All Things Japan - J-pop

The other day someone asked me to recommend some good Japanese rock music to listen to. I was stuck for a bit, because really, so much of "mainstream" Japanese music, played on the radio and as soundtracks for anime, and on the Japanese music countdowns - are pretty similar.
It's called "J-Pop" and it means "popular music" "J" bening for "Japanese". Hence in "K-Pop", the meaning is the same, with the "K" meaning "Korean".

Here are some sites that tell you a bit more about J-pop and K-pop.

The current big names in J-Pop in terms of female groups, that I remember from when I was living there last year are probably AKB48 (The whole business of AKB48 is a massive conglomerate), and Perfume. I'm sure there are many more big names, but those two stood out for different reasons. I had to perform the AKB48 song 'Surprise tears" with my class



 for the school festival, and the Perfume song "Laserbeam"



for my HPE dance assessment. The boys and girls had separate subjects, which was backwards as -.-

So when my friend asked me to suggest a "rock" song, I had trouble thinking of many female-voiced songs (there definately are female rock bands in Japanese music, but they weren't on the itunes lists my freinds had offered to my ipod to autofill haha).

Which leaves male voiced songs. And the first one's I thought of were "GReeeN", "SMAP" and "EXILE". Of these, none are rock. hahaha, they were my first thoughts ok!
I do love some of their songs though haha,
so here's GReeeeN's "Kiseki" as sung by a 'gaijin' (foreigner) :D




And after hunting some down, here is some info on Japanese Rock music in manga:

NANA the hit ongoing manga, turned anime, turned live action movie, with Rock singer lead and featuring several bands.
image courtesy of this photobucket site

"Rock You" is an original song, performed in the story by lead character NANA's rival rock group "Trapnest":



If you're interested in the anime a bit now - and even if you aren't haha - here's an AMV "A little Pain" no subs, rolling clips of the anime featuring the painful love relationships between the two title NANA characters (two girls with the same name meet by coincidence and despite living very different lives, by sharing a new room in Tokyo, come to be tied closer and closer together, their complicated lives pulling them forward into deeper depths of love and sadness with the people around them.):



Another rock manga is of course, Princess AI,

Princess Ai, lyrics to "Angel Back in Heaven".
Image courtesy of anime wallpapers

(Princess Love) created by Courtney Love (yes - Kurt Cobain fame Courtney Love) and artist DJ Milky. Beautifully drawn, it's a crime it's not an anime yet, and the lateset set of books has crawled to a very slow production schedule (I'mm not sure why, whether the whole project is on hold, or like NANA's creator, someone integral to Princess Ai is sick at the moment). A manga which also heavily features a rock and roll storyline and original music tracks; like "Suicide Ride", "Broken Leash", "Daughter of Death".

'Suicide Ride', sung by Skye Marsden


'Broken Leash', live performance (really not the best performance) BUT features some anime clips specifically created : D (there is no source anime. So this is pretty special!!)


'Look out for Love' AMV


So there you go. Next time I'll actually have some Rock to recommend :) Awesome.
Hahaha, have a happy ending of Uni Session guys!!

All Things Japan - Basho's Poetry

Basho is a classic in Poetry history, famous for his haikus - books of them, all written in Japanese, with succinctness and"beauty of concept".
There.
Here is a site with all lists and info - follow it up! Yeah!
Here's the first para from That Site - no copyright infringements intended:
 Bashō was born Matsuo Kinsaku around 1644, somewhere near Ueno in Iga Province. His father may have been a low-ranking samurai, which would have promised Bashō a career in the military but not much chance of a notable life. It was traditionally claimed by biographers that he worked in the kitchens. However, as a child Bashō became a servant to Tōdō Yoshitada, who shared with Bashō a love for haikai no renga, a form of cooperative poetry composition. The sequences were opened with a verse in the 5-7-5 mora format; this verse was named a hokku, and would later be renamed haiku when presented as stand-alone works.

Annnd here are some of his popular poems, translated into English:
  From, once again That Site.

A Ball of Snow

you make the fire
and I’ll show you something wonderful:
a big ball of snow!

Matsuo Basho

A caterpillar

A caterpillar,
this deep in fall--
still not a butterfly.


Translated by Robert Hass

Matsuo Basho

A cold rain starting

A cold rain starting
And no hat --
So?

Matsuo Basho

..and you know what? I'm really thinking that they must lose a Heck of a lot in the translating process.

 

I apologise to all people who came here in seriousness or interest to find the excellent works of Basho. I'll have to update this page later, when I get a good long chance.

 

All Things Japanese - Yakisoba (fried noodle dish)

Hey guys ^^) - have you found yourself wondering what you can cook up for dinner tonight, or tomorrow - or at midnight when you need a snack to just- keep- animating-! (that last one's not health check supported, ok? Especially if its all chocolate bunnies and cookies&cream ice-cream like me. So don't go cooking up really late at night - your arteries will clog up, die, rise up and Haunt you. Or you'll end up getting a sugar addiction and become too sweet for your own good... hahahahahaha : D)

Well - if you have, which is likely, I introduce... Yakisoba, a very very yummy dish:

YAKISOBA
by google images

Ok, so!  "Yakisoba" -  translates, according to my host mums, as literally "baked noodles". "yaki" reffering to the baking process and "soba" referring to the noodles. As you are probably aware, 'soba' is a style of noodles that are long, skinny (tradionally a mottled grey)and well associated with Japan.

chopping up sheets of soba noodles, image courtesy of this website on cuisine and restaurants 

Plain soba noodles are yummy-ish, if drowned in a lot of good sauce and eaten with chopped up shallots. The sauce is served hot in Winter and Cold in Summer. They also serve it at midnight on New Year's Day and it's good manners (like having a housewarming) to deliver "moving in soba" to new neighbours.There's probably a few other places its expected to show up, it's just that sort of ingrained culturally traditional meal that's survived the passing of time.

"moving in soba" - is hilariously alluded to "Angel Densetsu" a manga by the same author who brought us 'Claymore'. Angel Densetsu is one of her earliest, if not the earliest, published works by Yagi, Norihiro. It's available free on Mangareader.net - the link to the series here and the chapter specific right here.

 My first couple of nights in Japan included being introduced to home-made soba, and both the sauces. It was a little difficult to enjoy the first time to be honest. 

How to eat Soba from ChefTaro - who knows how to eat all sorts of Japanese dishes, and likes sharing his knowledge in fun, cartoon guides *^^*

It's not like in a stir-fry, all slightly baked and seasoned; eaten between bites of veggies...mmm...really could do with some stir-fry right now. But that's not..really... relevant... *gazes off into the distance*

Here's the minimalistic, traditional way of serving it, from the menu of a soba restaurant written about in this guys blog:
Draining on a sliced bamboo matt, the noodles are eaten with chopsticks

Traditional Soba, served in a restaurant. Image courtesy of the blog (see previous para)

The two small, shallow bowls are chopped shallots and garlic (to add to the sauce).
The green liquid is tea. The dark liquid is the sauce.
As you can imagine, dipping the noodles into that small cup and slurping them up after, creates quite a mess. Don't wear white, ok?

Soba noodles. Google images

Yakisoba noodles (the noodles used specifically for this dish) are not this kind of soba. In Australian supermarkets, they can be found in airless-sealed plastic packets; labelled "Hokkien Noodles".

Google images

Yakisoba recipes, apart from their base of noodles, usually vary wildly on the additional veggies. The traditional, and delicious whiel remaining simple version is: Hokkien noodles, baked in a frypan with oil; chopped up cabbage, tossed in with the noodles, sliced up carrot, sliced up onion, and fried up pork strips. Very quick and easy to make and eat. When you buy it from a shop however, it will normally also be served with pink crunchy pickled radish, with a sharp sour taste distinctive to pickles.

This great Yakisoba recipe can be found here:
This recipe, adapted to a more western-style taste-pallet, may appeal to to you more than cabbage, carrot and pork. Here they have shown how to include chicken, prawns, sesame seeds and egg.

Yaki soba noodles

Photography by Ben Dearnley

Use your noodle and make dinner quick and easy tonight!

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 250g dried soba or ramen noodles (see note)
• 100ml reduced-salt soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 150g green prawns, peeled, deveined, chopped
• 1 cup beansprouts
• 1 cup shredded cooked chicken
• 1 carrot, peeled, cut into thin matchsticks
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally
• 1/2 red capsicum, thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Method

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Add noodles. Cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Rinse under warm water. Set aside to drain.
2. Combine soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil in a microwave-safe jug. Microwave on high (100%) for 1 minute or until hot. Stir and set aside.
3. Heat peanut oil in a wok over high heat. Add prawns and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until prawns change colour. Add beansprouts, chicken, carrot, green onions, capsicum and soy mixture. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add noodles and toss to combine.
4. Pour egg over noodles. Cook, tossing gently, for 1 to 2 minutes or until egg just sets. Divide noodles between bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve.

Notes

• Soba noodles are made from buckwheat and wheat flour and are dark brown/grey. You can find them in the Asian section of the supermarket.
• Keep warm this winter with our selection of casseroles, slow cooker recipes, soup recipes and pasta bakes.
  

All things Japan - The Sydney Japanese Film Festivall

Recapping a bit here;
This holidays you may have been like me, lucky enough to go to the Japanese film festival held on the second floor of Chifley Plaza; Sydney. Running from the 16th to the 20th of April, they screened interesting, quirky and popular films for a whole week, everyday at 2:00pm and 6:00pm. The adverstisement went:

Japanese Cinema Week

Promotional design from The official website

In 2012 The Japan Foundation Sydney will be showcasing Japanese cinema during the April, June and September school holidays. Broaden your horizons beyond Godzilla and Gamera and be introduced to the best of contemporary Japanese cinema. 

When: Monday 16 to Friday 20 April.
Where: Japan Foundation Multipurpose Room, Shop 23, Level 1, Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney.
What's On: Movies for children will screen at 2pm and movies for adults at 6.30 pm throughout the week. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. 
More Information: You can download a program here. Admission is free but bookings are essential. Email reception@jpf.org.au or phone 02 8239 0055. Website www.jpf.org.au/index.html


I wanted to go for every screening all week, with my Sydney-sider older sister who told me about it; unfortunately due to delayed study, sudden work opportunities and I suppose.. poor time management.. I ended up seeing only one film. But hey - the Thursday screening of "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't" really was excellent So it all turned out ok :)

Available from the DVD Warehouse website

Sumo Do, Sumo Don't
According to movie information powerhouse IMDb; this film was released in 1992 (Hey! My birthday year :) That's nice)

Director: 

Masayuki Suo

Writer: 

Masayuki Suo

Stars:

 Masahiro Motoki, Misa Shimizu and Naoto Takenaka

It's a foreign foreign language film (Japanese dialogue; optional english subtitles).
 Go see it. Really pretty fun. Synopsis: A struggling Sumo Wrestling club has to gain five members or it will close down; the resulting lack-lustre team of largely unwilling team-mates ensures that the road to a successful competition championship will not go smoothly. A comedy with romantic subplot; which detours briefly into examining Japanese culture in regards to a traditional sport, changing gender roles in sport... and where courage, stupidity, desire for friendship and sheer lack of options may get you.  : D

The team :P (film still courtesy Asiabeam)

However, if you happen to be unfamiliar with Japanese manga and anime - ish storylines, you may find yourself a little.. befuzzled..
I watched it going - hey this is totally from a manga, look what they're doing - people who don't know manga would have no idea Why the plot turned out like that... (in saying that, I'm not sure that it was from a mange, or they just really used a lot of some kind of staple story features - the stereotyping of the foreigner's language skills + sneering attiitude towards japanese culture that undergoes an "enlightening" process; the larger, unpopular girl with courage and kindness whose determination leads her to recognition (not always victory) over her love-rivals; the effeminate boy whose male friends always force into cross-dressing and etc etc
Then again, I didn't ask my sister (a lapse, in hindsight) how she found it, so perhaps it was still interesting. Like watching the Harry Potter 4 movie without reading the book - they made a mess of that one.

ok, having done some hunting, here's the link to a blogger who's got a few more opinions to share on the whole affair.

But how is this all relevant now? It's all over now right?
...Well.
Here's the thing, it was a "testing audience reception" event in some ways - depending on how the whole event went down the organisers - The Japan Foundation, Sydney - are thinking of making it an annual or even bi-annual event, so if you missed out this time, you'll now be all wised up for next time. More thinking space :D
What's more, The Japan Foundation Sydney do a variety of events, workshops and programs throughout the entire year, so now that you've heard about it, you can go to their website and check it out yourself. ta-daa! here you go.
really, it seems like a good organisation people, with strong humanitarian motives behind a lot of their stuff - and that's just from me glancing at the front page; they make it very clear. So that's very good, can't have too much love and awareness in the world - and Heck Yes it's all Japanesey on the side, so that's great too.

Japanese peace crane - cheers google images

google images

Happy Drama viewing :D xx

All Things Japan - A birthday overseas

Have you ever had a Birthday party that blew your mind? 

Way to make your Birthday memorable idea #27 Go to a foreign country and celebrate it with a host family. 

My 19th Birthday Cake

Try to keep up with all the native festive traditions and remember to give your mum a call during the day.

It’s a blast – here’s the proof on Flickr Happy Birthday in Japan My 19^th Birthday was celebrated with some of the warmest, kindest people I’ve met – my 2^nd host family, living in an apartment, beside in Nagara River.


They gave me a cake that combined cream, sponge, crepes, fruit and chocolate decorations. To me – it does not get much better.

Xxxx