2010 February | Japan Probe

Archive for February, 2010

Annoying Mr. Naruhodo advertises Mercedes-Benz in Japan

Mercedes-Benz has a new series of commercials starring a character named “Mr. Naruhodo” who repeatedly says the word “naruhodo” (“I see”) in a annoyingly stupid accent:

Is this the German equivalent of Mr. James?

—

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

20 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - February 4, 2010 at 5:53 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan

Activist allowed to return to China

After 92 days of living inside Narita Airport, human rights activist Feng Zhenghu has been told that he will be allowed to return to China:

Feng had already announced Sunday that he had decided to end his protest after meeting with officials from the Chinese Embassy last week. But it wasn’t clear until Tuesday whether China would allow him to re-enter the country – he had been denied entry eight times since June, prompting his protest.

“Chinese officials told me that they are giving me permission to go back to Shanghai,” Feng, 55, told reporters Tuesday at the airport terminal, where reporters were allowed in by security.

He said he planned to enter Japan on Wednesday before heading back to Shanghai for the Chinese New Year in mid-February.

Feng said Tuesday that he was certain that this attempt to return home would be successful.
“I won’t be rejected again. That would be impossible,” he said. “If that happens, it’s not my problem. It’s the Chinese government’s problem.”

—

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

9 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - at 5:53 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan

Setsubun in Space

Today is Setsubun. I hope you’re all driving away demons by throwing beans! Here’s a couple clips of Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi celebrated by scattering some beans on the International Space Station:

[hat tip to Pandabonium]

—

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

1 comment - What do you think? Posted by James - February 3, 2010 at 12:38 pm

Categories: General Japan

Roots Music in Japan

Maybe it’s a sign that my youth is slipping away, but I noticed lately that the hip-hop and rock tracks on my iPod have much lower “play count” numbers than the more acoustic-leaning, folk and roots tunes. Performance-wise it’s the same – interest in playing quiet coffee-houses is winning out over rock gigs. Fair enough, time to embrace the change, I thought, and went looking for Japanese music in the same vein.

Roots music back home usually consists of bands influenced by bluegrass or Celtic sounds, and weirdly, that can even be found here. Witness the hottest salary-man band this side of Kentucky:

These guys are good, but I was looking for something that was more an expression of Japanese roots, rather than Western ones. Some friends suggested Okinawan-influenced rock, which they said is often referred to as Japanese roots music. I’d love to hear suggestions. One that I’ve found that I particularly like is Miwa Sasagawa. She’s not from Okinawa, but she has a rootsy sound that’s just what I am looking for. Actually, she sounds a little like Susan Aglukark, an Inuit singer from Canada.

Luckily for me and the band, we found a singer with similar tastes. And with her in the lead, we altered an Odani Misako song in the direction of a rootsy/folk sound. Odani is not a roots artist, but she is a good songwriter so her songs can be interpreted easily into other genres. Check it out:

—
Contributor Bio: JJ, shockingly, teaches English, but would prefer to do other things (shockingly). So he writes songs or comedy or the occasional theological treatise. Sometimes he tries to combine all of them. This is most easily observed at www.youtube.com/fatblueman.
.
—