Tackle the Japanese language!

My another blog to learn Japanese. If you are interested in the language, hit it up :)

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

EXILE received Japan Record Award 2008

Annual music award,5oth Japan Music Record Award,was held and
EXILE received Japan Record Award 2008 with their song called
"Ti Amo". The singer of the group , Atsushi, said "I have watched
this TV show since I was a kid and I didn't imagine I would be able
to receive such an award... To perform on this stage was my dream."


And a black enka singer, JERO, was awarded The Rookie of the Year.
He is the first black enka singer in the history of Japanese music world.

Actually I haven't listened to Jello yet.
But it sounds very interesting to listen to a black singer's enka.
I will check it out!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Rimi Natsukawa, a Japanese country singer, tied the knot.

Rimi Natsukawa, who is as know as a singer of the song
"Nada Soso" announced she will get married with one of
her tour members on the new year day.

She said " He makes people around him happy" and "I'm getting
married but I'm going to continue my career that I love"

She really has a beautiful voice and I like the rhythm of her songs.
This is the most famous song of hers called "Nada soso"

Friday, December 26, 2008

Ayumi Hamasaki got injured.

A famous Japanese singer, Ayumi Hamasaki, got injured
by falling down because of anemia. She had an operation and
the doctor told her to rest for a little while. Then she canceled
a TV show "Music Station Super Live 2008" She seems to perform
rest of shows of this year as they were scheduled.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

GLAY "pure soul"

This is my favorite song called "pure soul" by GLAY.
This song is about their real life. They feel they are losing
something important with getting older. They feel like
they had something more important when they were
struggling and working hard to gain fame and also laughing
with their friends even though their life was way lower than now.

"No matter how famous we become, We shouldn't forget the
feeling "pure soul"

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The celebritie who has been in most TV commercials in the year 2008

According to the investigation of Nihon Monitor, The guy who was
used in most TV CMs is Takuya Kimura. He was used in 10 TV CMs
And the girl who was used in most TV CMs is Becky.
She was used in 14 TV CMs.
Takuya Kimura is the guy who is recognized as the coolest Japanese
man in Japan. And Becky is an entertainer who has Japanese blood
and British blood. She is a very cheerful girl. I think this is the reason
she has been used in a lot of TV CMs. In Japan most of companies use
celebrities in their CM

Japanese Celebrity Ai IiJima(36) Died.

Ai Iijima, who is a famous Japanese celebrity, was
found in her place after she died. When the
emergence services arrived there after her friend
called, It had already been 3 days since her death.
Police is investigating the cause of her death include
the possibility of a suicide.
She used to be a porn actor.after she quit the job
she became an entertainer and was often on various
TV shows. And she also wrote a novel called Platonic Sex
that is about her messed up life and it was made into a movie.
But she left the world of entertainment because
she started getting in a bad health March 2007.
And she seemed to have a neurosis.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Please don't follow or surround Maikos in Kyoto

Maikos boom has heated up recently because of some movies and
drams. a lot of amateur camera men and foreign tourists bother
them what's more sometimes scare them.

Kyoto council put up a message " Don't follow Maikos in the street"
on their homepage for English speakers.

Well, I'm from Kyoto. I'm used to see them and don't care about
them. But I know they are so attractive for you guys and you
guys want to take pictures of them. ummm so Let's say that take
pics a bit far from them. Don't go close to them silently and take
pictures. You can easily imagine it is so scary. or say
" Shashin wo totte mo iidesuka"(Can I take a picture of you?)
But if they seem to be in a hurry, just take pics from a
distance. Oh and becareful some of maikos are fake.
Tourists often disguise as Maikos

Friday, December 19, 2008

Britney Spears in Japan! She loves Japanese small cars.

Britney Spears came to Japan to promote her new
"circus" and she uploaded her new entry on her
homepage and said. "I love Japan! Those small
cars are so cute!!" On her homepage you can also
see the video where she is enjoying eating sushi
with her dad and her managers.






Actually I hadn't known in North America there are no such
small cars we Japanese drive. I think those small cars would
be popular with girls though.Anyway she was having a hard time but she came back!
Britney Spears is an amazing singer. No doubt.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Super Japanese Jockey LOL He(she?) rules!!

Look at that! Isn't he the coolest jockey ever???
This monkey named Cupid is riding on the horse named Cleo.
They look sooo cooool!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Mao Asada won The Grand Prix Final 2008!!

Mao Asada won The Grand Prix Final and took back the place
of the queen of Figure Skating!! She was in the 2nd place after
Kim Yu-Na when Short program was done. But she succeeded
having 2 triple axel jumps in a performance, which nobody had
done it and she came up from behind Kim Yu-Na and ended up
winning the competition!!



















Since it took the place in Korea, Kim Yu-Na was advantaged and
Judge seemed to be easy on her. But she failed her jump.
It became a critical mistake after all.

I was really impressed. The competition was away for her since it
took the place in Korea. But She made a miracle and won the
competition. She lived up to her nick name "Miracle Mao"!
Congratulations!



Friday, December 12, 2008

The trailer of DORAGONBALL came out!!

The trailer of DRAGONBAll EVOLUTION finally came out.
Have you watched that? No? OK Let's see...

How did you like it?
Well, I'm Japanese and DRAGON BALL is from Japan matter of
course. It seems lots of Japanese people can't stand Goku being
caucasian. Actually I didn't mind it that much. His looking is not
too far from Goku.

BUT!!! I felt his character is far from Goku.
He was saying "I'm not ready for this"
Goku never say that!! He's always looking forward to fighting
tougher guys. And I didn't like he was wearing casual cloths too.

I think I would be able to enjoy this movie, only if I separate the
movie from the anime and manga.

Figure Skating The Grand Prix Fianl - the result of Short Program -

The Grand Prix Final finally opened today.
Short Program is done and the result was announced.

1. Kim Yu-na 65.94
2. Mao Asada 65.38
3. Yukari Nakano 62.08

As everyone expected, Kim Yu-Na and Mao Asada took the 1st place and the 2nd place.
It seems like judge was unfair to Mao Asada and also easy to
Kim Yu-Na. This competition is held in Korea. Kim Yu-Na is
advantaged for sure.
But Mao Asada is only 0.16 behind. She should be proud of it.
Free Style is coming up tomorrow. There is a high possibility for
Mao Asada to turn defeat to win. Let's wait and see!!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Mao Asada VS Kim Yona. Who will be the queen of figure skating?


The Grand Prix Final is opening on the12th of Dec.
It will be excited to see which
girl will be the winner Mao Asada or Kim Yona.

Mao Asada was the champion of the female figure skating in
2007. Kim Yona has won the Grand Prix Final through 2 years.

This will be the first time they will be going up against each other in the competition this season.
Mao Asada was in a bad condition in the France Trophy
earlier of this season. But she got over it and showed a perfect
performance in NHK Trophy the other day. On the other hand,
Kim Yona's performance has been very sophisticated and stable
in this season. The fact that she has won 2 Grand Prix competitions shows she's been pretty good this season.

And also Kim Yona has a big advantage this time.
Because The Grand Prix Final takes place in Korea.

Will Kim Yona have the advantage because she is in her home
country or Will Mao Asada win despite all odds?

The Japanese people hope that she will live up to her nick name "Miracle Mao"

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Ayumi Hamasaki sings for DRAGONBALL

It came to light that Ayumi Hamasaki is gonna sing a song
called "Rule" as a theme song for the movie
"DORAGONBALL EVOLUTION"(It opens Mar 13th 2009)
James Wong, the director of the movie, has been a big fan of
her. He offered her to sing the theme song of the movie because
of that.

It's common for Japanese singers to sing the Japanese theme song
of Hollywood movies. But It's rare for them to sing the official
theme song for a Hollywood movie like this time.

How are the reactions of Japanese people?

"... Why Ayu? Doragonball is getting far from the original one"
"This movie might be screwed up"
"She is one of yesterday's singers...
But I want her to do her best"

Japanese people think this is not a good idea.
But It's too late complain about that.
Let's cheer her up!(Actually I want to know what foreign DB fans think about this movie though...)

Monday, December 8, 2008

Who is the most popular female news host?

Oricon,Japanese music magazine, carried the rankings
of "the most popular female news host" on its magazine.

This time is the fifth time to carry this annual rankings.
And the girl who was elected as the most popular news host
is... Aya Takashima!!
And also this the fifth time for her to win this rankings.
Thus She reached the hall of fame.
The reasons why people chose her were
"She is very crisp has a brilliant smile
She cheers me up every morning."
"She is cute, smart and also has her own opinion"

The host who was replaced in the 2nd place was
Yukari Nishio. I don't know that much about her
and not my type so I put up her pic and just skip it.(the pic on the right side)




The host in the 3rd place was Minako Nakano.
She hosts the same TV show with Aya Takashima every morning.(the pic on the left side)

We Japanese can see them everyday on TV.
We are happy or what!? lol

Sunday, December 7, 2008

GLAY the best J-Rock band in 90's.

I was surfing on youtube.
I found one funny video of my favorite band.
The band's name is "GLAY"
They were the most popular J-Rock band in 90's.
This band is still my favorite one.
They are not as popular as L'arc en ciel or Gackt in
foreign countries, even though they were more popular
than them in Japan in 90's.
I feel this is my task to let foreign people know
about GLAY more! I hope you like them.

On this video the front man, TERU, forget the begining
part of lyrics of the song. He must have started singing
at 0:27 but he missed. and he tried again at 0:38
but he failed lol. You can see from his face that
he is embarrassed. That is kind of cute lol

On the video, this song called Cynical is arranged like more
pop-ish. But the original one is more Rock-ish.


Which do you prefer?

Friday, December 5, 2008

YUI got tired of her carrer.


Japanese singer song writer, YUI(21), quit her carrer
after releasing her new CD on 12th of Nov.
Also her label paid back refund to the members of her fan club.

Why did the singer who is in the main stream quit her carrer
all of a sudden?


She was telling all the dirt to her best friend Suzzanne.
(the girl who is in the pic on the right side)
They used to go to a music school back in their country.
The owner of the Karaoke bar where they usually go
says " Suzzanne is always smiling as she is on TV.
But Yui sometimes shows us a very depressed face."

It seems like she was tired of making tied-up songs and even
being a main actress in a movie. Because she used to be
a street musician. She was composing her songs with her
own feeling at that time.
She couldn't stand putting up with being forced to
compose such as tied-up songs.

She is planing to come back in a year for now.
Let's wait for her to come back with new inspirations.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Matt Damon in Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

British newspaper company, Guardian, reported that the big hit
anime movie "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" by Hayao Miyazaki
is going to be dubbed by Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett and
Liam Neeson.We don't know when the movie is coming out in the US or UK.
The Ghibli animes, which are also popular in foreign countries,
have had Jean Leno help dub the movie named "PORCO ROSSO”.
This time , a lot of famous celebrities help dub the movies
therefore the movie will be surely spotlighted.