Bilk Goes on Sale Tomorrow!

What is Bilk?

Bilk is the combination of milk and beer and Abashiri Japan brewery begins sales of it Feburary 1st.

Bilk is described as having a fruity flavor and a distinctive after taste. No notes on whether that aftertase is good or not.

The odd mixture hopes to attract a female market who may like a fruity beer.

The creation does beg some questions- How long does a Bilk beer last? Doesn't milk go bad? Where does that fruity flavor come from?

Hopefully a Rinkya staff member will get their hands on one soon and let us know!


For more info on Japan and their love of beer:
Battle of the Beer Post


Via Mainichi News




[japan][beer][milk]
[bilk]

Japan Opens the National Art Center!

Japan's newest museum, opened on Jan 21st, will be its largest art museum.
The National Art Center will also be the largest museum in the world with no permanent collection.

The museum will only hold temporary exhibits ranging from beautiful foreign collections to the newest artists on the cutting edge.
So far the novel idea is working- the walls are booked for years to come with various exhibits.

The museum itself is a work of art, designed by Kisho Kurokawa - winning the 2006 Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award.




National Art Center



[Japan][National Art Center]
[Kisho Kurokawa][Art]

Pop'n Music Festival for Bemani's 10th Anniversary!

Konami is holding a Popn' Music festival in Harajuku on February 24th and 25th to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the first Bemani video title.

Bemani is the pioneer for music video games.
The very popular games include Beatmania, Guitar Freak, Dance Dance Revolution, Popn' Music, Drum Mania and many more.

The video games bring interactive music and dance to our homes and have garnered fans all over the world, who import some of the rare goods direct from Japan.

Pick up some of these rare goods on YJ:

Bemani
Dance Dance Revolution
Popn' Music
Konami

Image Source YJ
Popn' Music Festival Website


[Japan][Bemani]
[Dance Dance Revolution][Popn' Music]
[Komani][Beatmania]

Geisha Inspired Designs at Galliano's Show for Dior

Models were embellished with ornate fans, lanterns and made up in painted white faces and bright red lipstick to complete the Asian inspired looks of Galliano's new line for Christian Dior.

Galliano's line is the ultimate in Haute Couture- lavish, gilded outfits that cost thousands of dollars.

For those of us who cannot afford Haute Couture (essentially 95% of the world)- check out YJ for the original Kimonos, Geisha clothing, Fans and Lanterns.

Geisha Items
Christian Dior

Source

Image from Rueters

[Japan]
[Geisha]
[Christian Dior]
[John Galliano]

Be@rbrick New Releases 2007!

The Be@rbrick new releases came out Jan 24th!!!

Some of these Be@rbricks are a very limited run and will sell out quickly!

Try to get your order in and grab one at Rinkya Stores
Use the blog post as your URL and name the one you wish to order!

See our Be@rbrick Series 13 Blog Post to view past releases!
Find Rare ones on YJ from past releases! Be@rbricks on YJ

Do you collect Be@rbricks?
Have an awesome collection you want to share?
Email me at laurelNOSPAM@rinkya.com and be featured in a future collector's corner blog post!


Alexander Girard International Love Set (just in time for Valentine's Day!)



X-Girl 400%

X-Girl Strap


Licca-Chan Meets Be@rbrick


Rolling Stones Be@rbrick 100% & 400%

Rize Be@rbrick (also in Pink and Gold)

Images


[Japan]
[Be@rbrick]
[Be@rbricks]
[Kubricks]

Hello Kitty Wedding- Only in Japan!!

The Hankyu Hotel located in Japan offers a Hello Kitty Princess Wedding, complete with all the Hello Kitty accessories they can conjure up!

Princess shoe-

Hello Kitty Centerpiece-


Hello Kitty Wedding Dress!-

The male Kitty is Hello Kitty's longtime companion- Dear Daniel!

Read More of our Hello Kitty Posts:
Hello Kitty Laptop/Ipod
Hello Kitty Robot Receptionist
Most Expensive Hello Kitty?
Hello Kitty Contest Winner for Weirdest Item on YJ


Hankyu Hotel

Hello Kitty On YJ


[Hello Kitty][Japan]

Cute Cord Organizer From Japan!

I work on a laptop 24-7 and these little suckers come in handy!

Audorable little cord holders wrap up your cords-
Dogs use their tails, elephants use their trunks, lizards their tongues! Pandas and ducks oh my!

Only $10.00 on BuyRinkya! Order Here



[Japan][Computer]

Miyazaki's Next Film to Be Announced in March!

Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki mentioned Miyazaki's next film will be revealed this March at a press conference last week!!

Miyazaki is renowned for his popular anime works and beautifully produced stories. Animation cels from the movies are revered amongst collectors and the one of the kind cels can sell for $$$$. Other collector items from the various movies include anything from pens to stuffed animals to clothing.

Miyazaki's works include Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. Spirited Away was the first anime film to win an Oscar (Best Animated Feature)

We look forward to more news about the release and will update the blog with more information as it is received.

For Miyazaki's works on YJ:


Miyazaki ALL
Kiki's Delivery Service
Princess Mononoke
Totoro
Howl's Moving Castle
Nausicca
Porco Rosso
Studio Ghibli


More Studio Ghibli Info

Via Nausicaa Net



[Japan][Kiki's Delivery Service][ Spirited Away]
[My Neighbor Totoro][Miyazaki][Studio Ghibli]

Attention Bloggers & Collectors!!

Have a Japan blog or collector's item webpage?

Let us know and we will showcase our favorites here.

Tell us a bit about yourself and send your link to laurelNOSPAM@rinkya.com !!


Make us laugh, show off your collection, spread the word about your writings, anything you want!

Sound Pets Stitch- The Cutest Stich Ever!

This Stitch dances and jams to music!
Hook him up to your Ipod or MP3 player and watch him go!
He is so cute I just want to hug him!

Can also be used as just a speaker for your Ipod/MP3 Player.

Also comes in Mickey Mouse, Donald the Duck and a cute little teddy bear.
I hope to see some more Disney characters too- perhaps Pooh Bear or Nemo?

Fill out the store order form here to get one! Use our blog URL as the store link!

Also popular on YJ auctions:

Lilo & Stitch
Mickey Mouse
Donald Duck
Disney



[Japan]
[Disney]
[Mickey Mouse]
[SoundPets]
[Ipod]
[Lilo & Stitch]

Mega Mac Run Extended in Japan!

We announced the launch of the Mega Mac just four days ago HERE

McDonald's predicted sales of 1.68 million burgers over the weekend, but in fact, that amount was nearly double-- with 3.32 million sold!!

McDonald's has extended the sale of the Mega Mac to meet demand, the exact date has not been confirmed yet.

McDonald's Toys are a popular collector item in Japan and can be found here

Image




[Japan]
[McDonald's]
[Mega Mac]
[Big Mac]

Letters from Iwo Jima wins Golden Globe!

"Letters from Iwo Jima" won Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes this past Monday night. The film has already won many accolades- and the Golden Globes win paves the way for an Oscar.

The film relates the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II from the viewpoint of the Japanese who fought it.

"Letters from Iwo Jima" is Clint Eastwood's companion film to his successful "Flags of Our Fathers" released earlier this year.

"Flags of Our Fathers" documents the same battle, but told through the viewpoint of the Americans. The bloody, costly battle produced the iconic image of the men raising the American flag at the end of the battle.

In commeration of the movie, BuyRinkya has placed here
many Japanese war antiques for sale- including uniforms and medals.

YJ Auctions also has a variety of War Antiques:
World War I
World War II

Official Letters from Iwo Jima Page

Official Flags From Our Fathers Page


[Japan]
[Clint Eastwood]
[Flags of our Fathers]
[Letters from Iwo Jima]
[Golden Globes]

Shiny, Happy, Gold PSP!

Coming February 22nd ONLY to Japan is the newest color in the Playstation Portable System lineup- Champagne Gold.
Sony has no plans to release the color elsewhere- so add some bling and pick up one via Rinkya here!

The Gold PSP and the bundle pack version are both available for preorder on Rinkya!

It will be sold alone and also bundled with Monster Hunter 2 for a limited run (Only 22,222 bundles will be sold).
The Monster Hunter 2 bundle comes with the game, a Monster Hunter pouch, some skins, and cleaner.

Source
Via





[Japan]
[PSP]
[Playstation Portable System]
[Video Games]

Mega Mac Hits Japan!

McDonald's begins sale of the Mega Mac today thru Feb 4th.

Advertised as "Beef heaven", you may want to take caution as that is surely where you will end up if you eat too many of these things:

The Mega Mac has FOUR beef patties, cheese and the rest of the goodies of a normal big mac.
The Mega Mac weighs in at 754 calories and 45.9 grams of fat and sells for a mere 350 yen.

Via CalorieLab

Image




[Japan]
[McDonald's]
[Mega Mac]
[Big Mac]

Japan Battle of the Beers!

Kirin and Asahi have both issued press releases for their plans for 2007 and bringing beer to the world!

Kirin will release a new beer- Kirin The Gold
Described as a "a new mainstream beer that offers to the younger generation of beer drinkers the pleasure of drinking good beer"
This marks the first new beer for the company in 17 years.

Asahi plans to redesign and launch a tremendous marketing campaign for their Super Dry beer, to commermorate the beer's 20th year anniversary.

Asahi currently leads the market in domestic beer, and Kirin's new release will be sure to offer competition.

Kirin
Asahi

Want a robot to carry your beer to you?

Check out our Super Beer Walker pictured here.


Beer Walker on YJ
Asahi Collectibles on YJ
Kirin Collectibles on YJ


[Robot]

[Japan Gadgets]
[Asahi]

[Kirin]

Be@rbrick Series 13 New Release!

Over the holidays, Be@rbrick released its Series 13 figures.
The secret figures are available direct from Japan
here

Secret figures include: Staple 10th Anniversary, Genevieve Guackler, NORT and Balzac Be@rbricks

Pick yours up by ordering through Rinkya Stores

Don't wait for eBay and order them now!

Rinkya will order any item from a Japan online store and send direct to you.
Or try your luck on YJ and search for older Be@rbricks as well: Be@rbricks


[Japan]
[Be@rbrick]
[Be@rbricks]
[Kubricks]

Odor Eating Shirts!

The Japanese are not fans of strong scented perfumes and colognes and prefer natural smells; however, they also lack strong body odors that are offensive.

Japanese men, in fact, at one time were exempt from military service if they had a strong body odor and given medical papers to have the problem looked at. (Source)

A survey of young women in Japan, however, challenged this notion when they agreed salaryman, indeed, smell- and not good. And wish something could be done about it.

The Ginza Yamagata men's clothing store may have solved the problem with their popular item- Men's Shirts with built in deodorant! The shirts contain a secret ingredient that conceals and can eliminate body odor completely. Also available are underwear and vests.

The body odor fighting shirts came on the heels of the discovery of Nonenal- a smell unique to anyone over the age of 40- and described as "a greasy, grassy odor" that increases with age. *_*

Shiseido, the cosmetic giant, has a line of products that masks the smell of Nonenal and are quite popular in Japan. The line includes deodarant, shampoos and lotions.

Shiseido Products:

Shiseido Shampoo
Shiseido Cologne
Shiseido Perfume for Women

Source


[Japan]
[Shiseido]

Gothic Lolita Fukubukuro On YJ!

Per request, here is a list of the popular Gothic Lolita brands of Lucky Bags currently on YJ!!
Pick up your favorite designer on YJ fast, before the lucky bags disappear! Comment if you want more links added!


Baby the Stars Shine Bright

Angelic Pretty

H.NAOTO

Metamorphose

Please remember to check the size if neccesary!

To order the Gothic Lolita Bible subscription for customizations and designs, order direct here: BuyRinkya


[Japan]
[Gothic Lolita]
[H. Naoto]
[Baby the Stars Shine Bright]
[Angelic Pretty]
[Metamorphose]

Diamond Cell Phone Strap- Only 100 Million Yen!

Japanese jewelers Diaddict have created a stunning diamond embellished cell phone strap.
The expensive phone strap can be viewed at the Nihombashi department store of Takashimaya Co.

The strap is adorned with a multitude of colors- yellow, blue, pink, white (clear), for a total of 9.09 carats!!



For more affordable cell phone straps, check out YJ for your favorites:
Cell Phone Straps

YJ has straps ranging from your favorite Anime, Fashion Designers, Beer and Food Items, and of course the Unko (Poop) Strap found in our prior post

Source


[Japan]
[Cell Phone Straps]
[Diamond]

Gothic Designer H. NAOTO and Dollfie Collaboration!

Dolls Party 16 took place in Japan over the holidays, on December 24th, much to the joy of Dollfie lovers!!
Long lines in Japan held eager fans waiting for the newest arrivals and collaborations.
Lotteries took place in the US, so that some US fans could obtain the coveted Dollfies.

The Gothic Designer H. NAOTO collaborated with Volks to create beautiful designs and clothing.

Check out Volks DollParty homepage for the after report, more pictures and more Doll releases: Volks

Find these items on YJ:
Dolls Party 16
Super Dollfies
H. NAOTO

Super Dollfie & H. NAOTO designs

Images from Volks




[Japan]
[Super Dollfies]
[H. NAOTO]
[Dolls Party 16]
[Volks]

Awesome Fashion Lucky Bags on YJ!!

We discussed Japan's Lucky Bag's in an earlier post here

Trolling YJ, we have found some awesome fashion lucky bags.
Try your luck and bid on your favorite designers!!

DSQUARED Current Listing

Tommy Hilfiger Current Listing

Hysteric Glamour Current Listing

H. Naoto Current Listing

Theory Current Listing

Furla Current Listing

Vivienne Westwood Current Listing

Juicy Couture Current Listing

Please remember to check the size if neccesary for the Lucky Bag. Many more designers are available on YJ, search for your favorites here: Lucky Bags

Store orders for Fukubukuro: Lucky Bags


[Grab Bag]
[Japan]
[New year]

Happy New Year!!!!!

Happy New Year from all of us at Rinkya!!! ^_^