Archive for October, 2009

Mariah Carey meets Japanese fans

Mariah Carey meets some Japanese fans at a recent event hosted by Shinichi Karube of FTV:

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Do it at the home, Remi

I realize that I am probably the last person on the internet to discover Remi Gaillard.  Nonetheless, when I saw his gymnastics video, I couldn’t help but think of the Tokyo Metro “Manner Poster” series and felt like sharing.

So for those of you also inhabiting the same little backwater of the internet as I, here are some of his Japan-themed videos.

Mario Kart

Pac Man

Sumo

His channel on youtube is nqtv.  I also recommend astronaut, Tour de France (maybe NSFW), and kangaroo.  Seems he’s played a little soccer – I mean football and enjoys having a go at the ridiculousness of American football touchdown celebrations.  There is also a UK news program in English explaining some of Remi’s background.

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Contributor Bio: Steve has been splitting time between the US and Japan for the past 10 years or so and is now a post doctorate fellow at a large, lumbering University in Tokyo, where he gets paid to play with dirt.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Balloon boy on Japanese TV

When something ridiculous happens in the States, Japanese TV calls in Dave Spector to give some comentary on the state of America (because he used to live in America before 1982):

Spector describes how there are an increasing number of reality TV shows in America that reward people with money for doing stupid things.

This particular FTV report leaves out one detail that might be interesting for viewers in Japan: Mayumi Heene, the mother of the balloon boy, is Japanese. ABC News is now reporting that she might be a victim in this case because Japanese woman are, you know, meek and subservient (emphasis added is my own):

Like any good supporting actress, Mayumi Heene seems to be doing everything to back up her husband, even to her own detriment.

Slusser, who worked with Richard Heene on his “Psyience Detectives” Web show and said she became good friends with the Fort Collins, Colo., family until his temper finally drove her away last year, said his wife’s Japanese background has kept her in a subservient relationship with her husband and three boys. “She’s a highly intelligent woman, a lovely soul. Man, she’s gotten herself into a situation with Richard and the kids,” Slusser said. “Whatever he says goes. She’s basically his slave.”

“She’s from Japan. She told me stories about her life in Japan with her father. He was very overbearing and abusive. She came over here to be an actress,” Slusser said. “Who does she meet? Richard Heene. They met in acting school when she could barely speak English. He wowed her. She kind of went from the frying pan to the fire.”

[...]

Another former family friend and business partner, Scott Stevens, echoed Slusser’s assessment of the dynamics in the Heene household.

“It’s a cultural thing, and he leveraged that knowledge,” Stevens said. “He believed that Asian women can be subservient, and that’s what he wanted. But it takes two to tango, and she was with him for more than a decade. Every day that was the dynamic in play.”

In some posts over at the the FG forums, it has been claimed that the Heene’s did not have a legitimate source of income and that they apparently lived off huge money transfers from Japan.

[hat tip to Steve]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Kagurazaka – Tokyo’s “Little Paris”

FTV’s “Mezamashi TV” morning show takes a look at Kagurazaka, an upscale neighborhood in Tokyo that is like a little piece of France in Japan (partial English translation provided):

Because the area has so many French residents, it also has a lot of good French restaurants. Reviews of some of the best restaurants and cafes can be found in the Japan Times and on Bento dot com.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Kingyo Trailer

The trailer for Kingyo, a Japanese language short film directed by Malaysian filmmaker Edmund Yeo:

Trailer of KINGYO (2009), written and directed by Edmund Yeo. Produced by Maiko Itagaki. Starring Luchino Rujisaki, Takao Kawaguchi and Kudo Amane. Inspired by a Yasunari Kawabata short story.

SYNOPSIS
Based on a Yasunari Kawabata short story. A university professor (Takao Kawaguchi) decides to go for a tour in Akihabara, guided by a young woman (Luchino Fujisaki) dressed up like a French maid. As they both walk through the streets of modern Tokyo, the man and the young woman gradually speak of a past they both share, and ultimately a painful love triangle that continues to haunt them.

Selected for competition at the 66th Venice Film Festival.

More information can be found at the film’s official homepage. Regular updates about screenings of the film can be found on Edmund Yeo’s blog.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Dragan Stojkovic ejected from game after scoring a goal

Nagoya Grampus manager Dragan Stojković gets ejected from a game after making an impressive kick:

“Being angry with repeated failures of his players, he kicked a rainy wet ball with normal shoes and got a goal… “

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)