Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Shi Daoxin is not your average Chinese Buddhist monk, and we’re not just talking about the hipster glasses. He uses an iPhone, takes copious pictures of himself, has a blog and a music career, and is very popular with the ladies. And he may be the new face of Chinese Buddhism. And, oh yeah, everything he does pretty much flies in the face of the traditional, almost clichéd, image of the Buddhist monk as a quiet, thoughtful, humble man of piety, poverty and peace. And as you might expect, Shi has created some controversy within China over his very public, almost flamboyant, approach to being a monk. Shi is 29 and has been a Buddhist monk since he was 17. His position is that as the world grows more modern and technological, so must Buddhism embrace technology and modernity. Who knows? Perhaps the man is right. Or perhaps this is another example of personality-cult building, a craving for celebrity from an unlikely source. It is pleasing to note that Shi donates all the proceeds from the sales of his music to charity. But as for what this unusual monk truly represents, go to the link, have a look around, and judge for yourself. (21CB – Modern Hipster Buddhist Monk)
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“It wouldn’t be a Japanese toy show without its fair share of Anpanman, Disney, Hello Kitty and all the other character favorites with their own games, toys and digital fluffiness.” Sadly, the International Tokyo Toy Show, which was held last weekend, is over. Happily, we can bring you a couple of links which highlight some of the more interesting and innovative toys and gadgets featured at the show. One of the more nifty categories of toy-slash-gadget product is the iPhone/iPad pet app category. These are apps which are more than apps, because when you buy one and activate it, your virtual pet will complain of cold and discomfort until you wrap your iPhone or iPad in a warm, fuzzy app-specific accessory. And the accessories, of course, are additional purchases, so you can immediately see the clever yet predictable business model for this type of product. Another product we want to try (which is unfairly aimed only at kids, of course) is Takara Tomy’s foaming green bubble bath slime. It’s designed to turn your average Japanese kid’s bath tub into a big, foaming, slimy experiment, which will hopefully stimulate an interest in science as well as get all those human nooks and crannies clean. It will be interesting to see how long it takes some of these products to reach the U.S. and Europe, if they ever do. But we’re really hoping we can get the green bath slime at the local Long’s or Walgreens pretty soon (CNNGo – Best of Tokyo Toys) Japan Trends has a little more coverage and lists a few more product highlights – Japan Trends Toy Report.
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