Love Live! Sunshine!! debuts sailor uniform rucksacks and pouches that look like an anime girl’s torso

The idol anime mega franchise has a new set of stylish bags to prove your devotion to Uranohoshi High, but they might be daunting to wear outside.

Any fanatic worth their salt knows that Japan is the number one place to grab cute merchandise. For example, if you’re a Pokémon fan then you can buy anything here, from earrings to engagement rings featuring the cute little critters. Usually the biggest sellers are rubber straps, posters and stationery, but occasionally a franchise will splash out and create something really special, like the commemorative Utena wine or one of the many Sailor Moon fashion line-ups.

Fans of Love Live!, the ever-optimistic multimedia franchise about nine schoolgirls who form an idol unit, are spoilt for choice in this regard. The merchandise is so varied and bountiful that it’s hard to cram all the goods of just one girl into an itabag. The series’ second chapter, Love Live! Sunshine!!, is bringing out a helpful new product to store all your excess charms and manga inside, but you might be surprised at the angle they took with the design…

▼ The rucksacks and pouches emulate the top half of the Aqours girls’ school uniforms, complete with stiff sailor collar

Retailer Tokyo Otaku Mode opened pre-orders for the new line of rucksacks and wallets on May 24, and fans will be able to choose between three different bags, with each having a different colored necktie accessory representing the school year. First years get a pretty dandelion yellow, second years get a deep crimson and third years get a stylish aqua green.

▼ The second years’ version in all its glory

▼ The ‘back’ shot (actually the front of the bag) shows off the collar

What better way to show your commitment to the Aqours girls’ fictional high school than to carry around a backpack that looks like the torso of an attending member? It’s almost like you get to go to school with them yourself… almost.

Each backpack is crafted from a mix of 100 percent cotton and synthetic leather, while the lining is polyster. Each bag is 37 centimeters by 42 centimeters (14.6 inches by 16.5 inches) and comes with two sturdy straps at the top, and golden hooks to attach the rucksack straps. You can carry your headless backpack whichever way you like!

▼ The first years’ cute yellow necktie looks great!

▼ The aqua green necktie for third years comes with a gold clip

They also have a bounty of hidden pockets and a cute set of silver studs, just like the girls’ uniforms in the show. And how much for this incredible, bizarre accessory? A mere 5,500 yen (US$50.70) plus tax.

If you feel a little uncomfortable about paying top dollar to tote around a bag that looks like a cross-section of a schoolgirl, there’s the additional option of a pouch on the same theme.

This one also comes in the red, yellow and green neckties for each of the girls’ years, and spans 22 centimeters by 15 centimeters (8.7 inches by 5.9 inches). The smart cut of the pouch emphasizes the sailor suit collar of the uniform, so it looks mega cute even to those who don’t recognize the anime school it’s supposed to represent.

▼ It’s the perfect size to store all of my Chika Takami keychains in!

You can grab one of these cute pouches for 3,500 yen plus tax.

All of the bags and pouches are lined with a gorgeous print relating to the characters from that year, so you can have fun admiring them from both outside and inside.

▼ Pictured here are the symbols for third years Dia Kurosawa, Kanan Matsuura and Mari Ohara, plus the Aqours logo.

While you can pre-order the bags from the Tokyo Otaku Mode website, the bags aren’t planned to ship until October. So you can grab one in good time for Winter Comiket 2018, or use it as a prop in a ghoulish Halloween costume.

The fan response to these fashion items has been positive, with Twitter users boasting about their pre-orders for a preferred year’s pouch and bag.

▼ “Got my order in for the new sailor rucksack and pouch… the first year version, of course! October is so far away…”

Still, some fans are scratching their heads at the Love Live! Sunshine!! merchandising department. It wasn’t too long ago that they came out with the Nippers, after all.

▼ “Most puzzling merch decisions from Love Live! Sunshine!!: 1. The Nipper 2. Sailor Suit Bags 3. ????”

The fact that from behind it could look like you’re carrying away a teenager hasn’t escaped the fans’ scrutiny either. One user commented: “I have no idea where I’m meant to use this” while another chimed in with, “if you guys wear these rucksacks you’re just gonna look like criminals”.

One of the primary messages of Love Live! Sunshine!! is school pride and doing your best in the face of adversity, so stick it to those online commenters by wearing your schoolgirl backpack without fear! Or just go with the pouch. As Aqours sing themselves, “Daisuki dattara Daijoubu!” (“It’s okay if you love it!”) and if you really do love it, you’d better hurry and pre-order before a Buso Liver buys up all the stock for their next suit of armor!

Source: Otakomu.jp, Tokyo Otaku Mode
Images: Tokyo Otaku Mode



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AI security cameras coming to stores in Japan, reduce shoplifting by 40 percent

Now, if a clerk asks to help you, it probably means you’ve been acting shady.

Artificial intelligence continues to seep into our daily lives, touching up photos, developing snacks, and imitating school girls online. Now, AI has been tasked with tackling a crime as old as retail itself: shoplifting.

A recent study by telecom giant NTT found that Japanese businesses lose around 400 billion yen (US$3.7B) annually through five-fingered discounts. No store is immune to this larceny, except perhaps anvil shops, and technology has yet to come up with a strong enough solution to effectively combat it, until now.

NTT and tech company Earth Eyes have joined up to create AI Guardman (“guardman” is the common Japanese-English word for “security guard”). This is a new type of security camera that is backed up with an AI system that can detect behaviors attributed to shoplifters.

The way it works is simple. The camera watches the store interior and identifies all the humans inside as they walk about. AI Guardman is aware of the different techniques commonly used by shoplifters in different types of stores, such as looking for blindspots in supermarkets or constantly checking one’s surroundings in bookstores.

If one shopper exhibits motions and postures typical of a shoplifter in that type of store, an alert will be sent to the clerk’s smartphone telling them the location and a photo of the suspect. 

The clerk then goes over to the person and asks, “Good day! Can I help you find something today?” The friendly approach is effective enough at spooking potential sticky-fingers out of their thefts, but can also lead to genuine customer service in the event the AI screwed up.

Using their smartphone, the clerk logs whether or not they confronted the suspect, and the results are shared by both the store and AI Guardman system to improve their security. This way, even if shoplifters get wise to the system and begin to change their tactics, the AI can automatically keep up with them.

Preliminary tests appear to be effective as well. Trials have been conducted by major retailers such as electronics megastore Bic Camera, drug store Kirindo, and sporting goods store Xebio. One particular store reported a drop in shoplifting losses from 3.5 million yen ($32,000) per yer to 2 million ($18,000), and it is expected that the system will get stronger as it is used.

Before you consider buying one to protect your own personal valuables from pilfering siblings, the AI Guardman costs a fair amount. One camera, which has a range of 13 meters (43 feet) across 144 degree swath, costs 238,000 yen ($2,200) up front. Then, there’s the 4,500 yen ($41) per camera monthly fee for usage of the cloud data it produces.

Considering the potential savings in lost merchandise, it would be a small price to pay for businesses, however. It will also be interesting to see if humans can actually adapt to this AI and find more creative ways to steal, or if such technology will actually be the end of shoplifting as we know it.

On a personal level it will also be interesting. Sometimes, when I’m lingering extra long at the convenience store because I can’t decide if I want a curry donut or melon bread, I wonder if I’m looking particularly shopliftery. Now, when someone asks if they can help me, I’ll know for sure. Thanks AI!

Source: NTT, IT Media, Hachima Kiko
Top image: YouTube/Earth Eyes
Insert image: @Press (1, 2)



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Japanese woman adorably/accidentally tells workplace supplier about her massive poop

Those aren’t hearts the penguin is dancing around.

One of the keys to being happy is letting yourself celebrate the small victories in life. For example, yesterday I was cleaning my house and my glasses slipped off my face, and when I managed to catch them before they fell to the ground, I actually told myself “Nice catch, Casey” out loud.

So I’m not going to cast aspersions on Japanese Twitter user @gomachannel0 for the unusual content of a slightly braggadocios message she sent out through popular messaging app Line. Unfortunately, instead of sending it to her husband as she intended, she sent it to a salesman at one of her company’s suppliers.

▼ @gomachannel0’s Line message

Given the cute dancing penguin surrounded by hearts, you might think @gomachannel0 had crafted a lovey-dovey note telling her husband that she wuvs him just soooo much. But no, the actual content of her message was:

“I took a big dump. THIS MUCH poop came out.”

Yep, for the purposes of this particular missive, those aren’t supposed to be hearts surrounding the penguin, but multiple clumpy turds.

Making things worse is that @gomachannel0 says that her dealings with this salesman are completely professional, with the two routinely communicating with one another in keigo, the extra-polite and polished form of the Japanese language. @gomachannel0 didn’t even notice she’d mistakenly sent her poop announcement to him until two hours later, when the salesman finally and formally responded with:

“I understand the situation.”

@gomachannel0’s tale prompted a mixture of laughs, sympathy, and questions. She explained that while she doesn’t suffer from constipation, she and her husband inform each other of each and every one of their bowel movements (a practice instigated by her husband that she goes along with, suggesting that she’s an extremely accommodating life partner). But while some commenters worried that the startlingly intimate nature of her Line message might get her in trouble with her boss, @gomachannel0 told them no to fret, since she’s actually her company’s president.

So while her next conversation about ordering office supplies is probably going to be a little awkward, @gomachannel0 is in no danger of losing her job. Because in the end, owning your own company means you can be as crazy as you want.

Source: Twitter/@gomachannel0 via Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Twitter/@gomachannel0



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Ever struggled to get the last piece of confectionery out of a packet? Twitter may have the key

Japanese Twitter user’s methods work just as well (or not) with Hi-Chew as with any other kind of recalcitrant sweet or candy.

It can sometimes be all too easy to imagine that we human beings are masters of all that we survey. With a few unfortunate exceptions, we have little to fear from natural predators, and having mastered flame and tool, we are all too susceptible to hubris. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there are little things that remind us that for all our physical prowess and mental ingenuity, we can still be powerless, and one such example is the last sweet or candy in a tube or packet, lurking there unwilling to be prised from its cocoon. “Ha!” it seems to scream, “what good are your opposable thumbs now?” until you resort to ripping the packaging away, the sugary goodness clouded, tainted, by the bitter taste of defeat and humiliation.

▼ Haichu is an example of one such offending article, here in the new limited-edition pineapple flavour.


Luckily, one Japanese Twitter with even more free time than the person who wrote the paragraph above, may have the solution for those wanting to get their hands on that elusive last sweet. The confectionery in question is Haichuu, to give it its Japanese name, also sold and made in the United States as Hi-Chew. The pieces of the Morinaga-produced, chewy, usually fruit-flavoured goodness are each individually wrapped, and sealed up in a decidedly snug tubular packet. While the first few pieces gladly come tumbling out, the final piece is as hard to retrieve as the last cough sweet in a packet that’s been in your pocket for too long. Twitter user @wakegi9315, however, believes they have the way to lure it out, and have produced an illustrated guide to help humanity overcome this latest hurdle.

▼ Click on the embed for an enlarged image of the handy guide.

@wakegi9315 writes how it’s always a pain in the proverbial to get that last piece of Haichuu out of the packet but that they have kindly prepared a lecture introducing a three-step method that might be able to help to avoid tearing everything to shreds:

‘Method 1: First, gently ask it some questions and wait for it to come out of its own volition. The last piece is always very shy but saying things like, “it’s all right, don’t be scared” will calm the poor thing down and ease its anxiety. The most important thing is to respect its independence.

Method 2: Tempt the Haichuu out with a Haichuu of the opposite sex [presumably with a generous application of lipstick and a dress, a la Warner Bros. cartoons]. As the last of its kind, the Haichuu has a particularly strong survival instinct so as cruel as it is, we have to carefully tempt it out of hiding.

Method 3: If, for some reason, neither of the methods should work, just tear it open [presumably with a stream of profanity].’

▼ Twitter user @usyanbal123 demonstrates the usual way to get to that last piece: ripping and tearing and generally making a mess.

You might wonder why someone would go to the trouble of drawing a guide to try and help people with this problem, but clearly it’s hit a nerve with the original tweet having been retweeted more than 96,000 times and liked more than 250,000 times at the time of writing. Clearly, there are plenty of those out there who aren’t prepared to give up on a wondrous range of chewy flavours just yet.

We, on the other hand, like to pick our battles, and with so many tasty snacks out there, we follow the path of least (packet) resistance. Our Japanese language writers went a different way though, creating what is probably the world’s largest Haichuu. We’d like to see the packet that thinks it can hold on to that beast.

Source: Twitter/wakegi9315 via Hachimakiko
Featured image: Twitter/@wakegi9315
Insert image: Morinaga



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Gorgeous Chinese woman creates one of Japan’s favorite mobile games, encourages microtransactions

President of developer of Azur Lane outshines her game’s beautiful anime-style heroines.

If you were in a harsh mood, you could accuse Chinese-developed mobile game Azur Lane of blatantly trying to ride the coattails of Japanese-made smash hit Kantai Collection. Like Kantai Collection, Azur Lane’s gameplay revolves around ship-to-ship combat between historical naval vessels, each represented by a beautiful anime girl.

▼ Japanese trailer for Azur Lane

However, fans have found enough unique about Azur Lane to make it one of the most popular mobile games in Japan in the eight months it’s been available here. Now it’s poised to get yet another boost in popularity thanks to the recent revelation that the president of the game’s developer is an incredibly beautiful young woman.

Shanghai-based Manjuu is one of the two software houses responsible for Azur Lane’s development, and a recent segment on Japanese television included footage of company president Choyan Lin.

With her perfectly styled hair, expertly applied cosmetics, and fashionably coordinated outfit, Lin quickly had Japanese Twitter abuzz as many learned that they owed the hours of enjoyment that’d received from playing the warships-as-beautiful-girls game to a woman who’s quite easy on the eyes herself.

Online comments included:

“She looks like an idol singer.”
“Wait, she isn’t a model for a recruiting ad, but the company’s president?”
“Having a boss like that would definitely boost my motivation.”
“She’s cuter than any of the characters in the game.”
“So when is she going to be added as a playable character?”

Lin’s looks and disarmingly cheerful smiles even had some softening their stance on the divisive topic of in-game microtransactions.

“So if I pay for microtransactions, some of that money will go to her.”
“Our microtransactions will become her income.”

Others found themselves suddenly very interested in seeing if Manjuu is hiring, especially since the human employees share their workspace with a company kitty.

However, one level-headed individual implored the smitten to tear their eyes off Lin for a moment and turn them instead towards a comment she made during the interview, which is captured in the left photo in the tweet below, in which she’s giving a tour of the Manjuu office and says:

“This room can hold a lot of people, so this is where everyone sleeps.”

In other words, it’s apparently not at all uncommon for the workload at Manjuu to be so heavy that employees don’t even have time to go home, and instead just have to grab what shuteye they can on the office floor. But any job is a basket of good and bad points, and for some, they’d be willing to put up with a few nights on the floor if the payoff is that they get to spend their days with Lin.

Sources: Jin, LOL Moriage Kimi
Featured image: Twitter/@kanrakarakarajp
Insert images: YouTube/アズールレーン



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Japanese school’s ethics text encourages kids to “work without reward,” gets slammed online

Exasperated mom says cute animal characters are showing young students exactly what not to do in life.

Japan’s strong work ethic is one of the cornerstones of the country’s society. Regardless of how unglamorous or low-paying a job may be, there’s an expectation that you’re supposed to put adequate effort into it, and the end result is a considerate and orderly way of life.

Still, no matter how modest the reward may be, no one expects people to work without getting anything in return, right? Except for, according to Japanese Twitter user @kaasankyoha, the authors of this ethics textbook being used at her daughter’s elementary school.

The lesson shown in the photo features a cast of cute animal characters, one of whom is named Ponta. The text reads:

“Ponta and the others said, ‘Even if we don’t get any reward, we want to keep working.’

Because, after all _____.”

Students are supposed to finish the statement, but @kaasankyoha herself was baffled by the writing prompt. “Ponta!” she warned in her tweet, “You and your friends shouldn’t work for a company that doesn’t pay the workers a salary!”

Other Twitter users also voiced their objection to the book’s scenario, seeing it as the first step on the slippery slope by which working unpaid overtime is often normalized in Japanese companies.

“So they’re teaching kids to become wage slaves under the guise of ‘ethics’ now?”
“Terrifying.”
“Sounds like a story my shitty boss would write.”
“Poor kids are getting brainwashed.”

One commenter even wrote an ending to the story.

“Ponta kept working with no reward, until he met the sad fate of living a life of always being hungry because he had no money to buy food with.”

So just what kinds of responses are the book’s authors hoping for from young learners? According to the photos below, which show the teaching notes for the book, Ponta and his friends have been cleaning their town, and the moral of the lesson is that even if they’re not given any sort of direct reward, their efforts are creating a clean community that everyone can enjoy, contributing to greater happiness for Ponta and the other residents as a whole.

Considering that Ponta and his friends aren’t presented as being waste disposal professionals, it’s possible that they’re actually acting as volunteers, or that they started the project with the promise of some sort of reward that was neither monetary nor essential. This is, after all, an ethics textbook, not an economics one, and in making a scenario that young kids can wrap their heads around, some simplification is to be expected.

Perhaps the problem is the textbook’s use of the word shigoto suru, which usually refers to compensated work. Though it can also be used to indicate an unpaid endeavor (like in niwa no shigoto, “household gardening”) that’s generally its secondary definition, and so perhaps a different phrase would have better framed Ponta’s tale as an example of the importance of charitable generosity and seeing beyond your own individual benefit.

Man, ethics and language can be tricky subjects, can’t they? At least kids and their parents can expect simple questions with cut-and-dry questions in more concrete subjects, like math…or can they?

Source: Twitter/@kaasankyoha via Jin
Featured image: Twitter/@kaasankyoha



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