Category: Japan

Godzilla: It Came From Japan (part 2)

As the Godzilla series continued, the monster has been both a hero and an anti-hero. Godzilla is one of the most recognizable aspects of Japanese popular culture worldwide. To this day, Godzilla remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre. Godzilla has been considered a filmographic metaphor for the United States. The earliest Godzilla films, especially the original Gojira, attempted to portray Godzilla as a frightening, nuclear monster. Godzilla represented the fears of many Japanese of a repeat of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Peanuts are a Japanese twin sister singing group. They are Ito Emi (Ito Hideyo) and Ito Yumi (Ito Tsukiko). The twins were born in Nagoya on April 1, 1941. They are probably most known internationally for their appearances in the Mothra and Godzilla movies of the 1960s, in which they appeared as fairies called shobijin (small beauties) who had telepathic communication with Mothra. Although of course now played by different actresses, the characters have continued to appear in the more recent films as well.

Homer Simpson Sparkles as Mr. Sparkle

After church Homer [Simpson] takes Bart and Lisa to the Springfield dump, where they find a box of Japanese dishwasher detergent known as Mr. Sparkle. The face on the box of detergent greatly resembles Homer. Homer, disturbed by the box of Mr. Sparkle, contacts the manufacturer in Japan for information. He is sent a promotional video for Mr. Sparkle, which consists of a bizarre TV commercial. At the end of the video, the mascot is shown to be a result of a joint venture between two large Japanese conglomerates whose mascots, a fish and light bulb, merge together to form Mr. Sparkle.

Samurai Cockroach Killer

大日本除虫菊株式会社（だいにほんじょちゅうぎくかぶしきがいしゃ、Dainihon Jochugiku Co.,Ltd.）は、殺虫剤など衛生薬品の製造・販売を行っている日本の日用品メーカー。

Translation: Dainihon Jochugiku Corporation manufactures and sells insecticide and medicine.

Cockroaches (or simply “roaches”) are insects of the Order Blattodea. The name of the order is derived from the Latin word for “cockroach,” blatta. There are roughly 3,490 species in six families. Cockroaches exist worldwide, with the exception of the polar regions.

Samurai (侍, Samurai) was a term for the military nobility in pre-industrial Japan. The word “samurai” is derived from the archaic Japanese verb “samorau”, changed to “saburau”, meaning “to serve”; a samurai is the servant of a lord.