most unusual, and quite awkward, places such as: a restaurant, cluttered apartments, a deserted concert hall and a crowded classroom.
This photo series is decidedly Japanese, right down to the fact that the people around her are too polite to react to her presence, and I think the photos not only say a lot about Japanese culture, they also show how easy it is to juxtapose social awkwardness into normally mundane situations by adding even the hint of skin to the scene.
I would love to see her do a series which revolves around her taking a bath on various modes of public transportation-subway trains, crowded school buses, in the back of a limo. Time to take the awkwardness on the road Mariko!
Link –via DesignTAXI
These couples have been sealed in plastic to preserve freshness, to illustrate that sometimes love can be an uncomfortable feeling, and to show how smothering each other can make it really hard to breathe.
From the twisted imagination of Japanese artist Photographer Hal (yes, photographer is part of his name) comes this wacked out portrait series called Flesh Love, which are part S&M, part avant garde, and all totally mind-blowing, as you struggle to make out where one person ends and another begins.
How’d ya like to find one of these in your school lunchbag, kiddos?
Link –via DesignTAXI
If you’re fed up with simply eating celery, then why not take a note from this guy’s playbook and turn it into a musical instrument!
Watch as he sticks a custom made celery flute up his nose, then plays some sweet tunes for your enjoyment, tunes that can only be played via vegetable, or recorder, or any other toy flute ever made.
But hey, he’s obviously after style points with this one, and I’m sure he’ll get invited to lots of dinner parties once everyone sees his amazing talent.
Thankfully, he doesn’t eat his instrument when he’s finished playing. And, if you thought the celery flute was the extent of his power over vegetables, check out his other YouTube videos and be amazed at his homegrown musical skills!
–via Geekosystem
Have you ever heard of a game called Takeshi’s Challenge? Probably not, since this game from 1986 has only been available for the Famicon (Japan’s NES), and all the in-game text is in Japanese, up until now.
Dedicated retro game enthusiast and ROM modder King Mike has finally cracked this bad boy wide open, translating the text to English and making the game available as a ROM for NES emulators.
Takeshi’s Challenge is famous for featuring some of the most ridiculously hard challenges ever found in a video game, like a boss who is rumored to take over 20,000 hits to defeat, and is thought to be creator Takeshi Kitano’s prank against gamers.
So, if you like your video games to be impossibly challenging, and you enjoy chucking game controllers against the wall in frustration, then Takeshi’s Challenge is the game for you! Personally, I no longer have any controllers to spare, so I think I’ll watch somebody else play this one.
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This trailer for the upcoming video game release Kiki Trick will have you wondering just WTF is going on. The game is from the makers of Wario Ware, which is full of crazy moments and utter nonsense, so the fact that this trailer is so off the wall is not surprising.
What is a surprise, however, is the fact that this trailer somehow represents actual gameplay footage! What in the world is this game going to make you do, cure a stomach ache by taking antacids, or telling a scary story while huddled around a candle?
The Kiki Trick team sure has stepped up the lunacy scale, and even Japanese gamers are scratching their heads on this one. Enjoy two minutes of madness, Japanese gamer style.
–via Joystiq
Comments Off I know some of you are going to say “this video is old”, because we all know that interwebs enthusiasts think anything posted a week ago is old, much less something from 2008.
But really guys, does it ever get old watching a penguin start the pet revolution against dogs? The only thing that would make this video better is if a dog were to come in and jealously compete for most newspapers fetched in one day. Let the competition for best pet begin!
–via BuzzFeed
Comments Off He’s known as Supaidaman in Japan, and his live action Japanese tv show from 1978 is way cooler than the cheesy American incarnation. Watch as Spider-Man performs stunts on his motorcycle, battles baddies with duck bills, and tries to stop the sinister plans of one Professor Monster.
–via ComicsAlliance
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In celebration of Thanksgiving, and to top the record of eating 5 lbs. of turkey in 10 minutes set by Sonya Thomas, Japanese eating contest legend Takeru Kobayashi ate 7.5 lbs. of turkey in 10 minutes. Watch the video of the champ in action, it’s sure to make you feel better about how much food you ate this Thanksgiving.
–via Gothamist
These highly detailed and adorable little critter sculptures are made entirely out of paper by Japanese artist Tetsuya Watabe, who proves that paper art isn’t limited to origami. However, don’t get these little guys wet or they may become extinct.
Link –via Creative Review
Pepsiman is a true hero, overcoming every urban obstacle thrown at him in order to quench the thirst of citizens in need!
This strange offering from Japan was released in 1999 for the Sony Playstation game console, and it’s faceless hero graced an advertising campaign in which Pepsiman saved people from death-by-thirst.
Do you think this game looks like goofy fun or a shameless advertising campaign?
If you are the ultimate Akira fan, and you have a thousand dollars burning a hole in your wallet, then this real life version of the red leather motorcycle jacket worn by Kaneda in the anime feature will soon become your most prized possession. If you can’t afford such geeky luxuries in life, then you’ll just have to bask in the glory of the jacket via the image gallery at the link below.
Ever wondered about the origin of the Japanese Kirin or the waving Lucky Cat? If so, then this article by Matt Alt will amaze and astound with it’s short yet concise descriptions of 10 of the best known Japanese mythical creatures, some of which you may have seen but never thought you’d understand. This great article sheds light on creatures both strange and strangely familiar, and the accompanying illustrations are a delight! Follow the link, read on and be glad you’ve never spotted one of these critters in your backyard.
Link -via BoingBoing
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If you want to show the world what you’re REALLY made of, guts and all, then your wait is almost over. Thanks to Japanese researchers from RIKEN, biological tissue can be turned transparent via chemical reagent, so you can look like a superhero without the need to have powers or a cool alien back story. Unfortunately, this reagent doesn’t work on living tissue, so you’ll have to wait a while longer for your clear skin makeover. Until then, read on at PopSci and imagine all the creepy possibilities!
These aren’t the little critters that have been driving kids, and parents, crazy for over 15 years, but personally I find these designs by Gavin Mackey far more appealing. Gotta catch ‘em all? More like make sure they don’t catch you, alone in the dark…
Link -via ComicsAlliance
I have seen everything now. This device is able to pick up a glob of ketchup and keep the glob completely intact. The video at the link demonstrates several practical industry applications for the “Swittle.” Unless this is an elaborate hoax, this device looks amazing; now when I eat French fries I will have an easy way of getting sauce off my shirt.
While we are busy trying to create and market the perfect electric car, the Japanese have gone the extra mile and plan to mass produce a car which runs primarily on water. What do you think, will this car be a viable alternative to gas and electric vehicles?
Unlike other electric cars, the Genepax car does not require that batteries be recharged and has no emission. The water electrical generator is located in the back of the car and when water is poured it is then broken down in order to create electricity to power the car. Imagine what such a generator could do to the oil industry, the nuclear plants and the electrical grid.
Ah, Paris, the City of Lights. Every year, more than 45 million people visit the city but roughly about 1 million of those starry-eyed tourists (mostly Japanese) fall sick with what has been dubbed the Paris Syndrome – what could cause such a strange effect?
Dan Lewis of Now I Know (That’s Half the Battle!) explains:
Paris Syndrome is marked by a psychiatric breakdown suffered by the visitor, often including physiological side effects such as dizziness, an increased heart rate, and otherwise unexplained sweat. Extreme cases come with increased anxiety, a sense of persecution, and even hallucinations. Most of those affected are Japanese, but on occasion, a non-Japanese tourist will fall prey to the syndrome.
The cause? Most likely, it’s a mix of a few factors: jet lag from the long trip; elation (similar to Stendhal syndrome) from taking a once-in-a-lifetime vacation; the language barrier; and, most critically, culture shock. As the BBC noted in its discussion of Paris Syndrome, "[m]any of the visitors come with a deeply romantic vision of Paris [but the] reality can come as a shock. An encounter with a rude taxi driver, or a Parisian waiter who shouts at customers who cannot speak fluent French, might be laughed off by those from other Western cultures. But for the Japanese – used to a more polite and helpful society in which voices are rarely raised in anger – the experience of their dream city turning into a nightmare can simply be too much." And, also according to the BBC, the Japanese embassy there takes culture shock seriously, staffing a 24-hour hotline for citizens and expats who suffer culture shock while in La Ville-Lumière.
Link – via Look At This
You Tube Link
Dogs are known for their loyalty. This Japanese dog is not only loyal, but appears to be loving and compassionate. He refused to leave the side of his injured friend. I should warn you that this You Tube clip may very well make you cry.
The two dogs have been rescued. The badly injured dog is currently receiving medical treatment.
You’ve probably seen the 1957 move The Bridge On the River Kwai, but you might not know how much of the film was real and how much was fictionalized. The real history of how the railway between Burma and China was built, including the bridge, is a horrific story. The British didn’t build the railway in the 19th century because it would be too expensive. During World War II, the invading Japanese took on the project, but expected it to take five years to complete. Those plans were drawn before they found a source of free labor: the Allied POWs. Because of the inhuman amount of labor forced on the prisoners, the railway line that was expected to take five years to complete was ready in only 16 months.
Starvation provisions, overloading of work, dismal or absent accommodation and sanitation, and the individual viciousness of Japanese and Korean engineers and guards, took their expected toll. Disease (predominantly dysentery, malaria, beriberi and cholera), brutality (69 men were beaten to death by their guards) and 12 to 18 hour daily work shifts made for a high death rate. In fact, the work went on 24 hours a day with the aid of oil pot lamps and bamboo/wood fires that were kept burning all night long. When looking down on the wok area at night it looked like working in the “jaws of hell” – thus the workers gave it the name “Hellfire Pass”.
Read the rest of the story at Environmental Graffiti. Link
(Image credit: ©Pascal Engelmajer)
Japan often seems like a cartoon, or a mythical place that couldn’t actually exist. Cracked has come up with 6 more reasons why it’s hard to imagine that people really do live there… including Dekotoro, the art of decorating one’s truck as if it were a ride at the fair.
Japan is to crazy what the Middle East is to oil: sitting on quantities that can supply the rest of the world for decades. Of course, we say that with nothing but admiration. Their mind-blowing and often unsettling subcultures have faced the pressure of high expectations and stifling social codes, and responded by taking rebellion to new, terrifying places.
Now That’s Nifty compiled 41 pictures of custom scooters trying to shake the nerd label. As you might have guessed from their cool and quirky style, many of these custom jobs are Japanese. You’ll definitely notice some Akira inspired scooters in the mix, though most are just trying to look like motorcycles. Link
(Image source: AutoBlog Green)
A few years ago, Alex ran a post on the Japanese hornet, a particularly large and “mean flying machine.” As pointed out, the hornets prey on smaller honeybees, but can often be baked alive by a swarm. Interesting, but that’s not what happens here as 30 hornets lay waste to a colony of 30,000 bees.
via Digg
