— ABOUT Wasabi Stories… —
“Use Your Imagination to Grasp Things Many-sidedly”
Today’s story teller is a young and energetic female film director, Satoko Yokohama.
She told about the basis of her film making.
“I am very interested in the people or things that weren’t implanted unified idea or social idea, like children or animals.” Yokohama said.
Because there should be various view points on a thing, Yokohama often tries to doubt a common sense first.
For example, a way to use a tool; through experiences, adults tend to think “we should use it in this way,” however, children try to use it in various ways that adults can’t think of.
Yokohama said that kind of tendency scares her when she applies the example to the Japanese society.
In April 2009, a member of Japanese pop idol group SMAP, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was arrested on suspicion of public indecency (he got naked in public under influence of alcohol).
Yokohama was watching a TV news program showing a curbside interview that asked people what they think of his arrest.
“The interviewees were saying like ‘I thought he was a nice guy but it’s unbelievable’ or ‘It’s a shame’ but I think they are luck of imagination. They jumped right into the conclusion, and don’t think about the process. I think they can’t imagine the situation and how he was, that’s why they could say such things. It’s scary.”
The basis of her film making is the power that breaks the stiffed up common sense, and sending the message that the audiences to get free.
That is why she never assigns “limit” like it has to be realistic when she makes film.
Yokohama told that there are no rules on making films but anything can happen there.
The NIKKEI Jul/1/2009 by Satoko Yokohama (a film director)
You should follow me on Twitter HERE.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Relating article
"cicada0908" some rights reserved. flickr
In Japan, school starts in April and finishes in March.
So many schools have graduation ceremony in these couple of weeks.
It may be because students usually get close relationship with classmates and teachers and spend much time together in Japan, but graduation ceremony is very sincere event and there are a lot of J-pop singers and bands that release graduation songs here.
Today, let me introduce the chart of “10 top J-pop graduation songs” that was announced by Oricon Style (Japanese major company that supplies statistics and info on music) last week.
#1: “San-gatsu Kokonoka (March 9)” by Remioromen
J-Rock band Remioromen’s second single used in a TV drama.
#2: “Sotsugyou Shashin (Graduation Picture)” by Yumi Matsutoya
Classic ballad graduation song released in 1975.
#3: “Okuru Kotoba (Presenting Word)” by Kaien-tai
Classic graduation song released in 1979 sung by J-folk group.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Relating article
March 13th,2010
Music | tags:
Ranking,
Song |
No Comments
This is a Japanese anime Anpanman wall clock.
BEST for GIFT!!!
This is JAPAN Style!
You should follow me on Twitter HERE.
If the eBay link is dead and you have questions about the item, please contact me here.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Relating article
To you drive or take a train to go to your work?
In Japan, overwhelming numbers of people take train for commuting.
The last trains are usually scheduled around midnight.
Every night there are people who miss the last train and get miserable.
Overtime or drinking with co-workers but the options that they will pick are one of those
1. Take a taxi to go home.
2. Stay till morning at a manga kissa (manga cafe) or a family restaurant.
3. Stay at a cheap hotel.
In many cases people take taxi to go home but midnight taxi fare is ridiculously expensive.
Now, this is the story of an office worker who came up the idea “why don’t I run home?” and he actually did it.
His name is Mr. A and he lives in Chigasaki, Kanagawa PrefectureW, works at a company in Tokyo.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Relating article
— ABOUT Wasabi Stories… —
“The 3 Things that a Parent Can Do for a Child”
Today’s story teller is a singer, Yuko Kanzaki, and she talked about of her parenting of two sons; one is third grade and the other is eighth grade.
First she told the impressive word that she was given by the director at her older son’s kindergarten.
“I realized that I wasn’t good at adapting to child’s pace. When we went out, I couldn’t wait for my son putting shoes, so I put his shoes on. But the director admonished me ‘what a parent can do to his/her child is to wait, watch and be delighted.’ Thanks to the word, I could be patient after I had the second son.”
Now her sons grew up. She is very busy with her work.
Because she broadcasts a radio program everyday, she often takes advantage of her family, but her sons understand her work and her parents are cooperative, so she somehow manages work and parenting.
Through her parenting, she realized that a child needs 100% of care when he was just born but when he grows up to certain age, he needs only 30 % of help because he can do 70 % by himself.
After all, a child grows up at his direction, so for both parent and child, it’s better to have some ambiguity than making everything clear.
She said that to start thinking like this is the biggest change in her parenting.
The NIKKEI Jun/30/2009 by Yuko Kanzaki (singer)
You should follow me on Twitter HERE.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Relating article
If you are a gamer, visit a Japanese flash game site “Funky Land”, where it has original gun shooting, adventure, puzzle, action, typing, simulation and cooking games!
Don’t worry about language; there are 15 games that you can play in English.
The most played game series in the site is fashion simulation games, where you play a girl and dress up and make up right to succeed in relationships.
The secondary popular game is cooking game, where you click the kitchen and lead the character Gapupy to cook the assigned food right.
Overall, the game site has a lot of games that women would like but there are some guy games like shooting and adventure too.
Funky Land
This is JAPAN Style!
You should follow me on Twitter HERE.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Relating article
This is a Japanese style food containers for microwave oven.
Made in JAPAN!!!
This is JAPAN Style!
You should follow me on Twitter HERE.
If the eBay link is dead and you have questions about the item, please contact me here.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Relating article
The other day, JAPAN Style introduced a fun notepad that sold at Japanese 100 yen stores.
This is part 2.
If you haven’t read the PART 1, please read it.
First, entering a 100 yen shop.
The notepad picked this time is…
It’s obviously a skull… It’s shiny.
It’s wearing a ribbon. What kinda skull is this??
Well. It says “notebook” so I guess it is a notepad.
Pinching the bone part and open it.
Hmmmm it surely is a notepad
Let me draw something.
Wow good drawing!
It’s Aikei, a character from Japanese manga, “Sakigake!! OtokojukuW”.
When I saw it first, I thought it was Raoh from “First of the North Star” lol.
*
This notepad is fun too!
I don’t know who would use such notepads. It’s a mystery…
Reference：Daily Portal Z
This is JAPAN Style!
You should follow me on Twitter HERE.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Relating article
— ABOUT Wasabi Stories… —
“Think and Look from the Other Person’s View”
Today’s story teller is a calligrapher, Souun Takeda.
Having a calligrapher mother, he started learning calligraphy when he was very young, although he was more into sports than calligraphy.
After graduated from university, he was employed at a company but he realized that he wanted to set up himself as a calligrapher, so he quit the company and started practicing calligraphy on a street.
His calligraphy style after the restart is self learned.
With the strong mind that “I want to practice calligraphy that moves people’s hearts rather than well calligraphy”, he actively collaborated with artists in different fields; however, there were a lot of troubles because it was beyond example, Takeda confessed.
Through him groping his way, he met this person who engaged in the conducting concerts of big name musicians and bands such as X-Japan.
His name is Tsuyoshi Masuko, and Takeda said he learned a lot from him.
One day, Masuko went to see Takeda’s performance, and he left a severe word on Takeda.
Takeda described the moment.
“It was seven years ago. I gave a public performance for the deaf and the blind, and after the performance, Mr. Masuko who was sneakily watching the show murmured to me ‘that doesn’t convey’.”
At first, Takeda was shaken and felt down by the word but when he calmly looked back his performance, he realized that it wasn’t for the audiences but it was just self-satisfaction.
Another impressive word Takeda got from Masuko was “as long as you play an active role, there will always be bashing. No bashing means its end.”
Takeda said he was very moved by the word from the person who had been working with many talented artists.
Takeda considers calligraphy as pop art like pop music.
He concluded,
“I have never taken technical teaching from Masuko, but he is my great teacher of expression when I try to strike many people’s hearts.”
The NIKKEI Jul/2/2009 by Souun Takeda (calligrapher)
You should follow me on Twitter HERE.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Relating article
