MetaFilter posts tagged with Japanese and japan

Baseball Bromides (Japanese baseball cards)

OmieWise — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:09:05 -0800

Besuboru Bromides (Japanese Baseball Cards) from the collection of John Gall, as featured at A Journey Round My Skull. Here is an earlier essay by Gall about Japanese baseball cards.

Everyone needs a hug.

Liver — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:30:47 -0800

In which a chimpanzee is shown reacting to sleight-of-hand on a Japanese television show. [SLYT. Overuse of sound effects.]

Please Call Me Hararie

netbros — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:54:40 -0800

Japanese Element Symbols is an introduction for non-Japanese to the Japanese language through Kanji symbols, its alphabet, elements of Japan's culture, and what to expect on the culinary front.

HARUKU SMASH!

Artw — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:26:51 -0800

The Incredible Hulk, as told by Koike Kazuo, of Lone Wolf and Cub fame, and Yoshihiro Morifuji. More scans here.

Does what it says on the tin.

You Should See the Other Guy — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:10:06 -0800

Dancing Japanese Street Gangs - mov

Mono-Ha

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:01:28 -0800

Phase — Mother Earth, a piece created by Mono-ha artist Nobuo Sekine in 1968, has been re-created:

Consisting of a hole dug into the ground, 2.7 metres deep and 2.2 metres in diameter, with the excavated earth compacted into a cylinder of exactly the same dimensions, Phase — Mother Earth was instrumental in the early development of work by the Mono-ha artist group, and has been considered a landmark work in Japanese postwar art history.

More about Mono-ha inside. What is Mono-ha?

‘Mono-ha’ refers to a group of artists who were active from the late sixties to early seventies, using both natural and man-made materials in their work. Their aim was simply to bring ‘things’ together, as far as possible in an unaltered state, allowing the juxtaposed materials to speak for themselves. Hence, the artists no longer ‘created’ but ‘rearranged’ ‘things’ into artworks, drawing attention to the interdependent relationships between these ‘things’ and the space surrounding them. The aim was to challenge pre-existing perceptions of such materials and relate to them on a new level.

Other Mono-ha artists: Kishio Suga Lee U-Fan Koji Enokura Noboru Takayama Noriyuki Haraguchi Narita Katsuhiko Katsuro Yoshida Koshimizu Hayao

I think that's a hard G.

Manhasset — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:30:38 -0800

Gizmine - "the world's largest Japanese gadgets and lifestyle design shop." Viewable by color, theme, price, popularity, or brand.

Yukio Mishima 14 January 1925 - 25 November 1970

eccnineten — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:59:33 -0800

"There's something very shabby about a noble grave... Political power and the power of wealth result in splendid graves. Really impressive graves, you know. Such creatures never had any imagination while they lived, and quite naturally their graves don't leave any room for imagination either. But noble people live only on the imaginations of themselves and others, and so they leave graves like this one which inevitably stir one's imagination. And this I find even more wretched. Such people, you see, are obliged even after they are dead to continue begging people to use their power of imagination." - Yukio Mishima via Kashiwagi in The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. On this, the anniversary of Mishima's transformation into a headless god, a collection of video links. The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima. A speech with English subtitles. Yukio Mishima vs. Tokyo University Zenkyoutou on 13 May 1969. BBC production titled The Case of Yukio Mishima. Mishima on bodybuilding. ... and a single essay: "I Cut Off the Head of Yukio Mishima" by John-Ivan Palmer.

No Coffee for Old Men in Black

Effigy2000 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:59:35 -0800

In a series of sixteen advertisements screened in Japan, Tommy Lee Jones plays extraterrestrial 'Alien Jones', who has taken the form of a man to check on the world of humans, all the while drinking a Japanese brand of coffee named BOSS. I have no idea how Tommy Lee Jones got talked into doing these advertisements, or why. And after watching them for yourself (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16), you probably won't either.

The "Near Future Technopop Unit"

Unicorn on the cob — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:03:25 -0800

Perfume, a three-girl Japanese technopop sensation formed in 2001 now consisting of Nocchi, Kashikuya and A~chan, is about to release their ninth single, "Dream Fighter". Perfume's July 2008 single "Love the World" was the first technopop song ever to debut at #1 on the Oricon sales chart. The previous highest debut for techno was Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Kimi ni, Munekyun" 25 years ago in 1983. (original article citing #1 record translated via Google translator) You may know them for their Japanese recycling campaign ads or annoyingly catchy single version of the song (complete with dance routine), "Polyrhythm".

A blog about Japanese photography seen from abroad.

chunking express — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:38:20 -0800

A blog about Japanese photography seen from abroad. The site hasn't been updated in quite some time, but it is still full of a lot of interesting stuff.

When celebrities and language collide. In Japan!

Rhaomi — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:25:37 -0800

Puzzled by sugary J-Pop bands and their eccentric (and failed) TV shows? Frustrated and confused by the complexity of Japanese and want to see what your inchoate blustering looks like from the other side? Then join "perennially unpopular" gaijin celebrity Thane Camus (grand-nephew of Albert Camus), as he walks a class of fellow pop star clichés through an endearingly awkward English conversation class.

Japanese Bug Fights

Cool Papa Bell — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:19:03 -0800

Rule No. 1: Two bugs to a fight. Rule No. 2: Bug fights go on as long as they have to. Rule No. 3: No outside weapons in bug fights.

Live Japan Rail Cam

brownpau — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:28:17 -0800

Railway TV. Live video from the front of a train in Japan. More info (translated).

"My humble efforts to assist in the elucidation of the social condition of a distant and comparatively unknown race."

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:34:54 -0800

Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs (1867).

Top 60 Japanese buzzwords of 2007

mediareport — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:47:24 -0800

Child-bearing machines, net café refugees and bottom-biting bugs: Top 60 Japanese buzzwords of 2007.

Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema

hama7 — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:02:33 -0800

Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema - David Bordwell

Doesn't quite look to be a Chu-Chu Rocket, but...

Rev. Syung Myung Me — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 05:47:37 -0800

The Japanese Trailer to Kokoro Scan. Japanese game trailers always seem pretty interesting and fun. And, well, most often more-or-less nonsensical. This is for the new game Kokoro Scan, which, um, looks like it might be a dating sim of some sort? Maybe? The animation and segues are pretty interesting, and, though it's 6 minutes -- awfully long for a trailer, particularly one sans any gameplay (I think) -- it's interesting/off-the-wall enough to be engaging. What do cartoon nipples, pixellated white things and bananas have in common? (via)

Rice paddy art.

dersins — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:32:21 -0800

"Pimp my rice paddy." Crop art for aliens, instead of by them.

The Life of Otokichi

switchsonic — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:17:51 -0800

The true story of Yamamoto Otokichi (or John Matthew Ottoson, a transliteration of "Oto-san"): a Japanese seaman who in 1832 got caught in a storm off the coast of Japan and ended up floating all the way across the Pacific, becoming the first Japanese (documented, at least) in North America. And that's only the introduction to his story. To get back to Japan he traveled around the world, setting many firsts for a Japanese native, and played a part as the inspiration for Commodore Matthew Perry and his "Black Ships." Although barely a footnote in history, in 2005 half of his ashes were brought back to Japan to rest in home soil.

Evil Crabs?

Mr.Encyclopedia — Mon, 21 May 2007 08:04:04 -0800

Joe Is Japanese So far all there is are some Myspace profiles and a nifty teaser but I'll be darned if this doesn't look five shades of awesome. Desperate for more information? DeviantArt account of one of the animators.

Tha Japanese Tradition

ikahime — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:30:19 -0800

Comedy duo, Ramenz (ラーメンズ), aka Kobayashi Kentaro and Katagiri Jin, also known as the Japanese versions of Mac and PC, have recently done a number of shorts collectively called "The Japanese Tradition." Apparently, these tongue-in-cheek pseudo-instructional vids about famous aspects of Japanese culture (Tea, Chopsticks, Sushi, Origami, Apology, Onigiri, and Relationships) have been fooling a lot of non-natives into thinking they are actual guides. (YouTube, each approx 4-6 min).

Illustrated Ise Monogatari

languagehat — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 07:59:00 -0800

An illustrated edition of the Ise Monogatari (Wikipedia, review of translation). Yeah, yeah, it's in Japanese, but just keep hitting the forward button (the leftmost of the two on the right, red/brown rather than blue/green) and you'll find lots of pretty pictures. I can't improve on the descriptions by Matt of No-sword, where I found it, so I'll just quote him: "Behold our hero maxin' and relaxin' at his writing-desk, looking like he just got hired as a middle manager at his dad's lighter-flint concern! Thrill to the famous scene where he is visited by the Pineapple of Golden Week Past! Laugh as he is mistaken for a member of Aerosmith! Wonder why everyone is just sitting around smiling contentedly when the building is obviously on fire!"

exquisite living works of art

madamjujujive — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 16:33:27 -0800

Geiko of Kyoto is a stunning photo gallery of Kyotos's Geisha - both the mature Geiko and the apprentice Maiko. Melissa Chasse annotates many photos with fascinating details and offers an account of her tea party with Mamechika, a lovely Maiko. For more, this lovely Geisha site offers a brief history from the era of the floating world, more photos, Ukiyo-e art, and links. Also see y2karls' prior definitive post on ukiyo-e.

Takeshi Terauchi and The Bunnys do Beethoven

BuddhaInABucket — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:04:38 -0800

Japanese Surf Versions of Classical Themes