Chatmonchy

Chatmonchy is a rock band formed by three women from Tokushima.  Their major debut was in November 2005.  Even now, they have entrenched popularity.  “Chatmonchy Sugoi 2 Days in Nippon Budoukan,” a live show, was held for two days in 2008.  Their fourth album, 「YOU MORE」 was released in April 2011.  Also, a nationwide tour, “YOU MORE Zensen” is being held now.  The tickets are sold out.  I look forward to their activity in the future, and I want to listen to the songs of Chatmonchy in the future, too.  My favorite song is “Shangrila.”

Chatmonchy: Shangrila

Submitted by Saku

Odorigui

There is an interesting gastronomic culture in Japan. It is “odorigui.” “Odorgui” is to eat seafood while it’s still alive. An especially famous one is “odorigui” of “shirouo.” “Shirouo” is a fingerling that has a small, transparent body. It’s eaten with vinegar soy sauce after scooping it with anet. It is enjoyed as a poetic event of the season. But not all Japanese are doing that.
"Odorigui is a bloody tyranny!" is one criticism has been received from foreign countries. Particularly, in Australia, odorigui is prohibited.

Submitted by Yu__Og

Hello Kitty©

“Hello Kitty© ” was produced by Sanrio© in 1974.  Now she is loved all over the world.  The reason why she is loved is because of two attractions. 

The first attraction is the variety of Kitty.  Kitty in the 1970’s was drawn with a heavy, black line.  Her pose and dress was always the same.  So, she was losing her popularity.  However, a new designer, Yuko Yamaguchi, removed the heavy line and changed Kitty’s pose and dress.  Then, Kitty regained her popularity.  Now, Kitty has many styles, for example “monochrome Kitty,” Kitty holding a teddy bear, and so on.  Kitty has changed her style to meet the needs of people.

The second attraction is that she doesn’t have a mouth.  Yamaguchi says that a mouth mostly gives expression to feelings, but having no mouth makes Kitty give expressions that people want.  When you are sad, Kitty encourages you.  When you are happy, Kitty rejoices with you.

I’m looking forward to seeing new types of Kitty!

**Survey question: Which do you like more, Kitty with a mouth or without a mouth?

Of 18 people surveyed, a total of 15 people preferred Kitty without a mouth drawn.

Submitted by Kaori


**Copyrights to the character names/images mentioned above are owned by SANRIO CO., LTD

Sanrio Characters

Sanrio has many characters.  There are more than 200.  Hello Kitty© is the most famous character in Sanrio and came into existence in 1974.  In the 1980’s, 75 characters appeared, for example KERO KERO KEROPPI©.  Pompom Purin© appeared in 1996, Cinnamoroll© appeared in 2001 and BABYMILO© appeared in 2010.  Sanrio creates at least one character every year. Many people like these characters.  

Sanrio 2011 Character Ranking: What's your favorite? 

 

**Survey question:  How many Sanrio characters do you know?  Of 18 people surveyed, one person knew 25; 12 people knew three to five characters.  The other five people knew a couple more or less than that.

Submitted by Ono

**Copyrights to the character names/images mentioned above are owned by SANRIO CO., LTD

Let’s Try Again

The actors, musicians and talents attached to Amuse Promotions, which include 37 groups and 54 people, all joined in one chorus.  They created a special in-house unit called “TeamAmuse!!”

They drew together for the region devastated by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.  The talents sang a charity song called “Let’s Try Again.”  This dream collaboration was organized by Keisuke Kuwata who is frontman for the Southern All Stars.

 

“Let’s Try Again” is based on the newly written song by Kuwata, but he also mixed many masterpieces from artists who have joined the team.  Those include “Katte ni Shindobaddo” and “Kibou no Wadachi” from Southern All Stars, “Sakurazaka” from Masaharu Fukuyama, “Saudade” from PornoGraffitti, “Nada Sousou” from BEGIN, “Polyrhythm” from Perfume, and so on.

VEOH: To see full version of "Let's Try Again" 

Submitted by Saeka

 **"Let's Try Again" can be purchased from May 25, 2011 at on-line sellers and other locations, including amazon.co.jp, Rakuten

Sports

Sports take root in our lives and baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. The newest Japanese professional baseball team is Rakuten. The reason that I’m talking about Rakuten is because of the Marth 11 earthquake.  

This earthquake caused great damage to the Tohoku area. Japanese professional baseball opening games were put off due to its effects. Especially, Rakuten had serious damage, because Rakuten's home is in Sendai. The opening game was finally held April 12. Rakuten played Lotte and won. Shima hit a three-run homer.  Rakuten's win was encouraging for the Tohoku people.

Other baseball teams are also doing activities to help sufferers. For example, Chunichi collected contributions. Of course, sport players also encourage people through their playing. 

Thus, sports give power to people. So sports are loved around the world.

Japan Times  

Nikkan Sports

Submitted by Katsurayama

Fruit Vinegar

Recently, fruit vinegar is a very popular drink.  Fruit vinegar is delicious and goof for health.  It’s also more fashionable than some traditional vinegar for drinking.  So, it is especially popular for women. 

           Fruit vinegar is made of many kinds of fruit, for example, blueberries, pomegranates, mandarin oranges, grapefruit, mangos and more.  Also, some fruit vinegar is has collagen mixed into it.  Collagen goes surprisingly well with vinegar.

           There are many ways to drink fruit vinegar.  The normal way is to mix fruit vinegar with water.  Other ways are to mix fruit vinegar with soda or milk, etc.  Also, it can be used for cooking.

Submitted by Ohagi

Portable Games

 The history of games is long. Especially, I am going to discuss about portable game.

First, one famous portable game is “Game Boy.” It was first sold by Nintendo in 1989. The monitor was able to project only on a black and white screen. Ten years later, the hardware was developed into Game Boy Color. It can be projected on a colorful screen.

 

These days, Nintendo is selling Nintendo DS series. It has a “touch panel”. It can sense touch and the series has two screens. Recently, it has developed into Nintendo 3DS. It can display three-dimensional vision with no glasses, sense movement and take a three-dimensional photo. Consequently, games are more real than before!

 Submitted by kazunoko

SPITZ

Hello, everyone.

Today I’ll tell you about popular Japanese group “Spitz.” The group consists of four members, Tetsuya Miwa, Tatsuo Sakiyama, Akihiro Tamaru and Masamune Kusano. They got together in 1987, and the group made its major debut in 1991.

Spitz released its latest original album, named “Togemaru,” on October 27th last year. Recently, Spitz put off their concerts because Masamune Kusano, one of the main vocalists, broke down due to “Acute Stress Disorder (ASD).” They say he got too stressed, not from suffering the earthquake directly, but from watching the quake-hit area via TV. Thanks to many people’s encouragement, on April 13 and 14, he came back and Spitz held a concert!

My favorite theirs song is “けもの道,” or “animal trail.”.When I listen to this song, I get motivated to do something. Spitz has a lot of good songs and I hope you listen to their songs.

 

 

Submitted by UJ