Awesome Japanese

When Sony released the PS3 Slim, they definitely cut down on the bulk of the original.The guys at Japan’s Hori have decided to make the console “portable”-(ish) with this 720p PS3 display.

Tiny two-wheelers pimped out to the next level, these scooters break boundaries with bodies and seats as wide as those found in choppers, huge tires, and loud designs and color schemes.

The 59-foot Gundam may have been dismantled, but it’ll get a second lease on life (and some Minovsky particles) in July: it’ll be rebuilt outside Shizuoka station with a beam saber.

It’s a pity that Porter’s Sanforized Denim Wallets are Japan-only, because we’d love to cop a few to match our dark-wash jeans; each features a white canvas interior and snaps shut.

The recording is a bit grating on the ears, but we appreciate that Yoshi Akai literally lets you build music: his 3-channel, 8-step sequencer uses LEGO bricks instead of synthesizer keys.

We’ve known from the get-go of Yakuza 3’s emphasis on cinematics and storytelling, but this Characters Trailer gives us the low-down on the game’s good, the bad, and the really bad.

With Yakuza 3 due out 3/9/10, this Early Influences doc gives us a glimpse into the mind of producer Toshihiro Nagoshi; he discusses facial details, cinematics and Japanese style.

Molten metal speaks louder than words in this Japanese Debut Teaser for Armored Core 5; due out late 2010, this iteration will shift the focus from speed to violent mech-on-mech action.

Whether or not you believe that this Bad Apple video was made without photo-editing, it’s still a pretty badass stop-motion piece; it was created with 6,566 printouts captured on a webcam.

Get a double-dose of Akira Kurosawa’s legendary samurai-meets-spaghetti western flicks with the Yojimbo & Sanjuro two-pack; it’s an HD 1080p 2.35:1 transfer with Dolby Digital 3.0.

Sorry, Ash, you’re not the first to try and catch ’em all, and you won’t be the last: Squirtle and gang go really old school with this collection of Pokemon as traditional Japanese art.

We could do without the over-emphatic narrator, but this Combat System Walkthrough for White Knight Chronicles is actually a decent overview of the game’s UI, mechanics, and gameplay.

Earthy both in terms of design and eco-friendliness, Design Hara’s HTPC is a mini-ITX unit with recyclable cypress or rose wood chassis; it also uses 1/3 the energy of desktop computers.

There’s no gameplay footage in this trailer for Fist of the North Star, but we’re still plenty excited: the Dynasty Warriors-style game is due out next year on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Ultraman: The Complete Series packs all 39 episodes of the legendary 1960s live-action TV show into a budget-priced 4-disc set; it includes both Japanese and English audio and subtitles.

Literally listen to ear-splitting music with these Japanese-made in-ear Crazy Earphones, which are available in painful (katana, arrows) and quirky (mushrooms, ears) flavors.