|
Post by tangerinesun on Aug 5, 2015 23:06:05 GMT -5
A good time to reflect on the last moments of that courageous camera operator trapped on an Irish motorway. Giant Minion Attack in Dublin.Upped 2015 August 04 by Dónal Sharpson
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Aug 5, 2015 23:15:00 GMT -5
Bamboo is for warding off evil, like 40-ft minions. Sagano Takebayashi (Bamboo Grove in Sagano)
Maintained walkway through the thickets of bamboo that grow on the mountainous slopes NW of Kyoto. The backpacker and the two women in yukatas are probably all tourists. EDIT: Nope, not in those shoes. The costumed women are possibly on a break from working in town as meet 'n' greet mikos — living history performers/interpreters. The full-sized image. which is much better. is at the Travel Japan Blog, where the photos are copyrighted but free for non-commercial use.
|
|
|
Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Aug 6, 2015 15:18:34 GMT -5
I was about to ask WHY a giant Irish minion belonged in this thread... NM ... I guess!
|
|
|
Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Aug 6, 2015 15:20:57 GMT -5
The taiko drumming is pretty damn exciting. Not to diminish what the kids have accomplished, but the director of that drum choir must be a god. Japanese breakfast is one piece of toast that you hold in your mouth as you run out the door to miss your bus. What you don't do with chopsticks, or anything really, is eat natto. Never do that, and everything else will be okay. The stabbing in the rice bowl that seems so convenient for one-hand carry is an absolutely HORRIBLE omen, which is why the mom gets a little flighty. The Shinto graveside offering isn't chopsticks or rice, it's two pieces of stick incense in a bowl of sand. But it looks exactly like that, and if you mimic it with food, it makes people a bit angry with you. Because YOU are someone who INVITES DEATH TO THE DINNER TABLE. And you don't clash chopsticks with chopsticks, like they said. That recalls picking bigger bits of cremated bone for deposition in an urn, but mostly it's kind of unsanitary. And you don't wave chopsticks over serving dishes. Or stick them in your hair. Or roll them around on the table. Or a lot of other things that are more or less obvious. Now I'm hungry. A true traditional Japanese breakfast, is soup, with fish and soya sauce, on the side.... Ick!
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Aug 6, 2015 23:35:30 GMT -5
I was about to ask WHY a giant Irish minion belonged in this thread... NM ... I guess! Reminder of what can happen if you start depending on them to handle your food.
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Aug 23, 2015 23:00:57 GMT -5
A Revisionist History of Postwar PopYuusuke Wajima [2015.08.13] www-nippon-com/en/in-depth/a04005/?pnum=1An article for Nippon.com in a series called "Japan's Seven Postwar Decades." In the public imagination, the pop hits of the Occupation years epitomize a brand-new culture of freedom and democracy. But a closer look at the roots of Japan’s early postwar pop scene reveals a far more complex interaction of influences and ideologies.A quick gloss on J-pop from 1945–1960, starting with Michiko Namiki's “Ringo no Uta” (Apple Song, 1945) and Kasagi Shizuko “Tokyo Boogie Woogie” (1947). Pretty good for historical context. Wajima's a musicology and theater studies professor at Osaka University. If you ever wondered why, in Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru, Rosemary Clooney disturbs the protag as much as the air horn on a diesel… he talks a bit about that kind of thing.
|
|
|
Post by thegl0r on Aug 24, 2015 12:02:26 GMT -5
That article about postwar Japanese music sent me hunting on YT for some of those songs to get a feel for the sound. I wound up finding something kinda cool, "Kappa Boogie Woogie" sung by Misora Hibari, which I much prefer to her Apple Song. Does she really sing "baka, baka, baka, baka-ka"? EDIT just found the lyrics to Kappa Boogie Woogie, it wasn't baka baka etc, it was "Pacha pacha pacha pacha kyah!" Phew, I can sleep tonight. Kappa Odori wa boogie woogie (The Kappa’s dance is boogie woogie) Youki ni Tanoshiku (very fun in the sunlight) Mizutama Tobashite Odore yo (kick up water drops and dance!) DON to Tobikome Ukiagare (jump in (the water) with a (sound of) DON! and float up) Shibuki wa Pacha pacha pacha pacha kyah! (the spray goes splish splash splish splash, eek!) (pacha is the Japanese onomatopoeia for water splashes) Kappa boogie woogie kyah! (The Kappa’s Boogie Woogie, eek!)
Youki ni Tanoshiku (very fun in the sunlight) Mizutama Tobashite Odore yo (kick up water drops and dance!) DON to Tobikome Ukiagare (jump in (the water) with a (sound of) DON! and float up) Shibuki wa Pacha pacha pacha pacha kyah! (the spray goes splish splash splish splash, eek!) (pacha is the Japanese onomatopoeia for water splashes) Kappa boogie woogie kyah! (The Kappa’s Boogie Woogie, eek!)MORE EDIT NO!!! I can't sleep, I'll never sleep again, I can't sing along to that song, there seems to be a line or so missing - or perhaps I can't read romaji. But then, I can't sing anyway, I've seen the look of horror and terror when SK hear me "singing" along - much louder than the monitor speakers.
|
|
|
Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Aug 25, 2015 15:13:16 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Aug 25, 2015 16:07:33 GMT -5
It's completely off-brand for them, but Shonen Knife could cover this tune like a blanket! They'll never be that drunk, though. ========== EDIT ========= If motherhood doesn't completely change Ritsuko, they really could get drunk enough.
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Aug 25, 2015 18:32:35 GMT -5
The other end of the Showa-era pop seesaw in Japan: enka, the stuff your granny would have loved. Nagashi uta / Chiyoko Shimakura2011 NOV 30 by EmiShuntarou (03:32) Linked from Liner Notes, where they also have a short Spotify playlist. www-linernotes-com/o/1/e5dd1991-8e80-431d-80f1-4e58d14d0788Song in the more-traditional enka genre by Chiyoko Shimakura. Distinctly Japanese melody with a Spanish-sounding arrangement. You can find performance videos of her choking up a little while doing this one, but as a pro she would never allow her makeup to run. Sometimes called "the goddess of enka," Shimakura had career that spanned 59 years until her death in 2013. She started off by winning a 1954 singing competition sponsored by Columbia Music, which then become her label. 2013 NOV 09 Obit at Japan TimesBut wait, there's a punchline! (Kotori ga kuru machi) Town Where the Little Birds Come / Chiyoko Shimakura 2011 JUN 12 by yamiyokarasu77 (03:00) Released September 1964. B-side to Kazuo Funaki's "The Osaka of My Youth". The PR theme for the greenery commission of the City of Osaka; also the "guide chime" of the Osaka sanitation bureau.This tune has been burned into the brains of all Osaka residents over a period of I-don't-know-how-long. When they hear it, they smile at least. It's the courtesy alert they get every week, to let residents and drivers know the garbage truck is coming their way. Another town would have a different chime. Garbage truck with the melody of the Osaka Municipal Environmental Bureau, "Town Where the Little Birds Come"2014 AUG 31 by THE PAGE(ザ・ページ)(00:17) osaka.thepage-jp/detail/20140828-00000015-wordleafGarbage truck with the melody of the Osaka Municipal Environmental Bureau, "Town Where the Little Birds Come" sung by Chiyoko Shimakura.The Page is a local Osaka City news pub dedicated to "News of Concern About Your City".
|
|
|
Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Aug 25, 2015 23:19:09 GMT -5
It's completely off-brand for them, but Shonen Knife could cover this tune like a blanket! They'll never be that drunk, though. ========== EDIT ========= If motherhood doesn't completely change Ritsuko, they really could get drunk enough. I think Emi, or Michie, could have done Akane's Baka song justice, but, I'm not sure any of the others have the vocal talent to do the angry punk thing.
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Sept 7, 2015 15:16:05 GMT -5
Nara's Heijyo-kyo tenpyosai festivalFestival season goes through Halloween, at least for the southern half of Japan. In Nara, they remember their heritage as one of Japan's former capital cities with a daytime costume parade, and a nighttime festival of lights. 2011 "Princess Heijyo-kyo" published by ©fdimages at the Kyoto images blog (inactive since 2014)This year as usual there were 10,000 candles arranged on the castle's formal grounds, and the novelty of digital projection on the gate. 2014 photo from the Utamakura Staff Blog at FC22014 photo of the Suzakumon painted in light from the KURANDO festival blogThe biggest hit of Tenpyo-sai 2015 seems to have been the installation by Mirror Baller, or actually "Mirrorbowler" I guess is preferred. I can't find video of it yet, below is from the preceding year. "Heijokyo Tenpyosai Festival", an unusual space of lights2014 SEP 02 by 蔵人 KURANDO KURANDO websiteThe "Heijokyo Tenpyo Festival" is an art event which has been held every year at the Imperial Palace in Nara.More to look at: Mirrorbowler showed up!2012 MAR 02 by YokohamaBowl No further explanation needed. Familiar on this channel, the annual Mirrorbowler Valentine Island Enoshima event video… Although it was a Couples Hell because aimed at Valentine's Day, I enjoyed the content from the Mirrorbowler workgroup as a solitary older guy.
Mirrorbowler — nice!
Music: Lone Wolf Dog, "World of Fertility and Eternity" ~ Rengoku Kid, "HORIZON" ~ Lone Wolf Dog, "Low Fever".Osaka Tower of the Sun installation from WHO CALL ME MIRRORBOWLER?I detect tilt-shift photographic trickery.From the festival's own website
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Sept 10, 2015 2:30:04 GMT -5
OSAKA'S SEPTEMBER KOIYA MATSURI
The 16th annual Koiya Matsuri (Come Here! Festival) takes place in Naoko's favorite town this weekend. That's if two colliding cyclone/typhoon/tropical storms roaming the seas nearby permit.
"Koiya" is an invitation to drop everything and join in, in the regional Kansai dialect. Somewhat over 100,000 spectators will join 100+ dance teams from all over, in two days of competition for prizes and awards.
The event is spread out over quite a swath of public and recreational space. For the grand finale Sunday, audience participation is highly encouraged.
Hui Gong was kind enough to put over 20 minutes of video from 2013 up on YouTube, including these clips:
Koiya Matsuri 2013 2013 NOV 05 by Hui Gong (04:35) 09/21/2013 Osaka City Music: "Abataka" by Ida Engberg, David West
A kids' team performing a 4-minute routine of Asian hip-hop and shuffle. As usual, there are standout stars. On bare dirt. Some of the dancers are the size of crickets.
Koiya Matsuri 2013 2013 NOV 05 by Hui Gong (04:25) Osaka City 09/21/2013
More elaborately staged high school entry with costumes and two callers. They take turns yelling out cues, reciting song lyrics, and acting as MC, cheerleader, storyteller and color commentator.
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Sept 14, 2015 3:47:25 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by tangerinesun on Sept 15, 2015 3:57:35 GMT -5
From JP Info.comYou’ve been in Japan too long when…It's slightly downhill from the first example, but this cracks me up because it's so often mentioned. Japanese drivers bow to other motorists while driving, whether they can see each other clearly or not. Instead of laughing when seeing a Japanese constantly bowing during a phone call, you start doing the same.
|
|