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I got quite a kick out of this press conference feating Ultraman and his Ultra brothers.

Found via zaeega.com.

Hard to go wrong with a cute puppy in a commercial! The above spot was done for Hokuren Pet Foods in the 80s.

Is it me or does the model from this 1979 snack commercial for Happy Turn remind me of Roller Girl from the film Boogie Nights?

Shown above is a commercial featuring 70s J-Pop sensation Telepathy-Love, one of the many acts that rose up after the success of Pink Lady. Below is a fun album cover featuring the duo:

Album cover found via Kimberly Lindbergs, check out her cool sites: cinebeats.com, peppermintkisskiss.com and jsound.blogsome.com. I also got a kick out of her art and photography site.

This ultra cute video was shot by NHK in Sichuan Province, China. I wish I had a baby Panda as a pet...

The above commercial stars Japanese comedian Miyuki Torii — I just love how she's talking to a Black Jack (a well known Tezuka manga character) cardboard cut out. And as with all clever advertising I have no idea what they're selling...

Shown above is an episode of Saku Saku from a while ago which featured Sailor Moon as a guest, well not the animated one but an actress playing an incredible simulation. Being a talk show I never have any idea what's going on, but for some reason I can't help but keep watching (they always seem to have quite a bit of fun). Speaking of Sailor Moon, it seems like there will be a live action version of the show. But for your immediate entertainmenthere is part two of our faux Sailor Moon interview on Saku Saku:

I'm not 100% sure where this video clip is from, but it seems to be a parody of the long running Kamen Rider TV series (some of which came to the United States as the Power Rangers). I just can't get enough of the Muppetesque characters in the skit...

Warning: The above video might be slightly NSFW (well depending on where you work). As soon as I watched the clip I was struck by just how surreal it was — Miki Komori (who's an adult video star from Japan) seems to be wearing underwear on her head and her hair style looks very "avant-garde" to say the least. The video looks like a Saturday Night Live parody of something, but rest assured this is an actual series of films:

"Kekkō Kamen (けっこう仮面 Kekkō Kamen) is an adult rated manga and anime series from Japanese creator Go Nagai. The series is about the misadventures of a student named Takahashi Mayumi who attends a boarding school called "Toenail of Satan's Spartan Institute of Higher Education". Takahashi's only protection is from a mysterious figure known as Kekkō Kamen.

This is Denki Groove's recent music video, "Mononoke Dance". Denki Groove is a band who released their first album in 1990. They are the key band bridging the Technopop and club music. Key member Takkyu Ishino has been working on his somewhat more techno styled solo albums in recent years so proper Denki Groove releases have been rare in the last few years.

It's funny I always associated the above song with Sheena Easton selling out to some national gym chain in the 80s, little did I know the same song was also used to sell a shochu drink in Japan!

This is a series of short surrealistic (but slightly silly) interstitial films from 1999 by the popular Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. The videos were shown in-between music videos on their DVD collection Chronicle. What's odd is that even though this video is quite avant-garde, their music is much more conventional J-Pop.

This is a commercial for Softbank in Japan — the talking dog is cute, no? It's for the White Plan Family Discount for a cell phone service. I like the shot where the dog is hanging out at home after class...

The anime series Patalliro! ran from 1982 until 1983 and is interesting because it was based on a manga by Mineo Maya which focused on bishounen (i.e. pretty boys). The show was more comedy than anything else, but I think it's a good early example of Yaoi, which are manga focused on male gay relationships marketed to the ladies. There's a good article on the show here by Mary Kennard. It was funny for me to come across that article because back in the early 80s I knew Mary, as she could be spotted at meetings of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization in New York City which I went to all of the time.

Check out those those tacky 80s gaucho pants which are featured in the above vintage Pocky ad!

Shown above is a funny skit starring Japanese comedian Ken Shimura from the the Fuji TV series "Ken Shimura's Lordship like Vaca". I got a real kick out of this skit which is based on Bjork's swan costume:

Shown above is a vintage commercial for Lotte's Koala's March cookies:

Shown above is an animated vintage commercial for Fujiya Peko cakes. In her kimono Peko looks cuter than Minky Momo ever did, in fact I'd say it's high time she lands her own anime show!

This classic 1995 Japanese commercial for Takara Sake features Madonna in traditional garb. It holds up pretty well, no?

This is such a cute report from Japanese TV! It features a bunch of Red Pandas playing in the snow at the Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, Japan.

The advert above is for the Japanese moving company The0123 and features none other than anime cat icon Doraemon. Meow!

Found via akihabaranews.com.

It's hard to say if this video is funny or just slightly cruel? The clip is from the Japanese comedy show Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! (which is Downtown's "Not An Errand Boy!" in English).

Found via Mixx.

Because seven o'clock is rice time! I love this catchy commercial from Japan...

You'd think that Christmas beer from Kirin would come in a glass bottle rather than a can?! Well at least it's not egg nog flavored...

Aragaki Yui stars in the above athletic themed Pocky commercial. Of course I like her previous Pocky commercial better (because it has an electro clash beat that much more easy to dance along with):

This collection of Japanese video game commercials is amazing! It's like getting a compressed overview of the history of video games. Here's part two:

Shown above is a cute ad for the Japanese paint company Asahipen from the early 80s.

Shown above is an old Nissin Foods commercial featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger enjoying a healthy helping of instant ramen after a musical work out. It's funny no matter how much ramen I eat I never get muscles that look like that...

Shown above are the opening titles to Yukan Club, a new Japanese comedy revolving around six wealthy high school students who solve mysteries and in their free time, and amuse themselves lavishly while doing it. The live action show is based on a manga that dates back to 1983 by Yukari Ichijo, which was then turned into an anime OVA title in 1991.

I love the music for this cute advert for Puccho, also check out their website too (the silly Flash animations are worth checking out):

The Japanese commercial above is for Mitsuya Cider (which tastes like Sprite but is less suit) and stars none other than Yui Aragaki.

You can see another Aragaki commercial here...

This romantic commercial for DoCoMo stars Aoi Yuu and her fanboy boyfriend who dreams of attacking Gozilla while dressed up as a Super Sentai character. And here's a cute video on the making of the commercial:

Shown above is Nicholas Cage in a somewhat silly Japanese pachinko TV commercial. I may date myself but I still associate Cage with the 1983 film Valley Girl which had an amazing new wave soundtrack.

Found via JapanSugoi.

Chiaki Kuriyama is best known to me for her role as Gogo Yubari from the film Kill Bill, but shown above is a recent ad she did for Glico Ice Cream in Japan. The commercial is sweet, but as a fanboy I wish it had some martial arts action!

Shown above is a Japanese TV commercial for Kamen Rider bubble gum cards from the 70s.

Shown above is a cute clip from Shimura Zoo showing a monkey and an English bulldog in an exercise class.

Shown above is a clip from a 1966 episode Ultra Q titled "Challenge From The Year 2020". Ultra Q was a sci-fi/horror tv series which was like a cross between the Twilight Zone and the Toho monster movies. When this came out it was the most hight budget tv series being produced.

Shown above is a 1979 National camera commercial starring singer Aki Hitomi and a few of her fanboys. There's something very innocent about this commercial, it's not like the slick stuff you see today.

Shown above is a 70s Japanese commercial for a Kamen Rider toy.

The above commercial stars Japanese "super idol" Aya Ueto, who got her start ten years ago by winning the All-Japan National Young Beauty contest.

I like this commercial for the rainbow blend, but my favorite Boss coffee flavor will always be "Cafe au Lait"...

The commercial above is for Toyota in Japan...

Special thanks to James Kaposztas (the man who invented the anime music video genre) for finding this gem for me!

This computer animated snowman commercial (perfect for August viewing!) stars up-and-coming model Urahama Alisa.

The above commercial for Oreo Cookies in Japan stars actress Narumi Riko who got her first beak with the tv series Trick which was sort of like X-Files meets Scooby-Doo.

Shown above is silly commercial that showcases young romance and Pote-Long, which is a potato based snack from Japan produced by Morinaga & Co.

This commercial is like Rocky, but with beer drinking penguins...

Shown above are some very surreaistic animated commercials for Kizakura sake from 1959 to 1980.

This is a very silly commercial for Go Go Tea starring Aya Matsuura, who's J-pop arists and actress associated with the Hello! Project. Aya's favorite food is cookie dough ice cream.

Yummy yummy bread chips! Dogs jumping rope! A Harry Potter chess game! And mega teriyaki burgers! What else could you want? Although I think the animated stop motion soy bean commercial my favorite.

Shown above a Japanese news reader pays a visit to a maid cafe. I had no idea that a guy could get a manicure at a Japanese maid cafe! I love how the maids are willing to go on tv but those poor otaku customers don't want to be seen on camera. By the way I'm not 100% sure but I think the cafe they are showing is the Nagomi cafe, you can read their blog here (if you know Japanese):

blog.home-maid.bz

Show above is episode one of Gottu Five Rangers was a Japanese TV comedy program from back in 1990's. They make fun of the Power Rangers called Goranger (Go means 5), but what I love about the comedy here is that you don't need to be a Power Rangers expert or even speak Japanese to get a kick out of the humor here.

I found the above video via Japan Probe:

"A group of bengal tiger cubs recently born at a zoo in Seoul have made TV news in Japan (for being cute). Don’t worry folks, they still aren’t old enough to eat meat, so those little chicks aren’t going to be eaten!"

...I feel so cheated about my childhood when I watch that video! How come I never got to play with baby tigers when I was growing up? Just look at those kids, when they grow up they'll think that it's perfectly normal to play with baby tigers. The closest I got to that as a child was watching the Adventures of Waldo Kitty.

I love the creepy goth look of the animated commercial above which features a nice contrasting upbeat pop tune underneath it. The commercials is for Mode Gakuen which is a vocational school in Japan for fashion, makeup, hair, graphic, and interior design. I wonder if they have courses in designing goth lolita couture?

Shown above is a commercial for Pocky which features characters from the anime show Raki Suta (Lucky Star). Pretty catchy tune, no?

A slice of cheesecake heaven from Japan:

The commercial stars Yuko Takeuchi who got her big break in 1999 with NHK's television series Asuka. She also starred in Heaven's Bookstore a 2004 film about a struggling classical pianist who is sent to heaven to work in a bookstore. Here's her official website:

stardust.co.jp/rooms/yuko/

I got a kick out of seeing the guy dressed up as Tarantino!

Found via JapanProbe.com.

The above video from Japanese TV is a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into designing a plastic Mobile Suit Gundam model.

Found via JapanProbe.com.

This latest Pocky commercial features the talents of Aya Matsuura, Yukie Nakama, Ishihara Satomi, and Kou Shibasaki:

Here are some silly milk commercials from Japan, I love the lion wrestling in the first one:

Here are translations of the commercials:

Commercial 1:
Boy 1: Wow, you really like milk, don't you?
Boy 2: Milk makes you strong dude.
Boy 1: Makes you strong...[Begins to fantasize]

Commercial 2:
Girl 1: Wow, you sure are drinking a lot of milk.
Girl 2: Milk makes you beautiful
Girl 1: Makes you beautiful...(start]

Commercial 3:
Same, but "milk improves your concentration"
Last line: Why don't we get on with the class?

Found via Adrift In the Happy Hills.

This new funky goth lolita commercial stars Japanese singer/songwriter Ringo Shiina and is for a health drink called "Kibun Tounyuu":

Here's some background info on Shiina:

"Shiina Ringo (alternately Sheena Ringo and similar spellings) somehow steps around the industry archetypes. In fact, it's hard to say who Shiina Ringo is. We've seen her as a lost teenager going against the grain, a racy nurse with an interest in her female patients, a bride with a smile as bright as the pistol she holds to her head, even a jazz-hungry flapper. With a wink and a flash of skin, Shiina Ringo has proven to be many things, but it always comes down to her incredible music.

There is no way to classify Shiina Ringo's work other than that it is her own. She flits between and merges together genres in ways never thought possible, so much that she really has a genre all of her own. It doesn't matter if it's jazz, rock, or some bizarre combination of the two, she will make it work and you will like it. She experiments with her music and her voice; she whispers, rasps, coos, and screeches her way through playful lyrics and arrangements in a way only Shiina Ringo can."

This is a cute series of commercials from Japan for a recruiting service which stars Yui Aragaki:

Here's some background info on Yui Aragaki from Wikipedia:

"Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣 Aragaki Yui, born June 11, 1988) is a Ryukyuan Japanese model, actress and seiyu. Born in Naha, Okinawa, she was nicknamed Gakky in 2001 by Ayako Enomoto. After seeing an audition notice for the junior fashion magazine nicola, Yui applied and won the Grand Prix award for the audition. After that, she became a nicomo (nicola model) and because of her fashion sense and logical personality, gained many fans. In 2004 she put her modeling in nicola on hold to expand her current career into gravure, appearing on variety shows, and acting. In 2005 she officially graduated from the magazine. The same year, she was in the TBS drama Dragon Zakura. This began her entrance into the acting world and she has gone on to appear in other shows since. Even though she has graduated from nicola, she still appears in the magazine occasionally."