Sunday, August 31, 2008

Atami Hihokan

The Atami Hihokan, or Atami Adult Museum, is located at the top of the Atami Ropeway in the popular Atami hot spring resort area of Izu. It's a short cable car ride up to the top, where you can either step out on the platform and have a good look of the city, or swing around to the back of the building and enter the museum. In addition to the various displays of vintage adult toys and dioramas, you'll find some interactive displays (turn a crank to blow Marilyn Monroe's dress up revealing you know what), animated robotic scenes, videos, and more. The museum shop features genitalia shaped snacks, toys and novelties, and some really cool old-school arcade games. Win toys, sexy underwear, nurse outfits, etc. I won a sperm microscope in one of the crane games and they guy working there said it was the best prize in the machine. I'm not too into it myself. They don't allow photography in the museum, I was able to sneak in a couple shots but I think they reveal a little too much to post. Definitely worth a look if you're ever in Izu.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

More Dinosaur Pics

So after discovering the dinosaur in my photos, we returned the following day to find this.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Comments Welcome

I am now allowing comments on my blog posts, but I'm screening them so no junk comments, ads, or stupid stuff, ok? If you have something meaningful to say, I'd love to hear it. Here is another picture from Izu. I took this one on the Jogasaki coast. A mother and her kittens taking shelter under a Coke machine.

Dinosaurs in Izu?!

While viewing some photos taken on the drive down to our cottage, I noticed something odd in one of them. A creature resembling a dinosaur was appearing out of the grass along the side of the road. Dinosaurs in Izu? What do you think?

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Back From Izu

Just got back from a short trip to the Izu Peninsula. Izu is about a three hour drive from Tokyo and is famous for its hot springs and ryokan (traditional Japanese style inns). Izu was once a popular hotspot for domestic travelers, but has since died down a bit. Run down souvenir shops, dilapidated hotels, and old cheesy roadside museums can still be found between some of the remaining ryokan and newer resort hotels. I find Izu extremely interesting and seem to find something new and weird every time I return. More on that later.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Koji and Naoya

Tag team skateboarding at a rest area somewhere between Los Angeles and San Diego. Photo by Pete of LASK.

Joe's Birthday Video

Joe of Super7 just happened to be celebrating his birthday on the same day as the River Children show (see post below). Toybot Studios made a video of the pinata action.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Juxtapoz Coverage

Tokoji Seijin is featured in the new issue of Juxtapoz!

Monday, August 18, 2008

River Children Part 2

A few more pics of the event.

River Children Part 1

Thanks to all that came to the River Children show last weekend. It was cool hanging out with everyone there, and it was extra cool that Joe of Super7 just happened to be celebrating his birthday the same day. I was very excited about the new Tokoji Seijin release and the debut of my Zombie Imp head for the Snakes of Inifnity series. The exclusives sold out rather quickly. Thank you!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Face Your Manga

A bunch of my flickr contacts have been making these recently, website generated manga self portraits. It's pretty fun to do and they end up looking pretty accurate. Try it, it's free.

Face Your Manga

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Introducing Zombie Imp

Zombie Imp is one of six new characters in the Snakes of Infinity line of soft vinyl figures. The head was designed by myself, and sculpted by Kiyoka Ikeda. The first version, done in clear green soft vinyl made its debut at the River Children show last weekend. There are still some available online, check out the Super7 store. More information on the Snakes of Infinity line below.

Snakes of Infinity

River Children

Thanks to all that came to the River Children show last weekend. The show was a lot of fun, and it was cool seeing everyone there. The Tokoji Seijin exclusive sold out and there are a few Zombie Imp exclusives left if you're interested. Visit the Super7 store to see this and the remaining customs (including the green Tokoji Seijin pictured above) from the event.

Tokoji Seijin Sighting

A variety of Tokoji Seijin was recently sighted in Santee State Park, South Carolina. He was seen swimming from Lilypad to lilypad, along the banks of Lake Marion. Check out this exclusive photo.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Update

No pictures, sorry. I'm out on the east coast of the states right now with a super slow dial-up internet connection. Been boating, relaxing, eating, and doing a little shopping for stuff to bring back to Japan. Time has been going by slow and that's good. Friday I'm off to Los Angeles, and the following day I'm driving up to San Francisco for my solo show, River Children. I'm back in Los Angeles on Sunday, and then returning to Tokyo on Monday. Expect some more San Diego Comic Con news, some vacation/Los Angeles/San Francisco shots, and River Children action when I return.