Some 36,000 runners took part in the 2011 Tokyo Marathon yesterday, including a number of people in costume. Here are a few photos. [Via: Fuzz and Fur, jimgris, Jet Daisuke, Long, hashiee]
Tentacled one [Photo by: Fuzz and Fur]
Usavich and Darth Vader [Photo by: jimgris]
Doraemon [Photo by: urasimaru]
Kappa [Photo by: jimgris]
Jesus [Photo by: jimgris]
Kinnikuman [Photo by: Jet Daisuke]
Frog [Photo by: Fuzz and Fur]
In the early 1970s, the Kewpie Corporation (maker of Kewpie brand mayonnaise) produced a deck of promotional playing cards featuring various pachimon kaiju (imitation monsters modeled after creatures from popular movies and TV shows).
1 -- Kyuradorosu (vampire monster)/ Height: 5 meters/ Weight: 800 kilograms/ From Chiba
2 -- Kashuasu (pollution monster)/ Height: 10 meters/ Weight: 3,000 tons/ From Osaka
3 -- Gohoho (ice monster)/ 18m/ 10,000 tons/ From the South Pole, moved to Tokyo
4 -- Altamegaro (space monster)/ 35m/ Weight unknown/ From Alta W, planet 5
5 -- Deredoron (pesticide monster)/ 20m/ 10,000 tons/ From Tohoku
6 -- Tapikurosaurus (ancient monster)/ 35m/ 9,000 tons/ From Kyushu
7 -- Elekipurosu (electric humanoid)/ 25m/ 15,000 tons/ From Kurobe Dam
8 -- Meji (space wolf)/ 16m/ 5 tons/ From Meteoroid R
9 -- Eru (space monster)/ 32m/ 18,000 tons/ From the planet Pegasus
10 -- Puradon (space monster)/ 32m/ 5,000 tons/ From Galaxy W, planet 8
J -- Mambaa (monster fish)/ 20m/ 15,000 tons/ From the Arctic depths
Q -- Oapiaa (proto-Saharan)/ 6m/ 1 ton/ From the Sahara Desert
K -- Alien Achiira (space monster)/ 15m/ 9 tons/ From the planet Achiira, moved to Japan Alps
1 -- Methanoron (pollution monster)/ 28m/ 30,000 tons/ From Tokyo-Kawasaki-Yokohama area
A person disguised as a Siberian tiger ran wild through Tokyo's Tama Zoo yesterday in an exercise to prepare zookeepers for dangerous situations involving escaped animals.
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Yesterday's dramatic simulation involved a Siberian tiger that escaped its pen following an earthquake. The mock animal wandered freely through the park, attacking zoo workers and visitors before it was surrounded with nets, shot with a tranquilizer dart, and transported back to its cage.
Theatrical exercises involving people in animal costumes are conducted each year in Tokyo at either Tama Zoo or Ueno Zoo. In addition to providing hands-on experience with capturing escaped animals, the drills force zookeepers to administer first aid, usher visitors to safety, and coordinate with local emergency services. Here are a few videos of past exercises.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Japan embraced new forms of graphic design as waves of social change swept across the nation. This collection of 50 posters, magazine covers and advertisements offer a glimpse at some of the prevailing tendencies in a society transformed by the growth of modern industry and technology, the popularity of Western art and culture, and the emergence of leftist political thought.
"Buy Domestic!" poster, 1930 [+]
Cover of "Nippon" magazine issue #1, Oct 1934 [+]
"Fuji Weekly" cover, Oct 1930 [+]
Poster for Japan's first national census, 1920 [+] // "Health for body and country" poster, c. 1930 [+]
Grand Nagoya Festival poster by Kenkichi Sugimoto, 1933 [+]
Kyoto Grand Exposition to Commemorate the Showa Imperial Coronation, 1928 [+]
Poster design by Shujiro Shimomura, 1928 [+]
"NAPF" (Nippona Artista Proleta Federacio) magazine cover, Feb 1931 [+]
Video director Sou Otsuki has released a new version of his video for the song "Luv(sic) pt.2" by Nujabes with Shing02, featuring a variety of people running ludicrously in slow motion. The new version was shot in Cambodia and stars a few courageous amputees and exploding landmines.
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Here is the original version shot in Japan (and a link to the lyrics).
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Ghostly trees covered in snow and rime ice -- known as "snow monsters" or juhyou (frost-covered trees) in Japanese -- are a celebrated feature of the winter landscape in mountainous areas of northern Japan. Here are a few photos.
Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]
Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]
Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via]
Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]
Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]
Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via]
