Category: Japan things!

These things are about Japan!

Katsucon photos have moved!

I have moved my photos from Katsucon 2012 and 2013 over to my new portfolio site, Lexonia.net

I have gone in and cleaned up a lot of them using Adobe Lightroom, and I think I made them much better, plus I added quite a few to the 2012 photos!

Here are the links to the photos on the new site:

Katsucon 2012
Some random con scenes
Cosplay photographers, capturing the captors =^_^=
Cosplayers I encountered
A photoshoot with some friends who love to cosplay Final Fantasy characters

Katsucon 2013
Before the convention
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Ikimonogakari, a nice J-Rock band

Doing my usual late-night Youtube surfing, I came across several videos featuring a Japanese light-rock band named “Ikimonogakari.” The first song I heard was a live version of one of their songs, “Kaze ga fuite iru” (風が吹いている, “Wind is Blowing”), which opened with the lead singer spotlighted, and the members of the band joining in, before going into a full stage performance. The style of music was very light rock, kind of late-60’s or early 70’s pop, but the lead singer, Kiyoe Yoshioka, really brought a lot of energy and heart into the song. Her voice and range was so impressive I had to look for more performances by them.

This one that I found is a perfect example song for the band, which is really only the three, Yoshiki Mizuno on bass and Hotaka Yamashita on guitar and harmonica. THe song is “Sakura”, their first single, and even though this version goes into full orchestral mode, the beginning with only the three in the spotlight really shows their ability, especially Yoshioka-san’s impressive vocal range. I’ll be keeping an eye out for their CDs whenever I can!

楽しんで、ください！
(Enjoy!)


Update:

Thank you Sony Entertainment, for blocking this video from being shown in the US. (tch)

All Otakon 2013 photos

I’ve uploaded all the Otakon 2013 photos now, they’re available on my photo site. If you want to see all the convention photos, you can go to my Conventions gallery, or if you just want to see cosplayers close-up, go to my Cosplay gallery. There will be more as I move them from this site to that one, but it will take some time.

Until then, enjoy!

J-Pop, old school – Hitomi Ishikawa

Surfing through some Japanese videos on Youtube, I found some videos by a J-pop singer from back in the 80’s who’s still performing (and still looks very nice, even if she doesn’t look like a high-school girl anymore) named Hitomi Ishikawa (石川ひとみ). She started out (looks like) when she was in high school in 1976, winning a Fuji TV singing contest. She had one big hit in 1978, she was a voice actress on an anime, but her career came to a halt when she contracted Hepatitis B in 1987. She recovered and started performing again in 1988, got married in 1993 (dang it!) and still performs on TV. She has a fantastic voice, even when she was just starting out.

Anyway, here’s a compilation video of some of her songs, and video clips of her performing them through the years.

From the Youtube page, here’s the playlist of songs:

♪ 1．くるみ割り人形
♪ 2．夢番地一丁目
♪ 3．Blue Dancing
♪ 4．ハート通信
♪ 5．君は輝いて天使にみえた

Enjoy!

Nerdtour 2012 quickie: Artistic Tokyo Station

So, I thought I’d try to be a little artistic with another one of my photos from Japan. I see all kinds of “art” photos where the photographer uses grainy black and white, so I thought I’d do the same with one of my more-or-less “artistic” photos, converting the nice clean crisp color photo to this B&W thing. This is a shot of one of the platforms at Tokyo Station. I was headed to Yokohama for the day, and it was well past rush hour so there was hardly a person there. “Crowded Tokyo” is very selective in its appearance.

I don’t know if this works as “art” or not, since I’m not an artist, but here it is anyway! I guess it kind of looks like an old photo, or something…

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Lady Gaga, Japanese style!

Two years ago, Lady Gaga helped out the people of Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and in recognition a pair of musicians, part of a Japanese group “Team Kozan,” created this music video, a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” using the traditional musical instruments of shakuhachi (flute) and koto (strings). They also got a pair of dancers to perform some of her dance moves in kimono, eventually joined by the shakuhachi player. Of course there’s other modern instruments accompanying them, but the combination is pretty good, and very catchy. I doubt that I’ll bother with the original, but this one is definitely worth the watch and listen.

Enjoy!

David Lee Roth, hitman?

Well, yeah, he was a “hit, man” back in the 80’s as part of Van Halen, but he’s been in Japan filming a supposed “trailer” for a supposed Japanese yakuza (gangster) film. He’s gotten older (as have we all) and more craggy, almost alien in this trailer. Which I guess is appropriate, since Japanese consider everyone else “aliens” (gaijin). If this is going to be a real movie, which I doubt, it could be pretty good, especially if it’s actually more of a spoof. I mean, an American hitman taking out yakuza in a Japanese bath house, while quoting “Sailor Moon”? And taking the bath he paid for afterwards? Way over the top! And no on-screen violence, either, which is a welcome change.

While it lasts, here’s the “trailer”.

Enjoy!

Nerdtour 2012 quickie: Enoshima Girls

Be grateful you can’t hear me singing this! And I only did one verse so you can be even more thankful!

Enoshima Girls
(sung to the tune of “California Girls” by the Beach Boys)

Well Tokyo girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear,
And Osaka girls with the way they talk, they knock me out when I’m back there.
The Tohoku farmer’s daughters really make you feel all right,
And Hokkaido girls with they way they kiss they keep their boyfriends warm at night.

I wish they all could be Enoshima
I wish they all could be Enoshima
I wish they all could be Enoshima girls!

Sun, sand, surf and cute girls, the Beach Boys would have loved Enoshima! =^_^=

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