The Japan Foundation is at it again, showing some Japanese classics — this time with a focus on horror — on the big screen with English subtitles for a very reasonable 600 yen.
Volume four of The Japan Foundation’s popular series of Japanese film screenings with English subtitles gathers some of the best horror stories to make you shiver and shake, and forget the late summer heat. There’ve been Hollywood remakes of Japanese horror flicks recently, and to see “Yotsuya Kwaidan” or “The Tale of Oiwa’s Ghost” here means to touch upon the point of origin of horror made in Japan, and learn the secrets of its international fame. After the showing of Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s “Seance (Korei)” there will be an admission-free talk session with the director, and with 600 yen 1-day passes are very reasonably-priced too. Even if this genre is not your thing, this occasion to see some outstanding examples of Japanese-style horror should be an opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss. (
REALTOKYO)
It takes place at the Japan Foundation Forum in Akasaka, September 16-18. Click here for the schedule.
Patrick went to the Usagi-chang Night Fever Vol. 0003 event last week, and he has a long post (and pics) to prove it.
The deadlines are fast approaching on a few SHIFT-related competitions, so here’s a quick reminder. Click on the links for more info.
Damn, I didn’t even get a chance to finish reading the previous issue, and now a new AXIS (117) is out, featuring coverboy Kenya Hara, who I absolutely love! The feature sounds interesting also: “Does design exist in Japan’s urban revitalization?”
It’s nice to see fans of Midori’s music share their love online!
A picture of me while I was a guest on my friend’s radio show a couple of weeks ago in my hometown.
I have to admit that getting back into the swing of things after the trip has been harder than expected. I’m still not back to anything close to my regular sleep cycle, and with the typhoon/heat… Can someone please explain to me how Joi Ito manages to keep his sanity (and stay productive) while traveling so much?
The Plusminuszero brand has just released a new cordless telephone, designed by Naoto Fukusawa.
Wanna catch this year’s Good Design prize winners?
The Good Design Prize is part of the Good Design Product Selection System, established in 1957 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. It is Japan’s only comprehensive valuation and recommendation system for design products. The Good Design Prize is one of a kind, surpassing other international prizes not only in terms of seniority but also scale-wise: besides focusing on industrial goods such as home electric appliances and cars, it also covers buildings, software, service system, public relations, regional developments, and so on. In other words, anything man makes and does. The examination, however, is strict, and not only design, but also functionality, quality, and safety are important criteria. The Prize generally goes to innovative “products” that score well on all these levels. The Good Design Prize promotes Japanese manufacturers, designers and even bureaucrats who, through their design, aim to change the industrial sectors, daily life and society for the better. This year, special efforts were made to introduce these products to journalists and consumers alike, and by making active use of the Good Design’s “G-mark” the organization also aims at developing new forms of business. (
TAB)
It’s taking place at Tokyo Big Sight until August 27. The entrance fee is 1000 yen.
Who would have imagined that keitai use would lead to a healthier lifestyle! From Japan Today:
“The number of junior high and high school students who own cell phones is increasing, and there is a high chance that phone bills are weighing on the money they spend on cigarettes.”
- Kenji Hayashi, head of the research team of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and an assistant director at the National Institute of Public Health, on the drop in the number of teenage smokers. (Kyodo)
If you’ve been enjoying the Shobus Diary, the following events are going to be a nice way to take in the Shobo Shobo experience live.
For about one month, Shobo Shobo mastermind Mehdi Hercman is traveling all across Japan in a bus, together with O.lamm, Domotic and some other folks of the French label Active Suspension. Each time they park their vehicle the artists hold lectures and performances, or engage in other forms of cultural exchange with local creatives. The final presentation/lecture/live performance on 8/30 at Super Deluxe is of course recommended, but the barbecue party one day earlier sounds like an even more unique event. There will be mini live sets using the original Shobo Shobo Portable PA, but that’s about all information available to the general public. For more details please get in touch with the organizers from Mobium (contact info on the “Details” page). In any case this semi-private home party will be a good occasion to enjoy food, drinks, music and chats with lots of interesting people from France, Japan and other countries. (
REALTOKYO)
More info here.
I was late discovering Tujiko Noriko, but I’ve become a fan, and this new collaboration album, RATN: J, sounds like something I’m set to enjoy (as well as news of the new Disques Corde label).
In the first of a series of collaborations this summer, Tujiko Noriko teams up with Japanese breakbeat master Riow Arai (forthcoming are albums with Aoki Takamasa and Australian Lawrence English). As Arai is known for massive rhythm constructions, and also from the funky visuals used to promote the album one would expect a punkish array of driving beats backing up Tujiko’s fragile voice. But as a matter of fact, the Paris-based chanteuse is responsible for all the music, and consulted primarily Arai’s producing skills. The result is a very personal yet refined, and surprisingly wide-ranged collection of songs. After a set of similarly titled, rather unexciting opening numbers, the album gradually reveals its true beauty, and even though comparison is always tricky and better avoided, sooner or later Bjork will surely pop up in most listener’s mind. “J” marks the first release of Disques Corde, the new platform for high-quality music set up by Hara Masaaki (Soup-Disk) and Shonai Masayuki (Onsa). Watch out for more good stuff to come from here. (
REALTOKYO)
Momus is now writing a bi-monthly column over at Wired News, and the first edition, “Reading Green Tea Leaves in Tokyo,” is now online.
My first Wired column is online. It’s a piece called “Reading Green Tea Leaves in Tokyo” and it’s about how capitalism shows different faces in different places, how some of its localized versions are less toxic than others, less injurious to human health and human intelligence, and whether these differences are down to consumers or producers.
Also, his latest Click Opera entry examines Xeni Jardin’s Wired piece on the book PERSONAL, PORTABLE, PEDESTRIAN: MOBILE PHONES IN JAPANESE LIFE.
While I was busy enjoying my time in NYC, our second Radio OK Fred guest mix got released in the form of Marxy + U.T.’s MXUT megamix hour of fun (hopefully the first of many)! In his own words:
We went back in time to the year 1993 to ask 75 middle-school students what they would want to hear on an Internet radio “podcast” from the year 2005. Their answers very much surprised us – Liz Phair! The Turtels! [sic] The Russian Futurists! The Answers to this Pop Quiz on Animal Farm – and we hightailed it back to 2005 to put the cooler kids’ song selections and self-written skits (!) into a fifty-five minute radio mega-mix, adding only the occasional mashup and George Michael track to make things sound adequately futuristic.
You can download the show directly here, or subscribe to the podcast feed. Enjoy!
Chin Music Press’ Craig has something growing just outside his window, which inspired him to create a neat little time lapse movie.
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Jean Snow is a contributor to 
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of 
