Yeah.. . There’s also Hello Kitty “love hotel,” too. And IIRC, an Hello Kitty vibrator. Yes, I’m not making that up.
I’ve seen the vibrator. It’s somehow less disturbing than the one that looks like Mickey Mouse’s hand.
one person’s “slightly terrifying” is another’s ZOMG THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!! and it is *not* a vibrator. it is a “personal massager”. ahem. i would totally fly Hello Kitty Airlines. is it too much to hope that the flight attendants are in costume? and the pilots? it’s probably too much to hope that the stick-waving groundcrew would be in costume too, but….
It’s somehow less disturbing than the one that looks like Mickey Mouse’s hand. OMG. Really? I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
I have a friend in Japan right now. I wonder if I can persuade her to take that airline home and take pictures. It would probably be the closest I could get. *pitiful snivel*
Have you seen the Japanese Boyfriend Arm Pillow? Worse is the Japanese female lap in a mini skirt pillow. B.i.zz.a.r.re. If I were engineering those lap pillows, I’d build in stinky farts. One an hour.
added, for your viewing pleasure, a Japanese web site featuring Beverly Hillbillies variety bluegrass music and kittyairline videos.
Actually, just so we’re clear, EVA air is Taiwanese. Although yes, Hello Kitty is Japanese. I wonder if the food is better on Hello Kitty air. (I seem to remember that the food on EVA air was a little better than the stuff you get on most American lines)
Actually without the fake hand and shirt that boyfriend arm pillow looks kind of comfy. I’ve taken many a nap with the baby’s nursing pillow in a similar configuration.
Oh, but a cat is such a better snuggly than a creepy fake arm. The lap pillow just makes me want to run and hide under a rock.
Can someone explain to me why Japan is slightly terrifying? As someone of Japanese descent who spent parts of my childhood growing up there, I have my own reasons for finding Japan terrifying but somehow I suspect they’re not quite the same. Are you guys scared of adults dressed up as Hello Kitty, but not say… people dressed up as Minnie Mouse? Scared of Hello Kitty? I know some people have said Hello Kitty is scary because she doesn’t have a mouth. But I am still not sure why Hello Kitty is more scary than say, Disney characters. Didn’t people in the US grow up with Hello Kitty too? Is it the overwhelming pinkness? Is it more scary than Barbie dolls? Is a Taiwanese airline making a deal with Sanrio to paint a plane and print tickets with Hello Kitty images scary because… Sanrio is exporting its cloying kiddie stuff all over East Asia? That would be an interesting discussion, I think it’s really interesting, and often disturbing, that “culture exports” are really pervasive from a few countries (India, Japan, the US). But somehow I feel like I’m missing it. I’m not trying to be snarky, really. Does the defunct Hooters airlines make the US as a whole terrifying? (my answer: sure, yes) How about Disney airlines? I don’t think that idea ever got off the ground but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a 747 somewhere painted with Magic Kingdom promotional ads. Personally, I prefer Chococat.
Can someone explain to me why Japan is slightly terrifying? As someone of Japanese descent who spent parts of my childhood growing up there, I have my own reasons for finding Japan terrifying but somehow I suspect they’re not quite the same. Many many places have a natural ability to be weird and just plain wrong – new jersey, canada, germany and france, but japan is the only country in the world that appears to be actively trying. For instance: “From the time people were kids, people have laid their heads on their mothers’ laps to get their ears cleaned,” he said. “This is made to be quite close to the real thing.” You see, ever since ww2, the japanese (as a nation) have fought a battle of wills with the rest of the world, generation after generation of upperclass japanese brats would don blackface and rap the psych war rap of being representatives of the international equivalent to the crazy person on the bus, muttering about their camels and introducing the other countries of the world to their imaginary pooka, hello kitty, who it must be noted weighs as much as two small apples (as indeed, do I, wibble, wibble). The lap pillow and the attempts to convince the rst of the world that hello kitty exists and is 5 feet tall are merely return salvos in that ongoing attempt to achieve world domination by making the rest of the world’s head explode. And did I mention the line dancing? because that just ain’t right. Though not to be out done, walt disney had his head frozen and micheal jackson was spawned from the depths of some dark and dank CIA bio-chemists’ labs. And the less said about J Edgar Hoover and McCarthy’s weirdnesses, the better. Planetes was awesome.
yeah…this just screams “bad idea to get folks started by suggesting we rant generally about a nation by dredging up pop culture items that we consider to be in poor taste.”
Yeah, thanks, I really can barely go a day on the Internet without being reminded that Japan is regarded as the english-speaking internet world as an endless source of head-exploding oddity, perversion, and amusement, usually accompanied by some comment about how freakin’ weird or crazy those Japanese are. You know, because every japanese young person wears blackface, and we all have lap pillows. And after dinner, we all gather round and sort out the daily shipment of schoolgirl underwear before settling down to watch the evening broadcast of tentacle porn. I was just giving Zuzu the benefit of the doubt that she had some point beyond all of that that. I still don’t understand why you it’s weird that a lot of traditional Japanese dances are often done in lines (is that what you’re referring to?) or that we clean our ears with little sticks (hint: it’s easier to remove dry-type earwax this way, which you might not have been aware exists.) Again I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I kind of suspect maybe you think that different =weird / “just ain’t right?”
although the food looks waaaaaay more delicious than anything I’ve seen on an airplane in a long time.
Honestly, Holly, it’s the lack of a mouth and the cloying ubiquity of Hello Kitty and Sanrio products in particular.
First thought: Disturbing Second thought: But if there were a SpongeBob airline, flying with younger son would be much more pleasant Third thought: They get meals?
I’ve always liked the San-X stuff over the Sanrio stuff, personally. Kogepan is so much cooler than Hello Kitty!
I still don’t understand why you it’s weird that a lot of traditional Japanese dances are often done in lines (is that what you’re referring to?) I was referring to the salarymen in freakin cowboy chaps doing barn dances, there are good things to steal from american culture, and then there’s line dancing. but I kind of suspect maybe you think that different =weird And what’s wrong with weird all of a sudden? Weird is great up to the point of far right nationalism and rich kids messing around with blackface, nobody likes a country that is prone to that sort of shit. I’m pretty sure Germany is way freakier than Japan. Possibly, it depends on whether the invention of leather bicycle shorts several centuries before the invention of the bicycle is considered “freaky”.
Well, there is also the whole food thing, wrt Germany. a friend reported encountering liver and bananas being touted as a delicacy. Are you guys scared of adults dressed up as Hello Kitty, but not say… people dressed up as Minnie Mouse? No, I think it’s pretty safe to say that giant plushie-dressed people in general freak me out. On the other hand, it is true that we don’t yet have Disney airlines with Minnie flight attendants. (Yet). On the other other hand, I think it’s safe to say that any nation/culture that’s responsible for a giant toilet megastore, complete with bathroom attendants and people dressed up as singing toilet bowls has -no call- pointing the finger at anyone else. Basically, 1) Corporate culture is more than slightly terrifying 2) we’re all going to hell. 3) get that fucking cutesy rodent -away- from my cooter!
Possibly, it depends on whether the invention of leather bicycle shorts several centuries before the invention of the bicycle is considered “freaky”. Indeed.
Many many places have a natural ability to be weird and just plain wrong – new jersey, canada, germany and france, but japan Whoa, what now? As a Canadian I’m used to thinking of my country as The Sanest Place On Earth. If we’re freaking people out I want to know so I can…um.. fix the situation. Yeah.
one person’s “slightly terrifying” is another’s ZOMG THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!! Word. I used to be a big anime fan and while I don’t actively care about it anymore (it can be kind of a time-intensive, not to mention money-intensive, hobby), and while watching some shows I used to like out of nostalgia recently I realized that I always liked anime in large part for the same reasons that a lot of Americans hate it–it’s extremely kitschy (it’s the future! with giant robots! but everyone dresses like it’s a fashion designer’s idea of what the 18th century military should have looked like, with thigh high boots and tastles on everything and capes! …wait, what?) and not at all tied to anything resembling reality. Confession time: I have a giant hello kitty pillow (Two, in fact; one is a square pillow with Hello Kitty dressed up to go shopping, and the other one is just of Hello Kitty’s head). I have special reasons for finding people dressed up as Hello Kitty a little disturbing–my roommate likes to put the pillow over her head and it is upsetting in ways I cannot fully articulate. But, I would totally fly this airline. Also, Japan is slightly terrifying because their language is insane and I am going to fail first-year Japanese. (Actually I’m doing decently in it, though that’s at least partly because the teachers grade the oral exams way easily. I do think large parts of the Japanese language are kind of bizarre–like the 3 writing systems, the fact that each kanji has Japanese AND Chinese readings, the fact that they don’t distinguish between singular and plural but they do distinguish between “vocabulary you use with your friends” and “vocabulary you use with your boss”–but I get that within the context of Japanese culture and history these things make sense, more or less. Also I think it’s weird, but kind of cool, that they celebrate Christmas even though only something like 0.8% of the population is Christian. Ditto for the 60% of weddings that take place in churches). So. For me at least, weird, and even slightly terrifying, is not necessarily a bad thing, and can in fact be pretty awesome.
Zuzu posted this because she hate pilots, remember? Why do you hate pilots, Zuzu? And big-headed kitty airlines?
I think it was mentioned already but EVA Air is Taiwanese, not Japanese. Hello Kitty is a Japanese product but it was not a Japanese airline that chose to go with it as their mascot. You may think this is a trivial point, but as an Asian American it really annoys the hell out of me when ‘you (we) all’ are lumped together, like we all look the same. Especially on a blog like this one that pretends to enlightened thought.
Not knowing which flag an air carrier flies under is not quite the same thing as “You all look alike to me.”
Also, I’m pretty sure that were, say, Disney to start an international airline where you got off the plane and were greeted by a guy in a Goofy suit. Disneyland is creepy enough. I’ll also point out the ongoing misogyny in the airline industry, which is often coupled with orientalism when it comes to East Asian destinations — all-female airline attendants dressed in stereotypical (or arguably “traditional”) Japanese (or Chinese or Korean or wherever the airplane is headed) garb, paid to portray an image of the submissive and beautiful Asian woman, happy to lend her services to white men on the plane. There are a series of hotels that also capitalize on this image — I don’t remember names, but I’ve seen ads in several travel magazines. This wasn’t the point of Zuzu’s post, but it’s worth mentioning as a side issue.
I just love giant robots. zu-zu, you should check out some of the San-X stuff if you think that Sanrio is too happy. Kogepan is basically Burned Bread Man. He was unhappy because he’s burned. He was jealous of the non-burned bread, so he went on a 2 day bender- getting drunk on milk and smoking like a chimney. Oh, good times, Kogepan. Good times.
Also, Japan is slightly terrifying because their language is insane and I am going to fail first-year Japanese. OK, seriously, try German. Just when you think you’ve got the articles under your belt, the dative case comes along and throws you. The article “der” in the nominative case is for masculine nouns. In the dative case, it’s for feminine nouns. So you’re going along merrily, remembering that a specific noun is feminine and thinking “OK, I just have to use die.” But no! The dative case sneaks up on you, and you have to start all over again. And then try to figure out why words like “Fräulein” and “Mädchen” (Miss and maiden) are not feminine nouns. No, they’re gender neutral! There’s a reason Mark Twain wrote an awesome essay titled “That Awful German Language”.
The Hello Kitty=Teh Sex thing is just as much an American thing, for those of us who go back to the Usenet days. Remember alt.sex.hello.kitty?
7 words: Used women’s panties in a vending machine. Also, the fetish for extremely young women that their culture has creeps me out. And tentacle hentai. And the strict, male-dominated hierarchical structures of much of their corporate, social, and political world. Eh, aside from those things, Japanese culture is fine by me. I guess most of my reservations revolve around their general attitude toward women. Not quite as progressive as I would like.
I’m old enough to feel nostalgic about the time when Hello Kitty was so big in America in the 80’s that there was a Hello Kitty store in our mall, even in our small-ish midwestern town. Another anime fan here, and I also love it for all the reasons it makes some Americans go O.o. I’ve been guilty of shrugging and saying “The Japanese are weird” when people don’t understand anime, or my Japanese Rock magazines full of visual rock bands, but that’s a complete cop-out and plays into the sense of American superiority. , and the idea that we Americans are the norm against which others are judged.
This is perhaps a little more analysis than the subject deserves, but: The aftermath of World War II, Japan’s temporary colonization by the United States, and its subsequent alliance with the United States, profoundly altered its culture — by making it, in a sense, more like ours. For this reason, I think a lot of Americans see Japan as a kind of Bizarro America, where cultural elements are cut loose from their moorings and appear in nonsensical juxtapositions. Of course, this is an illusion: elements of American culture have taken root in a new cultural context, and though they take the same form, they do not necessarily still carry the same meaning. I think for most Americans, the Western elements of Japanese culture (or, rather, the Western-like elements of Japanese culture) fall into the Uncanny Valley: they are similar enough to things most Americans recognize to evoke a response, but different enough that that response is more frequently amused or unsettled confusion. This says nothing at all about Japan, but quite a bit about Americans. — ACS
Yeah, thanks, I really can barely go a day on the Internet without being reminded that Japan is regarded as the english-speaking internet world as an endless source of head-exploding oddity, perversion, and amusement, usually accompanied by some comment about how freakin’ weird or crazy those Japanese are. You know, because every japanese young person wears blackface, and we all have lap pillows. For the record, my anglo-saxon, Mongolian-looking yet blonde German-Russian bro lives in Japan and builds flamenco guitars from there (which could seem mighty strange to some people). When I pointed out the arm and (slightly porny) lap pillow I wasn’t making a statement about the nation and its people, just the weirdness of the objects. Lord knows, weirdness abounds in all cultures.
Hey, and look folks, what could be creepier than (Cheney flying in) Strom Thurmond’s airplane! I’ll take a Sponge Bob Airline over that any day.
R. Mildred, a suggestion – Post on the internets first, then take the mescaline. The other way around, it doesn’t make much sense.
I could have sworn that I once saw a photo parody of “V for Vendetta” that was entitled “C for Chococat,” but alas that might have been a mescaline-fueled delusion.
Many many places have a natural ability to be weird and just plain wrong – new jersey, canada, germany and france, but japan is the only country in the world that appears to be actively trying. As a Canadian living in France, I’m not sure whether to be amused or offended. Although, I will agree that France is pretty weird sometimes. Japanese culture is a complete mystery to me. I don’t understand it at all.
I too am a child of the 80s and remember Hello Kitty fondly. (Although yes, Chococat rocks more.) Also, whatever happened to Monchihis? I used to love Monchichis. But honestly, a vibrator shaped like Mickey Mouse’s hand? That would freak me out no matter where it came from.
I think for most Americans, the Western elements of Japanese culture (or, rather, the Western-like elements of Japanese culture) fall into the Uncanny Valley: they are similar enough to things most Americans recognize to evoke a response, but different enough that that response is more frequently amused or unsettled confusion. I think ACS has found the nail: to many Americans, Japanese culture seems like a funhouse mirror version of ours. Seeing familiar things in a completely different context is very unnerving, and we cover our discomfort with jokes. Plus, let’s face it, it’s kind of weird to see the embarrassing parts of American culture — like cowboy line dancing — reflected back to us through another culture. It’s like watching those hipster kids walking around drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon when you know that it’s a terrible beer that even your red-neckest uncle won’t drink.
Lesley Plum — I thought it was because the “-lein” and the “-chen” endings were diminutives and all such words were neuter. Bruederlein is just as neuter as Schwesterlein.
But honestly, a vibrator shaped like Mickey Mouse’s hand? That would freak me out no matter where it came from. And…is the hand open or closed? I’m sorry, it’s the first question that popped into my head.
embarrassing parts of American culture — like cowboy line dancing Embarrassing to who? Have you been to Texas? Line dancing is just part of a night out in some parts.
Embarrassing to who? Have you been to Texas? Line dancing is just part of a night out in some parts. Embarrassing to those of us who live in urban areas where people insist that they’re cowboys because they drove through the Panhandle on their way to California. Which leads to people in foreign countries imitating mock cowboys. But if it makes you perfectly happy, I’ll substitute “chicken dance” for “line dance” and you won’t have to stress out about my horrible horrible anti-Texas bigotry.
I can’t stop laughing at the tentacle porn and underwear remark. But yes, with the scary bathrooms with stages and singing and applause when you poop, America can no longer judge Japan on weirdness. My GAWD. On the other hand, can anyone deny that it’s just a little freaking weird that it’s okay to shove your fingers up the rectums of your teachers there? DUDE.
No way people still line dance. It’s all Dance Dance Revolution to Shonen Knife at the shitkicker bars in the Hill Country these days.
But yes, with the scary bathrooms with stages and singing and applause when you poop, America can no longer judge Japan on weirdness. My GAWD. Hmm.. excellent point. I guess Japan is just a different flavor of weird. ACS is probably right. Oh well, for the absolute best mix of tentacles and Hello Kitty, check out Hello Cthulhu LOL.
Yeah, first-year Japanese can throw you. But eventually you start to appreciate the modular sentence structure and flexible parts of speech, and then it gets fun.
I’ve got to quote Dave Barry’s report–he said he went to Japan for two weeks to discover the secret of this mysterious beautiful land and came back with a handful of scribbles such as “corn on PIZZA?!” (Yes, and very tasty, too.) I lived in Japan for 12 years, so I got to the point where nothing really threw me (I think the US is weird now.) Went to Guang-Zhou on a trip partway through. That was giving me culture shock. Highly suggest using the Remembering the Kanji Vols I,II, III (James Heisig) if you want to learn the Chinese characters in a decent amount of time. Supposedly out of print right now, U. of Hawaii just about to reprint them.
Um, why is it ok to make broad generalizations about an entire country and race of people? (zuzu, I don’t mean you, I mean some of the commenters who are like, “Oh no, Japanese people are evil and weird and horrible!”)
I’ll take a Sponge Bob Airline over that any day What’s scary is that I can absolutely picture SpongeBob Air. Planes would be yellow, of course. Pre-flight instruction consists of the pilot yelling over the intercom, “ARE YOU READY, KIDS?” and then singing the theme song. Meals are served in boxes printed to look like SpongeBob’s pants and consist entirely of Krabby Patties. Aw, c’mon, it would be fun!
Yeah, yeah, Hello Kitty. Everywhere. So what? Why slightly terrifying? Try My Melody. Or Pretty Cure. Or the representation of boys and men in girls’ manga, or its reworkings of Disney. Or the representation of girls in Miyazaki. Or the politics of exporting Japanese pop culture in Asia or the Americas or Europe. Or…you get the picture–lots of material for feminist analyses of Japanese pop culture. I’ll take McDougall’s weird America blogging over slightly terrifying Japan blogging any day.
And then try to figure out why words like “Fräulein” and “Mädchen” (Miss and maiden) are not feminine nouns. No, they’re gender neutral! Because they have the diminutive endings -lein and -chen, which moves them from the feminine to the neuter; diminutive endings do that to all words, c.f. the usually masculine Männ “man”, which becomes neuter Männlein, “little man”. It’s just that “Fräulein” and “Mädchen” are lexicalized.
And then try to figure out why words like “Fräulein” and “Mädchen” (Miss and maiden) are not feminine nouns. No, they’re gender neutral! Because they have the diminutive endings -lein and -chen, which moves them from the feminine to the neuter; diminutive endings do that to all words, c.f. the usually masculine Männ “man”, which becomes neuter Männlein, “little man”. It’s just that “Fräulein” and “Mädchen” are lexicalized.
Yeah, yeah, Hello Kitty. Everywhere. So what? Why slightly terrifying? Because if you’re not paying attention and catch it out of the corner of your eye, that big white head looks like a skull.
Hello Kitty and pals are always just so damn happy. She has no mouth, and cannot scream. ACS – brilliant. I think there’s perhaps another, just slightly different Uncanny Valley – wonderful term – situation going on as well, with Japan being the American image of a high-tech industrialized country that yet isn’t Western.
Thanks oudemia and Carrie for pointing that out to me. It’s actually refreshing to finally find a rule in German I can latch onto as being true in all circumstances! I still hate the dative case.
Just for the record America = every bit as weird if not more so from a kiwi point of view(creepy creepy corporate smiles + Disneyland + fake sincerity raised to an artform + restaraunts with giant dancing animals + freakishly huge meal portions). You are indeed a very strange people.
Americans, weird? Whaaaa–?! No, it’s everyone else, clearly. Maybe you have to be American to understand that correctly. I find this slightly more terrifying; not nearly as fun as making fun of Kitty-chan, Miffy, and the gang, though.