Japan
What’s your favorite rice ball?
What’s your favorite rice ball?
In Takae, Okinawa, protesters were outnumbered by construction workers as work begins on more U.S helipads, despite residents’ opposition.
In Takae, Okinawa, protesters were outnumbered by construction workers as work begins on more U.S helipads, despite residents’ opposition. 
Peace Philosophy Centre: Takae in Crisis 高江の危機的状況
peacephilosophy.blogspot.com
Karzai Family Political Ties Shielded Bank in Afghanistan
President Hamid Karzai, his brother and another prominent set of brothers struck agreements that have publicly backfired.
Funny Band Names 2
by craig
Last year I posted a list of some of the amusing band names I’d come across while scouring the livehouse schedules. Here are a bunch more I’ve found since then:
ANTI-MANNER KICK COURSE
BAD FROG COMPANY
big fat duck
boots on avalanche
the calendar of unlucky days
THE CAT LOVES STRAWBERRIES
THE CATTLEFISH FRITTER
Catalog of Personal faults
ChocoChopBear
clumsy psycho arts
concentrate on popping
CUNTANUS
Cynical“Ping-Pong”Fotography
DASH ONESELF AGAiNST MONSTER
Dear.Goriller
DEATHABALONE
despair inside buffalo
donkey vegetable voxxx!!!
Dood Omnivorous Players
Emily likes tennis
ENERGISH GOLF
FECES KID
hot-hotter-hottest
husband is funny isn’t it
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mississippi Duck Festival
MontecarloScrapFlamingo
Morbid Sloth
mother fall asleep
Nice band.
Nine Innocent Material
Nonsense Family Revolution
One’s second son
THE PARANOID BEE
POPCORN MONSTER
Prairie Prayer
the pretty good lookings
RED SLOPE HUG BAND
THE ROOT RATS
Sanitation Facilities
Selfish apple
she might be swimmer
SHOVE-IT
SLOBBERY HOT CAKES
smash funny stone
SMELLY SOX
Squirrel Scratch
TASMANIAN BABY
useless chairkicker loves dawn.
Wellness in mouth of ditch
Zombie Blasphemy
$16 CHINESE MAN
What are your favourites?
Some of the spellings may not be the bands’ original intentions, but this is how they appeared on the livehouse schedules.
Koenji Awa Odori dancers
The famous Koenji Awa Odori festival is, bar the customary drinking and eating, about three things: dancing, dancing and, erm, dancing. However, the only trouble is, with well over a million visitors over the space of two evenings, seeing said dancing is often easier said than done. And taking photos of it is even trickier. Especially so if too much time is spent dabbling in the aforementioned drinking and eating.
So, whilst I did manage to bag at least a few shots of the main attraction, covering the young.
Not so young.
And the two of them in tandem.
Most of my captures were of those providing the accompaniment.
Which included all kinds of instruments.
And again, all kinds of ages.
But one thing is for sure: trying to get pictures with so many people there was tiring, but obviously nowhere near as tiring as actually taking part.
In North Korea, Signs Point to Key Political Conference
Workers’ Party delegates from across North Korea were converging in Pyongyang on Monday, as children and soldiers rehearsed a celebration for their country’s biggest political gathering in 30 years.
Suicide Bomber Hits Pakistani Police Station
A bomber rammed a vehicle into a police station on Monday, killing 19 people and injuring at least 46, according to officials.
Young Japanese Seek Second, and Third, Jobs
Declining salaries and an unstable labor market have led young Japanese to work additional jobs.
Afghan Governor Killed by Taliban
A district governor from Baghlan Province was assassinated by Taliban insurgents on Monday night in the north of Afghanistan, officials said.
World Briefing | Asia: China: Redevelopment Plan Scrapped for Historic Beijing Neighborhood
Beijing officials have shelved a much-attacked plan to redevelop the Gulou Drum Tower neighborhood into a tourist spot with high-end stores.
Australian Labor Party to Form New Government
Two independent lawmakers said they will support Prime Minister Julia Gillard, ending weeks of political impasse.
A University and an Exchange in Singapore Join Forces to Educate Traders
Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Exchange on Tuesday opened the Center for Financial Education, promoting it as Asia’s first live trading lab within a university.
Blast Strikes Pakistani Police Area
A powerful blast ripped through a residential compound for police officials in Pakistan’s restive northwest, killing at least 18 people.
Chinese Officials Call for Less Friction With U.S.
Two White House officials were involved in a series of meetings in Beijing that were aimed at repairing a dialogue that has been strained.
Watch Japanese TV streamed live for free
Learning Japanese? Miss living in Japan? Want to see the latest Japanese TV shows?
Wish you could watch Japanese TV live, streamed right to your desktop for free? Your prayers have been…
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Don’t fight it, feel it
At least that’s one possible way of trying to deal with the Japanese summer. However, when it really is that sizzling, and the cicadas won’t cease and be silent,
then there’s sometimes nothing to be done but to succumb and simply suffer.
Seated and seemingly satisfied scarecrow
Some mannequins, somehow, appear more than a little melancholy, but despite being a bit dirty and somewhat dishevelled, this fella, with his slightly shaded seat and sun hat,
looks largely content with his lot in life.
A weekend in the water
With the summer being as insufferably hot as it has been, and indeed somewhat surprisingly still is, getting away from the urban sprawl for a little while and doing what one wants to is wonderful.
Especially so in fact if maybe, just maybe, there is a higher degree of enjoying that rarest of beasts, a breeze.
Cute as a button barriers
In a land where kawaii is unquestionably king, it sort of makes sense that normally bland roadside barriers should be given that all important cute conversion.
And, as a bit of a bonus, the inclusion of a cheeky little wink for added chirpiness.
Moehaku 2010 full of itasha, itansha and itachari
Earlier this year, the first annual Moehaku 萌え博 2010 show was held at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Tokyo. Moehaku is an exhibition of itasha decorated cars. Itasha is a Japanese term for…
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More Takeshi Gundan TV clips
More Takeshi Gundan TV clips as requested by several readers. If you can’t take crazy late night TV game shows featuring wacky Japanese comedians (the Takeshi Corps たけし軍団 ), don’t watch…
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Micro Bikini Dance with Mai and Rina
More video clips by request for the original Micro Bikini Dance マイクロビキニダンス video that sparked the boom in videos featuring sexy Japanese models dancing around in their bikinis. The following clips…
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Star Wars Hagoromo Sea Chicken Tuna TV Commercial 1978
Hagoromo Foods はごろもフーズ is a large producer of canned food in Japan and best known for its tuna known in Japan as “sea chicken” 缶詰 シーチキン. In 1978, they produced an unauthorized Star Wars…
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Japanese banana doorstopper by Takahasi Ohba
Here’s a cutesy designed doorstopper from Japanese company H-concept in the shape of a banana peel. Designed by Takahasi Ohba, the D-110-RP Banana Doorstopper バナナドアストッパー is made of silicone…
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Becky sells japanese randoseru school bags
Japanese elementary school children traditionally carry a box-shaped hard backpack called “randoseru” ランドセル. In the old days, the colors of the randoseru were generally black for boys…
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Chisato Morishita 森下千里 Mokkori モッコリ video
Funny Japanese TV show creation Mokkori もっこり surprises sexy Japanese gravure idol Chisato Morishita 森下 千里 in the gym. The most interesting part is from 1:40 until 2:20.
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Japanese mochi is yummy
If you live in Japan, you’ll know that Japanese mochi 餅 is a tasty little rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a…
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Yaskawa Kun ice cream making robot in Tokyosummerland Japan
If you were stuck in Tokyo this summer, you probably visited Tokyo Summerland with your Japanese girlfriend to try and cool down. Besides taking a dip in the pool you probably also bought her ice…
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Film Binge: Yukinojo Henge
I recently got a copy of A Hundred Years of Japanese Film by Donald Richie, so I have been looking up the titles mentioned in the book and checking out my university library to see what I can get.
The library is awesome. They have so many of the films listed… I’m sure I’m going to be busy for a while watching Japanese flicks. Richie’s book is great because it mentions films that go back, well, 100 years, all the way up to modern movies including Nobody Knows, and even includes Animation such as Princess Mononoke.
The other night I saw Revenge of a Kabuki Actor, the Japanese title is「雪之丞変化」(yukinojyo henge).
I’ll admit, I need to watch this again. Maybe it’s cause it’s super hot these days, maybe it’s cause I was out all day playing tour guide with my parents, or maybe I can blame jetlag from just returning from China… but I fell asleep a few times while watching this movie. It’s shameful I know.
So, to get a good feel for the quality of this movie, please read the reviews of 雪之丞変化 on Amazon.com. They’re raving. I’ll be revisiting this movie again later.
I think next I’ll be checking out Avalon by Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame. Animation. Actoin. Sci-fi. This should be more suitable for my slightly tired mind at the moment.
The best thing about this Donald Riche book is that it has given me instant access to a quality list of Japanese movies, many of which I didn’t know existed. If you need some tips on how to break out of your usual anime, Miyazaki Hayao, and Kurosawa Akira media loop, be sure to check it out.
Happy viewing!
- Harvey