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NanimeW night, Green Room, Manchester 06/08

On Wednesday 6 August, the long established NanimeW night (staged at the Green Room in Manchester every month) will be screening a full length Japanese movie and a selection of movie shorts.

There will also be the usual selection of sometimes bizarre Japanese music from DJ Hipposai.

The films to be screened are- "Neo Tokyo" (a science fiction anime film anthology film produced by Masao Maruyama) and the slightly rude and utterly bizarre "Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl", directed by Katsuhito Ishii.

The night lasts from 7.30 until 11pm, and is FREE.

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         posted by nestormakno on Monday, August 04, 2008    1 comments

 

Dusseldorf Japan Tag


Message from Japan. Yes I want to send a message from Japan. Meanwhile here is a message from Dusseldorf Japan Tag.
Every June the large Japanese Community in Dusseldorf puts on Japan Tag to celebrate Japanese Culture, Music and History. From Samurai to Cos-players.
Because of the large Japanese community a lot of Japanese goods are on sale in the town, like Mochi and Plum Wine.
Here are a few sites that have reported on the event already.
I include a link to Roruchan's interesting news reports on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBEb49akxVg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_9x8C2H4DQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtzTfNpoGG8
and
http://picasaweb.google.com/MessagefromJapan/JapanTag2008
日本の手紙
 

         posted by Message from Japan on Tuesday, June 17, 2008    0 comments

 

Jero brings coolness to 'enka'


The hottest enka Japanese ballad singer in Japan is Jero.
Jero is the first African American enka singer. Jero is the singer's stage name. He is Jerome White, Jr.
Sporting baggy pants and a baseball cap, Jero looks pure hip-hop. As he begins to sing, listeners are often stunned by his polite, near-perfect Japanese and his soulful enka renditions.
On February 20, 120 fans and 70 members of the press were present at his "official" debut held at Shibuya HMV music store in Tokyo.
See UmiYuki on YouTube. Umiyuki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmeVeQe56U
The Black American Enka Singer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ybry2btOmg&feature=related
Jero grew up listening to enka with his Japanese grandmother, Takiko, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She'd married an American sailor stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base right after World War II.
Jero studied hip-hop dance in high school and joined a dance club at Kansai Gaidai to continue his studies.


See also Wikipedia on Enka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enka

 

         posted by Message from Japan on Saturday, April 12, 2008    0 comments

 

’Kleine Tokyo am Rhein'

Dusseldorf's Japanese community
’Kleine Tokyo am Rhein'
Photographs at http://www.japantag-duesseldorf-nrw.de/bilder-japantag.html?&L=1
(Photograph is the Rhein near Cologne)

Every year Dusseldorf celebrates Japan Tag.
It was about one hundred years ago that the first Japanese resident settled in Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf, with docks along the Rhine, gives easy access to Rotterdam and it was here that the roots of the Japanese community grew.
Some companies have moved to the capital, but there are still about 6,500 residents in the city, making the Japanese colony one of the largest and closest knit ex-pat communities in Germany.
As well as the nightclubs and the karaoke bars there are 16 or more restaurants serving traditional Japanese food. For example the ‘Kushi-Tei of Tokyo’ restaurant in Immermannstrasse is bustling with smartly dressed Japanese people.
The Japanese residents in Little Tokyo lack nothing. There are specialist importers stocking their native foods and supplying all the daily requisites necessary for the preparation of their national dishes. There are shops selling Japanese-branded clothes. There are video stores with all the latest films. The Japanese Club, with a mixed German-Japanese membership of 5,000, provides a focal point for the whole community.
The Japanese International School in Dusseldorf has been a major player in their successful integration. The EKO House of Japanese Culture, across the Rhine in Niederkassel, has a Buddhist temple, a serene Japanese garden and a teahouse. It attracts tourist from all around.

Japan Tag in Dusseldorf 2007
Japan Day in Düsseldorf took place for the sixth time on 2 June 2007. Japanese artists will be lighting up a magnificent fireworks display. The cultural festival is the largest of its kind in the world. The organizers are expecting more than one million visitors.
Japan Tag in Dusseldorf2008
The next Japan Day will take place Saturday the 14th of June 2008.
Look on YOUTUBE
The Rhein............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq6nRhYlt1E
Tentekko Drums.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKyZomiGSWQ

 

         posted by Message from Japan on Tuesday, February 26, 2008    0 comments

 

Hiroshige



View of Mount Fuji from Satta Point in the Suruga Bay
Utagawa Hiroshige, Japanese: 歌川広重; 1797 in Edo – October 12, 1858, also sometimes referred to as "Andō Hiroshige" (安藤広重) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition.

Hiroshige was born in 1797 and named "Andō Tokutarō" in the Yayosu barracks, just east of Edo Castle in the Yaesu area of Edo (present-day Tokyo). His father was Andō Gen'emon, a hereditary retainer (of the dōshin rank) of the shōgun. He was an official within the fire-fighting organization whose duty was to protect Edo Castle from fire.
He died aged 62 during the great Edo cholera epidemic of 1858 (whether the epidemic killed him is unknown) and was buried in a Zen Buddhist temple in Asakusa. Just before his death, he left this poem:
"I leave my brush in the East
And set forth on my journey.
I shall see the famous places in the Western Land."

 

         posted by Message from Japan on Thursday, December 06, 2007    0 comments

 

Kano Jigoro and Judo



Statue of Jigoro Kano outside The Kodokan Institute (講道館), Tokyo. Photograph by Henrik Probell See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kodokan_Jigoro_Kano_Statue.jpg
Kano Jigoro (嘉納 治五郎 Kanō Jigorō, 28 October 1860–4 May 1938) was the founder of judo.
On 18 April 1888, Kano Jigoro and Reverend Thomas Lindsay presented a lecture called "Jiujitsu: The Old Samurai Art of Fighting without Weapons" to the Asiatic Society of Japan. This lecture took place at the British Embassy in Tokyo. Its theme was that the main principle of Judo involved gaining victory by yielding to strength.Kano had broad aims for Judo, which he saw as something that simultaneously encompassed self-defense, physical culture, and moral behavior.
Quote:-“Since the very beginning, I had been categorizing Judo into three parts, rentai-ho, shobu-ho, and shushin-ho. Rentai-ho refers to Judo as a physical exercise, while shobu-ho is Judo as a martial art. Shushin-ho is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue as well as the study and application of the principles of Judo in our daily lives. I therefore anticipated that practitioners would develop their bodies in an ideal manner, to be outstanding in matches, and also to improve their wisdom and virtue and make the spirit of Judo live in their daily lives. ...These are the ideal principles of my Judo.”
In March 1922, Kano brought Judo to the world through the introduction of the Kodokan Bunkakai, or Kodokan Cultural Association. This organization held its first meeting at Tokyo's Seiyoken Hotel on 5 April 1922. The mottoes of the Kodokan Cultural Association were translated into English as "Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort" and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit."
Jigoro Kano's Five Principles of Judo:
1. Carefully observe oneself and one's situation, carefully observe others, and carefully observe one's environment,
2. Seize the initiative in whatever you undertake,
3. Consider fully, act decisively,
4. Know when to stop,
5. Keep to the middle.

 

         posted by Message from Japan on Thursday, November 01, 2007    0 comments

 

The Japanese Tea Ceremony: Tea as a Way of Life



The Kabuto Mon entrance to the Urasenke Konnichi-an, in Teranouchi-Agaru, Ogawa, Kamigyo-Ku, Kyoto City, Japan.

A parable of tea master Sen-no-Rikyu (16th century).
Sen-no-Rikyu built a garden enclosed by a tall hedge that blocked the view of the sea. The client was unhappy - until he bent to wash his hands in the water basin. The sea then became visible in a gap between the hedges and the client smiled. As the tea master had hoped, the client realized the intent behind the design. His mind made the connection between the water in the basin and the great ocean and thus between himself and infinite universe.
Murata Jukoh established the foundation for the Tea ceremony. Murata developed the heart of host to humbly receive guests as an expression of oneself in Zen. This emphasized serenity and simplicity (wabi and sabi).
During the regency of Prince Shotoku, Buddhist monks brought Tea from China. In the 12th century, the original way of drinking Matcha (powdered green tea) was brought by Eisai (1141-1215), who studied Zen Buddhism. Tea was viewed as medicine and a part of experiencing Zen. Murata Shuko (1422-1502) developed a new style as Soan-cha, which was performed in the small room with few people. Sen Rikyu (1522-1591) succeeded Takeno Jo-ou and he developed his tea as Wabi-cha. Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) in the 16th century studied tea under Rikyu.

A Japanese cup of tea is more than is implied by the name for the ceremony - Cha No Yu (hot water for tea). It is a quiet interlude during which host and guests strive for spiritual refreshment and harmony with the universe. The Japanese Tea Ceremony captures all the elements of Japanese philosophy and artistic beauty, and interweaves four principles - harmony (with people and nature), respect (for others), purity (of heart and mind), and tranquillity.
In every small task the detail is significant .
A full tea, or Chaji, involves a meal and the serving of two different types of tea and can last for four hours. For each occasion, the flowers, vase, wall hangings, and tea wares are chosen carefully to suit the event, the time of year, and the desired atmosphere.
When guests arrive, they are not greeted at the door by their host or hostess, but are guided through a series of open doors to a waiting room. They are served a small porcelain cup of hot water taken from a kettle in the tearoom as a foretaste of the water to be used in the tea making. They then make their way quietly and calmly into the garden and are met halfway at a gate by the host or hostess, who greets them with a bow. This gentle passage through the garden represents a breaking of ties with the everyday world and allows a clarifying of the senses through the enjoyment of the sound of trickling water and birdsong, and the visual pleasure of trees and blossoms. There is a stone lantern to light the path when evening falls. The guests pause to cleanse their hands and mouth with water from a stone basin of running water.
Rikyū, under the name Sen Sōeki or by his tea name Hōsensai (Chamei (茶名, tea name), is considered the founder of the Sansenke, or three main schools of tea ceremony: Urasenke, Omotesenke and Mushanokōjisenke.

 

         posted by Message from Japan on Thursday, October 04, 2007    0 comments