Thursday, April 28, 2011

'13 Assassins' Director Takashi Miike Goes Old School

13 Assassins" is easily one of the best movies to come out of Japan in a while and the best action flick to come out so far this year. Unlike the anodyne action sequences of such recent sword fighting fare as "Sucker Punch," this movie wasn’t created in a computer; the violence in this film feels real and raw. Unlike the spastic battle scenes in "Battle: Los Angeles," this film doesn't feel like the cameraman was being chased by a bear. Instead "13 Assassins" has the sweep and grandeur of an old-school Akira Kurosawa samurai movie -- only with more blood. A lot more blood.  Read More

Making Music Japanese Style

Friday, April 22, 2011

Japan Based Zenlock wins Prestigious Award

Zenlok Corporation Wins Prestigious "Red Herring Global 100" Award
Feb 1, 2011 2:00:00 AM
Tokyo, Feb 1, 2011 - (JCN Newswire) - Japan based security venture, Zenlok Corporation was awarded the Red Herring Global 100 Award for its innovation and leadership last week in Santa Monica, California, where Red Herring announced its Global 100 award in recognition of the leading private companies from North America, Europe, and Asia, celebrating these startups' innovations and technologies across their respective industries.
Zenlok Corporation, founded in 2007 by well known Tokyo entrepreneur, Amir Ayalon, is a leader in providing security solutions that protect data in transit and during storage.

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Friday, April 15, 2011

Are Japanese people hard-wired to hoard?

Are Japanese people hard-wired to hoard?

March 15th, 2011 by Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku
Last week’s earthquake and tsunami has engendered a nationwide run on retailers that has alarmed the authorities. Even in Hiroshima, which was totally unaffected by either catastrophe and isn’t in a related earthquake zone, people are said to be stripping store shelves of batteries. Renho, the Democratic Party of Japan superstar who heads the consumer affairs ministry, blasted the mentality that has led to this behavior, saying that she could understand why people might want to buy batteries and portable cookers and even bicycles, but “natto and chicken”? She stressed that it causes shortages of much needed supplies to the afflicted areas and used the word kaishime to describe these actions, which means to “corner the market,” except that she isn’t talking about companies, but individual consumers. In that regard it seems an imprecise term, but the negative connotation is what’s important.

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Fukushima - "In for a Long Battle" - Kan

Asia Pacific Hockey League

The Asia Pacific Hockey League was created to raise the level of ice hockey across Asia by providing a framework for development through a combination or regularly scheduled games and specific hockey training. The games will be played in tournament format in events scheduled across Asia.    Learn more about the Hockey Summit and the APHL

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Tips On Buying Japanese Clothes Online

Tips On Buying Japanese Clothes Online
 by: Brian Russman





If you have ever seen a kimono in movies or maybe even in real life, you probably think it is a colorful dress (at least if we talk about women traditional clothes) with long sleeves and various patterns. There is surprisingly little details on what Japanese traditional clothes really are despite the fact we have access to seemingly everything we could only think of. We can easily buy whatever dress we want from the comfort of our homes, but when it comes to kimonos we often find ourselves scratching our heads in confusion. What is a real kimono? Where to buy quality Japanese clothes online?

First of all, the word "kimono" means "clothes" in Japanese and has two sub-categories - so-called “yofuku” and “wafuk”u. The first literally means "western clothes" and represents what we are all used to putting on ourselves, while the latter is what we all call "kimono" or, literally, "Japanese clothes". And there are many types of them.

Let us take “furisode” as an example first. A furisode is exactly what you have in mind when you imagine a kimono for women. The name means "long sleeves" and it is distinguishing feature is, as you could already guess, long sleeves and colorful patterns. They are not particularly cheap. The price can go up all the way to several thousand dollars, and even an ordinary one will cost several hundreds at least. Unlike other Japanese traditional clothes, they are quite difficult to put on and take care of, which is why they are worn only on special occasions like the Coming of Age ceremony.

There are also casual kimonos, like jimbeis for men or yukatas that can be worn by both sexes. Both jimbeis and yukatas are very comfortable and light, suitable for wearing every day, and significantly cheaper than their more luxurious dress discussed above. If you absolutely need a kimono, but a furisode is too much of an investment, a jimbei or yukata are your choice. Besides, just as with other Japanese traditional clothes, not many will be able to tell the difference.

The list of clothes could really go on and on, but I do not mean to bore anyone. Rather than discussing the types of Japanese traditional clothes, let me answer one more common question: where to buy a good kimono? It shouldn't come as a surprise that most of what you can buy outside the motherland of kimonos is a low quality fake that are likely to fall apart after the very first laundry. Fortunately, with emergence of the Internet, the world shrank so much, that borders, both geographical and cultural, are not so distinct anymore.

If you are on short terms with the Japanese language, you obviously should not have any problems at all. If not, I can recommend Japanese clothes online. You can learn more about different types of kimonos and traditional accessories there and find links to reliable and trusted importers from Japan as well as instructions on how to make the purchase of your dream. Not a bad deal, huh?
About The Author
For more information on Japanese clothes online visit http://jimbei.com

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小田原警察 小田原で外国人を呼び止める

小田原警察 小田原で外国人を呼び止める
 
小田原市、南足柄市(松田町)の警察はとても小さな町の人です。
町は成長しているのですが、他の国の人たちと触れ合う経験ははごくわずかしかありません。
地方の警察の人にとって、日本人以外の人は映画やテレビで見るものなのです。英語を話す人でさえ、です。
控えめに言いますが、私たちについて彼らは騙されやすいのです。おそらく何人かは外国人がむしろ脅していると
思い、それに対処するために厳しい雰囲気を放つのです。
 
地方に住む外国人集団は反抗的で危険、このようなスタンスは道理にかなっているかもしれません。
許容性がゼロになってしまえば、犯罪がはびこっていたニューヨークのようになってしまいます。
 
しかしながら、小田原市は沿岸にある平和な場所です。たくさんの外国人がここで生活し、家族と安心して
過ごしています。
 
地方の警察も、私たちのことについて学ぶ時期ではないでしょうか。 
 
小田原警察は最近、市内で歩いていた私のアメリカ人の友達を呼び止めたそうです。
1人の女性は犬と散歩をしていて呼び止められ、立ち止まりました。
警察は彼女に外国人登録証明書(外国人身分証明書)を見せるように言いました。
彼女が証明書を差し出すと、警察はそれを奪い、彼女の詳細を書きとめたそうです。
 
他の2人の友達も同じく呼び止められ、身分証明書を見せるよう言われました。
警察は彼らの詳細も書きとめたそうです。
 
日本の市民に、ここまではしないですよね。現在、私たちは犬を連れて歩いていても警察に呼び止められるのです。
 
小田原市鴨宮で、自転車に乗った警察が私を捕まえようとしました。おそらく彼は
私が逃げると思ってその手段に出たのでしょう。彼は明らかに何かの理由があって私を疑っていました。
私はこの地区のアパートや家にパンフレット(私が経営する英会話スクールの広告)を配っていただけなのです。
これが正式に不法だといわれる間は、警察は通常この犯罪で悩まされないでしょう。
日本人のピザ宅配スタッフや、他の会社でも行っていることなのです。
小田原警察に呼び止められている人を見たことがありません。
 
他にも、パンフレットを郵便箱に入れているときに2人の警察が私についてきたことがありました。
私は止まりませんでしたが、自転車に乗った警察が私の心を乱しました。
彼が歩いている間、通行人にベルを鳴らしているとは思わなかったのです。
 
小田原はもっと国際的になるべきだと断言します。オーストラリアやカリフォルニア州のチューラビスタの
警官は、勇敢に関係を持ちます。また、インターナショナルラウンジをオープンしています。
 
ここで生活をし、家族と共に暮らしている市民は敵ではない、と地方警察に言いたいです。
私たちはゲストでもありません。ここは私たちの地域なのです!
 
 
  

Monday, April 04, 2011

Damn!...I think I been mutated!!!

I think I been mutated!!!!

by Kevin R. Burns

20,20,20 - 4 hours ago,... I think I bin mutated!!!

But my wife thinks its a real improvement, from when - we dated!!!

Just get me to the airport on a cargo plane

Hurry hurry hurry before I GLOW in vain!

I can`t control my fingers I can`t control my brain

Oh no no no no!!!!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhh24BB84e4&w=480&h=390]

Read More!!!!