EVENT ALERT:[NYC EVENT] Vital Signals Japanese & American Video Art from the 1960s & ‘70s

Picture form the Japan Society Website.


If you are in the NYC area, and enjoy Japan related programs and events,then I suggest you check out the Japan Society. They always have interesting, and entertaining events several times a month, and on Saturday, November 14 there will be a media event held called Vital Signals Japanese & American Video Art from the 1960s & ‘70s



Vital Signals, a program of early video art from America and Japan.
It will highlight the significant parallel developments in these countries during the 1960s and ‘70s. The three-part screening program brings together rarely screened and seminal video art works, and includes a special discussion with artist Takahiko Iimura and American video artist Mary Lucier.




More information and ticket info, can be found on the Japan Society website. Please take a look if you have an interest, and have the time to attend!



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[EVENT ALERT] The New York Botanical Garden Presents: Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden

picture from the The New York Botanical Garden

Now, I've never actually been to the The New York Botanical Garden, but now is the perfect time seeing how the nice weather has resurfaced for awhile. The Botanical Garden is also holding a wonderful fall treat...Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden



Another huge reason to go and see this Japanese Garden while the weather is nice, is that this will be the third and final year of the Botanical Garden’s presentation of kiku which is Japanese for chrysanthemum! Kiku in the Japanese Autum Garden will run from October 17th through November 15th.

To give you an idea of what this event is all about, PLEASE take a look at the following video that takes you through Kiku in the Japanese Autum Garden


So not only is there the gardens to tour, but you also can attend various classes about gardening as well as the tradition of Japanese Garden plants. There will also be entertainment performances to watch as well. I'm not going to miss this event and well, if you are in the NY area you should make a plan to attend yourself!


For a more in depth look at the garden and ticket information, PLEASE visit the The New York Botanical Garden website found HERE

See you at the gardens!





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My Oricon Charts pick of the week!

For those of you out there that haven't a clue as to what Oricon is...
The Oricon Charts can be described as the Japanese version of the American Billboard Charts. Oricon represents the official statistics of the singles sold in Japan. Here are my pics on this weeks charts!

So I had quite a few favorites this week,
My first pic is by YUI. She actually topped the charts at #1 with her song
It's All Too Much Here have a look,


She sings, plays the acoustic guitar, and writes her own songs. Two of her songs, "LIFE" and "Rolling Star," are featured in Bleach, a Japanese anime series, which has brought her some international attention. She released another song called "Again" and is currently used as an opening theme to the new series of Fullmetal Alchemist.


The Next song is by a group called UNICORN　（ユニコーン). They are a Japanese rock band formed in 1986. The band split up in 1992 but returned in 2009 with their hit single "Wao!" The song is called 半世紀 少年 Hanseiki Shonen On the Oricon Charts they ranked #3



Next song is called Shunkashuto by HILCRHYME,
ranking number 6 on the charts! This is my first time listening to this artist. I had no idea who HILCRHYME was, but after hearing this song, I'm going to find more music! Ahh making rap sound more relaxing! ^^



One of my all time favorite groups dropped to # 8 on the charts, but I'm still loving this song!! Yell by Ikimonogakari !!! I love her voice and well.. just listen for yourself.

ikimono-gakari (いきものがかり) is a Japanese rock band.The band was formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in February 1999 by Hotaka Yamashita and Yoshiki Mizuno, and was later joined by lead vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka in December the same year.



Number 11 on the charts goes to the song Endless Road by DEEP....although wait.. aren't they the same guys from the group COLORS? Turns out they changed their name to DEEP,maybe a new direction but this songs sounds like their previous stuff.. anyway I liked it so here you are!



Fuyu Love by Juliet made it to # 13 on the charts. I'm not thrilled with this one, but I found myself humming it later after listening. That has to mean something right? ^^
Well personally, I find this song much better than their first single called Natsu Love

[PV]Juliet - フユラブ
by vivace520

Another favorite artist of mine is Jun Shibata. Her new song is called Love Letter, and this week it was at #14. I couldn't find a full video of her song but here is just a clip. I'll post a better one once I either post one myself or find another!



For those that are into Visual Kei bands. (I will admit I have a few songs on my ipod that I jam to ^^) My next song is called Chimes by the group Megamasso. This song is #16 on the charts.

Megamasso (メガマソ) is an indies Visual-Kei band, started by Ryouhei the former leader and guitarist of Ayabie. They have a fun filled experimental sound that mixes a lot of punk and upbeat poprock songs.

Ok my las vid is one that was on the charts for a bit, but this week it's at #24
Candy Girl by Mika Nakashima. I think I like it because it doesn't sound like her type of songs, in my opinion. Anyway when I first picked up her single, I was instantly drawn to this song. I really like this style. Keep surprising me Mika!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Actually I lied.. I have another vid that I really liked.
Kimi No Shiranai Monogatari by Supercell. This song is the ending to the anime
Bakemonogatari I haven't seen it but maybe I'll check it out. Plus, I think both the song and PV are very sweet!

Supercell consists of ryo (composer/arranger) and nagi (vocalist).

ALRIGHT! I'm finished with my pics for this week. Hope you enjoy the selection
and if you want anymore information about any of the artists in this post, please feel free to leave me a comment! ^^



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Prepare to be moved, while watching Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

I have been off my anime high for quite some time now, and those of you who do read my blog from time to time, may remember a post I made of an anime titled Pandora Hearts a few months ago. If you don't remember this one then by all means have a look at this post here, as I do think it's an anime worth watching.

I've recently started watching anime again and I have to say the show I picked up on has been one of the best anime choices since me watching Cowboy Bebop!
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0



STORY:
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 gives us the story involving the possibility of an earthquake of magnitude 7 or greater striking the Tokyo area. The story revolves around Mirai, a middle school freshman girl who goes to Tokyo's artificial Odaiba Island for a robot exhibition with her brother Yutaka at the start of summer vacation. As they are enjoying themselves,a sudden and powerful tremor emanates from an ocean trench, causing everything around them to crumble and the landscape of Tokyo changes in an instant. With the help of a motorcycle delivery woman named Mari who they meet on Odaiba, Mirai and Yutaka embark on a joruney to head home to their loved ones in western Tokyo, while trying to survive on the way.





The writers of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 really put a lot of thought,and conducted a great deal of research to make this anime seem as REAL as one could be. I think this is also a factor as to why I continued to watch this series. At first I thought to myself at how yet another story is set in a "post-apocalyptic Japan" The idea of a disaster based series just wasn’t winning me over, but I stuck with it and found that Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 has nothing fantasy about it. No giant Mecha trying to save and or destroy the world. It's just a raw natural earthquake that rocks Japan The emotions are as real as they could be and I actually find myself sitting here and thinking "what the hell would I do if this actually happened to me" I don't do that with most anime as most are fantasy based and I can't relate to anything on a real life level. Actually the earthquake seems quite secondary to everything else going on and the actual characters, story and development.



The familial relationships, innocence, and resentment all struck pretty deep and I’m more attached to both characters after watching the first three episodes. I think though that anyone watching could and will relate to these children, Why? because we all were like them once in our lives, and watching their journey, feeling their emotions, they all bring us back to when we were their ages. I quickly found myself relating to Mirai and her irritations towards herself, her ordinary circumstances and of course her family! I don't want to give too much away to those that haven't had the chance to watch this anime but I haven't been this emotionally into an anime in awhile and I love those moments! This is a MUST WATCH!

OVERALL CLOSING THOUGHTS:

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is an anime that was beautifully researched, exquisitely written, and contained fine dramatic technique and splendid artwork! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you to give this show a try and stick with it through all 11 episodes! Not for the weak-hearted though as this show really bares Japan's soul, and confronts the fear of what could happen in a disastrous situation. If you want a show that will have you thinking even after it's finished, where you have a hard time letting go of the characters and emotions, this anime is for you! I hope everyone enjoys and is moved by Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

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[CONTEST ALERT] EDUFIRE WINER !!!!!

ALL RIGHT EVERYONE!
If you remember just a few weeks ago there was a large multi-blog contest going on withing the Japan Blogging community where several bloggers were giving away one superpass monthly membership! Well I am here to announce that my own contest is over and I would like to announce the winner...



Just as a reminder, Edufire is a website where users from all over the world can log on and take part in live learning of any subject they so desire! For this contest, the idea was to post your favorite Japanese word and then use it in a sentence. I would then look over all entries and pick the winner. The winner would then receive a 1 month subscription to SuperPass on eduFire



I'll keep this short but overall there were 6 entries to the site. (Not bad for my first contest though :-p ) The one I liked the most was from .....


SARAH!!!
and her favorite word was あたたかい which means warm. Her sentence was, :

「暖かい冬がほしいです…」

I like this word as well, I remembered a time when a friend of mine and I were trying to do some tongue twisters with this word. But more importantly, I like this word because I too want a somewhat warm winter.. nothing HOT. I totally understand you Sarah. I'm from Ohio and winters there are HORRID!!

Well congrats to you Sarah, and for those that did not win. FEAR NOT, head on over to edufire and sort through some of the classes. They do have some beginner Japanese classes that are free and if you like them by all means enjoy and maybe check out some of the other classes that aren't free!

Also I'm thinking of doing another contest to give away some Japanese music, so stay tuned to hear more on that! :-)





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Date an Asian Man

I love finding random things that make me laugh but this one I had to share as I do have a thing for Asian men :-p

Go ahead girls,Date an Asian Man...LOL Watch this video and see what I'm talking about


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