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Archive for April, 2009

Top-selling anti-virus face mask in Japan

author Posted by: kirin on date Apr 29th, 2009 | filed Filed under: Rambling
morse guard 300x268 Top selling anti virus face mask in Japan I hear that people are not get used to wearing face masks in spite of the fear against pandemic swine flue these days. How things in Japan?

At a moment there’s not a single nation reported infected with the flu over here, but as we are having a long national holiday season (called Golden Week, from 29 Apri. to 10 May, as for 2009. This includes Saturday & Sunday, and if we take a couple of days off in between this period, we can have as long as about 2-week holiday) we are most likely to travel abroad and there’s high possibilities Japanese tourists bring the virus back home. I’m very much scared of that. :sad:

Anyhow, we are in the culture that we wear medical masks or face masks with no hesitation at any time. So it’s quite common for Japanese people to buy wear face masks whether bird flu or swine flue are threatening us or not. We wear face masks every winter to avoid flu virus as well as not to give the cold to other people. Every spring comes people also wear them to avoid pollen because many people have pollen allergy. Hence it’s not too much to say that I see no drug store or even no convenience store like 7-eleven that does not have face masks at any time. In other words, face masks are always at hand in Japan.

So basically most of Japanese people like wearing face masks, (I personally don’t because of being uncomfortable with humid air around my face as well as hard-breathing feelings all the time!) once swine flu is reported, the stock price of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture face masks skyrocketed from the very bottom and people rush to buy face masks to stock for themselves in preparation for the day. As long as I search among the web, MORSE GUARD, unwoven fabric mask with 4 filters is most protective and effective against avian flu or swine flu, which of course is great against ordinary flu, pollen, and dust. The mask is invented by Dr. Ronald A. Morse, who used to work for the U.S Department of Defense. N95 masks are better? In fact our government recommend unwoven fabric masks rather than N95, because N95 is way too protective to breathe. It’s also said that N95 needs skills of wearing. That means if we wear it incorrect way, the performance goes down.

Well, how the things in your country? Are you, your family or friends doing good? I just hope vaccine gets ready asap and help people to soothe the panic.

Meanwhile, the face mask “MORSE GUARD” is available from here. (This is a biggest online mall in Japan, and you can buy the products from Japan by following their guidelines and instructions. Please also check this page first for how to shop and more.)


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I’ve added a new butoon, TwitThis!

author Posted by: kirin on date Apr 28th, 2009 | filed Filed under: Announcement & Info.
twitthis button Ive added a new butoon, TwitThis! I’ve added TwitThis plugin so that you can find TwitThis button at the bottom of each post & page I’ve updated. If you have an account with Twitter and find any interesting posts or pages at my site, please feel free to tweet them as you like. When you hit the button, you will be asked to enter your account info. which is exactly the same as your Twitter’s one. I’m not a frequent user of Twitter, but I do once in a while. It gives me another chance of communication between those who follow me. You can follow me from here or also from the icon at the right top area of sidebar in this blog.

That’s all. :p
It’s just a small change, only a small button, though…

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What’s -san & -chan after name?

author Posted by: kirin on date Apr 26th, 2009 | filed Filed under: Learn Japanese
whats san chan 300x212 Whats  san &  chan after name? In my previous posts, I was not kind enough to explain to you about “name + san” or “name + chan” way of expression that I used as a matter of course.

Kinako-san, for example, I used in my previous posts means adding “san” to her name in order to show her some respect. Meanwhile do you remember my little dog Pi-chan? In this case I added “chan” to her name, showing her affection and friendship.

This is a very basic rule of Japanese. We can call each other, for example, Kirin-chan when we are close friends, but Kirin-san sounds more polite and normal at school, office, or anywhere. When it comes to Kirin-sama, it is highly respected and -sama is often used by people who get paid for the service they offer. At hotels, restaurants, shops, airport, etc., where customers are called with their name followed by -sama. In hospitals however, it’s unlikely used because doctors can make living even without being modest to their patients? I don’t know. :P
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The cutest collaboration, hat & sweets deco!

author Posted by: kirin on date Apr 25th, 2009 | filed Filed under: Fashion
with kinako san and inko san 225x300 The cutest collaboration, hat & sweets deco! The other day, my friend from university invited me to this cutest exhibition of two great artists; Kinako-san a.k.a a queen of sweets decoration, who is already introcued in the handmade episode from Tokyo Kawaii TV, and Inko-san, a great knit hat designer especially good at Gothloli (Gothic & Lolita) taste. This exhibition displays Inko-san’s hats decorated by Kinako-san’s sweets decoration.

Look at the small cakes that are made of clay. They look so cute. In fact, Kinako-san publishes books on how to make these clay-made cupcakes, etc.

The hats were so unique and cute! We were allowed to try and take photos, so I took a photo of myself. (I’m not photogenic, don’t blame me, please! :oops: At this time, my friends were having a spot lesson to make small cute knitting, but I was playing alone by myself, not participating the class because I am not good at knitting, sewing, and etc. I’m not used to taking photos of myself with my moble phone camera, unlike younger generation! :lol: ) So, anyway this hat for example was interesting. It got a story and the story goes around the hat with cute decorations all over it.

This exhibition took place at ABC craft, on the 3rd basement floor at Mitsukoshi Alcot, Shinjuku (Tokyo) from 17 to 22 April 2009. We were lucky we could see both of the artists in person (and a picture with them)!

I can see these days in Japan sweets deco or decoration with bling-bling stones a.k.a decoden are so popular. ABC craft is a place to sell small parts for such decorations. I actually found so many small cute things out there. :p

this is sweets deco 225x300 The cutest collaboration, hat & sweets deco!
sweets deco books 300x225 The cutest collaboration, hat & sweets deco!
trying a soda hat 225x300 The cutest collaboration, hat & sweets deco! story hat front 225x300 The cutest collaboration, hat & sweets deco!
kinakoinko 184x300 The cutest collaboration, hat & sweets deco!
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Being in love with handmade cuteness?

author Posted by: kirin on date Apr 20th, 2009 | filed Filed under: Fashion, Tokyo Kawaii TV

★Handmade Love★
14/JAN/2009 on air

The player will show in this paragraph


What are they saying? I can tell you.

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