In Japan, you don't see a lot of hair - apart from on top of the head or blocking up the plug hole.

There are few moustaches, and if someone has a beard it's usually a fake one bought from a novelty shop. Excessive hair seems to be a big no-no.

For women in particular, a hairy arm could be a cause of embarrassment. Two hairy arms would be twice as bad.

Anti-hair manufacturers across the nation are constantly bringing out new products to keep the bristles at bay.

But now it seems like the definitive product (another one) is finally here. It's the no-no shaver. The first no refers to no hair. The second no refers, reassuringly, to no pain.

The no-no shaver was featured on a recent TV infomercial. It went on for a good hour. There was hair all over the place.


Finally, a hair remover that doesn't hurt like hell.


The shaver incorporates burning technology which essentially frazzles your follicles and melts your hair, leaving a burnt-hair odour to confirm that the job's done. And apparently it doesn't hurt a jot.

The infomercial went to extraordinary lengths to demonstrate the no-pain factor by showing how painful other methods of hair extraction can be.

Three unsuspecting souls with suitably hairy haunches were hauled in off the street and forced to volunteer for a test using the no-no shaver. They made it sound like pain would not be involved.

But within minutes of their hirsute legs being thrust before the cameras, it was clear that a high level of discomfort (ie. pain) was central to the show, with one of the women soon suffering audible pain.....

One was given the no-no shaver. Another was given a good old-fashioned bloodletting razor and finally, thrust into the hand of the woman who drew the short straw was little more than a pair of pliers. Plucking hell! Wasn't it obvious these weren't going to be the best method of hair removal? Yes, it was obvious, but the infomercial makers wanted to film it nonetheless.


1 - the no-pain shaver. 2 - the bloody razor. 3 - the plucking pliers


The poor plucker on the far right looks like she might be regretting her decision to "have a bit of fun" by volunteering for the experiment....



"3....2.....1....shave!"


The plucker is off camera, although she can be heard. Screaming.


Then, just as you weren't expecting it, they showed a close-up of the plucker at work.




It all seemed rather unnecessary. And she could be heard yelling one word....





Meanwhile, the other two collected their hair in a large bowl.


A big bowl for all the hair.


Not surprisingly, the no-no shaver came out the winner.




As the plucker was carted off to hospital, the infomercial concluded that the no-no shaver was by far the most efficient and least painful way to remove hair.

The ad closed with some shots of a model shaving her hairless body....



...from her legs up to her arms and beyond....



It was a wonderfully pain-free end to a painful-looking infomercial.

If you go down to the bus terminal today,
You're sure of a big surprise.

If you go down to the bus terminal today,
You'd better go in disguise.

For every bear that ever there was,
Will not gather there for certain because,
Today's the day a bear will be gunned down in a souvenir shop.

See it gaily gad about,
And make the tourists scream and shout....

Sadly, the bear involved in the fracas in Gifu prefecture at the weekend bought it.

Full report here. It was shot dead as it entered a souvenir shop. It seems a bit harsh when it was probably only going in there to purchase a Hello Kitty key ring.

The incident serves as a reminder that bears do occasionally come down from the mountains in search of souvenirs.

However, open your eyes a little and you can see them everywhere. Here's one I spotted outside a Lawson recently...


A bear wearing a nice pair of shoes.



A sloth of bears lying in wait for the driver to return...





Open-back trucks are a popular meeting place for bears (and dogs) in the city...





This one was happy enough to pose for the camera...


...before trying to eat it.


And this one was simply lounging about outside a shop, happily shouting abuse at passers-by....

When friends return from a trip to Thailand, they talk of many things. They talk of the spicy food; they talk of the full moon parties of which they remember nothing; and they talk of the ladyboys.

To the best of my knowledge, a ladyboy is a boy that wants to be a girl, or possibly a girl that was a boy, even though particular appendages may still be in place. It's quite possible that the term ladyboy covers everyone from a lad with a moustache who calls himself Sue, to a former lad who now has ladybumps the size of small planets, with his middle wicket having recently been removed by a team of crack surgeons, so to speak.

In a small city a stone's throw from Osaka, it's a slightly different story. Here, you'll find the boyladies.

The Takarazuka Revue Company is a theatrical troupe, and a wildly popular one at that, especially among women. Real women, that is.

And what's more, the performers in the troupe are all women. This is where the boylady bit comes in. With no men to play the roles of men, the ladies have to don Y-fronts and beards and do the job for them. And they do it with aplomb.

Below: Some members of the Takarazuka Revue Company.


There are no male members in the Takarazuka Revue Company, both literally and figuratively speaking.




It's not certain how they deal with a scene that involves a high degree of romantic entanglement, but a fair few tickets are bought by people keen to find out...



The troupe has been going since 1913 and productions have included Guys and Dolls, Me and My Girl, and Carry On Up The Khyber.



Singin' in the Rain




Police Academy III




Terminator 2: Judgment Day


Walk down any street in Osaka and you'll see posters for their upcoming production, The Rose of Versaille.

It's about a girl brought up as a man to become her father's successor. At first the girl goes along with the whole idea, but she later realises that her true love is a bloke, at which point she decides to live as a lady, which is what she is - a plot perfect for the Takarazuka treatment.





The storyline certainly got my exciter going.

People are forever saying that Japan doesn't have much space, but it's not true. There's plenty of space here. The only problem is that most of it is at an angle of 80 degrees.

The land of Japan covers 364,000 sq km, which is at least the same as the Isle of Wight and probably twice the size of Wales, so we're talking big here. But the fact is, most of it comprises mountains. As a result, the cities, built on the flat bits, can be pretty tightly packed - so in places like Osaka, there's not a great deal of green to be seen.

More often than not, a house is built without a garden, front or back. The front door leads straight onto the road (there are few pavements), which means you can never walk out of your house backwards. This is annoying if that's the kind of thing you like to do.

However, the people of Osaka are a determined bunch, and the mere fact that they have no garden will certainly not stop them from having a garden.

So take a stroll around the city's backstreets and before long you're bound to stumble across what has become known as the road garden....


Here, beer crates from the izakaya next door are put to good use.


Sometimes a great deal of time and effort is put into these landscaped masterpieces...




...while other times....


"Bish, bash, bosh and we got ourselves a garden."


They certainly bring a bit of colour and character to what would otherwise be a....er...road.




Here's one which is borderline bonkers...


More road jungle than road garden.


....whereas the creator of this road garden has taken a more minimalist approach....


Plant pots that will still be there the next morning.