Category: Reading

  • Kyoto (The Old Capital) by Yasunari Kawabata

    Actually name of the book in Spanish is “Kioto,” but I can never get used to writing Kyoto with an “i” –  I don’t think I can write “Tokio” either, there’s just something odd for me…

    Anyway, I bought this book on Monday… short one, “The Old Capital,” it’s called in English, from the original Japanese title “Koto,” referring to Kyoto which was Japan’s capital back in the day~ xD – I bought this book because I’m superficial and buy books by their covers. LOL’ ~ I had seen a bunch of books in the store, and read a bunch of synopsis, but eventually returned them to the rack… but not this one, because I liked the cover. xD

    Written by writer from Osaka, Yasunari Kawabata, who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968 (First Japanese, and only?). In fact, this was one of the books mentioned (but I didn’t know this) … sadly, he killed himself 4 years later.

    Kyoto (sorry, can’t type it with an “i”) is a book about nothing. There’s no BOOM by the end of the story, but yet it is a surprisingly good read. You know? Like one of those films that is about a little about everything, but nothing at all? Just like that. But just so you know exactly… the back of the book says it’s about a 20-year-old girl named Chieko in Post-War Kyoto, daughter of a Kimono maker, who discovers she was an abandoned child, despite her ‘parents’ story. Then one day, she discovers something while attending one of the many festivities in the city.

    When I first began reading, I had a picture in my mind of how Chieko looked like (you may have an idea of who)~~ But then, I decided to look it up online, and found out that there was a made-for-tv-movie done for this, and OH SADNESS! I was kinda disappointed with the choice of Chieko~ T_T

    Though the Spanish translation seems good enough, it does lose some UMPH… and it makes me wonder how it would look with the use of Japanese Honorifics. I mean, they already used words such as geisha, and maiko… so why not keep the honorifics too? I think it would’ve been a better read…

    The book gets very nostalgic at points, there’s also some funny moments here and there, and there are parts that I don’t think I really got… which requires me to read it again. xD All in all, this book is a keeper~ and I want to check out other books by Kawabata.

  • Some Teasin’ from Hayato Ichihara

    hayato-ichihara-personal-photobook

    So… Hayato Ichihara also has a Photobook of his own. It came out in 2006 and it features photos by Yoshiaki Sugiyama of a 19-year-old Hayato… there’s even an image reminding us of his debut of All About Lily Chou Chou (in which he shared the screen with Yu Aoi)~~

    Well, you can get his Photobook in here:
    beNippon.com [minimum shipping $8 I think…]
    YesAsia.com [free shipping when reaching $90 for International orders, and cheaper for US, Canada, etc]

    The book features 90+ pages of Hayato being silly, included rabbit costume photos (like the one on the cover), making faces with an oba-chan, and even a naked butt…. LOL’

    But don’t worry, it’s not only fun and games~~ there’s also some artistic shots of Hayato wearing his traditional Japanese clothing, some with a tux, and some very cool black and white shots. And I will be posting a teasing image… no, it’s not the butt. It’s a really nice shot of Hayato in Japanese outfit running up a stony set of stairs~~~

    Hayato Ichihara - Personal Photo Book Scan

    As with Yu’s Travel Sand scan, I’ve added some photo and PB credits~~ It’s a wallpaper sized 1680x1050px, there’s also a more ‘squarer’ version of it (fullscreen one sized 1280×1024) if you are interested. Just leave a comment either here or Flickr.

  • 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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  • 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…)

  • Fart Exercise with Juri Ueno and Nodame!

    Hahaha, the reason we love Nodame Cantabile is because Juri Ueno as lovable Nodame. Now, if you don’t know the series, you will still love this behind the scene of Juri Ueno singing Nodame’s Fart Exercise song.

    It turns out that the song was so popular, Juri recorded a small album with kids songs. You can find the lyrics in Japanese, Romaji and English translation of the funnyness in here. (also includes imeem link)

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  • Last Friends – Prologue – 001

    Apparently there’s a manga based on Fuji TV’s Last Friends, it’s set before the show… so I suggest watching the show before this. Anyway, ^Yuuki made some lovely scans (but I won’t post those because they are in Japanese), and suketeru (who also makes the subs for the show uploads, DOMO!) made a translation for it. I took the liberty to make some nice text inclusion, and some changes in phrasing. I think it looks pretty good, almost like it’s real. Take a look yourself! (more…)

  • The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

    Just got back from watching a screening of the newest Narnia flick, and let me tell you, I enjoyed watching The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, but this one is far more better than that. Sure, purist might be a little ticked off by switching lines from characters to characters, but I’m telling you that I enjoyed Caspian a whole lot more.

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  • Golden Compass hits Lima!

    Northern Lights - Golden Compass - PosterOh, yeah! And Amy was there for the 4.20pm show~~ Amy needed her fix of Northern Lights. There weren’t many people then, and even though it was a subtitled version, there were a few kids… one of them was annoying! Talking all throughout the film… kinda cute (bordering on ‘I want to kill that kid’), but really bad-looking on the parent there who couldn’t shut him up.

    Quick facts about Amy and His Dark Materials Trilogy:

    • Northern Lights (aka Golden Compass) was suggested by a friend who knew I liked Harry Potter.
    • After a while, I finally got the books at the beginning of the year.
    • Couldn’t control myself, and had to read one after the other.
    • Amy’s not a die-hard fan of HDM Trilogy, but it’s become her favorite series overall.
    • Amy liked the series so much, she gave her friend the trilogy as a gift. She liked it too.

    Overall, the film was pretty good, except for the Flash pace. It is not as much as an editing fault because the film is not jumping, but many of the scenes don’t really flow… as, let say – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban artistically flows… or how Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is so choppy it makes you feel there’s a whole scene missing in between.

    Now, onto the good stuff. Effects are pretty good. Iorek is great, though I think Ragnar (aka in the book as Iofur) looked better. The bear fight had me gasping, even though there was no blood… if there had been blood, I would’ve been even more so. I loved Eva Green as Serafina Pekkala… and oh! the Witches are so cool!! They flew and fought with such elegance, it left me in awe. I also loved Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter… evil or not, you have to love her. Dakota Blue Richards did pretty great as Lyra, there were times I thought it was not as good, but scenes like the one in Bolsvangar were very dramatic.

    I enjoyed the confrontation at Bolsvangar, even though it’s not quite epic… it was quite thrilling. The kids running, about to be attacked then Iorek shows up and BAM! SNAP! The Witches show up, arrows begin flying… golden sparkles, SWOOSH! And the Gypsies SNAP SNAP!

    Would love to watch that again… or wouldn’t mind some blood on the bears, uncensored version, non? x’D How about a Director’s Cut?? Because I would’ve love to have 30min more of it… especially since the film didn’t include the OH SO OMG ending chapter (or chapters…) but I guess it would’ve been unfair to have movie-goers wait for The Subtle Knife to hit theaters in 2009… or maybe even forever if GC bombs at the Box Office. Better leave this with no cliff-hanger…

    Grade: 3.5/5 – (docked a whole point for fast-pacing)