Dear Readers,
I'm quite frankly scared. I feel as if the ceiling of the world has collapsed and I'm currently buried under a huge cumuli nimbus of sorrow, madness and loneliness. Sound weird to you? Well, you ain't seen nothing yet! As is customary on a Sunday morning I surf the web updating myself on the goings on in my former living place, Japan. This morning I found some stuff that was genuinely interesting, and also quite scary as well. By far the scariest, though still entirely harmless, was the discovery of a new kind of piggy bank on the market.
I'm quite frankly scared. I feel as if the ceiling of the world has collapsed and I'm currently buried under a huge cumuli nimbus of sorrow, madness and loneliness. Sound weird to you? Well, you ain't seen nothing yet! As is customary on a Sunday morning I surf the web updating myself on the goings on in my former living place, Japan. This morning I found some stuff that was genuinely interesting, and also quite scary as well. By far the scariest, though still entirely harmless, was the discovery of a new kind of piggy bank on the market.
Archive//Ikemen Bank: The Economising Tool That Really Loves You!
Quite how I missed this when it came out, I don't know, but I'm quite relieved to have discovered it now. See, psychologically speaking it takes the connection between rough economic times, hard work and romance to a new and bizarre level. Whoever invented the Ikemen Bank is a genius who deserves a big slap in the face for such audacity in conning innocent Japanese females of a gullible variety from their hard earned cash. A very hard and forceful slap at that!
To explain, the Ikemen bank is a talking money box that helps you save everyday by putting five hundred yen, (roughly three pounds in the current economy), in the box and having a handsome, and somehow masculine guy tell you he loves you from an LCD screen. Confused? You damn well should be! Thing is, this item is selling by the ton and has now become a keitai novel, (a book that one can download to your mobile if you so desire...), and soon a movie! Now, there must be something wrong with the world when a talking boyfriend piggy bank can inspire such madness. There's nothing genuinely wrong with the concept to my mind. It's just a bit odd, to say the least. And, in the Japanese sense of marketing it makes perfect sense.
To explain, the Ikemen bank is a talking money box that helps you save everyday by putting five hundred yen, (roughly three pounds in the current economy), in the box and having a handsome, and somehow masculine guy tell you he loves you from an LCD screen. Confused? You damn well should be! Thing is, this item is selling by the ton and has now become a keitai novel, (a book that one can download to your mobile if you so desire...), and soon a movie! Now, there must be something wrong with the world when a talking boyfriend piggy bank can inspire such madness. There's nothing genuinely wrong with the concept to my mind. It's just a bit odd, to say the least. And, in the Japanese sense of marketing it makes perfect sense.
Women of a certain age are always on the look out for love and love is a big business in Japan. Factor in the obsession, and I mean obsession, with saving money for those rainy days to come when no-one wants you anymore and you're onto a winner. It says that you can save up to fifty thousand yen in the box before it's all full. And, in an age where it's seen as odd to have savings, for many reasons, ( Never taught to save, no money anyway etc), it can only be a good thing.
Trying to block from my mind the odd comments I found on the website from users I can heartily recommend any of my readers who understand Japanese to take a look as this is a very Japanese object that in it's usefulness could outweigh the obviously sexist nature of the concept behind it. Man equals money. Well, in Japan that's still the case. So in the concept of it's culture that's all normal, one could say. Still, think about it! Would you save more money if a kind, sexy guy or girl was seducing from an LCD screen each morning?
I sense a court case pending...
Anyway, here's the link to the website! Yay! A clue: Click the excitable looking explosions where it says "CLICK!!!!" and you'll see either the promotional trailer utilising foreign talent , as I was once in Japan, who obviously tried very hard to look enthusiastic, and the Ikemen himself, who'll say some nice things. I'm not sure which "type" he's meant to be though, there's five types of LCD guy apparently...
Don't get too excited...
Seba.
http://seba-rashii.blogspot.com/
イケメン = ikemen = cool guy, handsome guy, good looking guy etc
Trying to block from my mind the odd comments I found on the website from users I can heartily recommend any of my readers who understand Japanese to take a look as this is a very Japanese object that in it's usefulness could outweigh the obviously sexist nature of the concept behind it. Man equals money. Well, in Japan that's still the case. So in the concept of it's culture that's all normal, one could say. Still, think about it! Would you save more money if a kind, sexy guy or girl was seducing from an LCD screen each morning?
I sense a court case pending...
Anyway, here's the link to the website! Yay! A clue: Click the excitable looking explosions where it says "CLICK!!!!" and you'll see either the promotional trailer utilising foreign talent , as I was once in Japan, who obviously tried very hard to look enthusiastic, and the Ikemen himself, who'll say some nice things. I'm not sure which "type" he's meant to be though, there's five types of LCD guy apparently...
Don't get too excited...
Seba.
http://seba-rashii.blogspot.com/
イケメン = ikemen = cool guy, handsome guy, good looking guy etc
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