A bunch of very beautiful
Old Japanese Maps has been put online. Java application Insight(tm) required to view and includes a nifty GIS application to overlay old maps on current maps with 3-D animated fly-throughs. State of the art in online map presentation "The digital images are even better than the originals because you can amplify them, rotate them to look at them from different angles," Mr. Zhou said. "In practical terms, this is a better way of using the material than actually coming here to see the pieces."
posted by stbalbach
on Apr 13, 2003 -
5 comments
Gracefull bipeds, miniature robot ballets.... Titled by the BBC as "Humanoid robots wow Japanese", The
world's largest robot exhibit this weekend in Yokahama features Asimo by Honda [
"Asimo can now recognise individual faces and can understand gestures as well as spoken commands. Meet him once and he never forgets, responding by approaching and calling your name on subsequent meetings."] as well as Sony's newest Aibo accesories and their stunning SDR-4X ll, a biped sporting "fluid walking motion and lifelike gestures." Epson Seiko caught my attention, though, with their dozen tiny Bluetooth controlled 12.5 gram Monsieur ll-P robot prototypes which executed a
miniature choreographed ballet.
Pretty soon they'll be scuttling around on our walls like cockroaches, watching us......
posted by troutfishing
on Apr 5, 2003 -
11 comments
Japanese Sound Effects and what they mean. Spotted on Gen Kanai's blog: this rather comprehensive list of sound-effect words from
manga - the Japanese equivalent of BAM! WAP!, OOF! (and possibly even D'OH!), but covering a wider range of social and emotional terrain. Lest you surmise that these are more or less arbitrary, I "tested" ten or so on my fiancee and found that she knew every single one. Aaaa!
posted by adamgreenfield
on Apr 3, 2003 -
12 comments
"There is making of
silver sex".
Taking bodypainting/messy obsessions to the very
edge, Manon Production from Japan sells a
wide selection of fetish
videos (sample mpeg 1.69MB).
All feature illustrative pictures and detailed, eerie Engrish descriptions (
"we feel admirable and poor at her black smile";
"Midori's body is changing colourfull";
"a little golden powder enters into her eyes"). Results can also evoke a
sculpture, the
theater or
abstract art. Considering the evident misogyny of the whole effort, is it all the more unsettling because the images are sometimes
beautiful (
1,
2)? Is it an attempt to somehow bring
Sorayama's creatures to life? Could the models be
actually enjoying it?
NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
posted by 111
on Mar 16, 2003 -
16 comments
The Powell is sent in order to carry the water: I find Japanese "Engrish" websites unfunny and stupidly patronizing but this blog is potential poetry - Surrealist poetry. Whether it was machine-translated or drafted using Breton's, Ionesco's or Burroughs' techniques, it's splendidly memorable:
Rather than "I am sad" we need "mush truth". All it needs is some artful, e.e.cummings-like arranging on the page to be transformed into art. [
Via Linkfilter].
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Feb 6, 2003 -
25 comments
You've probably heard of the WWII
Navajo "code talkers" who managed to baffle crack Japanese cryptanalysts and were credited with enabling US success at Iwo Jima. Civil engineer, journalist and photographer
Philip Johnston was the determined mind behind the "windtalkers". The son of missionaries, Johnston grew up on a Navajo reservation and was one of only a handful of outsiders fluent in the Navajo language. A bit of his background is included
this article, and you can read a
complete history of his plan, view an archive of
photos by Johnston, and see copies of his
enlistment application letter to the Marine Corps commandant, as well as a
recommendation letter from the Commanding General. (more inside...)
posted by taz
on Jan 22, 2003 -
13 comments
Pinpin Lelapin ...While surfing on a Singapore site called
FlashMove, I came across a zany Flash site: A wonder bit of inscrutable Japanese-inspired
French animation from
Studio Tanuki in the form of
Pinpin Lelapin, an adorable pink balloon bunny rabbit who farts on people. In addition to the giddy animation and stylised artwork on the site is the unique "Super Mario"-type run-and-jump navigation.
(Note: Mostly in French, with some Japanese and broken English. Contains Flash, music, farts, giant mecha battles and a Sailor Moon parody.)
posted by Down10
on Dec 28, 2002 -
8 comments
Kodocha calls it
quits. Kodocha Anime, one of the best known and most reliable anime fansub
tape distributors, is closing down operations. Why? Because everything's going
digital. [more inside]
posted by Slithy_Tove
on Sep 23, 2002 -
3 comments
Momo's parts. All about the different parts of one Japanese man's pet hamster plus illustrations. "I have read that hamster's whiskers shows the width that they can pass through. But Momo forgets. One day Momo tried to go into the cleaner hose. As he has the big hip, he could't go into it. And in his effect to go, he could't get his head out. When I ran to him in a hurry, his head gone out of the hose, and he rolled backward."
posted by moz
on May 17, 2002 -
17 comments
Japan’s Gross National Cool - Foreign Policy has an interesting article on the impact of Japanese culture and how it has replaced "Made in Japan" products as the dominant export from Japan. The author points to director Hayao Miyazaki, director/actor Takeshi Kitano, artist Takashi Murakami, and singer/songwriter Namie Amuro, as well as anime in general and Hello Kitty as examples of the global spread of Japanese culture. Do you recognize these people or their work? [more inside]
posted by gen
on Apr 30, 2002 -
18 comments
Akebono's sumo retirement ceremony American-born sumo Yokozuna Akebono retired from the sport Sepetember 29th in Kokogikan, Japan.
This excellent photo essay talks about a few of the 300+ people scheduled to help cut off the topknot, a little on the history of Sumo, and why he needs 8 men to help him with the
belt tying ceremony.
Also a few good photographs of another American-born Yokozuna, Musashimaru, and one Japanese one, Takanohana.
posted by swenson
on Jan 5, 2002 -
10 comments
The next supposed Japanese video game craze is about spanking. The game is simple, you poke a fake derrier for points. Its stupid fun, yet everytime something odd becomes popular in Japan I have to hear two or three pundits explaining to me why its a social phenomenon and how clever the inscrutable designers are. I find it hard to believe that there isn't simply tasteless marketing, no-brainer toys, and bad ideas in Japan. It seems Wired, and others, can't get enough over-analysis.
posted by skallas
on Nov 26, 2001 -
18 comments
Yatta! This started out as a skit on a Japanese comedy show and eventually grew into its own fig leafed music video. Does anyone know of any other musical gems like this? Warnings: 7.71 MB Windows Media file & scantily clad men
posted by Alison
on Nov 18, 2001 -
9 comments
Necoro is a robotic cat that looks more like a cat than a robot. This site is only available in Japanese, but check out the
photo and
movie galleries. (I saw this thing mentioned in a
Reuters article about the new "human-like" Honda robot).
posted by edlundart
on Nov 13, 2001 -
17 comments
Ever wanted to learn Japanese? "The bottom line is that Politeness Levels are completely beyond your understanding, so don't even try. Just resign yourself to talking like a little girl for the rest of your life and hope to God that no one beats you up."
posted by skallas
on Sep 20, 2001 -
48 comments
Rice Ball Guy is my new favorite superhero. He's like, cool an' stuff. (The link is messed up, but have a go anyway. Really. Rice Ball Guy is cool, I'm tellin' ya.)
posted by Bixby23
on Sep 5, 2001 -
5 comments
Cartoon Network begins its "Adult Swim" programming tonight: Toons aimed at the 18-35 audience. I'm most excited about
Cowboy Bebop (Japanese site; English is under construction). (more inside)
posted by jpoulos
on Sep 2, 2001 -
26 comments
Absolute Director Move over Steve, iMovie just got some competition. The creative distiller creates the killer Shockwave app. that lets you edit and create your own movies using old Japanese monster films.
posted by Brilliantcrank
on Jul 6, 2001 -
8 comments
William Gibson talks about the Japanese as the Ultimate Early Adaptors, mobile phones and schoolgirls. As usual he is obsessed with wrist watches.
posted by laukf
on Mar 31, 2001 -
18 comments
Well, I'm compleetly fed up with english speling for everything. Its so dammed inconsistant and ilogical, Ill never get the hang of it. Forchunately, now theres a way to express yourselfs using chinese-like english characters. It's called
Yingzi and now you can write english as quickly as you can write
for
Fellini or
for
Peach
posted by lagado
on Jul 23, 2000 -
13 comments
