Ambassadors of Cute

Japan has official kawaii ambassadors - ambassadors of cute - whose job it is to represent Japan's "cute" culture and Japan's [disturbing] appreciation for all things cute. The three cultural envoys each represent a theme - Schoolgirl, Gothic Lolita and Harajuku style.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE52B4JC20090312
Here they are: http://www.neatorama.com/2009/03/13/japanese-cute-ambassadors/
The main thing that disturbs me about this is that these girls were chosen and officially appointed by the Japanese government - they're not just self- or media-proclaimed ambassadors. The Japanese government actually wants to promote these fetishized notions to the outside world...hmm, interesting. To me, this is akin to the Obama administration appointing Paris Hilton as an ambassador of American culture. Exactly - would never happen.

Only in Japan.

Once I learned about the kawaii ambassadors, surely one of the strangest things I've learned about here (and I've come across some strange stuff), I had to go research more "only in Japan" stuff. Some of the stuff I came across:

Butler cafes: http://www.cute-factor.com/blogs/love-chan/462-butlers-cafe.html
Japanese-style orgy: http://sillydrunkfish.blogspot.com/2007/08/weird-japanese-culture-gang-bang.html
Panapoly of stuff: http://damncoolpics.blogspot.com/2009/06/only-in-japan.html