Evangelion Rocks Fuji

You kids don't know how good you have it. In my day, we had just two of those funny Japanese cartoons in our Midwestern, supermarket-based video store. One was a Yuyu Hakusho movie, and the other was a random episode of Evangelion in which this whiny boy was hanging out in a robot's womb or something and then the robot woke up and ate another robot and creeped 16 year old me out.

So much to my chagrin as a Japanoblogger, I never have seen the entirety of Evangelion. These days, it's just too mainstream for me to bring myself to watch it. So I don't know if this Evangelion exhibition from the news has anything to do with the plot of the series in the sense that I don't quite get the location of said exhibition.

Link to original Japanese article/vid

Yoshida City— At the foot of Mt. Fuji, starting on the 25th,there is a giant robot head waiting for you. At 9 meters by 16 meters, this thing would likely send me back on a bad VHS trip as I imagined the robot coming to life and eating my flesh. I really hate robots in Japan.

You can see horrifying robo-video by clicking the picture.

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J News Pic: The Best Bobsled this Side of Jamaica

I know you remember Cool Runnings.

Click to see more pics and
read the original Japanese article

Canada-- When practice began for the women's pair bobsledding on the 22nd, one country really stood out. Japan, with an awesome sleigh design that includes a lady in a kimono, sakura petals, and Mt. Fuji, turned everyone's heads.
Some people in Japan are probably complaining that the whole thing is a little yanki though.

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Japanese Slang: Sagging Pants Kill Dreams

Olympic dreams that is. I don't watch sporting events, even the Olympics, but escaping news of the pants-sagging scandal was impossible if you live in Japan. In Japan, they call sagged pants 腰パン (koshi-pan) which is made from the words koshi (hip) and pan (pants). Another slang word for this, when it is unintentional, is ハミパン (hami-pan, from hamiwoderu [jut out of bounds] and pantie).

The scandal was centered around a snowboarder who--shock!-- looks like a snowboarder, named Kazuhiro Kokubo. He showed up at the airport with a loose tie and pants and Japan went into hyper-conservative spasms. Look at this shocking video, complete with his half-assed (see what I did there?) apology, "Hasei shima~su" (yeah, I'm totally reflecting on my actions). It got him bared from the opening ceremony later.

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Crazy Miyuki is Crazy Hot?! [vids]

Take a look at this allergy swab commercial. Do you know the actress in it?



If you guessed Miyuki Torii, you somehow saw her hotness through the mask of crazy and odd eye makeup that she usually sports, as in this vid:



She recently did a press event related to the allergy commercial, where she was back to her old creepy self.

She's pretty annoying to most people, but I found an amusing CM of hers promoting a Black Jack anime:

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Flu Mask Santa Installation in Kobe

Zoom/visit original J article

Kobe-- A rather giant santa, complete with a surgical mask that answers to the trend of a swine-flu terrorized populace that loves to wear them, has been installed on an old 異人館 (ijinkan lit. different-person-hall, a place where foreign settlers lived in during the old days). He has a cat hanging from him. In addition, two boxes in the styrofoam Santa's bag are adorned with the words "job" and "tamiflu".

Hey, I found him on youtube too:


If you live in Kobe, you can go there and see it in person, so I found it on the Google map embedded below. The nearby 英国館 has a contest going on: if you can find their hidden Santa, you win an expensive travel voucher.

View Larger Map

Japanese Grannies Left Behind on the Farm

From the archives:

Click to zoom/read the original Japanese article

Miyage prefecture (1963)-- With the post-war economic recovery if full motion, young people left the dreaded inaka (countryside) in droves, leaving their parents and grannies to do the farming, a trend you can still see the effects of today. Most farmers are old. I keep hearing about a "farming is cool! No, really! It's even cooler when it's organic!" boom happening, but have yet to see it for myself. I also keep hearing how Japan imports 60% of it's food. It's a problem the government may have to tackle. Oh, speaking of which, the guy in the photo is some unnamed politician doing the rounds after the breakup of one of the Ikeda cabinets.

You will Believe a Bad Show can Fly!

Bigger Pic/J article

Shibuya, Tokyo-- This display, depicting a man magically suspended in air, went up in front of Shibuya109, to get the word out that the first volume of the Heroes season 3 DVD is coming out in Japan. I think Heroes must be pretty kitschy for many Japanese people to watch, as nobody in it can speak Japanese quite like a native. Masi is close, but natives I watch with say there is something off about his speech*.

Does this mean a foreigner can never learn how to make their accent go away? People like David Spector would prove that it can be done, at the price of being struck with strange hair. Seriously, what is that style called? Anyways, odd follicles aside, one friend of mine said that when Spector talks, he gives the impression of being Japanese.

BTW, though I think Heroes is a bad show, I've seen every episode, so don't feel too bad that I ragged on it in the title of this post.
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*But then again, his character has an intentionally odd voice. Yatta!

Eastwood Awarded with Order of the Rising Sun

Click to see bigger pic/J article

Los Angeles-- How spiffy is this? Old Blondie (that's Mr. (氏) Blondie in Japan, mind you) has gotten the second highest award that Japan can offer for his work on the Iwo Jima films and bridging cultures. He was awarded the 3rd class of the Order of the Rising Sun, which is adorned with gold rays and a neck ribbon, on the 22nd of this month.

The Emperor's English Teacher

From the vaults:

Click To Enlarge/Read the J Article

学習院中等科 (Gakushuuin-chuutouka, the middles school division of a prestigious school) in Tokyo-- This old photo shows the current Japanese emperor, Akihito (emperors don't have last names in Japan), on the far left, beaming a smile, and his English/Western Thought tutor, Elizabeth Vining, who is conduction some sort of spelling competition.
I looked up Mrs. Vining and found out that she taught the then prince for four years, and was the only foreign guest at his wedding. She was probably one of only a handful of native English speaking teachers in Japan at the time.
It is said that Mrs. Vining had a strong effect on the young Akihito, who she called Jimmy instead of the more formal "crown prince" title he at first wanted, instilling in him a sense of independence and courage to break with tradition. Long before she died in 1999, she wrote a book about her time with the prince, entitled Windows for the Crown Prince, and another, Return To Japan. Looks like they've been out of print for a while, but I hope to pick up a used copy.
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Bonus info about emperor names:

While they don't seem to have a family name, the imperial family can be referred to as 皇族 (kōzoku, from the kanji emperor+family).

While it's okay for us to refer Akihito by his name in English, in Japanese they always have to call him 陛下 (his majesty) or 天皇 (emperor) or the like. In the linked article, they referred to his then princely-self as 皇太子明仁さま (crown prince lord Akihitio). I think calling him Jimmy is reserved for Mrs. Vining ;-)

Emperors get new names when they die that supersede the old ones. Lately, the convention is to rename emperors after the era that they lived in, which happens to start and end with their lives. Just remember that Akihito will become Emperor Heisei after his death.

天皇 translates to emperor in English, but within the Japanese language is only used to refer to Japanese royalty, not other kings or emperors. Incidentally, Japan is the only country in the world with a living emperor.

Man Somehow Caught Pretending to be His Wife

I renewed my license earlier this year. I don't really know why I did it when I don't own a car anymore, but who knows what use it come to be of. Anyways, the interesting thing is, a guy that happened to be at the same place I had to go to renew my license was trying to put a license to a very different use and got arrested for it the other day. Que the "Pics from the Japanese News" music...

original J article & bigger pic

Saitama--A man was trying to renew and alter his wife's license so that he could have a license in his name that wasn't creditors' blacklist. Then he was probably going to acquire even more debt in a manner that landed him on the list in the first place. So he dressed as his wife and went down to the car center. Criminals are rarely smart (The disguise included the crafty use of water-balloons), and this boneheaded disguise was immediately caught out. He has confessed to his crime already, saying he thought the disguise wouldn't be found for what it was due to his expertise from working in a gay bar. I wonder if this guy lives in my town; we have a cross-dressing hostess club close to the station.

Kamen Rider Doubles Up for W

Click to see original J article/image

The latest in the long running Kamen (masked) Rider series will be called Kamen Rider W. In Japanese, the way W is pronounced "double-u" has made it take on the meaning of doubling. Cheesy, huh. Well Kamen Rider is a superhero of awesome cheesyness, so it's a good fit. The newest Kamen Belt (will carry two or three Kamen identities) to be combined in ways that will make the viewing children's heads asplode with rapture. But this example just seems to be the same costume on both sides slightly repainted. I mean, there is a lot of Kamen variety out there. For instance:


And that's in just one guy.

Dental Robot Freaks Clay Out

Look human, but slightly off! That robot! Robot scary! Robot bad! Robot with teeth badder! Don't hurt Clay! Clay be good slave to robot! Don't bite Clay!

Oh! Robot bited Clay! Is Clay become robot now? Clay feel crazy robot strength surge through Clay! Clay is robot now! Clay needs dental check! Dentist Scary!

Video of Robots Cooking Japanese Food

Haaaawesome. And very scary when severed-arm-sushi-bot comes out.

Robots demonstrate excellent “cooking skills” in the “FOOMA JAPAN 2009” exhibition of food processing machinery that opened on Tuesday, June 9 at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo’s Koto Ward.

Evil Dead the Musical in Japan!

As I am studying for the JLPT, I have not been going out lately. I am so tempted to make an exception for this show, which is running right through the day of the test. Maybe I could get a ticket for that night (July 5th) to reward myself for so bravely facing the horrors of the test yet again.

Ikebukuro, the Sunshain Gekijyou (Sunshine theater)--
Sam Rami's classic has been remade as a musical. Already a success off broadway, it has come to Japan too (6/25 through 7/5). Bruce obviously is out on this one, so the star is this pretty boy. You can speck tickets here.
[J Article]

Interestingly the Japanese title of the Evil Dead series is 死霊のはらわた, which translates to corpse guts. The third film in the series became--I kid you not-- キャプテン・スーパーマーケット (Captain Supermarket).

Since I seem to be addicted to embedding YouTube vids, here is a Japanese preview for the movie:

Japan News Pic: Cryptid Snake on a Stick

Gifu prefecture-- Just like something out of the Simpsons, festive hunts for the cryptid 槌の子 (tsuchinoko, a legendary snake species) took place this year during Golden Week. The prize was 1,200,000 yen if someone actually managed to capture one of these beasties (alas not this year).

Later folks settled down to eat a very specially shaped 五平餅 (goheimochi, a type of mochi cooked on skewers and covered in sauce).
[link--visit the original Japanese article and see a pic of the Tsuchinoko Museum]

For those of you that enjoy reading Japanese, I really recommend this article. It has a very appetizing description. For those of you in Gifu-ken, an address is provided too!

Forced off the Train, the Passengers Walk Home

Yokohama--Passengers were asked to hoof it when the train's breaks went wonky on the Yokosuka Line. [J source/bigger pic]
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As always, I do these posts to learn language, and there was some interesting wording in this one.
立ち往生 means come to a standstill, but the 往生 part means death/giving up.
Become unloose (緩まなくなり) confused me for a second, but I believe it means, considering the preceding words, that the breaks seized up.　
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One more interesting pic story; A burning snowman saying "あちちち" (hot hot hot hot!), but not a Japan story per say. Rather it is in Switzerland. Link.

Japan News Pic: Dragon Screen

Kyoto, Keinin Temple-- What we see in this pic is actually a digital print applied to a sliding door. It's a recreation of the real thing from around the year 1600, printed out on Japanese paper. The title translates as "dragon figure". [original Japanese w/bigger pic]

White Crone: 10th Anniversary of Juon

Hey haven't done one of my "Pics from the News" in a bit, but like a curse, these posts will always pop up.

Tokyo--This is a scene from the promo event for the 10th anniversary celebration of the first Juon, which came out direct-to-video in 1999, as well as the latest movie in the series, 呪怨 白い老女, perhaps to be translated as The Grudge: White Crone--I've never liked the translation of Juon as "grudge;" it's more like "curse-grudge." Heck, I think Juon is a made up word just for the movies, so why not use it in English? The actors seem rather detached from the horror before them. [Japanese original/bigger pic]

How to Transport an Asura

Links are to Japanese articles with big pictures and make for good language study.

Nara-- Asura seem to be a cranky bunch, so transporting them should be done with maximum care. This one is being sent the the Tokyo National Museum this month. Buddhist statues are usually transported on their side, but this one will be standing the whole way. [article]

Other interesting art-related articles I noticed recently:

Fuchi-- People unveiled a different kind of 像 (a character that usually means statue), with this cloth image of Kannon* draping a mountainside. [article]

Shibata--Other large cloth 像s can be seen being made here. These are 鯉のぼり, a type of windsock shaped like a carp that is hung out in May to garner fortune for male children.[article]
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*: Are Kannon and Aryavalokitesvara the same? The article seems to switch to the latter name at one point. Well, Wikipedia seems to confirm it. Also, Kannon may be The Virgin Mary to some as well. Sheesh, (s)he's got a lot of names.

Followup: Fire

So I found a video that explains, a little better than I did, albeit in Japanese, the story I described about fire and KKK-lookin' white robes with pointy hats. We get to see a sword too.

I have been playing 侍 on a recently and cheaply acquired PS2. It is a crappy yet addictive game because of the pokemon-esque gotta collect'em all nature of sword collecting.

I am still unclear on the rules surrounding owning katanas or guns in this country...

I've had boar meat a couple times in Japan. The first time, the old man feeding it to me said he shot the boar in the mountains.

I ran into a boar herd in the mountains once. T'was awful frightnin.

Also, the news story reminded me of when I did the coal walk.