Tag: japan

  • Welcome to Tokyo

    A while ago the Tokyo Metropolitan Government commissioned Studio 4°C to make an animated short to promote visiting Tokyo. Available in original Japanese audio with English, Korean, Chinese Traditional and Simplified, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch, the short is titled Honey Tokyo and tells the story of a girl from the future traveling to present-day Japan to bring back Happiness to her time. A boy named Takeru serves as her guide to different places in the city, doing different activities and learning about traditions.

    The short had a budget of around half a million $USD, and can I just say~~~
    it’s a really great investment? It just fuels my wanting to go to Japan.

    Check it out at the Welcome to Tokyo website.

    Great way to mix Art and PR. Tagged as commercial and short! xD

  • Namie Amuro vs. Janet Jackson – FIGHT!

    So you know I don’t worship Janet Jackson. Okay, maybe a little.

    Okay, now that THAT is out of the way. I was reading that Namie Amuro topped the random polls of “female singer with the best dancing skills“, ahead of BoA… who barely made the list. I thought to myself “Wow, she must really be something”. Because even if I don’t appreciate BoA for all her BoA-ness, I thought she totally killed it with her video of Eat You Up (even if the lyrics are pretty rubbish).

    So this is my total non-biased opinion.

    I YouTubed Namie Amuro, and  came up with THIS performance for Girl Talk, which has over 100k views. Totally NOT impressed with the dancing. But something else called my attention.

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  • The Invention of Dr. Nakamats Trailer

    OMG. I am obsessed with Dr. Nakamats.

    I am so totally smelling cameras next time.

  • Seldom Book Talk

    I don’t read as many books as I watch films, tv series or listen to albums… but I think that reading subtitles count on as part as the word count of how much I actually read… as well as reading lyrics xD

    At the moment I’m reading — being trying to finish for the last month or so — Cronica del Pajaro que da Cuerda al Mundo (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, aka Nejimaki-dori KURONIKURU) by Haruki Murakami, but really can’t blame me for taking so long. It’s 900 pages long, and I know Harry Potter 5 is as long and it only took me 3 days to finish that one. But Cronica began really slow, and I left it there for a long long time until about 3 days ago, when I picked it up again. xD

    I’m actually devouring any Murakami novel I ran into the bookstore. I have already bought Sputnik, mi Amor (Sputnik Sweetheart, aka SUPU-TONIKU no Koibito), and El Fin del Mundo y un Despiadado Pais de las Maravillas (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, aka Sekai no Owari to HA-DOBOIRUDO WANDA-RANDO).

    I’m looking for Kafka on the Shore, which I saw at a bookstore’s listing, but when they checked… it was gone. Highly suspicious… I never believe things like books, cds or dvds ever get sold out here.

    Julz will also be surprised to find out that I ran into copies of Män som Hatar Kvinnor… which wasn’t literally translated, as the book in Spanish is called Los Hombres que no Amaban a las Mujeres [literally, Men Who Didn’t Love Women for those of you non-Spanish readers] – I guess Odiar/Hate is too-strong a word? At least it beats “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” [Hardcover][Kindle Version]. Gosh. I was disappointed with the title in English when I saw the film. xD I also found a copy of Flickan som Lekte med Elden, which was translated to La Chica que Soñaba con una Cerilla y un Bidon de Gasolina [literally, The Girl who Dreamed with a Match and an Oil Drum] but the Swedish title means The Girl who Played with Fire [Hardcover][Kindle Version], right Julz? Which is exactly like the English title. Wonder who picks the titles…

    However, I couldn’t find a copy of the third part. I will probably look for it after I finish all of the above, or buy it if I ran into it… – I wonder why they only had the two tomes.

    Also, why are books so effing expensive here? I paid a bit over $30 for each Stieg Larsson book, and they’re not even hardcover editions. Frak, I even complained when that stupid Dan Brown book was $16 USD on Amazon… while they were selling it for nearly $35 USD in bookstores here. FRAK, I tell you!

  • Get Up and Go in Tokyo by Stefan Werc

    I always love a good time-lapse~ [Vancouver][Marriage Proposal]
    and I love Japan =D so… win win, right?

  • “Super Dubbed” Films in Japan

    Coming from an article over at Wildgrounds

    What is this “super dub“? In fact, they’re trying to make the translation sounds more natural in Japanese.

    …

    what were you attempting with Super Dubbing to deal with this difference?
    For example, Leonardo de Caprio, who plays Teddy, faces a woman working in the hospital and asks, “Were you a nurse?” If you change this to natural Japanese, just saying “Kankoshi?” However, in English when you say “Were you a nurse?” your lips move three times.

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  • To Watch Until They’re 35 – Eita

    Guess who’s #10 on the list of The 20 to Watch Between 25-30?

    But it’s, of course, Eita!

    Born in Tokyo, Japan on December 13th 1982. He might be unknown to almost everyone, unless you are already familiar with Japanese films and series, but this 27-year-old actor has proven that you should keep on watching him.

    His list of films include Aoi Haru (Blue Spring), Azumi, Densha Otoko, Su-ki-da and Memories of Matsuko. Of course, Matsuko as a film works because of so many different aspects including Eita’s ability to make you want to connect with the brilliant Miki Nakatani.

    Last year, Eita worked on two films that seemed to be in many of the “best of lists” in Japan, including the acclaimed Dear Doctor — by famous director Miwa Nishikawa, who wrote and directed Yureru (Sway) — as well as the seemingly popular April Bride, directed by indie acclaimed director Ryuichi Hiroki.

    Add to that his recurring role as Mine on the Nodame Cantabile franchise [headed by fellow 20 to watch Juri Ueno] which sprung not only an 11-episode series, and two television special, but also two theatrical films opening on December 2009 and this month.

    There is a certain softness in Eita’s aura that translates well whenever he’s on screen, making him perfect to play the sensible young man. He doesn’t even need to speak a single word, even though you probably would need the subtitles to actually understand what he is saying [unless, of course, you speak Japanese], but whenever he’s in a dramatic scene… all of that doesn’t matter. He’ll deliver the goods in a way that language would really not be a barrier.

    Very few [men or women] can captivate you like this.

  • 20 Actors Between 25-30 to Watch until They’re 35

    I’m starting out my list this week… with lack of visitor’s response.

    No complaining from you then~~~

    I’m gonna start out with 5 of the guys, followed by 5 of the girls like last time. Only properly.

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  • Rie Miyazawa and Asami Mizukawa Join NHK’s Gou

    Thanks Julz for the heads up~

    Ueno plays the role of Gou (also known as Oeyo), the third daughter of the 16th century daimyo Azai Nagamasa (who married Oda Nobunaga’s sister Oichi-no-kata). Gou and her two older sisters are famous historical figures. The eldest, Yodo (also known as Chacha), will be played by Miyazawa, while the second sister, Hatsu, will be played by Mizukawa.

    Tokyograph~

    Adding from the announcement~~~
    strong females + Atsu-hime writer, Juri Ueno, Rie Miyazawa + Asami Mizukawa?

    Only getting better…

  • NHK ni Youkoso!

    Based from the novel, and the manga series by the same same, Welcome to the NHK [which stands for most part of the series for Nihon Hikikomori Kyoukai or The Japanese Hikikomori Association] tells the story of a Hikikomori himself called Satou Tatsuhiro, a 20-something-year-old University drop-out who’s been living like a Hikikomori for almost 4 years of his life until an 18-year-old (?) girl named Misaki decides to take him on as a project and make Satou better of his social condition… as well as helping herself.

    During the 24 episodes lasting 20 minutes [without opening and closing credits], we deal with a lot of what we’ve come to known as inherently Japanese odd behavior[though it’s really a global issue], including what we’ve learned to call the Japanese sub-culture of Otakus… Lolicon, video game culture, etc etc. However, we also deal with serious issues such as isolation, suicide and abuse – the last two often being such taboo topics in Asia or Latin America.

    This animated series is what makes Japanese animation so avant-garde, in my opinion. Televised animation has hardly anything in its favor. They can’t ever boast on how great their graphics are, because they need to restrict their resources so they fit the budget… ultimately, animation as a medium is seen by many in America and, to a lesser extent, in Europe as a kiddies hobby. If the people often putting animated films and series down just because of  being animated could give Welcome to the NHK a chance, they’ll understand it better.

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