Susan Boyle Visits Japan

Japan gets more than its fair share of foreign celebrity visitors, especially when compared to its other Asian neighbors. This could be due to the reason that other nationals are already enamored with Japan and its culture to begin with. It could also be because the Japanese people appreciate artists and performers from other countries. Whatever the reason, we can always expect something big happening in this country, entertainment wise.

This week, it’s Susan Boyle who’s visiting Japan. She is there to be part of a TV show. Mind you, this is no ordinary TV show. In fact, it has been dubbed as the best local variety show in the country. More than that, Susan Boyle’s appearance in the show will be broadcast live all over the country on New Year’s Eve.

If you thought that Susan Boyle’s fame is limited to the western world, then you are mistaken. The Scottish singer was greeted at the airport by countless fans, all of the clamoring for a song right then and there. She declined, however, saying that they would have to wait for the show to be aired to see and hear her perform. According to the grapevine, she will be singing I Dreamed a Dream, the song which propelled her to worldwide fame.

Susan Boyle, the church volunteer, may not have won Britain’s Got Talent; no one can deny, however, that she has surpassed other contestants. And you know what? The Japanese are quite happy to be part of her success. I wish I had that show on my cable TV. It would be interesting to watch, don’t you think?

3D Flat Screen TVs Are The Future

What is the number one past time in the whole world? I honestly do not have solid data about that, but I would go out on a limb here and say that whatever it is, it probably involves the TV. It could be watching TV shows; it could be watching movies on TV; it could be playing video games (which of course needs a TV screen).

This idea brings me to the conclusion that it is the reason behind the recent move of Japanese manufacturers – they are coming out with bigger and better TV screens. In a recent report by the Associated Press, they talked about big name brands in Japan coming out with 3D flat screen TVs. The CEATEC, the biggest consumer electronics show in Japan, showcased these TVs of the future. Jay Alabaster reports:

At the country’s biggest consumer electronics show, which opened Tuesday just outside of Tokyo, all the major makers had large 3-D prototypes on display. Visitors to company booths at the CEATEC show donned special electronic glasses and watched as soccer balls flew toward them in sports clips and virtual heroes dodged deep into the background of video games.

Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. have both said they will bring their first models to market next year. Details about what will be available to watch on the new TVs are still sparse, though the companies said they want to begin with movies and games.

Obviously, content is a big thing. It’s like the 1080p TVs of today – what use are they if what’s broadcasted on cable does not follow the standard? As such, we probably should not get too excited about the whole thing for now. We have to wait for the content providers to follow suit and provide 3D content before we shell out big bucks for this new TV set. Still, it is a portent of things to come – and it is looking good!

Photo courtesy of Gizmag

Wii Sports Resorts Make It Big In Japan

Japan is well known for their protectionist policy. From their language to their products, the nation always prioritizes their own over any foreign ideas and things. When it comes to video games, it is not much different. That is perhaps one reason that the Nintendo Wii has had unprecedented success since its original release.

No one can say, however, that the Wii is not worthy of its success. Anyone who has tried playing on this gaming console will certainly agree that the Wii is something else. The original game that came with the Wii was Wii Sports, which was meant to showcase what the revolutionary console could do.

Now, they have released a follow up to the game dubbed Wii Sports Resorts. It has only been out for a week in Japan and yet reports are already coming in – the new game is another smashing success! From June 22 to June 28, statistics show that the about 360,000 copies of the game were sold. This quickly propelled Wii Sports Resorts to the top of the charts.

The new game compilation has 12 different sports and comes bundled with the MotionPlus attachment. In fact, spokespersons for Nintendo have said before that the games are designed to make the most out of the new attachment.

As of now, the game is only available in Japan but for sure, foreign versions will be released soon. I think the US will be having its version by the 26th of this month.

Japan Mourns The Death Of The King Of Pop

If there is one country where Michael Jackson has always been welcome despite all the controversy he’s encountered, it is Japan. From unwavering loyalty from his fans to advertising deals, Japan has always lent its support to the King of Pop.

When news of his death spread like wildfire on Thursday, the Japanese nation was shaken like no other. If you thought that Hollywood was (is?) focusing too much on MJ’s death, you should have been in Japan on that day. Major TV stations switched to special programming to cover the news. Online stores were flooded with orders for albums by Michael Jackson, among other things. Even government officials had something to say!

The Associated Press writes:

The top government spokesman and other ministers expressed their condolences.

“He was a superstar. It is an extremely tragic loss. But it is fantastic he was able to give so many dreams and so much hope to the people of the world,” said Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe.

Japan has always been special to the star. According to the same news report:

Jackson chose Japan — the biggest pop music market in Asia — for his first public appearance after he was acquitted of molestation charges in 2005, a delicate period in his career when his marketability had started to tank elsewhere.

Appearing at a ceremony in Tokyo in 2006, Jackson choked up before fans screaming “I love you” as he accepted a Japan MTV “Legend Award.” He later visited an orphanage on a trip largely untarnished by the bad press he had received back home.

Indeed, MJ will be missed sorely by many, but perhaps more so in Japan.

No More Rape Games In Japan

Gamers who are into video games with adult content will know immediately what I am talking about. For the uninitiated, there is a genre of games which deal exclusively with adult content, and yes, there is a large market out there. While the origins of these games cannot really be attributed to a single location, a lot of them come from Japan.

One of the games which has garnered international attention is RapeLay. It is pretty obvious what the game is all about – players get to stalk girls – young or old – and rape them at will. Players get to earn points for each act of violence that they do. More so, they get additional points for forcing them to get abortions. In the US, this game caught the ire of human rights activists, forcing retail stores such as Amazon to pull the game out of their shelves.

Now, Japan is following suit. AFP has the story:

The Japanese industry group the Ethics Organisation of Computer Software said it had long mulled measures to control such content which it said “deviates extremely from social norms.”

The organisation will now ban all “sexual torture software” and set clear guidelines on what content should be blocked from circulating in the market, the group said in an announcement dated Thursday.

The group says it already screens almost all adult-content computer games made in Japan, and that some 90 percent of products carry its rating stickers.

The ban is a form of industry self-regulation and carries no legal weight, but it is expected to discourage most Japanese retailers from selling such games, said the spokesman.

While this not a legal move, it should serve to discourage the distribution of such material.

What’s Wrong With Going Naked?

Nothing, I think. Well, if you are inside the four walls of your home, or in your bathroom, or your bedroom; heck, even in a hotel or anywhere that is yours to call your private space. Or maybe a nudist colony.

Now going naked in a public park and being arrested at 3 in the morning – that’s a totally different story. And it is even worse when you are a public figure like Tsuyoshi Kusanagi. If you are not Japanese or you do not follow the Japanese entertainment scene, this name probably does not ring a bell. To those who are in the know, however, Kusanagi is one of the hottest and most popular singers and actors in the country today.

I suppose I should have said that he WAS one of the hottest, for after he was arrested by the police when he was found naked AND screaming in a Tokyo park, his followers seem to have deserted him. To make things worse for the celebrity, he is quoted to have pitched a question to the officers arresting him: “What’s wrong with going naked?”

While this may sound funny – I really think it is hilarious – Kusanagi’s critics and supporters do not think so. As a matter of fact, he has been dropped by his sponsors. TV shows have dropped him from their line ups. Even a movie that he is supposed to be part of has been thrown away.

Lesson for celebrities: don’t go naked in a public park and don’t ask what’s wrong with it when arrested.

Xbox360 Best Seller In Japan

This is NOT good news for PlayStation fanboys in Japan and the rest of the world. According to sales figures, the Xbox 360 is has outsold the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. This is according to Media Create, an analytics company.

According to Games Industry, the latest results in terms of hardware and software are:

The Square Enix title for the Xbox 360 displaced last week’s top seller, Mario & Luigi RPG 3 for the DS, pushing it into second place.

PlayStation Portable title Idolmaster Sp took three consecutive places with its iterations Perfect Sun, Missing Moon and Wandering Star at third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

Shining Force Feather on the DS also debuted during the week, taking sixth place, followed by Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) at number seven and, another debut title, Sacred Blaze on the PSP at eight.

Meanwhile, Street Fighter IV for the PS3 slipped from second place to ninth, and Demon’s Souls, also for the PS3, came in tenth.

The region saw the Nintendo DS platform dominates sales at 51,814 units, breaking down into 41,839 DSi sales and 9,975 DS Lite sales, while Sony’s PSP followed behind at 29,552 units.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 led the home console sales with 25,334 units, beating out the Wii at 16,973 units and PS3 at 16,149 units, as well as the PlayStation 2 which lagged behind at 5029 units.

This is quite surprising, given the fact that the PlayStation and Wii consoles are both Japanese-made. There could be a variety of reasons why this has happened but that is quite beside the point right now. If Sony wants to make a comeback, they have to do something – and quick.

Lonely? Get Yourself A Pekoppa Toy

Do you live alone? Do you NOT relish the thought of coming home to an empty apartment without anyone to interact with? Or maybe, you live with other people who you do not really get along with, prompting you to go directly to your bedroom.

If so, then you might want to get yourself a Pekoppa toy, one of the newest hits in Japan. It is just like a small plant which is merely beginning to grow. Unlike any other plant, however, the Pekoppa toy can respond to the sound of your voice. Speak and you will be delighted to see its two leaves flutter or its stem bend towards you, as if acknowledging what you are saying.

The Pekoppa toy is the brainchild of Japanese company Sega Toys Co. Ltd. Since its release in September of last year, more than 50,000 units of the Pekoppa toy has been sold, attesting to its popularity. According to Minako Sakanoue, spokeswoman for Sega Toys, the Pekoppa toy serves as a psychological buffer for interaction for people of all ages. She is quoted as saying “If you have no subordinates who would listen to your grumbling in the office or no children who would talk with you, Pekoppa will be by your side, gently nodding.”

Though in truth, you know very well that the toy does not understand a thing you say, I can very well see how it can help some, psychologically. Later on, in June of this year, they will also be releasing a flower version dubbed Hanappa.

Shop Straight From Japan

Japanese items have long since held a certain attraction for many people outside of Japan. Indeed, you will see a lot of Japanese goods – mostly kawaii items – on sale in various online stores. You can even find these on sale on Ebay. But wouldn’t you like it if you can actually get these things straight from Japan?

With Jzool-Agent, an online service recently offered by Jzool.com Co., Ltd., anyone from anywhere in the world can directly purchase items from the best online stores in Japan. This is indeed welcome news for those who love all things Japanese! In their press release, they state:

Jzool-Agent (http://agent.jzool.com) is primarily a service that buys domestic Japanese products on your behalf. It will handle orders in English and sends products to most locations in the world.

All sites linked from this directory is automatically translated to English, French, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Russian and Arabic by making use of Google’s translator API, so most users will be able to get most if not all of the product’s details and explanations in their own language.

I like this last feature – translation into the language of the buyer. That is in fact one of the most common “complaints” that I hear when talking about online Japanese stores. I don’t know too many people who can read Japanese so this will definitely make the shopping experience better. Head on over to Jzool now, won’t you?

Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire

Hara-kiri? I am sure that you have heard of – or even used – this term before. This term is actually more formally known as seppuku, which referred to “a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai honor code, seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, as a form of capital punishment for samurai who have committed serious offenses, and for reasons that shamed them. Seppuku is performed by plunging a sword into the abdomen and moving the sword left to right in a slicing motion.” (Source: Wikipedia)

In his book, Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire, however, David Mura, dramatizes something else. He showcases the life of sansei, or third generation Japanese American. The main character is Ben Ohara, a sansei who is mired deep in a quest to find out what really happened to his father who died and his only brother’s disappearance. The Chicago Tribune has a review which narrates:

For Ohara, suicide begins at home. His father, interned during World War II, held his own shame as one of the so-called “No-No Boys,” a nisei (second generation Japanese American) who refused to join the American army and went to jail instead. That shame eventually led him to take his own life. Ohara’s brother, an astrophysicist with a drug habit, walks out into the Western desert, never to be seen again.

If you are interested in reading this book, you can get it from Coffee House Press for $14.95. It might be a good gift this Christmas.