My wife and I have sort of given each other the J-bug over the past year or so. No, I’m not oversharing about some strictly-inside-voice stuff, I’m talking about being absolutely gonzo for all things Japan. Maybe not ALL things, but you get me. I think.

Where my love for Japanese culture tends to manifest itself in the ‘toy-monster’ and ‘weird-but-still-cute porn’ categories, hers—of course!—focuses on shit like hello kitty and tea parties. Which, I have to admit, is still pretty cool (Chococat in the house!).

Enter the hime gyaru trend, Japan’s answer to American chicks calling themselves harajuku girls. Apparently, for a small (read: large) fee, you can doll yourself up like a, ahem, doll-slash-princess and not even be slutty about it. It’s pretty amazing, really: just when you think it can’t get any weirder, it does. And it’s still one of those things that’s so much more awesome over there than it ever would be over here.

- Hateball