Archive for December, 2009

Christmas in Japan: 2009 YouTube Collaboration

Fatblueman and a huge team of YouTubers have created a follow-up to last year’s popular “Christmas in Japan” music video:

Details from Fatblueman:

It’s almost Christmas in Japan again, so we thought’d we get together and try to recapture some of the merriment from last year’s song and dance. This year featuring the Hooplovers from Tokyo and a swing dance club from Nagoya.

And to go along with that, a present. The Christmas EP is available for free download on Jamendo, but so is the newest Fatblueman album “Still A Long Way Off”. We plan to release a hard copy “CD book” in early 2010, but to ramp up for that, we decided to let anyone who wanted to have the digital version. Track 5 is our first attempt at Japanese lyrics. Get both albums here:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/Fatblueman

Check the video description for a full list of all the YouTuber vloggers who appear in the vid.

[via JapanSoc]

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

Muammar Gaddafi speaks to Japanese university students

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi speaks to a class at Meiji University via live satellite feed:

Gaddafi apparently spent most of the Q&A session bashing the U.S.-Japan alliance and denouncing the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

[hat tip to Aceface]

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

LDP tries to win back voters by turning politicians into tour guides

An NTV news report about LDP politician Shinjiro Koizumi (“Koizumi Junior”) trying to improve the image of his party by giving a tour of the naval base in his home district:

Some 50 participants, selected from about 5,200 applicants, went to the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Yokosuka base where they were expected to tour an escort ship, enjoy the MSDF’s specialty dish of “kaigun (navy) curry” and talk with Koizumi.

Since winning his father’s seat in the Kanagawa No. 11 district in the House of Representatives election in late August, Koizumi has been popular, particularly among young people.

NTV contrasts Koizumi’s popularity with that of LDP president Sadakazu Tanigaki, whom many have criticized for his lack of aggressive leadership. Whereas Koizumi draws excited crowds, Tanigaki is uninspiring and uncharismatic – so much so that people can’t even seem to remember his name!

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

Shirtless muscle men promote Abercrombie & Fitch in Japan

Abercrombie & Fitch opened its first store in Japan several days ago, using shirtless male models to draw media attention:

The Japan Times has some good quotes from David Marx and Kensuke Kojima:

“A&F is coming in the middle of a wave of fast-fashion brands, so consumers may be disappointed to find out that it’s not cheap like the others,” Marx said.

Kensuke Kojima, president of Tokyo-based apparel consultancy firm Kojima Fashion Marketing Co., also said Abercrombie’s long-established “WASPy (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) and masculine image” does not match the current Japanese market trend for nonaggressive styles.

“This is my favorite brand,” Kojima said. “But (Abercrombie’s) fashion emphasizing the sculpted bodily beauty of the Greek and Roman times will not be embraced in present-day Japan.”

As you can see from the news video, some customers left the store unsatisfied. Several people complained about how the interior was too dark, and one girl says the darkness caused to to make a mistake in choosing the color of a pair of pants. Another customers, who claims he is a fan of A&F, says he was excited about the visiting store but ended up buying nothing because the prices were too high.

A nearby H&M store shrewdly held a 50% off sale on the same day, stealing some of the media attention and drawing a lot of deal-seeking customers.

[hat tip to Marxy]

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

Island for sale

If you read the story about the island being auctioned off this week by the Japanese government and wondered what the island actually looked like, here’s a FTV news feature with plenty of footage:

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

When washing you hands at a Japanese temple, use the electric hand dryer

Major Leaguer Akinori Iwamura is in the process of visiting Shikoku’s 88 temples on a pilgrimage to pray for good health in the coming baseball season. Here’s a clip of him learning how to cleanse his hands at one of the temples:

Related link: Iwamura will be playing for the Pirates next year. He recently paid for a full page ad in the St. Petersburg Times to express his thanks to all the fans who supported him when he played for the Devil Rays.

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