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Post by tangerinesun on Sept 16, 2015 14:29:10 GMT -5
Darwinfish105 is back at YouTube with a time-lapse video of several well-known locations in Tokyo: Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Sky Tree, the Metropolitan Government Office Building, as well as Shibuya metro station, Hachiko Square with its pedestrian scramble and 109 shopping tower, and many more. Must have taken forever to capture the frames. Tokyo Fisheye Time Lapse2015 SEP 13 by darwinfish105 (04:03) I tried a time-lapse video of the city of Tokyo through a Samyang fish-eye lens. Since the angle of view is so wide, I find it quite troublesome to make a picture. my blog : darwinfish105.blogspot.jp/2015/09/blog-post_15.htmlcamera : SONY a7RII + Samyang 12mm F2.8 ED AS NCS FISH-EYE music : A New Day by Chill CarrierA New Day at Jamendo.comDarwinfish has done lots of these over the last three years. His July subject was Tokyo Haneda Airport, also pretty fine. Haneda Airport Tilt Shift and Time Lapse
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Oct 8, 2015 20:38:44 GMT -5
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Post by tangerinesun on Oct 11, 2015 15:36:25 GMT -5
Osaka Minami Wheel Annual Urban Music FestivalThis is a kind of regional battle of the bands held over the long weekend of October 12 in Osaka City's central district, roughly centered on the club strip in the shadow of the Hanshin Expressway where King Cobra and its ilk are found. In this way, Osaka can attract thousands to a music festival in its own living room with major cash investments limited to traffic and crowd control, and some sweeping up afterward. Support by sponsoring radio station Funky FM802 is relentless. This year, they got Sony PlayStation on board as a major sponsor. Overall good deal for everybody. How did they arrive at Minami Wheel for a name? Minami is "Southern", but it's the geographic term for the middle of greater Osaka City. Osaka Minami is south of the northern part, after all. Over 200 featured artists contained in the little tiles on the promotional gizmoFrom the festival website: FM 802 Osaka Minami is the Number 1 live performance festival in the entire [Kansai] region. Simultaneous live shows by a total of 300 or more artist groups, in over 20 live houses, clubs and other venues let the audience explore and choose their favorites to attend on a single pass good for every venue throughout the omnibus live event. The directors consist of Kansai concert promotion companies from all over the FM802 listening area, acting in their respective roles.〜 Bands and venues both hope for massive audience churn that will expose them to new fans. Facilitating that is the job of the festival promoters. You need a railway stationmaster to figure out the schedule. Festival-goers are voracious for as much entertainment as they can stand, since they have already paid for every act in every venue on their ticket. Bands and industry people do a great deal of schmoozing at the same time, whether they're playing or not. The bands tend toward the younger and less-known side — Archaic Rag Store, anybody? {Nexus PV on YouTube} Well-established acts don't have as much to gain from a dogfight. Today, 12 October, is the wrap-up for 2015. Productivity for Tuesday the 13th is forecast to be low.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Oct 12, 2015 18:55:40 GMT -5
Doesn't sound like something for SK, I suppose, they may not be all that well-known, but, they certainly ARE an "established" band.
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Post by tangerinesun on Jan 7, 2016 5:34:57 GMT -5
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Post by tangerinesun on Jan 12, 2016 17:47:49 GMT -5
Science tells us that any ecosystem will have its own Kardashians. This one's Oiran Kei is extra-strong.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jan 12, 2016 19:55:22 GMT -5
Makes her look pregnant
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Post by tangerinesun on Jan 18, 2016 16:38:07 GMT -5
From the sedately awesome Retro-Illustration Ameba blog comes this classic Japanese puzzle. RETRO-ILLUSTRATION BLOG Magazine and picture-book illustration from the Taisho through the Showa eras (1912–1989)Can you do it?Make a one-stroke drawing ( hitofudegaki) of a double circle ( nijyumaru) Tags: Nostalgic illustration, depth of knowledge test On a piece of paper, can you draw a double circle as shown using a single continuous stroke? Once you touch the pencil to the paper, you can't lift it up again. 〜〜〜 The answer is, sure you can do this. On a real, physical piece of paper. If, like Alexander the Great, you don't mind solving a problem by completely rejecting the implied constraints. Use ingenuity to win on a technicality. Answer follows sometime later.
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Post by tangerinesun on Jan 19, 2016 20:05:28 GMT -5
2016年 京都 三十三間堂 通し矢 大的大会 Japanese Archery Ceremony Sanjusangen-do Temple 20162016 Jan 17 by peaceful japan (03:15) 2016年1月17日 京都の三十三間堂で行われる弓引き初め大的全国大会の模様です。 January 17, 2016 Beginners' yumihiki (bow pulling) performance at Kyoto's Sanjusangen-do, on the pattern of a large-scale national competition.Balletic classical technique, individual expressions of style, gorgeous shooting attire, and a snapping iPhone. Look at the tall, brown-haired girl from the poster frame at around 02:00. Over 1500 people turn up every January to watch the amateur archers compete. This is a beauty pageant for new 20-year-olds, videoed by a proud parent — but the lack of emphasis on where the shot lands is not a cheat. Perfect shooting makes a perfect shot. An amateur only looks at the target to help evaluate her form. Some shots aren't heard to hit anything. At 60 meters on a cold day, it's not an easy score.Young female archers take part in New Year's eventNHK -- JAN 18Young kimono-clad women fired arrows in a New Year's archery event at a Buddhist temple in Japan's old capital of Kyoto on Sunday. About 80 women who recently came of age took part in the annual outdoor event at Sanjusangendo, ahead of national archery championships. The archers shot at meter-wide targets 60 meters away. During the Edo period, which lasted from the 17th to the late 19th century, master archers demonstrated their skills in competitions held in a 120-meter hallway in the temple's main building. English Wikipedia article on the Japanese bowen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumi
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Post by tangerinesun on Jan 20, 2016 23:42:30 GMT -5
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jan 24, 2016 22:32:30 GMT -5
Throwing beans at the "Oni" (Japanese Demons), at the top of Tokyo Tower; for Setsubun, a New year's festival where the Oni are shooed away, to bring good luck. upload imagem
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Feb 4, 2016 14:04:50 GMT -5
THE REAL BLACK SAMURAI adult imageHe was the first Black Japanese Samurai in history and he was essentially one of the ‘Right Hand Men’ of the war lord of 16th century Japan: Oda Nobunaga. Yasuke (彌介) is what they called him, we are not too sure of his actual name but a recent discovery in a 2013 investigation by Discovery of the World’s Mysteries (世界ふしぎ発見) concluded that Yasuke was a Makua named Yasufe. (Makua is the largest ethnic group in Mozambique). He arrived in Japan from Mozambique in 1579 as the servant/slave of the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano. On arrival in the land of the rising Sun; his appearance caused a stir between the locals as they crumbled and stumbled upon each other in a bid to catch a glimpse of this strange looking individual. Eventually; word soon got back to the war lord of the land ‘Oda Nobunaga’ and he ordered that Yasuke be brought to his presence immediately. The “Lord Nobunaga Chronicle” (Shinchōkōki) has a description of Yasuke’s first meeting with Nobunaga. “On the 23rd of the 2nd month March 23, 1581, a black page (“kuro-bōzu”) came from the Christian countries. He looked about 26, 24 or 25 by Western count or 27 years old; his entire body was black like that of an ox. The man was healthy and good-looking. Moreover, his strength was greater than that of 10 men.” After Matsudaira Ietada had met Yasuke in May 1582, Ietada journalized his looks. ” His name was Yasuke. His height was 6 shaku 2 sun (6 ft. 2 in., or 188 cm). He was black, and his skin was like charcoal.” This means that Yasuke would have posed a very imposing figure to the Japanese citizens of the day. Still intrigued by the young African’s appearance, Nobunaga was not quite convinced that Yasuke’s dark skin color was genuine and ordered him to be stripped and washed to get the alleged ‘Black Paint’ off his body. Nobunaga was impressed with Yasuke’s physical attributes such as his strength and also his ability to speak some form of Japanese. As time went on Nobunaga grew fond of the African and eventually awarded him with the position of a Samurai (shikan) – A rare honor for a foreigner not to mention a servant. However things turned sour in Japan – Nobunaga was overthrown by one of his closest Generals Akechi Mitsuhide killing himself in the process [via a Samurai ritual called seppuku]. In the heat of this ‘ancient samurai coup’ Akechi labelled Yasuke as a beast undeserving to be called a true Samurai and had him handed back to the Jesuits. Yasuke’s later ventures are unknown but his rise to a highly elevated position in Japan after arriving as a mere slave is still spoken about in Japanese folklore till this day as evidenced in the fictional children historical show called Kuro-suke (くろ助).
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 5, 2016 23:41:51 GMT -5
THE REAL BLACK SAMURAI He arrived in Japan from Mozambique in 1579 as the servant/slave of the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano. On arrival in the land of the rising Sun; his appearance caused a stir between the locals as they crumbled and stumbled upon each other in a bid to catch a glimpse of this strange looking individual. In the heat of this ‘ancient samurai coup’ Akechi labelled Yasuke as a beast undeserving to be called a true Samurai and had him handed back to the Jesuits. Yasuke’s later ventures are unknown but his rise to a highly elevated position in Japan after arriving as a mere slave is still spoken about in Japanese folklore till this day as evidenced in the fictional children historical show called Kuro-suke (くろ助). The give-back proved Yasuke's special status-symbol role all right, but realistically there was no way he was going to be "one of us". What honor requires of such a freakish outsider is a good question. No reason to risk political or supernatural consequences on the fate of one such weird being, so classifying him as not-a-person to spare his life was socially expedient. The one who definitely treated "Yasuke" as beneath consideration was his Portuguese master Valignano, who apparently tossed him in as a deal-sweetener in return for negotiated concessions. The short, singular career of Yasuke the giant, non-belonging black warrior spawned a couple of other fairy tales you may recall: • Afro Samurai (Manga by Takashi Okazaki 1999-2000; anime franchise 2007-09 from Studio Gonzo) • Samurai Champloo (Manga by Masaru Gotsubo 2004; TV series by Shinichirō Watanabe for Manglobe 2004-05) Afro Samurai was a pretty simple exercise in stylish violence. How many scenes, how many panels can I get out of a grudge fantasy about a bitter, outcast loner swordsman with just one goal? Samurai Champloo is an odd-couple wandering buddy story that mixed the samurai-historical genre with the world beat boy and gangsta phenomenon as perceived by Japan. Also bloody and stylish, but more comedy, less nihilism. Owes plenty to Tite Kubo.Both are examples of the endless wash-and-rinse cycle between Japanese and US pop culture that gets the entire world going from time to time.
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 13, 2016 20:13:19 GMT -5
Stained glass window depicts the storied saintsFrom the Hatena diary of pootiThe Osamu Tezuka Manga MuseumTakarazuka City's Tezuka Manga Museum pageFor any true fan of Tezuka, this looks like a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage. These are all Japanese-language links, but if you feed the URLs to Google Translate, you get something usable. Travel-guide writeup with photos. We learn that the exterior of the museum is based on the castle in "Princess Knight." I went to the Osamu Tezuka Manga MuseumIn 2014 August 08-14 on a visit home to Takarazuka City in Hyogo Prefecture, my daughter and I went together to the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum. During his lifetime (he died 1989 February 09 at the age of 60), Osamu Tezuka is said to have produced around 604 manga issues.Magazine-like article by SORI-san at the Black Kurosuke events blog. "Just a casual kind of blog." Black Kurosuke are those little sootballs with eyes from Studio Ghibli's Totoro and Spirited Away films. Printed visitors' guide. Three floors of exhibits with a dome skylight. In a child's cartoon paradise, visitors with inadequate training can sweat over turning a pencil sketch into a CG animation sequence! Slave-galley seating with supervisor on a platform. Hyper-realistic! There's a separate drawing area for pencils. CG tweening, Black Jack to Kimba For best results, start from a good placeAnother photo tour from the FC2 blog of SAMmomApparently the mother of child skateboard sensation Isamu Yamamoto. Sam loved the museum. About halfway down the long, long page. Today's Japanese phrase: アニメ工房Anime koubouAnimation studio
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Post by tangerinesun on Mar 2, 2016 6:26:15 GMT -5
Bisen Aoyagi is a calligraphy rockstarBisen at Facebook25 year old Bisen is a specialist in traditional Japanese calligraphy. Also, not so traditional, but she really works the Zen aspect. She teaches, does commissioned work on all kinds of media, churns out suitable-for-framing ink drawings of popular kanji on paper — to insistent electro-pop, in her cramped studio... and she does exhibitions. She'll drive or fly to your location and put on a show, garbed in an apron or occasionally a fabric suit of imitation samurai armor. She's not afraid to paint right on your expensive permanent vertical wall at superhuman sizes, something I haven't seen before. It's easy to lose a happy hour just cruising her Instagram. I suppose there must be at least one hundred-year-old master who's upset about people like her, but I think she's the boar's bristles. instagram.com/p/BCbYPDGMazw/Short video, working small and fine on a gridinstagram.com/p/BCULRXHsa5C/The character for spirit/mind/heart decomposed[/i] This character is 心 and it's legible. Legible the way a really warped Captcha key is, but also because viewers unconsciously calculate the number of strokes and their order, and that rings a bell for anybody who's written the thing thousands of times themselves. It's still a bit of a puzzle, which adds to its value. This kanji has a derivative meaning of: meaning, as in the heart of a riddle, the spirit of a phrase of poetry. Bisen's first name is most often written in kanji that individually mean "grow beautiful". Her family name is a place name, usually written "green willow". Although, by sound alone, it could as well be "blue goat". Performing at the Loop-A gallery in Shinsaibashi, a shopping district in central Osaka between Doutonburi and America Village.
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