I was perusing through some of the recently added tv shows on Hulu the other day (I have Hulu Plus so I can watch on my devices), and noticed that some live action Japanese tv shows have been added for (I believe) the first time. They seem to be shows also available on the “DramaFever”…
One of Hayao Miyazai’s most beloved films, “Kiki’s Delivery service” is set to be released as a live action film in March of 2014. The original animated version was released in Japan in 1989, and then dubbed and released in the US by Disney in 1997. It is, simply put, the story of a young…
In sad news today, popular Japanese comedian “Yakkun Sakurazuka” (real name Yasuo Saito) who is famous for dressing in girl’s high school uniforms mimicking the Japanese film archetype of the badass, bullying high school girl. He studied Cinema at Nihon University, and has appeared as both a regular and a guest on several TV shows,…
A weekly staple for fans of the Japanese comedy team Downtown, and their friends is set to come to an end. The gang on Lincoln will be calling it quits. The show started up in October of 2005 and will be finishing a successful run on Tuesday, September 10th. Mimura from “Summers” posted a message…
I am pretty happy to see Salvage Mice on Netflix. The US gets far too great a share of Japanese horror and gore and far too few of these fun little flix with a bit of comedy and heart. Granted, it’s still a “girls in high school uniforms fighting” kind of show, but it uses…
TLC has decided to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the song “Waterfalls” by teaming with Japanese pop star Namie Amuro for a version which (in a slight bit of controversy) removes the rapping of the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. (Although Left Eye’s estate will benefit from royalties due to her writer’s credit on the…
If you’ve been to Japan and walked through one of the drinking districts or shopping districts or malls or most any place with a good amount of foot traffic, you may have been tempted to slip inside and drop a few hundred yen into a video game. The popularity of public arcades lives on in…
Japan’s prime mininster’s office has spent 4.5 million yen (nearly US$550,000) on an overhaul of the Prime Minister’s website. The redesign was done to improve communications. A new section of the site was also designed for kids. The site, titled” The Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet” can be found at http://www.kantei.go.jp/ . It includes links…
One quick update to my article on the usefulness of eReaders, and especially the Kindle in Japan, is that surprisingly, English language newspapers from Japan are available on the Kindle. Even better is that even if you don’t own a Kindle, they are available through the Kindle for iPad, iPhone, and Android app. This means…
So far this story doesn’t have a lot of legs, but some Japanese Tabloids and internet sites are reporting that Ai Kago, who recently was hospitalized after attempting suicide has signed a contract for 100,000,000 yen, or well over 1 million dollars at current exchange rates. As I said, mainstream media has not yet confirmed…
One of the longest running manga in English translation in the US, Ranma 1/2, the unique story of a boy who was cursed to turn into a girl whenever he is wet by cold water. Hot water lets him revert to his original form. (Incidentally, his father turns, not into a girl, but into a…
Asuka Fukuda, one of the most popular of the original members of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume is making a comeback to the world of entertainment. She was the youngest member and left very quickly after the group began to dominate the pop music world. The official reason for her departure was to concentrate…