Just last week, after having sat through it for possibly the tenth time in just a couple of hours, I took a screen grab of an unskippable YouTube ad and shared it on my personal Facebook feed. Whether it’s the theme tune, the overly dramatic presenter’s way of speaking or the fact that I care nothing for pachinko, I don’t know, but this ad was slowly driving me mad. As it turns out, I wasn’t alone.

The ad in question is for Gundam-themed pachinko machines in parlours operated by the Sankyo group. While both the original animé and pachinko remain incredibly popular in Japan and we can’t fault Sankyo for tapping into a popular theme, the frequency with which this ad is being shown online is slowly but surely driving YouTube users in Japan to detest both the theme tune to a once beloved animated series and even the ad’s presenter, popular comedian Teruyuki Tsuchida.

Here’s the ad in question, uploaded simply as “that annoying ad” by one Japanese YouTube user:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkX2jtL-tDM&w=580&h=357]

The original commercial is actually only 15 seconds long, but since it’s entirely unskippable and appears online so often, many are netizens are beginning to lose their patience. I, for one, have gotten into the habit of clicking the “mute” button on the video player upon the very sight of Tsuchida’s face and staring at my keyboard while counting down in my head.

Here’s what a small handful of YouTube viewers had to say about the ad:

– Because of that ad I now hate both Tsuchida and Gundam. Thanks…

– The number of ads on YouTube has really increased recently. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen Teruyuki Tsuchida’s face.

– Seriously, can we do something about the number of Gundam ads on YouTube!?

– OMFG, those unskippable Gundamn ads are driving me crazy.

– This is so irritating it’s laughable.

– That Tsuchida ad is making watching YouTube a chore.

The ad is definitely working in as much as that I now know that I can play Gundam-themed pachinko games at Sankyo. But it also makes me determined to never, ever set foot inside such an establishment purely because the company has so mercilessly assaulted my eyes and ears with this ad. Kind of like how the politicians who park their campaign cars outside my house and repeatedly shout their names through megaphones do little more than give me an extra name to add to the list in my head of “people never to vote for.”
[ Read in Japanese ]

It’s been a couple of weeks now since Kitty-gate , or “that time when someone at Sanrio said Hello Kitty wasn’t a cat and the world went nuts”. The issue has now, hopefully, been laid to rest, and we can all get back to watching videos of chubby cats pushing toy wagons around and debating things like which flavour of Pringles is best (answer: Sour Creme and Onion).

But a line in a recently published Japanese gaming guide has now suggested that yet another much-loved character is not what he first seemed. Rather than simply being the giant pink blob that we always thought him to be, it would seem that Nintendo’s marshmallow-faced mascot Kirby is actually “a person” – something that has greatly amused the internet-using public here in Japan.

The discovery of Kirby’s “true” identity was made by Twitter users analysing photos shared by Japanese gaming site Inside Games on Friday last week.

Inside Games

While the characters’ special moves were no doubt of great interest to those itching to play the latest instalment of Nintendo’s super-addictive fighting game, the thing that really caught gamers’ eyes was a line in the description of everyone’s favourite pink puffball, Kirby:

平和の星、ポップスターのプププランドに住む丸い人
[Heiwa no hoshi, poppu sutaa no pupupurando ni sumu marui hito]

Those who have studied even entry-level Japanese will know that the very last word we see here, hito (人), refers to people. It crops up in all kinds of words and phrases, from 人間 (ningen/human) and 人類 (jinrui/humankind) to 人力車 (jinrikisha/rickshaw) and 外国人 (gaikokujin/foreign person). Cats, dogs, vacuum-mouthed pink blobs and the like, however, are never referred to as such, so this line mentioning Kirby as a hito is to Japanese people akin to an English-speaker hearing Donald Duck described as “a seafaring man who doggedly refuses to wear pants in public.”

As you might expect, the discovery of this conspicuous word in the game guide caused great amusement online, with tweets like Kirbypuro’s here being shared thousands of times.

▼ “[Newsflash] Kirby-man, Kirby-man, Kirby-man…”

Twitter – Kirbynopuro

But before this unusual wording sparks the gaming equivalent of Kitty-gate and the interwebs become filled with musings on what could possibly have caused Kirby to be transformed from a regular-looking human being into the pink blob we know him as, let’s be clear here: as odd as this line is, no one is seriously suggesting that Kirby is actually human. It’s far more likely that the writer of this game guide is either being a bit careless with their phrasing or simply having a bit of fun, much in the same way that some Japanese speakers, my own wife included, will playfully refer to inanimate objects as “kono hito” (“this person”) from time to time.

Kirby’s a lot of things. He’s cute, insatiably hungry, and surprisingly good to have around in a fight. But he’s not a person, so you needn’t worry that the same, blobulous fate could one day await you.

Unless, of course, as one online commenter pointed out, we’re all being a bit egocentric here. After all, on his own planet Kirby’s probably just a regular-looking dude, so who are we to say that he’s not a hito?

Source/insert image: Inside-Games via Jin
Feature image: Hoi Sokuhou

We have long followed the exploits of Real-life Barbie along with her friends and family. Many were shocked and awed by the convincingly artificial look she achieved while others wanted to look like her too. At least I think I remember some people wanting that… I swear there was that girl that one time with the earrings…

Anyway, for those who want to achieve the doll look themselves, we present an instructional from England’s Venus Angelic teaching us how to create doll-eyes. Although it looks time intensive, her techniques look easy enough for anyone with rudimentary make-up skills to be able to pull off.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojYBcMFkdfY&w=580&h=357]

The basic steps involved a laying down a thick base of moisturizer (three layers).

Then, she inserts some dark rimmed iris lenses. Venus recommends doing this before any make-up to avoid messing it up.

After that, she applies three layers of concealer to her eyes and nose to flatten out the contours.

Next, she applies some powder to the entire face. Venus warns not to use too much and choose the color carefully for the best doll look.

On top of that she adds some pink and red eye shadow. Then she runs some lip-liner along the bottom eyelid and upper eyelid crease.

Next, comes the mascara, and lots of it, to get those lashes as thick as possible. When you’re finished with that, add on some fake eyelashes.

Apply blush to your cheeks and temples and then some bronzer to the outer curves of your face. Also use some bronzer to thin out the nose for a more artificial, doll-like appearance.

Use brown and cherry lip-liner, blend it in for softer looking lips, and apply gloss.

And congratulations, you’re a living doll!

Venus Angelic’s style was more conservative that we’ve seen from other real dolls in the past, but using her same principles and a little cosmetic daring and talent you could take it anywhere you want to go.

The basic concepts seem to be just smoothing out the face and adding contrast to the eyes. In fact, it certainly seem like even we could do this to someone, and when we finally coax Mr. Sato down from the top of the fridge we’ll know for sure.

Source: YouTube – Venus Angelic via Naver Matome (Japanese)
Venus Angelic’s Blog (So cute it will even turn your cursor pink)

Venus teaches a wide variety of hair and make-up techniques including anime eyes

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEKW3FgLj-0&w=580&h=357]

Goya champuru, unlike its name, is extremely simple. The dish consists of only a few main ingredients: goya (bitter melon), tofu, egg and spam. It’s a homey comfort food from Okinawa, Japan that highlights the island prefecture’s long history with the United States. Susan Hamaker, writer and editor over at JapanCulture•NYC , an online resource for “all things Japanese in New York City,” let us know about a wonderful booth they ran at Japan Block Fair showcasing this down home dish. Let’s take a look!

In case you’re wondering what goya is in the first place, here’s a picture:

▼ The green stuff on the left…not the spam.

For many visitors to the JapanCulture•NYC booth that day, goya was a completely new food.

▼ Like these cute kids who thought it looks like a pickle.

Despite its strange appearance, goya and goya champuru were well-received by the New Yorkers who visited the booth that day. Here’s the JapanCulture•NYC crew cooking up the Okinawan classic:

▼ Serving up Japanese stir-fried goodness.

It’s great to hear about local efforts to bring Japanese culture to people around the world. If you live in the New York area, keep an eye out for the annual Japan Block Fair , which features Japanese food, performances and crafts centered around one city block in NYC. If you’re itching for even more Japanese culture, you can also check out JapanCulture•NYC for details on upcoming events.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGmtOq1AxUM&w=580&h=357]

Source: JapanCulture•NYC
Images: YouTube ( JapanCulture•NYC )

The Chinese have a saying: An elderly person at home is like having a treasure in the family. It can sometimes be exasperating having to repeat what you said five times before grandma hears you, or put up with her forgetting your name for the hundredth time, but deep down inside she’s an irreplaceable source of peace and her smile always manages to chase the blues away.

We can’t quite put a finger on what’s so fascinating about our own wrinkly old ladies, but these posts from Japanese Twitter users have convinced us that grandmothers are special people regardless of which country they come from!

Sometimes we can’t quite grasp what they’re trying to say.

“One day I took the granny who always gives me vegetables to an apparel store. At the store she kept conversing with the owner about ‘iru’ and ‘imu;’ I had totally no idea what they were talking about. When I got home it suddenly struck me that they must have been talking about M (pronounced as emu in Japanese) and L (pronounced as eru) sizes.”

“I was talking to the old lady from next door and she began talking about ‘GPS’. For a moment I thought, ‘Oh wow, she knows about that kind stuff,’ but I realized she actually meant ‘ATM’, and I softened a little inside.”

“I’m pretty sure that when grandpa and grandma talk they have one-way conversations 80 percent of the time and they’re rarely talking about the same thing, but somehow they always go home smiling and looking satisfied, leaving me baffled. LOL They seemed well today too, so all’s good.”

“A conversation I had with a granny I’ve never met before.
‘Um… what’s that long mushroom called again? The delicious one.’
‘Do you mean eringi ?’
‘Erwenge?’
‘?!’
‘Erwenge?’
‘Erenge… (getting the goosebumps from this unexpected turn of events)’
‘Ah! It’s enoki ~! Thank you.’
What on earth is an erwenge!?”

Grandma: *brrt**brrt**brrrrt* (passing gas)
Grandpa: Hm? Hmm? What was that.
Grandma: It was a frog…!
Grandpa: What frog!
Grandma: An edible frog!
How did this conversation happen? LOL

And they old people have trouble with modern technology…

“Grandma said she didn’t know how to use a mobile phone, so I taught her, and she surprised me by saying ‘There’s a camera on it but no place to fit the film in, I don’t know what to do’.”

“At an ATM, this granny came up to me saying ‘I don’t know how to use this, please teach me.’ So I helped her with withdrawing 30,000 yen (US$300). I’m worried that she’ll be deceived by ill-hearted people…”

Sometimes they do stuff that leaves us at a loss for words.

“Out of the blue, my grandma stormed into my room and changed my sheets and covers to something really unfashionable, and walked out. They’re really, really awful, totally uncool.”

“Granny has this friend who makes wonderful roll cakes, and after singing her praises, we received a roll cake the size of a telescope today. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.”

“The handwriting in Grandma’s letter is too beautiful. I can’t read a word of it.”

“Granny fixed the loose button on my coat but sewed right through the pocket so I can’t open the pocket now… Oh Granny…”

“On the train, Granny took out this out-of-this-world lipstick in the shade of a purple-pink hydrangea and started dolling herself up. How cute.”

“The granny sitting next to me coughed and suddenly exclaimed “Paan!!!!!!!!!!!” LOL  …What the hell!? LOL

They can also be a little absent-minded at times.

“Granny kept nagging at me to get my fringe cut, but she never said a thing after I finally did…”

“My grandma stuffed her hand up her sleeve saying something felt cold in there, and pulled out a pair of regular-sized scissors, and a shocked expression washed over her face. I had the same shocked expression on my face, having watched the whole incident unfold. How did they get in there!? How could they have gone unnoticed!?”

But they never fail to make us feel all fuzzy and warm inside! Do you have a memorable episode with good ol’ granny? Share your story in a comment below!

Source: Naver Matome (Japanese)
Images: Bilmoore , SAITORYOKO.NET , Capcom , Rakuraku Okiraku Furafura Nikki , YouTube

Studio Ghibli and Pixar are two of the most successful movie companies in the world. They’ve released over a dozen memorable movies that can be enjoyed over and over again. The connection doesn’t end there, as Japan loves Pixar movies as much as the rest of the world loves Ghibli.

There are dozens of hidden gems to be found in Ghibli movies , which pay homage to beloved characters, and Pixar is also well-known for having a slew of Easter eggs that not only give a nod of respect to past characters, but also give clues about future characters and movies! Disney has released a new video of some of their favorite hidden treasures, and fans in Japan couldn’t be more excited about it.

Pixar’s first movie, Toy Story, was released in 1995, and even with a huge well of incredible movie ideas, their future productions were still up in the air. That didn’t stop the creators of Toy Story from throwing in a handful of hints about their possible future films. This tradition has continued as fans scour the newest Pixar films for hints at future projects. Have you been able to catch them all? Disney’s YouTube channel has released a handy video highlighting some of their favorite Easter eggs for those who aren’t in the know.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTF5bKFY_Io&w=580&h=357]

There is of course the Sully carving in Brave which hints at Monster’s University.

Here is a sprawling French scene in Cars that is reproduced in the mouse culinary classic Ratatouille.

Mr. Incredible makes a guest appearance in a waiting room in Finding Nemo, note that the comic is titled in Japanese!

Pixar doesn’t always pay it forward either, as Toy Story 2 gives special mention to Pixar’s past with a little buddy from A Bug’s Life providing a realistic scenery prop.

The video ends with a heavy hint of so much more as their final image is the famous Pizza Planet truck, which fans know appears in every Pixar movie.

Maybe Japanese Pixar fans aren’t quite as zealous as others around the world as some comments expressed some surprise about the links.

“That’s really awesome. They are all connected!”
“I didn’t know about these secrets! That’s just like Disney.”
“They do these secrets just like Ghibli.”

Since Ghibli is known for doing similar things, the parallels between the two companies are quite strong. Chief Creative Officer of Pixar, John Lasseter, is a self-proclaimed Ghibli nut, so these Easter eggs could be an homage to the famous Japanese animation studio itself, or just a playful bit of fun for his animating crew. We will let you decide.

Source: Hamsoku
Images: YouTube ( Disney )

Box-loving Japanese kitty Maru has been delighting cat fans for years with his love for cardboard containers of all kinds. Despite being a fluffy chubster, Maru seems to constantly underestimate his own size, leading to much hilarity as he attempts to squeeze his podgy body into boxes and containers that are just way too small for him.

But now, Maru’s taking his act to the next level. No longer content just to squeeze himself into boxes, he’s now embarking upon a transition process to become a box himself…

In the latest video uploaded to Maru’s YouTube channel by his owner Mugumogu, we can see how Maru has taken to wearing cardboard beer can sleeves around the house. It’s like he’s got a little cosy jacket on!

At the beginning of the video, we can see Maru shed his old, Asahi beer box shell for a fresh new cardboard sleeve. It’s almost hypnotic the way his lithe form slithers out of one box and into another.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrmEOgELheE&w=580&h=357]

This is clearly a sign that Maru is transitioning into a fully formed boxcat. It won’t be long until he’s an entirely cardboard kitty. Still, we have to say that we prefer furry Maru.

Here’s a bonus video of Maru napping on his back, human-style! So tranquil…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yup-vi_OWZ4&w=580&h=357]

We can’t wait to see what crazy cardboard kitty capers Maru comes up with next…

Source: Kotaro269
Images: Screenshots via YouTube – mugumogu

As we’ve been constantly reminding you over the past year or so, Youkai Watch is really big in Japan now, and yet some of you out there still don’t seem to believe us. We’ve watched them rip the annual McDonald’s calendar endorsement deal out of the cuddly clutches of Pokemon. We’ve seen fans carve their graven images into pumpkins . We’ve tasted of their milk . Still, there are those who think that it’s just a flash in the pan.

For those people, we present the highest honor a character in Japan can receive: a sashimi platter in their likeness.

Yes the near-millennium-old art of slicing raw fish into aesthetically pleasing works of delicate, subtle tasting art has been applied to the face of main youkai Jibanyan as shown to the world in this tweet.

▼ I took a picture of this being sold at a supermarket in Tsukuba.

つくばの某スーパーで売っていたので激写。 http://t.co/XzfTUMIeqX

—
かきたま(めぐさめんこ) (@kakitama5) January 02, 2015

It appears the Jibanyan comes in two flavors: salmon and tuna. He’s also composed of some crazy kaleidoscope eyes from an octopus’ garden in the sea. The remaining parts are a little harder to figure out by the photo. It looks like the mouth lines might have been sculpted with a couple of pieces of hijiki.

Comments online showed curiosity over what was going on in the white part of Jibanyan’s head. Many figured it was probably squid or more octopus. I’d put my money on it being strips of squid over a pillow of shredded daikon.

The commenters also had this to say:

“It looks like they put a lot of effort into it…but I don’t know what to say.”
“The eyes! They’re octopus!”
“That doesn’t look like him. lol”
“Actually, it just doesn’t look delicious at all.”
“It certainly has the feel of a jibakurei.”

That last line is referring to the source of Jibanyan’s name which is a portmanteau of jibakurei and nyan. “Nyan” is just Japanese for “meow” and jibakurei is the type of ghost which died from a traumatic event and may not actually be aware they are dead. They may take the form of “residual hauntings” which are like spiritual imprints on the physical world without any free will, or they could be kind of like Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense…

It’s been 16 years. You really should have seen that movie by now if you were ever going to.

And so we congratulate Youkai Watch on being highly mortalized in the medium of raw seafood so that someone may enjoy it by the end of the day…or else it goes straight in the trash.

Source: Twitter via My Game News Flash (Japanese)

Despite their tendency to cough up hairballs, bring us dead things , and ferociously defend tissue boxes , just what is it about cats that keeps us coming back for more?

If you’re one of the millions of ‘hoomins’ around the world who repeatedly fall prey to their cat’s ridiculous yet adorable antics and spend hours of your life reading kitty news or watching cat videos on YouTube, you’re probably the type who is willing to forgive your feline friend if it has a grumpy day every now and then. But what should you do when you receive an unfortunate scratch/wound/battle scar from the object of your devotion? We say you should advertise it to the world with one of these brand-new band-aids designed specifically for cat scratches!

The folks behind the cat lovers’ website Felissimo Nekobu have recently started taking preorders for their new set of adhesive band-aids designed for the express purpose of covering scratch wounds caused by your pet cat. The product name has been listed as nyansoukou, which is an obvious play on the Japanese words for band-aid[bansoukou] and the sound that a cat makes [nyan]. Luckily for us, the whole business idea actually came about by lucky chance when manga artist Yamano Rinrin , whose works often revolve around cats, posted the following message to Felissimo Nekobu’s Twitter account :

これうちでつくっちゃっても大丈夫ですか！？ “ @yamano_rinrin : @felissimonekobu いつも猫部さんの商品を楽しみにしています！以前このような絆創膏を考えてみたのですが、いかがでしょうか。 pic.twitter.com/iVEYaRZI1G ”

— フェリシモ猫部 (@felissimonekobu) May 14, 2014

[Picture captions] ‘It would be nice if these bandages really existed…what do you think?’ ‘That guy…what’s over that cut he’s got…wait, it’s a CAT!!’
[Original tweet by @yamano_rinrin] ‘I always look forward to your cat-themed products! Recently I thought up the idea for these bandages. Would you be interested in them?’
[Response by @felissimonekobu] ‘Is it really OK if we make these!?’

And there you have it–a dream collaboration come to true!

The band-aids are decorated with Yamano’s adorable sketches of cats and funny messages, including: “I did this, you got a problem with that?”, “Forgive me,” “I sharpened my claws,” and “[cat footprint] This is a scratch given by a furry someone.” The six winning designs were chosen based on votes from over 500 of Felissimo Nekobu’s customers.

▼The complete set

▼The adorable nyaasu [nyan + nurse] illustration on the outside of the package was also drawn by Yamano.

▼The six varieties of bandage up close:

▼How to hide your scratch in style!

You can now preorder the band-aids on Felissimo Nekobu’s official website (Japanese only, sorry). Each set includes 24 bandages (six types; four of each type), and costs 560 yen (US$5.14), tax excluded. The kits will be delivered sometime between the end of December and the end of January.

Source: IT Media
Images: Nekobu

I don’t know about you, but eating fruit as a kid was kind of a chore. Sure, fruit tasted good, but candy tasted so much better. Now that I’m a fully-functioning adult, though, I eat fruit for fun and candy isn’t all that appealing any more.

But this handy device might help to make a lot of people’s childhoods much sweeter since it enables you to combine fruit and sweet, sweet candy into one treat. Behold: the banana-stuffer, aka “Sonna Choco Banana!”

The device is available from toy manufacturor Takara-Tomy and is simple enough to be used by a child. It retails for 2,480 yen (US$20) and goes on sale in Japan next month. It looks a little fiddly and complicated to use, but it actually couldn’t be simpler, as this handy instructional video/commercial shows!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXIir73c6aI&w=580&h=357]

Naturally, you’re not limited to chocolate – you can also stuff your banana with things like cream and jam, as well. Since most of the appeal is in the banana-stuffing gimmick, coupled with the fact that this is ostensibly a child’s toy, we can gloss over the fact that it would probably be simpler just to cut up some bananas and pour stuff over them. Because where’s the fun in that?

▼ Er, is it us, or is this commercial slightly disturbing?

▼ These girls look like they’ve had a bit too much sugar for one day…

We’d probably choose to grab some Nutella or marshmallow fluff over wasting time melting chocolate. Peanut butter would probably taste awesome, too. What would you stuff your banana with?

Source: Takara-Tomy
Images: Screenshots via YouTube/Taka Tomy Arts

Regular readers will no doubt already know that I consider myself kind of a big gamer. Since a very young age, I wasted spent countless hours with my various computers and consoles finding pretty much every secret in every game I owned, and to this day my favourite topic of conversation remains video games.

I’d be the first to admit that amount of random game-related trivia in my head borders on the obsessive, but even I blanked when one Japanese netizen casually asked what the object pictured above, from 16-bit classic Super Mario World, was officially called.

Sure, we all had our own words for these little things back in the day – wall block; corner block; pink triangle; whatever – but was there ever an official name bestowed upon them? Most English-speaking gamers know them simply as “triangle blocks”, but it would seem our friends in Japan have no idea what these things are actually called, even some 24 years after encountering them for the first time.

Appearing in flagship Super Famicom/Nintendo title Super Mario World and even cropping up in the Super Mario animated series, these little objects allowed Mario to sprint up walls and pipes. If he was riding dinosaur pal Yoshi, however, the pair of them would be bounced back as if hopping on a mini spring block.

Super Mario Wiki

They didn’t play an especially big role in the game, but they added an interesting new gameplay mechanic to some levels. Even so, they were something of an anomaly and were rarely seen again after their first use.

Then suddenly this week, an online bulletin board user in Japan commented:

“Of all the Mario characters, to this day this is the only one whose name I still don’t know.”

Naturally, fellow nerdy netizens took to their keyboards to offer up suggestions. But they, too, were surprisingly vague:

“The things-that-let-you-run-up-walls…”

“I called them Yoshi repellers.”

“Liver-kun”

“Those are the grudge-bearing reincarnations of all the Marios that have died until now.”

Then someone said something that blew our minds:

“Was this a face or a foot icon?”

The instruction manual image above would lead us to believe that this is indeed a smiley face drawn on the side of the block, but now we look at it, it does kind of look like a foot, which would make so much sense since it needs to be run at and allows Mario to traverse things, but only on foot…

Honestly, I’m even more unsure of what to call this thing now, and short of digging out a copy of Super Mario World to find the part where the game introduces (and hopefully names) them, I’m just going to carry on calling them what I always used to: “Wall-runny-uppy-things” or “those #*@&ing triangles that always get me killed.”

Source: Golden Times
Feature image: Livedoor

Cosplay is, of course, a popular pastime of otaku, and one of the most popular types of cosplay right now is the gender-norm-breaking “ otoko no ko .” As we’ve explained previously, otoko no ko are men who identify as male and like wearing women’s clothes…and who often happen to look damn good doing it too!

And it seems that otoko no ko numbers are growing too, if the Internet is any indication. Though otoko no ko cosplay events have been around for a while, a contest coming up this weekend is drawing attention online.

Originating with Miss Con, an otoko no ko event that started in 2011 in Saitama, the contest this weekend will be called Tsuitete Iitomo! and will be held at Studio Alta. For those of you familiar with Japanese TV, a bell or two might be going off in your head right now.

It turns out that the event’s name Tsuitete Iitomo! is a reference to Waratte Iitomo! , a long-running Japanese variety show that ended last year. Not only that, but Waratte Iitomo!, which could be translated as “It’s Okay to Laugh!”, was filmed at Studio Alta.

By now you’re probably wondering what Tsuitete Iitomo! means and whether or not someone will be on hand impersonating Waratte Iitomo! host Tamori. While we’re not sure if anyone will show up in the television personality’s dark sunglasses, we can tell you that the event name could be translated as “It’s Okay if It’s Attached.” We think you can probably guess what the attached “it” is.

▼ A crown?

If you happen to be in Shinjuku on Sunday, you can catch the event at Studio Alta at 11:30 a.m. Tsuitete Iitomo! is actually part of a larger event celebrating the 30th anniversary of Newtype , a Japanese magazine covering anime and other otaku news. That means that, as long as you are in Japan on Sunday, you’ll also be able to watch the event live on Niconico Video . Sadly, if you’re not, it looks like you won’t have anyway of checking out the event (because VPNs totally do not exist.)

As to what you can expect at Tsuitete Iitomo!, the photos we’ve included are from previous Miss Con events in Saitama, and we have to say, we are impressed! These otoko no ko clearly know what they’re doing, and we expect that the event this weekend will be no less awesome.

If you’re thinking this will be nothing more than a beauty pageant, hold your horses! It looks like there will also be a talent portion to the show, as demonstrated by this video from Miss Con 2011.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXrnb6pf-68&w=580&h=357]

Studio Alta is located at 3-24-3 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022. You can find a full line-up of the Newtype 30th anniversary events on their website .

And here are a few more photos from past Miss Con events.

Well, that looks like a great way to spend a Sunday, if you ask us. Too bad it’s too late to enter though, because we bet Mr. Sato would make a strong showing with his dance moves!

Sources: Hachima Kikou , Washimiya , Newtype , Wikipedia
Images: Washimiya