Haruki Murakami accepts Jerusalem Award, Takashi Murakami's Inochi.

Recently Novelist Haruki Murakami accepted the Jerusalem Award. This is a good article. :)

I love Haruki Murakami. I've read many of his books, the ones that stick out for me are Sputnik Sweetheart, After Dark, Dance Dance Dance, Kafka on the Shore and his book of short stories Blind Willow Sleeping Woman. I've also read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the end of the world, and the wind up bird chronicle.

Speaking of famous Murakami's, I recently come accross an interesting....video by artist Takashi Murakami. (I love his Louis Vuitton Superflat promo video) I guess he created this character, Inochi, which then became subject to a short movie.

Warning: It's really freaking Weird.

Inochi
=

Hungry Machine

rabu rabu rabu rabu rabu rabu rabu

Ayumi Hamasaki Album on USB drive

This is pretty cool. Ayumi Hamasaki is to relase her TENTH album titled "Next Level" completely on a USB drive.

Its a pretty cool idea if you ask me. Next Level will be released March 25th on cd, and the USB, limited in quantity, will be released the same day. It will have 4 different pakages, and the USB version will have all 13 tracks that appear on the cd, 6 music videos and lyrics.

The USB drive will be 2 GB, however the album only take 800MB, so you can use the rest of the space for whatever you want. I see it will sell at 6,800 yen, which is roughly 91.33 CAD, and 72.58USD. Seems expensive, but another blog mentioned that its a pretty good price since USB drives usually go for 4,000 to 5,000 yen. 53.77 CAD - 67.24 CAD 42.74 USD - 53.41 USD. so you buy your flash drive, and the album. Still seems S'pensive to me, but yanno, ression time (my hours got cut at work, so we all know who isn;t getting Ayumi's new album on USB, lol)
(these are calculated at todays exchange rate btw)


I think this is a neat idea. The cd is becoming obsolete, and more and more people are listening to mp3's.

Picto-san

You know those signs with the little man on it. Like, a cross walk, bathroom, wheelchair sign, or the man who is slipping and falling. Well, he has a name, and in Japan its picto-san. :D

Pictosan has his own website check it out

Thanks to Watashi to Tokyo, I wouldn;t have known that he was so popular. Here are some pictures of picto-san.

Shock
Banzai - lol he is falling but the link says Banzai. lol

And there is a whole website dedicated to Picto-san pictures, where people accross Japan take pictures of the signs and post them.

I kind of feel bad for him, you know, always falling down, getting electrocuted, and the man o war's attacting him. yeah. Picto-san is a trooper!

Picto-san song

The work of Miyanaga Aiko

This is really cool. Miyanaga Aiko creates art with Naphthalene, which is the substance that creates Moth Balls. (ew, I hate moth balls, :D) Basically she creates an image with that substance, however it slowly turns from a solid to a gas when put in room temperature. So her art work dissolves as the night goes on. Its really really interesting.

Find out more Here

Aiba Masaki and Ohno Satoshi of ARASHI speaking English!

Hey baby, whats your blood type?

"TOKYO – In Japan, "What's your type?" is much more than small talk; it can be a paramount question in everything from matchmaking to getting a job.

By type, the Japanese mean blood type, and no amount of scientific debunking can kill a widely held notion that blood tells all."

(read the rest of the article)

イノセント・ラヴ Innocent Love

Everyone deserves to find their own happiness. That seems to be the theme of this drama. It deals with perseverance and the stuggles of life.

Akiyama Kanon's (Horikita Maki) world fell apart when she lost her parents seven years ago in a fire that destroyed her home. It was only she and her brother Yoji (Fukushi Seiji) who survived, however he was soon arrested in suspision of murder.

Always believing in her brother, Kanon did everything in her power to prove him innocent. However, life isn't so fair. The community had a hard time accepting the sister of a murderer. Kanon was forced to change her name and move several times just to be accepted, however in the end someone would find out she was related to the Akiyama parricide case.

Kanon manages to find a job cleaning homes, and comes to know a man by the name of Nagasaki Junya (Kitagawa Yujin). He is a musician, but has put his carrer on hold to take care of his fiance,Kiyoka, who had become mentally ill after an accident. Junya has the most beautiful smile, and Kanon realises over time that she never wants him to lose that smile. She will do anything to make him happy. However there are dark clouds looming in the background. They are not the only ones trying to attain their own happiness...

This 10 episode J-drama ran from October 20th to December 22nd on Fuji tv. and was directed by Kato Hiromasa and Matsuyama Hiroaki.


Horikita Maki (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e), though young, has been in many j-dramas and movies, including the popular Kurosagi drama and movie, based off the manga of the same name. I think that she does an incredible job at playing Akiyama Kanon. Someone mentioned to me that she seemed stiff, and her smile didn't seem believeable in this drama. I have to agree, however it somehow works for the character. A girl who hurts a lot more than she lets on, and whose past was so bad that she had forgotten most of her childhood.

Maki works well with Kitagawa Yujin, who is part of a "j-folk' group Yuzu. He does not appear to have much acting experience, only appearing in the third episode of Meitantei Hokenshitsu no Obasan (1997) but I was very impressed with his ability to make make me smile and cry with him, and yes, he has such a lovely smile. He is married to popular tv show host Takashima Aya.

Another notible actor is Narimiya Hiroki (Bloody Monday) , he plays one of Junya's closest friends Segawa Subaru. He is a talented actor, and I look forward to seeing more of his work.

Overall, I really enjoyed this drama. I enjoy shows that bring out my emotions, and make me feel connected to the characters. :D THUMBS UP YEAH!