TresSugar

See the Best (and Worst) Looks of Tokyo Fashion Week

BellaSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:10 -0700

If New York is about wearable style, Paris highlights couture, and London focuses on outré fashion, then Tokyo is all about the unexpected. The biggest week in Japanese fashion may not get the hype that other cities' shows do, but you'll still find plenty to inspire, stun, or confound you. Read on.

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LED Eyelashes Light Up Halloween

BellaSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:09 -0700

Straight from Japan comes the newest innovation in false eyelashes - light-up LEDs that come on and off at your will. Totally necessary and probably prohibitively expensive? Yes. Just so awesome, and I want some right now? Yup, that too.

Would You Eat Burger King's Windows 7 Whopper?

YumSugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:15:00 -0700

Last month, many of you said you'd chomp down on Red Robin's Wise Guy Burger, which includes not only a burger patty, but also mozzarella sticks and pepperoni slices. But what would you do if faced with Burger King Japan's Windows 7 Whopper?

To promote the new operating system, the limited-edition burger - available for seven days only - includes seven beef patties for the cost of ¥777 (about $8.50). Could you tackle this tall order?

Source

Should Japanese Swimmers Be Allowed to Paint Their Nails?

BellaSugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:02:33 -0700

If you're in a Tokyo pool, think twice before pulling out your nail polish. From now on, Japanese competitive swimmers could face a lifetime ban from the sport if they dye their hair or have brightly decorated nails. Why? Officials say, "We have had many recent controversies with marijuana in sport and at universities, and this is about swimming taking a stand on its own initiative." The officials also cited similar rules for the US and Australian teams.

In my seventh grade speech and debate class, though, we learned that an appeal to authority isn't the same thing as a good justification, and I'm having a hard time viewing these rules-in any country, the US included-as fair. What do you think? Is this a standard that's necessary to maintain the dignity of the sport, or is it unfairly biased against young women who want to express themselves?

Get Even More Kawaii With...Guess the Japanese Beauty Invention!

BellaSugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:00:43 -0700

There's plenty of adorable beauty here stateside, but the Japanese market continues to roll out charming, quirky products that are as useful as they are funny. Can you guess what these Japanese beauty innovations do? Take my quiz and see how Honshu-happy you are.

Question 1 of 5

What does this pacifier-like mouth insert actually do?

The Week in Geek

GeekSugar — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:15:03 -0700

This week: I discovered my new favorite BlackBerry App, Google labs made my email life a little easier, and Polaroid finally announced its comeback! Read all about these and more in this week's Week in Geek.

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Geeking Out in Japan: A Retrospective

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:50:43 -0700

My two weeks in Japan went by in a flash, but I have the memories to last a lifetime - and now I'm sharing them with you! My trip through the "Electric City" taught me a lot about gadgets in the land of the rising sun, and attending the Tokyo Game Show was one of the highlights of my trip. And even though I didn't get to see the massive Gundam statue in all its glory, I did get to check out the head at TGS. Trust me, this thing is huge! Check out all the geeky sights from one side of the city to the other in this slideshow.

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Portable Chic: My Favorite DS Cases

GeekSugar — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:50:29 -0700

Since Nintendo releases a new DS model every few years or so, I gotta keep mine covered and clean (so I can recycle or donate it later once I upgrade). But really, I just want to add a touch of style to my gaming to show off on the bus, plane, or wherever the need to play strikes. Check out a few of my favorite DS cases, including a few I just recently saw at the Tokyo Game Show in Japan!

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Japanese Solar Powered Cell Phones Stream Live TV: Lucky!

GeekSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:43:57 -0700

During my travels through Japan, I just had to stop by the Akihabara district. Known as "Electric City," it's packed with blocks and blocks of gadget shops, game arcades, and stores where you can get every kind of cable known to man. It was a geek's dream, and I was living in it.

Cruising around one shop in particular, I noticed how awesome Japanese phones are. Let me start out by saying there aren't many iPhones in Japan - they're way too expensive - and people don't seem to mind. Why? Well, on their slim but lengthy solar-charged flip phones, they can stream TV and watch movies from anywhere in the country. I couldn't help but be jealous of their advanced cell phone tech (and prices - these high tech babies were only about $150 bucks in-store). I say, forget the Solio and give me solar panels on my iPhone!

Check out more pics of the gadgets I found in the Akihabara district of Japan when you read more.

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Rent-a-Friend Business Booming in Japan

TresSugar — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:00:00 -0700

One of my favorite episodes of How I Met Your Mother involves Barney and his hired "family." The eternal playboy (played by Neil Patrick Harris) wants his mother to think he has settled down, so he pays actors to play his wife and son, concocts an elaborate backstory with details including his son's "catch phrase," and plays along for years every time he visits his mother with his fake family in tow.

Well apparently, Japan has turned this sitcom plot into a reality. Japanese rent-a-friend companies allow people to pay for pretend friends, relatives, work colleagues, or even best men! Sometimes single mothers hire fake husbands so kids stop bullying their children at school for having absent fathers!

Just like Barney's family, the "agents" are trained to know an extensive backstory. If rentees give any hint that they're aren't really the people they're pretending to be, it could mess up the clients' lives. Creepy! Apparently the need to look like everything is perfect in your life is so important in Japan that some people are willing to rent these actor-CIA-agent hybrids for about $250 per appearance.

While it might be tempting to hire a stand-in boyfriend for awkward situations, like when you're the only single girl invited to a dinner party filled with couples, this still seems strange to me. What do you think?

Photo courtesy of CBS