Big in Japan: The best butts in East Asia

by Matthew Firestone on

Are you ready for this one?

Just when you thought news stories from Japan couldn’t get any weirder, here are scenes from the country’s best bottom competition.

Hoping to dispel the myth that Japanese girls aren’t endowed with ample rumps, the organizers of the ‘Show Me Your Sloggi’ contest paraded the sultriest curves you’ve ever seen on this side of the Pacific.

Sloggi, a popular line of underwear produced by the Swiss company Triumph International, is aiming to increase its market share in Japan.

Compared with women in the United States, Japanese women spend considerably larger sums of money on lingerie. While thongs are all the rage in the West, expensive silk and lace panties are the height of fashion here in Japan.

The winner of Japan’s best bottom: the beautiful baby doll that is 18-year old Kaho Watanabe, who overcame incredible adversity to win the competition.

“I always take care of my bottom, but I’m embarrassed to show it today because I burned it by sitting on a hair iron the other day,” said Watanabe, who was looking particularly pretty in purple.

%Gallery-8840%

The competition was organized by Triumph International, who had the incredibly difficult job of scanning thousands of photos of underwear clad backsides for the Tokyo-based event. After what must have been days upon days of grueling work, the best photos were posted on their web site, and users were asked to vote on the best posteriors.

Much like other great beauty contests of the world, the ‘Show Me Your Sloggi’ event wasn’t just about who had the greatest butt. On the contrary, Japan’s future ‘Best Bottom’ needed to prove to the judges and to the audience that she was well-rounded in more ways than one.

The ten contestants started off the night by giving their most sensual poses in Sloggi bras and panties. As the night progressed however, they had to show off their other skills, such as dancing or playing a musical instrument.

The undisputed highlight of the night was one when contestant proceeded to sing traditional Japanese country ballads while parading around the stage in full S&M gear.

Classic.

In the end, no one could best the bubbly Kaho Watanabe, who is now heading off to Germany for the world finals in Munich. The organizers of the Tokyo-based event hope to prove to the world that Japanese girls got back, and they’re not afraid to show it off.

Watanabe is optimistic about her chances. “I can’t believe I was named ‘Japan’s best bottom’ with my burned bum. I promise I will recover before going to Germany, and I will be in full form.”

Of course, the stakes at the world finals are no laughing matter.

In addition to bringing home the gold to their country, the winner will also be awarded 10,000 euro, as well as a fully comprehensive one year insurance policy to protect their, um, best asset.

I for one would like to wish Kaho Watanabe the best of luck in the world finals – we at Gadling salute you!

Big in Japan: The Most Perfect Bowl of Ramen

by Matthew Firestone on

Today, ‘Big in Japan’ brings you an update on one noodle lover’s countrywide search for Japan’s most perfect bowl of ramen.

I love ramen.

For some, it’s the heady aroma and subtle flavor of wild mushrooms. For others, it’s the enticing sizzle and juicy goodness of a rack of lamb.

For me, it’s gotta be ramen – Nature’s most perfect food.

Since first coming to Japan several years ago, I have been engaged in a tireless quest to find the most perfect bowl of ramen. Like finely aged wine, matured cheese or sun-ripened fruit, good ramen must be appreciated, savored and at all times revered.

Of course, no two bowls of ramen are created equal. From the consistency and flavor of the broth to the texture and style of the noodles, clearly a bowl of ramen is greater than the sum of its parts. But fear not – though the road has been long, I may have finally found the perfect bowl of ramen.

Allow me to introduce you to the newfound subject of my affection, the spicy ramen bowl at Two Guy’s Ramen, a neighborhood landmark here in the Nakameguro ward of Tokyo.

To the untrained eye, the spicy ramen bowl at Two Guy’s Ramen looks like any other bowl of noodles you might come across here in Japan. With that said, let’s dissect the various elements that make this particular bowl of ramen such a superior snack.

For starters, let’s inspect the broth.

Note the rich hues resulting from the flawless blend of miso paste, soup stock and spicy sesame oil. Fix your eye on the perfectly chopped scallions floating effortlessly on the globules of rich, salty pork fat.

Next, check out the noodles.

Note the dense mass of curled egg noodles hiding beneath the toppings, waiting to be discovered by probing chopsticks. Fix your eyes on the perfect ratio of soup to noodles, which ensures balance and consistency in every slurp.

Finally, appreciate the chosen toppings.

Note the plumpness of the yellow kernels of corn, the translucent goodness of the bean sprouts and the zesty freshness of the spring onions. Admire the immaculate slice of slow-roasted pork, which hovers above the noodles with zen-like grace.

Although a picture speaks a thousand words, in this case I am at a loss to describe the medley of flavors that dart across your tongue with each slurp of this delectable dish. The richness of the miso mellows the burn of the spicy oil while the zest of the spring onions awakens the starches of the noodles.

With every bite, the stomach screams out for more while the head spins in a MSG-fueled orgy of delight…

Two Guy’s Ramen – I salute you. Although my quest for the most perfect bowl of ramen is far from over, the bar has been raised, and my hunger has been vanquished (at least for the time being).

For more on Nature’s most perfect of foods, check out An Ode to Ramen, a four-part series on the history and culture of this heaven-sent dish.

** This article is dedicated to Will-san, my long absent partner in crime. May our future hold within it more drunken afternoon trips to the Mecca that is Two Guy’s Ramen. **

Big in Japan: What Exactly is Wasabi?

by Matthew Firestone on

Did you ever wonder what exactly that green stuff is that you smear on your sushi?

I mean, we all know that wasabi (わさび, 山葵) burns like a hell-spawned wildfire, and clears the sinuses with a fiery vengeance. But, where does it actually come from, and how can something so seemingly innocent be so unbelievably potent?

For starters, the best wasabi comes from Japan (no surprise there), most notably the Izu peninsula in Shizuoka prefecture. Much like American horseradish, wasabi plants grow naturally in stream beds, particularly where there is clean water that is free of impurities.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of smearing just a tad too much of the stuff on your tuna roll, wasabi is a nasal irritant that is more comparable to hot mustard than it is to chili pepper. That wonderful little chemical that can have you rolling your head on the sushi bar is called an isothiocyanate, which coincidentally inhibits microbe growth.

Although there’s no denying that wasabi brings out the flavors of sushi, it may have been traditionally added to raw fish in order to prevent it from spoiling.

%Gallery-6477%

Needless to say, you shouldn’t eat raw fish unless you’re absolutely confident in the quality of the fish. Just because sushi makes an appearance at an all you can eat buffet doesn’t necessarily mean that you should eat all you can!

Interestingly enough, most Americans have never actually eaten real wasabi as the stuff sold stateside is usually squeezed out of a tube. In fact, this stuff actually doesn’t even contain any real wasabi, and is usually nothing more than horseradish, mustard seed, and green food coloring.

Real wasabi, which I can assure you has no equal substitute, is sold in Japan in the form of a root.

Before it can be used, the wasabi plant is grated on a metal oroshigane (卸し金), which is a special kind of grater used solely for wasabi. Traditionally of course, the best graters were made of shark skin, and today upmarket sushi restaurants in Tokyo still grate wasabi according to this method.

(By the way, the lovely lady in the picture to the right is my dear mother, who is clearly showing her prowess at grating wasabi. Of course, not that she would ever touch the stuff, or sushi for that matter, but you can’t deny that she has good technique).

Once the wasabi paste is prepared, it should remain covered until served in order to protect the flavor from evaporation. In case you were wondering, this is the actual reason why sushi chefs always put the wasabi between the fish and the rice.

Well, I hope this little lecture on wasabi has been informative. Now that you know exactly what wasabi is, go ahead and impress your friends with some wasabi trivia the next time you’re sitting at a sushi bar.

But seriously – go easy on the stuff – it really does pack a serious punch!

Big in Japan: Sony Reveals the World’s Thinnest TV

by Matthew Firestone on

Anyone who has ever been to Japan can tell you that this country has the most amazing televisions in the world. For years now, ultra-thin plasma TVs and high-definition broadcasting has been the standard, and with each new year it seems as if the best is yet to come.

Truth be told however, you haven’t seen anything quite like this yet…

Earlier this week, Sony announced that in December, they will release their ultra-thin Organic LED TV, a new generation television with a thickness of just 0.12 inches or three millimeters.

Yes, you read that correctly – Sony’s new TV screen will be about as thick as a few sheets of paper stacked together!!

Sony’s new technology is based on organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, which will most likely transform the realm of electronics in the years to come.

An organic light-emitting diode is any light-emitting diode (LED) whose emissive electroluminescent layer is comprised of a film of organic compounds. These compounds are deposited in rows and columns onto a flat carrier by a simple printing process, and the resulting matrix of pixels can emit light of different colors.

In the case of TVs, OLEDs are self-luminescent and do not require a backlight. As a result, a screen sandwiching a very thin layer of organic material between two plates uses less power and offers brighter images and wider viewing angles than liquid crystal display panels.

All of this translates directly into the thinnest TV screen you could possibly imagine.

In December, Sony’s flagship Organic LED TV, dubbed the XEL-1, will be 9.9 inches (25.1 centimeters) wide and 5.6 inches tall (14.1 centimeters).

It will also have a hefty price tag of over 200,000 yen or US$1,740.

In an official statement to the press, a company spokesperson stated: “Going forward, Sony will progressively develop its OLED TV business alongside its existing line of ‘BRAVIA’ televisions.”

Currently, the BRAVIA flat-screen televisions are some of the most successful flat-screen TVs on the market, especially since Sony is expected to unveil the world’s largest flat screen TV in the months to come.

Although the flagship OLED TV will be modest in size compared to the huge TVs currently overwhelming the market, it’s hard to deny the coolness factor of the XEL-1.

Imagine a TV so thin that it virtually disappears when you view it from the side – amazing.

Of course, it’s only a matter of time before OLED technology improves to the point where the same technology could be applied to big screen TVs as well. Consider for a moment the possibility of a wall-sized TV so thin, that it could literally be hung as if it was a large tapestry.

The applications of OLED technology are, needless to say, endless. Currently, there are plans to use OLEDs in everything from computer displays and portable system screens to advertising billboards and car navigation systems. They can even be used for general space illumination, and may one day transform the way we light our interiors.

The future is indeed looking brighter.

Big in Japan: Robots Give the Best Facials

by Matthew Firestone on

Let’s be real for a second – with 100 hour-plus work weeks, crowded city streets, cramped apartments and a frightening absence of vacation days, sometimes it can be really tough to be Japanese.

Sushi, green tea, sake and cherry blossoms aside, modern Japan can be an extremely lonely and isolating place.

Fortunately, the Japanese have their own series of stress relieving rituals to take the edge off. From bathing in hot springs and walking in the park to drinking a hot carafe of sake or dining with friends, the Japanese are masters at finding their own personal slice of zen.

Of course, nothing soothes the mind and relieves your tension like a good facial, which is why the Japanese love to head to the spa after work. Since a good masseuse can be hard to find, the Japanese think nothing of spending their hard-earned yen on a quality facial.

With that said, it may be only a matter of time before tipping your masseuse isn’t necessary, especially since the new Waseda Asahi Oral Rehabilitation Robot 1 or WAO-1 robot probably gives the best facials you’ve ever had.

Early this week, researchers at Tokyo’s Waseda University unveiled their rather frightening looking robot to the general public. With two steel arms connected by a spidery web of cables and wires, WAO-1 will soon be deployed to hospitals and spas across the country.

Although Japan already has some incredibly advanced massage chairs, the facial bone structure is much more fragile than the back and spine. As a result, engineers needed to start afresh and create a new type of technology.

According to project leader Atsuo Takanishi, “The robot’s arms are fitted with ceramic spheres the size of golf balls, and the spheres roll over the skin. The arms’ movements are controlled by a complex set of algorithms designed to emulate massages, while six sensors at the base of the arms measure and adjust the pressure applied by the spheres.”

Originally designed to give deep tissue therapeutic facial massages, WAO-1 was intended to help patients with jaw-related medical problems. However, after another research team member, Ken Nishimura, said the robot could be adjusted to give beauty and relaxation massages, everything changed.

“This technology can be applied very widely,” Nishimura said. “I’m looking forward to a time when this robot will give beauty facials at spas.”

Currently, robots are not uncommon in high-class spas in Tokyo. At present, there are already robots that shampoo and rinse your hair, though it’s probably going to be some time before you can count on a robot to give you a good hair cut or a close shave!

For more information on the future of elder care, check out my prior posting on how Japanese Robots Will Care of Us When We’re Old.

For more information on the crazy robots coming to a future near you, check out my prior posting on how Japanese Robots Will Take Over the World.

** Photos Courtesy of the Associated Press (AP) **