From eBay to dirt malls, swap meets and yard sales coast to coast, you see these 5-8″ ceramic vessels sold as both “Tiki mugs” (from joints like Benihana) and “bamboo planters” quite a bit. Not sure which description is accurate? … Continued
Thanks to Roy Ware of the awesome Black Sun blog for sending me this: Yes, shinobi cheezy-poofs! Getting my ass down to Little Tokyo grocers right f’n now! Meanwhile, check out Roy’s great feature on Gekko Kamen up right now, … Continued
My pal Lili Chin is the bomb! She bought these for me on a recent vacation to Japan. Obviously “inspired by” Sonny Chiba’s Hattori Hanzo in Kage no Gundan. I was shocked when these actually fit my gaijin yeti feet. … Continued
The much-missed masters of cheap toy lines Remco released a He-Man-sized line of martial arts action figures from 1984-86 called Secret of the Ninja. Three sets were done in ’86 that included VHS tapes to ‘play along to’ – and … Continued
Shinobi salt and pepper shakers via Patina:
VN’s attracted a lot of fans worldwide, and I get all sorts of compliments on the site from very happy readers. Despite all that love, none of you seem especially concerned that I do NOT own an antique armored Japanese … Continued
Have owned this “sugoroku” illustrated game board for years but am finally discovering the actual nature of it. Essentially a Japanese version of Chutes and Ladders, these thin paper game boards have been produced for centuries in one form or … Continued
Scored a few more menko cards, these feature some surprisingly ON-model art and photo collage work.
Dunno when the original art for these was done – either a century ago or last month to emulate a century ago – but you can still pick them up in grocery stores and gift shops in any big city’s … Continued