We Love K a n s a i: toys

Komono Pt.2: 'Til Geekdom Come

5:57 PM

Japan and the 'Komono': My Addiction to Clutter

2:02 AM

Exhibit A: An eraser shaped after a post box.. Just sitting on my desk..

I want to take a moment to address a serious problem in Japan. It's called the 'komono' or 小物 in kanji. It literally means small things but I think it would be better defined at knick-knacks or small-crap-you-don't-really-need.

And in Japan, it's an endemic with no end in sight. With all the Sanrio, Snoopy, One Piece, Please, Village/Vanguard, 100 yen Shops etc. propagating the habit, how can it???

And I wouldn't be a good gaijin if I didn't try to fit in just a little ;) So here's my thankfully small collection of pretty useless 'komono.'
Exhibit A: an eraser. It's also shaped after a post box, but the important thing to note is that it's a fully functional eraser. That is not being erased with. Just collecting dust.

Here's exbibit B. It maybe just look like a tiny figure of a gundam modeled after the ANA airline company, but it is, in fact, a USB drive.

I've never used it. I set it up on my desk because.. well... it's too cute to use :< Why use it when I could randomly notice it throughout the day!?
And then be distracted by something else seconds later..

Any Pirates of the Caribbean fans will recognize this bad boy..! :D
Jack Sparrow's full-not-really functioning compass. Except this is the version that.. actually doesn't work..

BUT it is cool :3

This is usually sitting on the shelf keeping the gundam company...

Disney 'komono.' There is a literally endless amount of Disney komono. From disney stores to the 100 yen shops, there's Disney for every wallet size, and I have had a taste of all spectrums. I've got hats, hands (Mascot hands to be exact), cups and saucers, phone charms, jewelry, folders, handkerchiefs, photo frames, pens and pencils. And that's only from what I would call 'komono' D:

But at least I can say..! Aside from the cup and saucer, I actually use everything else :D (the hands were for a Halloween costume :3).

Yea... I'm lame.. :x

But the guiltiest parties of all 'komono' are the UFO catchers and novelty freebies from stores.

In the case of novelty items, not only are you shopping for more things to stuff into your house, here you are being encourage to buy more than what you planned in order to attain some item that will probably only end up collecting dust in some corner of your house by the end of the week.

Sad, but true story.

There's no excuse for things from UFO catchers (though in this case, both of these were one from freebie tickets that I received after paying for something else. Endless, I say.)

Now here's the somewhat opposite (or maybe just middle?) of that spectrum. The small, easy-to-lose-or-break, item that actually serves some purpose.

This is a little rechargeable speaker that I recently picked up. I have.. an addiction. To music. Like hardcore.

If I'm on the computer, I will be listening to music. The train or bus? No doubt that I am absolutely ignoring everyone around me with music. At work..? If I'm not teaching or talking to someone, I'm probably wearing headphones. But really, it's one of the things that keeps me sane and somewhat placated in this crazy country.

Unfortunately, 2 hours before writing this Shota broke my mp3 player because he's an assho-... careless. But don't worry, it WILL be replaced. SOON.

Anyway, the speaker is eco-friendly and shaped like an apple with the stem and leaf lighting up and syncing with the music when it needs to be charged. Pure awesome.

Bottles. There are tons of stores that sell a variety of bottles and containers for God-knows-what. I actually bought a few to use at my wedding ceremony as decorations. But aside from that, I try not to decorate my house too much with these (though I do have an extensive collection at my mum's house. sorry mum~).

I actually only bought these because I wanted to try what "botanically brewed" soda. It has a 0.5% alcohol content, and I don't think they were checkin I.D.'s at the counter ::shock:: lol

Another form of 'komono' (in my opinion at least) are magazines. They don't have the longevity (and I don't think they're supposed to) of books, so they wear and tear quite easily, but that doesn't stop me from throwing them out (or recycling them) when I'm done. Nope, I just keep them. In stacks, under my desk.

What will I do with them?

Only Buddha knows, and he ain't tellin' me :/

But seeing as I have a nice collection of reading material, I've decided that it might be time for me to actually... you know... read them. These 3 will be my first, since they're the newest. And they also contribute to my longstanding interests whereas the others I got mostly for the freebies (SEE!? the freebie strikes again...). They are the magazines KERA and FRUiTS, and the ..yearly or.. somewhat yearly Tattoo girls. KERA and FRUiTS, just like they always do, providing me lots of inspiration for all these chilly months, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed in Tattoo girls.

See here? What appears to be a lovely young model sporting some tats in a photo shoot??

Well from what I can gather of the reflection on the tats *detective mode*, they're fake. And from what they showed of their photo shoot process, they do that often (if not every time??). If that's the case, I can see why they don't sell often. That's just really lame and not representational or inspirational. I can't imagine Inked ever doing some lame-o stuff like that..

But it does have info on tattoo shops in the kansai area.. so I guess it ain't all bad..? Ain't worth the 980 yen though..

They also have a collection of gravure models and talents and their messages about their fake tattooing experiences..?? I'm not sure, this is just based on quick skimming through what I read, but from what I could gather, they talked about how 'nice is was to be able to experience having a tattoo" or some shenanigans like that. Boo.

I'll definitely read through it seriously later though and share if any one is interested. :)

I got that Batman ver. of that skirt! :D

That's all for my 'komono' collection as it stands now. I know some people may think "Hey!! That's pretty small.." but granted.. I didn't show everything. PLUS I have a crap-ton more at home that my mum is threatening to throw away (NooOOoOooOO..) and then a bunch of stuff that was stolen in a previous relationship D:. But I'm proud I haven't let myself go too much. But then it's only been a year and some change. Uuuhhhgggg.. This sounds dangerous..

Anyway..! Take care everyone..! And I'd love to see your 'komono' collections sometime too♥

★Peaces★

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