For a look at some of the Chinese New Year lanterns up in Hong Kong at the moment, check out these cartoon themed ones at Shatin Central Park in the New Territories.

More on Chinese New Year Cartoon Lanterns in Hong Kong

Technorati Tags: cartoon lanterns, Chinese lanterns, Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year lanterns, Hong Kong, New Territories, Year of the Tiger

If you’re still reeling from the previous post Largest Pokémon Collection Record broken by British Girl, then you’ll probably love this traditional Japanese art piece featuring Pokémon. We think this is pretty cool and done very well and to get a closer look at the full piece, you should check out this page.

Via Kotaku

Technorati Tags: Japan, Japanese, Japanese artist, Pokemon, traditional Japanese art

The BBC currently has a nice little audio slideshow about some of the lives of people who make a living on Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

Check it out at Life on the water

Technorati Tags: culture, floating market, Mekong Delta, shopping, Vietnam

CNN’s Asia travel guide, CNNGo, published their lists for the top hot people in Asia to watch. There are a total of 135 mentioned for you to pore over with all coming from East Asia and also some from India.

The list is a mixture of creative personalities and business people and anything in between so there’s likely to be an entry that will spark your interests. CNNGo starts with a selection of 39 people across the region and then provide separate lists for each country as follows:

39 Hot People in Asia

Tokyo Hot List: 20 People to Watch
Hong Kong: 20 People to Watch
Shanghai: 20 People to Watch
Singapore: 20 People to Watch
Bangkok: 20 People to Watch

Found via 88 Bar, they also posted a link to an entertaining listing of the HOTTEST people on the internet in China.

Technorati Tags: CNN, CNNGo, hot list, people list, hot people in Asia

Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, and video games. For any single male Otaku, this could be their ideal, fantasy date…

This is humour of course, in case anyone takes this seriously. Although there do seem to be accounts of this online somewhere.

Photo from the Daily Picdump

Technorati Tags: culture, humour, Japan, Otaku

A classic, but still compelling viewing as these “pushers” attempt to squash even more people into a busy train in Japan!

Technorati Tags: culture, Japan, Japanese subway, subway squash

Product designer Fumie Shibata has created a new concept for a luxury capsule hotel. Opening in Kyoto next month, each capsule will have its own computerised lighting system (by Panasonic!) and high thread count sheets as well as minimalist capsules, lockers, showers and a communal lounge.

Well, we’ve never stayed in one but should have during our visit to Tokyo so we’ve no idea how the luxury compares. But do you really sleep in such tiny boxes? Worse than coffins!

From TokyoMango

Technorati Tags: capsule hotels, culture, Fumie Shibata, Japan, Kyoto, luxury capsule hotel, Panasonic

Manga artist Shigeru Mizuki created an illustrated guide featuring a superb collection of cutaway diagrams showing the anatomy of 85 traditional monsters from Japanese folklore. Here are two of them below. Click the link to see more and descriptions of what they do!

Anatomy of Japanese Folk Monsters

Technorati Tags: culture, design, illustrated guide, illustration, Japan, Japanese folklore, monsters, Shigeru Mizuki

The NY Public Library has scans of an 1804 book from China that shows 22 engravings depicting punishment methods. The vintage illustration is lovely even though the subject matter isn’t.

You get the gruesome methods such as lime being used to burn eyes and fingers being tortured as well as the hamstringing above.

There’s also the close confinement punishment, which might drive the prisoner mad, but at least they keep their bits intact.

Then there’s the slightly comical ear-twisting, though sure, the person being inflicted probably wouldn’t find it so funny.

See all 22 on the NYPL Digital Gallery

Via BoingBoing

Technorati Tags: China, China torture, culture, NY Public Library, punishment methods

Cute poses abound in east-asian portrait photos and this mockumentary charts the evolution of the peace sign…

Via Irish Born Chinese

Technorati Tags: culture, cute poses, mockumentary, photo posing