Things I Love About Japan

 Random cute things. Everything in Japan is cute. The mascots are cute. The food is cute. Hell, even the little road-side construction signs are cute little animals telling you to drive safely, so it makes sense that public benches are cute too. These are squid benches, which might not ordinarily be the cutest animal ever, but Japan sure tried its best. These guys are in the train station in Hachinohe, the city about 40 minutes away from where I live, and one of the many products they're known for is... ta-dah... squid!

Engrish of the Week

This is the unfortunate band name of the guy group pictured on the cover of this magazine. They're fairly popular too. I feel like someone should tell them.....

McDonald's in Japan

McDonald's in Japan is awesome. Why, you ask? See those toys in the picture above? Those are Taiko no Tetsujin toys, and they make awesome little drum noises. They're from a music game that I happen to adore, and when I saw that they were making Happy Meal Toys out of them (which when played near a DS with the actual game software in it, would recognize the tune and add it into your game library! SO COOL!) I had to have them. Unfortunately, there were two problems with this brilliant plan: one, I'm a grown woman buying freaking Happy Meals... I wasn't sure they would even sell them to me... and two, how was I going to avoid the inevitable doubles? I didn't need two of the same drum toy, for crying out loud... Luckily for me, not only does Japanese McDonald's have no issue with selling adults Happy Meals, they let you CHOOSE YOUR TOYS! So, no doubles for me, and I only had to consume 8 Happy Meals to get a whole set. That awesomeness, combined with the fact that Japanese McDonalds take pride in their food (the product you get actually looks as good as the picture), is enough to make me a believer. I don't really like McDonald's in the States that much, but I love Japanese McDonald's.