Posted by Guest Author on Apr 21, 2009 in Animation, Tech
Virtual idols have been around longer than you think — shown above is a magazine cover featuring Kyoko Date from 1996. In this article Nick Kent gives us his insights:
The interesting “real” Robo-Girl in the pop culture room is Hatsune Miku, who really is software:
She’s a second generation Windows voice synthesis software released in 2007 that anyone can buy at mainstream Japanese software retailer for around $150. With a slightly difficult user interface software one can program her to sing anything in a voice that’s now not far out of place on the pop charts. The Vocaloid technology was created by Yamaha and then licensed to developers, namely Crypton who developed the character and voice. Read more…
In this article pop culture pundit Nick Kent gives us his insights into the growing trend of J-Pop singers who want to sound cyber:
I’ve been noticing a mini-trend in Japanese pop music lately consisting of pretty female singers singing with android sounding vocals rather than natural sounding ones. I can’t help but to think Cher’s 1998 hit single “Believe” makes her the Borg Queen of this phenomenon: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 17, 2009 in Japanese TV
Time was not too long ago that Domo was the coolest thing not just for me — but for any self respecting hipster, creative professional or occasional otaku. But alas our favorite razor toothed character who was all but unknown in Japan conquered mainstream America, before you know it every damn yabbo could pick up a t-shirt at Walmart. But fear not as I have discovered a worthy mascot replacement: On-Chan Nendoroid (shown above) was created in 1997 to represent the Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co. and he sports a pet monster called Guchi. So if you want to be the first kid on your block to own your very own Nendoroid this figurine can be ordered from National Console Support, Inc. By the way here’s Nendoroid in action:Read more…
These two commercials for the Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek! attraction at Tokyo Disneyland are enjoyable on two levels: First it’s great to see these familiar Pixar characters speaking Japanese, it almost gives them an anime like quality. Next on the first ad above I love the intercuts of the typical Japanese family mirroring the actions of the animated characters. In fact the high quality of the Japanese voice actors almost makes me want to re-watch the film in Japanese with English subtitles just to see what they did. Read more…
These Star Wars Kokeshi dolls touched my heart as they perfectly combine the timelessness of Star Wars with the charm of Japanese craftsmanship. For those of you not in the know Kokeshi are traditional dolls from northern Japan — what makes them unique is that they’re made out of wood and always lack arms or legs, and they’re always hand painted. The artist behind these cute goodies is Muluc whose store on Etsy is called temple7e. Shown above is Princess Leia and below is Han Solo: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 6, 2009 in Videogames
It’s a good thing with the obesity epidemic that videogame companies here aren’t getting into co-branded snack foods! However in Japan that doesn’t seem to be a worry so far as game publisher From Software has made a deal to create a ninja themed snack to coincide with the release of their game Onore no Shinzuru Michi wo Tatashike. The game takes place in Edo-era Japan where ninja warriors have to solve puzzles to recuse a princess: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 31, 2009 in Star Wars
I wasn’t aware of this — but it seems that back 1989 at Tokyo Disneyland they had a Star Wars themed attraction called Mickey’s Space Fantasy. After some research I found out that the ride featured in this old advert is in fact Star Tours which was advertised as “The Ultimate Star Wars Adventure!” which was the direct result of Lucas working with Disney back in the 80s on several projects. But best of all, I found out that the ride is still running to this very day…
Just released this past week in Japan is an Ultraman themed soda which comes in two flavors and 12 different can designs (the flavor shown in the video is cider). But just I love the way this fanboy documented his purchase — not too dissimilar than a tech fanboy doing an unboxing video. By the way if you’re looking for an amazing collection of all things Ultraman check out this Flickr group.Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 28, 2009 in Japanese TV
Shown above is a segment from the March 25th episode of AKBINGO! a variety show which features the J-Pop group AKB48 which includes some 46 divas (well they started with 48 young ladies but that was several years ago) divided into three teams. The group is unusual in that once a week they preform at their own theater which is located in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Read more…
Akira Kurosawa was born on this day in March 23rd, 1910: I think my favorite film of his is Yojimbo the samurai classic that he directed in 1961. Half of what I love about the film is the performance of Toshirō Mifune, but framing that performance is an amazing story which was deftly portrayed by Kurosawa on so many levels from the cinematography to musical score (which almost becomes its own character in the film). In a sense Yojimbo is a western film, but what makes it amazing is that it about an old world giving way to a new world where chivalry is dead. Watching that film you could taste the dust in your mouth:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 4, 2009 in Japanese TV
This 80s advert for Tess Tea has a soundtrack that either inspired by the Katrina and the Waves hit Walking on Sunshine — or — the earlier Clash single Hitsville U.K. Although the irony of this is that much of British new wave music from that era owed a great deal to a reggae dancehall rhythm. I couldn’t find out much about Tess Tea online other than the fact that it was a brand from Suntory that must have been popular in the 80s. Here’s another anglophile commercial for Tess Tea from 1984: Read more…
I just discovered that in Japan that you can get an illustration made out of the froth that they put into your cafe — shown above is an example from the Ghibli museum cafe which is based on Kiki’s Delivery Service (photographed by Misugi Yasunami). Below is a bunny cup of brew photographed by my Flickr friend Yasuko.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 3, 2009 in Japanese TV
There’s something slightly violent lurching under this ever so moe commercial for Sapporo Ichiban instant noodles. From my crude translation my understanding is that these instant bowls of wonder come in three varieties: ramen, miso and udon.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 31, 2009 in Japanese TV
I can’t place an exact date on this Japanese advert for Kirin Mets Grapefruit although judging by the quality of the animation I’d say that it was produced in the 80s. During the early days of computer animation the technique was so expensive that using it became a visual gimmick to get attention — even if it had no connection to the product that you were selling. You get the feeling that the marketing department at Kirin was a bit worried and added the young lady in the swimsuit “just in case”.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 23, 2009 in Japanese TV
My guess is that this spot os from the 80s judging by the wear-and-tear of the video tape and the colorful art direction. The commercial is for Chinese styled Yakisoba fried noodles but what sells the spot is the rambunctious children singing along with the music.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 10, 2009 in Japanese TV
This Pocari Sweat advert is clearly aimed at the fanboys! You’ve got a little of everything here: A sword welding lady in full battle armor, an exotic kitty cat, sphinx and some sort of 3D CGI alien creature mascot sidekick. What more could you ask for?
To decorate your home in a fanboy style you just never want to settle for just average! One thing that I do every year to start things off properly is to order a calendar from Japan: The first cool thing is that you notice is that Japanese calendars tend to be oversized, in fact they’re more like posters with the dates thrown below. The other thing you notice is that the artwork and approach is just more creative — you tend not to see the same old image that’s associated with your favorite thing. But best of all you can find interesting off beat subject matter that you won’t find anywhere else, shown above is a good example from the Hibari Misora 2009 Calendar. So this year to share the love I’ve picked out my top nine crazy cool Japanese calendars that are worth checking out: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 22, 2008 in Japanese TV
The above cute clip of costumed cats is from the Japanese TV program Amazing Animals (どうぶつ奇想天外！) which runs on TBS. The segment features cats from an upcoming calendar including the well known chubby kitty Pia-kun.
What happens when a top flight international team of biochemists and rocket scientists get together? The answer is Space Beer! The brew was created with barley grown on the International Space Station: Read more…
“Japanese newspaper (shinbun) expertly folded and glued by hand in Towa Village by farmer’s wives. For the environmentally conscience.”
Although now that I’m thinking about it: I wonder how eco-friendly the bag is if it needs to be flown to the United States all the way from Japan thus adding to global warming? Oh well you can’t have it all, but the bag still looks cool…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 21, 2008 in Japanese TV
From the land of the free and the home of the bud comes these two Japanese adverts from the 80s. My guess is that the commercial above for Budweiser may have been slightly inspired by shows like Dallas from that era — while the below Coors ad features music by David Foster and Lee Ritenour:
