http://idleidol.net mascots from around the world Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:18:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 http://idleidol.net/bird-watching/ http://idleidol.net/bird-watching/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:45:41 +0000 whatwhated http://idleidol.net/?p=328

Bird Watching

Pictured here is one pelican from a pair guarding a gaudy love hotel in Ikebukuro. I like the fact the two kanji used for Ikebukuro are literally pond and bag it almost sounds like an insult and somehow alludes to the seedy repuatation of the area. Ikebukuro has two love hotel districts, in one of them you can find Hotel Ell’s and the two pelicans. Most Love hotels seem to have English names in an effort to sound more exotic and exciting. The hotels list three prices (also in English): one is for ‘rest’, which can be for a couple of hours; one for a ‘stay’, which is for overnight; and lastly one for ‘service time’ or ‘free time’, a cheap alternative during off-peak hours.

The two flamingoes were found in Omotesando, Tokyo. I love the way their beaks hook over the railing.

]]> http://idleidol.net/bird-watching/feed/ 0 http://idleidol.net/park-attendants/ http://idleidol.net/park-attendants/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:24:28 +0000 whatwhated http://idleidol.net/?p=203

Tokyo Park Animals

When it came to editing Idle Idol we ended up removing a whole section called Park attendants. They didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the mascots but it was really hard to get rid of such great characters from the book.

All over Japan these creatures brighten up small parks with slides made into elephants, wobbly seat pandas and some animals just there to brighten up a small corner of fun.

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