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Japanese Kitsch Gallery 18 images Created 9 May 2009

Japanese Kitsch Photos - The industrial era of Japan has brought new cultural products and thus new associations to Japan, including karaoke, Tamagotchi, Pokemon, Aibo, and Hello Kitty. Japan has something on the rest of the world when it comes to bizarre and fascinating kitsch, knick-knacks, and other assorted bizarre items.
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  • Toya Lake Swan Boats - part of the Shikotsu Toya National Park. In addition to the lake itself Toya region features hot springs and an active volcano Mount Usu, which last erupted in the year 2000. The area also offers many fishing and hiking opportunities.
    japanese-swan-boats-2.jpg
  • Nishi Rokugo Koen in Tokyo is affectionately known as Tire Park or "Taiya Koen" made of up used recycled tires of every size in the shape of robots, dragons, swings, bridges, tunnels and mountains. Approximately 3,000 old tires were used to make  the playground, popular with local neighbors and visitors from other parks of Tokyo for its sheer novelty.
    tire-park-3.jpg
  • Oni are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously called demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature and theatre. Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common.
    oni-3.jpg
  • Teruhisa Kitahara's collection of 3,000 tin toys produced from the 1890's to the 1960's is displayed here. Christmas goods can be purchased at any time of the year at 'Christmas Toys'.
    kitahara-toy-museum-2.jpg
  • Ice cream stands, known in Japan as "soft cream" keep gaining in popularity, thanks to new flavours and colours.  Green tea flavour is not at all new these days, how about wasabe mustard, pumpkin or seaweed flavour?
    japanese-soft-cream.jpg
  • A wide variety of "costume play" getups  from Japanese manga, anime,  imitations of favorite pop stars or combinations in between can be witnessed very Sunday in Harajuku, Tokyo's fashion quarter. Casual observers believe that cosplay is a reaction to  rigid rules of Japanese society but since so many cosplayers congregate in Aoyama - Tokyo headquarters of world class designers Fendi, Hanae Mori and Issey Miyake, it is considered a reaction to high fashion. Whatever the reason cosplay aficionados put a tremendous amount of effort into their costumes every Sunday. You can't help but wonder what they wear on Monday morning..
    costume-play-4.jpg
  • Faces at Dotonbori Hotel -The Dotonbori Hotel in Osaka welcomes guests with an amazing entrance featuring four huge columns with faces depicting the special qualities in human beings. The face columns act as a landmark and define the hotel's traditional architecture.
    Dotombori-Hotel-2.jpg
  • The faithful dog Hachiko saw Professor Ueno off and greeted him at the end of the day at Shibuya Station in Tokyo. In  1925 Professor Ueno didn't return one evening as he had suffered a stroke at the university that day. Hachiko continued to come to the station every day for 10 years, waiting for her master to get off the train.  When Hachiko finally died, a statue of this famous dog was erected in front of Shibuya Station and has become a popular meeting place for Tokyo residents.
    hachiko-2.jpg
  • The post-industrial era of Japan has brought new cultural products and thus new associations to Japan, including karaoke, Tamagotchi, Pokemon, Aibo, and Hello Kitty and countless other forms of kitsch.
    japanese-kitsch-2.jpg
  • Ueno Park Illuminations - fanciful lights in Ueno Park lit up at night and resembling Godzilla, penguins, bears and whatever else the imagination can dredge up.
    ueno-park-illuminations.jpg
  • Tokoname pottery town's famous "Pottery Walk" passes by kilns, potters, shops and ceramics embedded into the sidewalk and walls making for a colorful stroll through one of Japan's most famous centers of ceramics.
    tokoname-pottery-2.jpg
  • The Festival of the Phallus or Kanamara Matsuri is a Shinto fertility festival held in Kawasaki at Kanamara Shrine. The phallus forms the central theme of the event that is reflected everywhere: decorations, candy, and even sake bottles.  The grand finale is a huge parade going through the streets with penis floats. The festival is centered around Kanamra shrine, once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection against diseases and other sexual problems.
    kanamara-shrine-4.jpg
  • Kappa - mythical, supernatural creatures are a product of the Japanese imagination.  Living on both land and water, they have snouts as well as fins, shells on their backs and a water filled dish on their heads.  As long as the dish is full of water, Kappa keep their powers.  Kappas Kawataro are known to be fans of Sumo wrestling and cucumbers, thus the "kappamaki' rolls found in sushi.  Kappabashi, the chef and kitchenware area of Asakusa, Tokyo renowned for plastic food.
    kappa-3.jpg
  • Tanuki is the Japanese word for a raccoon.  These creatures have been represented in Japanese folklore for hundreds of years.  The tanuki have a reputation for being mischievous.  At the same time they are jolly, good at disguising themselves. They are also absent-minded. and gullible according to legend.
    tanuki-1.jpg
  • Kappabashi Chef, the symbol of  Kappabashi, an area of Tokyo that has long been a popular shopping area for chefs and people in the restaurant trade.  In recent years, it has become a tourist attractions thanks to its wacky displays of plastic sushi, suspended pasta and noodles and other lifelike replicas of food and drinks
    kappabashi-chef-1.jpg
  • Amerikamura or American Village is usually referred to by locals in Osaka as "Ame-mura." It is a retail and entertainment area near Shinsaibashi in Minami district of Osaka, and caters to young Japanese consumers with countless clothing shops carrying the latest trendy goods.  Though Japanese high schools are notoriously strict in their dress codes, overlooked are accessories such as flashy charms to dangle from cellphones, exotic socks or mufflers and hats that can be put on before or after school.
    america-mura-2.jpg
  • Kashiya Yokocho, Penny Candy Alley, is a famous lane in Kawagoe with a stone paved streets embedded with colorful glass that is lined with 22 traditional style Japanese candy shops.  An additional feature of the neighborhood are the kitsch animal characters that decorate some of the buildings and candy shops from penguins to salamanders.
    kawagoe-13.jpg
  • Gundam was series of Japanese anime created by Sunrise Studios that featured giant robots called "Gundam."  An eighteen metre tall statue of the title robot was installed at Odaiba, Tokyo's landfill island, in August 2009.
    gundam-5.jpg