Category: Japanese

  • Juri Ueno – A Piacere by Kentaro Shibuya – WANIBOOKS

    3 of 3!

    This time with lovely Juri Ueno~~ Rocking photos by Kentaro Shibuya. First time i find a portfolio online…

    Anyway, as the name suggests… A Piacere, is a pleasure… a delight. It’s got 50+ photographs of Juri-chan visiting Kodaira (Tokyo), Okinawa, Yokohama and Ebisu (Tokyo). Moreover, Juri’s photobook is western. LOL’ It begins from the left to right like any regular books you buy in America or Europe, and there’s a lot of easy-to-read info (like the cities, and people involved names).

    Juri Ueno - A Piacere

    PLUS, there’s an interview with Juri and Kentaro Shibuya. I didn’t get much of what was going on… since they didn’t talk much about food (and the interview is in Japanese), and food talk in Japanese is what I’ve been practicing. But they did talk about Juri’s musical projects, relating it to some of the photos of Juri playing the guitar. So a little bit of Swing Girls talk, then some of Nodame Cantabile… and they even get to talk a little bit about Niji no Megami (Rainbow Song)…

    If you doubt whether to get this or not, photos are REALLY worth having, many of them have a natural lighting style that remind me of some Mario Testino photographs. Anyway… some photos of the photos ahead!! You know the drill!

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  • Yu Aoi – Kaiten TEBURU wa Mutsukashii by Ivy Chen – Media Factory

    #2 of my 3-part order!

    Yu Aoi - Kaiten TABURU wa Mutsukashii

    Now, don’t ask me what the name of the book means because I haven’t the faintest idea. From what I could find out is something about a Rotating Table… which kinda makes sense ‘coz of the food rotating tables, and the whole food take on this book. And apparently, Mutsukashii means ‘difficult’ – a title that makes no sense to me xD…. Difficult Rotating Table?? xD

    If I read correctly… photos taken by Ivy Chen, who apparently was the on-set photographer in Yu Aoi’s participating films All About Lily Chou Chou, as well as Hana and Alice.

    This time around, Yu goes to Taipei (Taiwan) for a full-on Foodie trip. Yup, that’s right… if I thought her Travel Sand, and Dandelion photobooks talked a lot about food~~ well, I read a lot more food paragraphs and saw a whole more food photos on this one. There’s also a WHOLE lot more text, which would be ubber cool if I could properly read. LOL I read… I tried to read. I swear~~

    Also… I was ‘reading’ and noticed Peru. Can someone help out? Plus, I’m looking for a reliable Japanese translator to have on call for projects (maybe even paid) ~~ So it’ll be good if you can drop a line~~ Here’s the text, I hope I typed correctly~~

    フィアンセ　の　”ペルー”　を　呼んで、　みんあ で ご飯  を　食べた時　は、　幸せな　気持ち に なりました。

    Sorry, don’t wanna transcribe everything, takes me too much time. LOL So, does it say something like Ivy Chen’s fiancee is from Peru? And that they were calling out for lunch time, and that they’re happy? LOL Just wanna make clear, coz I get giddy each time I read Peru in something not remotely Peruvian.

    Who else thinks Yu Aoi should visit Peru for some Foodie trip??? Anyway, photos of the photos ahead!

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  • Yu Aoi – Dandelion by Yoko Takahashi – rockin’ on

    Sorry that I didn’t post last night! Olympic fever is madness~~~ My YesAsia order arrived yesterday! Sugoi NE! Photobook Fever at its MAX~~~~~ I devoured Dandelion, you wouldn’t believe it. I saw the photos, swooned over many of them, and went mad with super concentration to try to read. Because, as you know, Amy doesn’t read Japanese.

    Yu Aoi - Dandelion Photobook

    Photos of the photos ahead! Like before, I doubt I will be posting scans… support Yu, people! ^^

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  • Gake no Ue no PONYO on Top of the Japanese Box Office!

    Just read over at Lunapark6 that the newest animated adventure by re-known Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, has taken the #1 spot in the Japanese Box Office, and some are even predicting it might surpass Miyazaki’s Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away).

    Check out this Cinencuentro post on the film. And if you fancy singing of the song in the trailer~~~ here’s a direct link to the lyrics in Japanese, Romaji and translated English.

  • Kiraware Matsuko no Issho on Region 1?

    Oh yeah! God is grand!

    Nippon Cinema updates saying Memories of Matsuko will be coming! Once again~~~ The UK distributor Third Window Films has it listed in its website.

    COMING TO CINEMAS IN THE UK ON JUNE 13TH, 2008
    OUT ON DVD IN LATE SEPTEMBER 2008

    Now… will that be only a Region 2, or will they be my salvation and released a Region 1??? xD Please kamisama, let it be a Region 1~~~~ xD

    Also on other Matsuko news~~~~

    Memories of Matsuko, Kamikaze Girls and Dasepo Naughty Girls will all be playing at the Cube Cinema in Bristol during August.

    Memories of Matsuko will be having a one-off screening at the Curzon cinema in Clevedon on the 31st of August as a part of it’s film club.

    *EDIT* I just got an email back saying they will only release this on Region 2 PAL, in January. BUMMER.

  • Hitori de Koshin – Algorithm Taisou!

    It’s the robots, gotta be~~ xD Another NHK Kids segment. With lyrics~ Ha!

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  • 2008 Films Seen This Past Month

    Aha! It’s time for a recap of films I have seen… truth be told, I haven’t seen AS MANY films as previous times, as I recall. There’s been entire weeks when I didn’t see any… and not even mentioning music~~ you will see.

    Okay, so I managed to cross some names from my movie list. But the list has also increased a bit, LOL! Which means trouble, hahaha. This list of films is never ending.

    So these are the films I’ve seen:

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  • Travel Sand Teaser

    I know I said I wasn’t gonna post any proper scans of the book, but since I wanted to make a new wallpaper with one of my fave photos in the book, I thought it would be good to tease all of you. xD I want that beanie, does any of you know where to get one?? I told my mom that’s her knitting style, but she claims she doesn’t have any idea how to knit a beanie, she said she can maybe make a scarf like that and wrap it around. LOL

    Aoi Yu - Travel Sand scan

    Photo is not complete because I had to crop the shadow that appears from scanning too close to the spine of it. It is a pretty decent sized scan… the wallpaper is 1680×1050, but I’ve also got a fullscreen one sized 1280×1024, in case you want one… though I haven’t posted it. Original scan filesize is 5Mb. xD

    **EDIT**
    If anyone knows where can I get this beanie/tuque/toque, let me know! In the meantime, if you want to buy one of the caps that appear on the photoshoot:

    Mi Vida es a Toda Madre @ MeshHat.com
    God Only Made a Few Perfect Heads the Rest He Covered with Hair –
    Hippie Knitted Beanie –

  • Yu Aoi – Travel Sand by Yoko Takahashi – rockin’ on

    OMG, I’ve got it!! I’ve GOT IT!! On the mail today. Pretty photos *drools* Now I am ready to recommend where I bought this one. If you’ve been following… I blogged Photobooks at the beginning of the month…. I only lasted three days before I hit clicked and bought. LOL I mentioned I had purchased Travel Sand from another online store other than YesAsia.com – Well, I placed the order on July 6th (Paid with Paypal) and by July 14th I received confirmation that the book was on the way =D

    So… beNippon.com is good. A bit on the pricey side, but good~ In case you don’t find an item, and you find it there… the site was prompt, and un-insured item made it to Peru. Now you know…

    Well, TODAY was the day!!! I got it on the mail. Instant LOVE! I love it when it feels like Christmas when it’s not Christmas… actually, Christmas doesn’t feel as good.

    Yu Aoi - Travel Sand Photobook

    Now, I’m posting a few photos of the photos (just so you can feel the texture of the photo on this paper)… sorry guys, but my scanner won’t do good with this book. (more…)

  • We Love Juri Ueno, But Where’s the Yu Aoi Love??

    I had heard about the Nikkan awards of some sort, which are supposedly based on popularity… and well, I don’t feel up to typing the list of winners, so I’ll be linking to this lovely post that does and even lists the number of votes.

    Last Friends didn’t win for Best Drama… that’s sadness. And I was sorry that Eita didn’t win~~ I mean, no offense to Ryo and his Sousuke… but *sighs* Takeru~~

    I also understand Juri Ueno wining Best Supporting Actress, though she deserved a Best Actress. LOL’ xD I mean, did any of you watched LF for Michiru??? Really??? Cross your heart on that?? And poor Asami Mizukawa… she was supporting of the supporting~~ *sighs* this world is upside down, I tell you!!!!

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