What’s with all the fashion-related posts lately? Not too sure myself, but Sankei Sports has another photo gallery up. This one is Aoi Miyazaki modeling a few kimonos at a show for Suzunoya:
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More fashion show photos from the Kobe Collection! This time it’s Aya Ueto, wearing a pink dress for Emanuel Ungaro. According to the story, it seems she’ll be seen in that outfit during the first episode of her upcoming drama “Celeb to Daihinmin,” in which she plays the celebrity daughter of a rich family (apparently inspired by Paris Hilton).
Here are the shots:
Images taken from Sankei Sports.
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On Saturday, Juri Ueno participated in the Kobe Collection 2008 Fall-Winter as a model, showing everyone quite a different side from her usual characters in dramas. I have to say she looks good, but I barely recognized her at first! This was her first time as a show model, and she was a secret guest at the end for the Emanuel Ungaro brand. Take a look:
Speaking of Juri-chan, I just finished watching Rainbow Song (Niji no Megami), which starred her and Hayato Ichihara. I liked it well enough, but it’s not your typical tearjerker. I won’t go into an in-depth review, but I’ll just say that the whole chapter with Ichihara and that nutso girlfriend kind of threw me off, and the movie-within-the-movie was also unexpected. Actually, it was my second dose of sadness today, since I watched the movie right after Heavenly Forest, with Hiroshi Tamaki and Aoi Miyazaki. (That’s why the poll today is about happy and sad endings!)
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For all you people in love with Google Street: Japan Probe notes that the service is now available for several major areas of Japan. Now you can take a virtual tour of the country without leaving your room!
I haven’t had a chance to really explore it yet, but I hope to get a gallery together over the weekend. Post any interesting landmarks you find!
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Yeah, I know this blog has fallen by the wayside. I still have some plans for it, but I’ve been too busy with work, so everything for the site has been pushed back quite a bit. Especially due to Anime Expo, I’m still catching up with news from as far back as last month.
In the meantime, here are some pictures from the event:
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I recently began thinking about this year’s Anime Expo. After the awesome lineup of musical guests last year (S.K.I.N., Anna Tsuchiya, ORESKABAND, Halko Momoi, Aya Hirano/Yuko Goto/Minori Chihara, Chiaki Ishikawa), I imagine expectations are pretty high for the upcoming guest list, and I’m curious to see who they’ll invite this time around.
Anyway, I was driving to work earlier today when Traveling started playing on my iPod, and a thought hit me - Utada! Could we possibly get Utada at AX?
Seriously, the timing’s perfect! While Hikki hasn’t been known for anime-related music (Kingdom Hearts was the closest), 2007 brought us Beautiful World, the theme song for the highly-anticipated Evangelion 1.0, connecting her to one of the most recognized anime franchises in history. And you can bet that AX will try to get the movie screened during the convention, which would make things even more awesome - imagine getting to watch Evangelion and see Utada perform the song live at the same event!
It’s also been reported since last year that Utada is considering a second English album. If so, AX could easily be tied in to any promotional efforts (if the album’s coming sooner), or just used as a gauge for the album’s reception (if it’s coming later). Either way, Utada benefits too.
Of course, I can’t pretend I know how much it would cost to get her to come to AX, or how much money AX has available, but based on last year’s lineup, it seems that they can somehow manage to get some pretty big names. With the right connections, you never know…
I know I’m being really optimistic here, but if there was ever a time to get Utada at an anime convention, it would be now. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
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Well, I was planning on getting some work done today, but I spent the whole day celebrating my birthday and the birthday of my adorable one-year-old nephew. It was fun, but unfortunately for all of you, that means the news is late.
In fact, expect a lot of the news this week to be about a day or so late, since I’ve got a bunch of stuff going on and my schedule isn’t clear until Friday. I’ll do my best to keep the important stuff timely, but minor stories will likely get pushed back.
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A couple weeks ago, I mentioned this article on Pink Tentacle about the 60 nominees for Jiyu Kokuminsha’s annual “buzzword of the year.” Now, the winning words have been announced.
Personally, I don’t think the winners were as interesting as in previous years, but then again, I don’t really care which one actually gets chosen as the buzzword of the year - the whole list is what interests me. In any case, two buzzwords won the award this time:
Something needs to be done (about Miyazaki) [(Miyazaki o) do gen ka sen to ikan - （宮崎を）どげんかせんといかん]: When outlining his policy to the prefectural assembly, Miyazaki governor-elect Hideo Higashikokubaru (a.k.a. Sonomanma Higashi) peppered his speech with Miyazaki dialect, saying things like “Do gen ka sen to ikan” (”something needs to be done”) in reference to the need to escape from the old ball and chain that has become the root of stagnation.
Hanikami Oji [hanikami ouji - ハニカミ王子]: Hanikami Oji (”bashful prince”) is the nickname given to Ryo Ishikawa, who at age 15 became the youngest man ever to win a regular tournament on the Japanese golf tour.
(Explanations taken from the Pink Tentacle article.)
As you can see, the first is taken from a political speech about the state of the Miyazaki prefecture, and the second is a just another variant of the “Hankachi Oji” (”handkerchief prince,” referring to then-Waseda pitcher Yuki Saito) buzzword that popped up last year (but lost out to the buzzwords “Ina Bauer” and “hinkaku”).
The Top 10 list included some more popular phrases (explanations again taken from Pink Tentacle):
Pension (that disappeared) [(kieta) nenkin - （消えた）年金)]: Pensions topped the headlines after a government blunder resulted in the disappearance of at least 50 million public pension account records, shortchanging an unknown number of retirees. Oops.
Sonna no kankei nee [そんなの関係ねぇ]: Sonna no kankei nee (”It doesn’t matter!”) is the catchphrase from comedian Yoshio Kojima’s wildly famous routine. Thanks to YouTube, Kojima’s popularity has spread quickly across the globe.
Dondake~ [どんだけぇ～]: This catch-all exclamation of surprise/disbelief/reproach arose from the Shinjuku 2-chome gay community and was popularized by Ikko, a popular transvestite TV personality. Dondake~ can be used in a wide variety of situations, sort of like “Really?!” or “No way!” Usually said with a slight rising intonation and seasoned with whiny sarcasm.
The power of insensitivity [donkanryoku - 鈍感力]: Made popular by Donkanryoku (The Power of Insensitivity), a best-selling book written by popular novelist Junichi Watanabe, this expression means something like “thick skin” and refers to the ability to live in a relaxed manner without getting worked up over the little things.
Disguised beef (disguised meat) [minchi gisou (gisou shokuniku)]: The Hokkaido-based Meat Hope Co. admitted to adding pork and chicken to its ground beef products to cut production costs. (*Note: This has been expanded to shokuhin gisou - 食品偽装 - to cover all of the food-related scandals this year.)
Net cafe refugees [net cafe nanmin - ネットカフェ難民]: “Net cafe refugees” is an expression used by the Japanese media to refer to the growing number of day laborers who spend their nights in 24-hour internet cafe booths. The Japan Cafe Complex Association (JCCA) opposes the media’s use of the word “refugee” to describe these important customers. A government survey this year estimates there are about 5,400 net cafe refugees in Japan.
Mega- (giant meals) [O-gui (mega-____ ) - 大食い（メガ○○）]: Over the past year, a number of mega-sized meals and high-calorie food products have appeared on the market, such as cup ramen, pudding, ice cream and hamburgers. Some say this trend is a reaction against the recent health food boom, while others see it is as a sign of economic recovery.
Extremely hot day [moushobi - 猛暑日]: “Extremely hot day,” an expression officially adopted by the Meteorological Agency, refers to days in which the high temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). The number of extremely hot days has increased significantly over the past 10 years, causing heat strokes and other health problems. In 2007, the towns of Tajimi (Gifu prefecture) and Kumagaya (Saitama prefecture) experienced record highs of 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
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I just saw the video for Tokyo Jihen’s “Senko Shojo,” and it makes me feel all tingly inside.
The world definitely needs more Tokyo Jihen/Shiina Ringo.
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