Tokyo Opening Ceremonies: What Will They Do?

Source: BBC News

Now that Tokyo has won the 2020 Olympics Summer Games, what will they do to "wow" the worldwide audience during the opening (and closing) ceremonies?

Last year, during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, James Bond 007 parachuted with the Queen from a helicopter. What will Japan do to top that?

Will they do something with a manga or anime character? Will it involve Hello Kitty? Will Godzilla peer over the stadium? Will Mothra or Rodan do a fly-by?

Whatever they do, they should involve a pop-culture icon that is well-known to the rest of the world for it to have an impact.

Any suggestions?

21 Themed Hotel Rooms In Japan You Won't Believe

Above, you won't find this giant Gundam in any hotel room, but
there are Gundam-themed rooms for visitors to stay in.

RocketNews24 has an article on 21 different themed hotel rooms. They range from Gundam to Hello Kitty to Kamen Rider. And then some!

They start it with:

When choosing a place to stay while traveling, most people look for very specific things in hotels: location, price, continental breakfasts that are open until ten so that lazy people like us can still get some food. 

But others want a little bit more out of the their hotel, like intricately detailed themed rooms! 

Here are some of the best themed hotel rooms Japan has to offer! (Note: links to Japanese-language websites.)

To see the rooms, go here.

Japan Tourism Tidbits

Above, the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Here's a couple of tidbits on Japan tourism.

The first comes from the Daily Yomiuri:

The government is hoping to attract more tourists by seizing the chance to promote Japan at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Tokyo from Tuesday. 

With the public and private sector acting together, the government aims to showcase the attractiveness of the nation's culture through various kinds of events. 

It also hopes such activities will lead to hosting more international meetings in the future, at a time when many countries have campaigns to attract similar gatherings.

The government also aims to restore the image of Japan, which was damaged following the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent disasters. 

The second comes from The Star Online:

ARGUABLY one of the most “committed” group of fans must be those devoted to Hello Kitty! If you are one of them, this will be real good news: it’s now possible to have the feline as your virtual tour guide when you visit Japan. 

The “Visit Japan with HELLO KITTY” application is now available at visitjapanapp.jp for iPhone users (downloadable till March 31, 2013). 

Once you’ve got it on your device, the kawaii (cute) feline – in a collection of more than 50 regional Hello Kitty in different themes, costumes or backgrounds – will guide you around Japan. As the application is also equipped with camera functions, visitors can take photos “with her” at the various places of attractions.

Could a "Hello Godzilla" application be far behind?  Until then, fans will have to settle for the ebook edition of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

Hot Topic Pop-Culture Store

Above, "Big Bang Theory" t-shirts.  Had I had the extra cash on me, I'd have bought one of these.

Today, I had an errand to do for my roomie.  I had to pick up some suspenders for her to wear for her new job.

The pop-culture store Hot Topic had what she wanted and I went to the local store at the Topanga Plaza mall in Woodland Hills.  Prior to this, I never heard of Hot Topic.  So I went there to pick up the item and found a really cool store.

I spotted goods for a number of pop-culture characters, including Superman, Batman, Hello Kitty and the television show, The Big Bang Theory.

According to Hot Topic's website:

The Birth of the Loudest Store in the Mall

It all started in 1988. A ton of teen retail accessory stores littered the malls, but there weren't any cool, music-inspired accessory destinations for both guys and girls. Enter Hot Topic. 

As 1990 rolled around, adding apparel seemed like a no-brainer, so we brought in the ultimate music fan essential: band T-shirts. Customers flipped when they walked into Hot Topic stores and saw Bauhaus, The Cure, TSOL, and Depeche Mode rock tees. Within a year, we offered about 50 different band titles, along with rock-inspired clothing lines like Lip Service and Serious. As we continued to expand, we discovered that our customers were also drawn to the underground cartoon, cult movie, and comic book scenes, so we brought the world of South Park, Care Bears, Superman, SpongeBob and tons of other pop icons right to them!   

In 1996, with about 60 teen retail stores, Hot Topic became a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ stock exchange, under the symbol HOTT.  

Today, Hot Topic offers band-related apparel and accessories, licensed merchandise, and fashion apparel and accessories, which you can find at more than 600 stores (check out our store locator  to find the location nearest you!) and online at www.hottopic.com. Nearly 25 years since our founding, you can still feel the passion for music and pop culture in everything we do: in our stores, at HQ, in our distribution centers and in our products. 

Hot Topic is a part of Hot Topic, Inc., based in Los Angeles, Calif. Read more about our company here.  

 Unfortunately, Hot Topic had nothing kaiju-related.  Still, it was a fun place to browse around in.  

Check them out!

30 Must-Have Souvenirs From Japan

Above, Asakusa, Tokyo's Nakamise Street is a popular place to buy many of the souvenirs on the list.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan Today has posted an article on the 30 Must-have Souvenirs From Japan."

Most of them are the obvious (yukatas, hand fans, chopsticks, Japanese traditional dolls) to the not-so-obvious (tanuki statue, noren, sampuru (Japanese food plastic replicas), Noh mask replicas).  Any of the items on the list would be a great addition to your souvenir collection or as gifts for friends and family members back home.

Unfortunately, neither Godzilla, Ultraman or Hello Kitty items made the list.

To read the full article and the list go here.