Darth Vader Samurai

The coolest and awesomest!

http://www.starwars.com/collecting/news/misc/news20070213.html
http://blog.q-taro.com/pop-culture/darth-vader-samurai-helmet/

Now you can get the darth Vader helmet (about $1500) and armor (about $2700) - available only in Japan. I bet Star Wars geeks outside Japan are drooooooling over them.

Civic Duty

Today was the election day for the governorship of Tokyo. It was also my very first time to actually vote. You see, my registration was always with my hometown, which I left after high school, and I was never there when a election notice was mailed.

My voting place was an elementary school not far from our apartment. I actually lost the notice that I got, but I was able to vote after a guy ran a quick look-up on the system. He asked for my birth date and address, but requested no ID. Humm, that was strange.

Once inside, I was handed a green paper with a large blank recutangular in the middle, where it asked to write down the candidate's name you are voting for. I then went to one of the booths, and each booth had a paper with all candidates' name on it for your easy reference, in case anyone is not sure who are running for the governor.

I wrote the name of the candidate that I was voting for, folded the green paper, and cast it in a box. It probably took all of 5 minutes after I got to the elementary school to vote, but it felt good to finally do some civic duty. It felt like my vote would matter.

Well, it looks like it didn't after all...

Spring in Japan

Hello friends! It's been a while since our last post - what slackers we were :-( It is now April, a time to have a fresh start...

Spring is really a beautiful time of the year in Japan. Cherry blossoms are blooming all over the place, changing the color of city into pretty pink. In fact, Japanese are very particular about cherry blossoms, that weather forecasts usually release their predictions for when cherry blossoms start blooming. You really don't want to make a wrong prediction here...

One fun spring outdoor event is Ohana-mi, which means flower viewing. This is actually more like a flower-viewing picnic. People throw their tarps under cherry blossoms in a park, bring their own picnic food and beverage, and have fun. This being in Japan, a keg of beer is everywhere and people are drinking in public, with some getting drunk and passed out. This sometimes happens during the day, in a park, next to bunch of kids playing. Lovely!

The picture is from Togoshi Koen park, a rather famous park in Shinagawa, which is located very near our apartment.

Bilk

What in the world is Bilk?

It is a new malt liquor developed by a company in Hokkaido. Bilk = Beer + Milk... how brilliant! This news item says 30% of the ingredient is milk, which was added to the hops, malted barley, and yeast before brewing. "Great beer taste with a hint of milk flavor" or so the company claims... Yum, can't wait to try. Or not.

Tekkon Kinkreet

Last week we went to Shibuya to see Tekkon Kinkreet, a film based on the excellent comic by Taiyo Matsumoto (published in the US as Black & White). It's the story of two violent street kids, Shiro and Kuro, fighting to protect their town from yakuza and real estate developers. The adaptation was surprisingly successful, with beautiful artwork and a great techno soundtrack by the band Plaid.

This is apparently the first major anime feature to be directed by an American, Michael Arias (a producer of the Animatrix). PingMag ran a nice interview with Eiko Tanaka, president of the production company behind this unique film.

Here is the official trailer, and here is a different trailer, which appears to be from the earlier incarnation discussed in the PingMag article. None of this footage from this older trailer was used in the final film, as far as I can tell. Both styles are fun, but I'm glad they went with the 2D look. It feels a bit more faithful to the comic book, I think.

Chara - Crazy for You

A new single from Chara that came out back in November. No relation to the Madonna song or the movie Vision Quest.

The Next Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture

Comedian Sonomanma Higashi was elected Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture this Sunday. Americans may know him as "Kenny Blankenship" from Spike TV's "MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" (a show put together out of old footage from the 1980's series Takeshi's Castle). He originally hails from the city of Miyakonojo, right next door to the town where I used to live. He was junior high school classmates with my former JET program supervisor, and rumor has it he may have sent her a love letter once.

Higashi, who was not endorsed by any political party, defeated four other candidates including a former Director General of the Forestry Agency and a former Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry official backed by both the LDP and New Komeito party.

Miyazaki is a beautiful place, and my favorite Prefecture in all of Japan, but lately it has been plagued by political scandal. The last Governor resigned in December and has since been arrested on charges of bid-rigging and bribery. So congratulations, Mr. Higashi, and good luck. I hope this works out better than the failed celebrity Governors we've had in the US recently.