Jpop diva Namie Amuro featured in April 2010’s Gisele (Japanese fashion magazine)

Namie Amuro in Gisele May 2008

Namie Amuro in Gisele (June 2008)

Namie Amuro Baby Don’t Cry
http://www.dailymotion.com/videox1gr8b

Namie Amuro Get myself back on HEY HEY HEY TV show http://www.dailymotion.com/videoxe5vbl

Namie Amuro Break it PV

Hello Kitty fingernails  from last year’s Tokyo Nail Expo 2009 proves one thing – Hello Kitty is everywhere.

From May  last year, photos showing an exclusive limited edition Hello Kitty pins and apparel at the Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo Japan.

Some items still available.

Source: Tokyobling

For those folks who find the illustrations on tarot cards too scary or difficult to understand, Hello Kitty comes to the rescue making everything very cute (kawaii!) and easy to understand.

Aimed at Japanese women, the Hello Kitty tarot card book (96 pages  and 22cards) ハローキティのタロット占い Hello Kitty no tarotto Urana by Ryugi Kagami (the most popular astrologer in Japan) was published by Randomhouse-Kodansha last November.

The book and cards costs approx 1,600 Yen.

Note there was previously a set of 78 Hello Kitty Tarot cards produced in 2007 but not a book and card set as this official Sanrio set in Japan.

If you want to score with date with a Japanese lady, giving her a Hello Kitty present can’t go wrong. Hello Kitty celebrated her 35th birthday in 2009 and in all those years  she’s had very few changes. Check out the latest Sanrio video of the Hello Kitty design history.

It was just a matter of time but between Jan 23 2010 and March 14 2010 , if you’ re in the Asakusa 浅草 shopping and tourist part of Tokyo you can use real Hello Kitty Money at 500 participating shops.  Asakusa is known as the “traditional” part of Tokyo with the Sensoji temple 浅草寺 and old style shops that draw in the tourists local and foreign.

 Read more...

More from the Hello Kitty product range.  This time from Japanese retailer Mouse Computer,  in Akihabara which has it’s new “demee” brand.  One of the new products is a small 16gm clip on Hello Kitty Music Player which started selling on September 19.

You can replace Hello Kitty’s trademark red ribbon with a flower that comes with the product, and her yellow nose lights up whenever you use the controls. You can also change  Hello Kitty into a pink “Bear Ears Kitty” or a black “Devil Ears Kitty” by putting on a silicone case (sold separately).  Read more...

Japanese company Dynaconnective announced last month a  new version of the Hello Kitty TV which comes with a 13.3-inch LCD screen. This new device has a 1,280 × 800 resolution, 500:1 contrast ratio, 16ms response time and a pair of 3W stereo speakers.   The portable TV comes with a cute remote control that’s shaped like Hello Kitty’s ribbon.

The cost of the cute TV is approximately $560 (USD) and only for sale in  Japan since it’s optimized for the Japanese TV system and has Japanese menus. Perhaps a nice gift for your Japanese girlfriend if you live in Japan.  Read more...

Tatoos are not that commonly displayed in Japan except among the Yakuza (crime gangs), however with modern pop culture, fashionable tattoos among young Japanese women are beginning to change things. Tattoos on Japanese pop stars such as Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki are thought of as stylish and surprisingly, Japanese women have a strong presence in the Japanese tattoo industry with many editors of tattoo magazines being female.

Many Japanese women who choose permanent or fake tattoos are of course choosing kawaii (cute) tattoos (Hello Kitty comes to mind!). However, if you are thinking about getting tatooed, remember that in many places in Japan, like onsens, golf courses and gyms prohibit people with tatoos.  Read more...