M-Flo loves Yoshika – “Let Go”

A beautiful song by any account.  Check it, check it.

Atashinchi

A Nickelodeon style show, a little like Rocko’s Modern Life or something- funny and good listening practice.

I Heart Anpanman

Anpanman is not a kids show- it’s a way of life.  I first heard about this show from some of my shoogakusee and was tickled by the odd premise: a bunch of characters that have different kinds of food for heads who go around helping hungry strangers by feeding them part of their heads.  Every episode has two parts that have pretty much the same story- the characters have fun, feed people from their heads, and then Baikinman (Bacteria-man) comes along, tries to spoil their fun and gets defeated by a strong punch or kick by Anpanman.  What happens behind this deceptively simple story is actually not that complex.  Nevertheless it is addictive, and I found myself renting episodes from my local video store in rural Kagoshima all the time.  Very simple Japanese and good strange fun:

Dare mo Shiranai – (Nobody Knows)

Hirozaku Kore-eda’s Dare mo Shiranai is a phenomenal piece of fiction inspired by a 1988 case of child abandonment. Yagira Yuya, who plays the main character, the 12 year-old Akira, won the Cannes Film Festival best actor award, and every performance in this film is incredible largely due to Kore-eda’s naturalistic style of filming, letting the kids be themselves on set. The film explores with harsh scrutiny an environment of shame and indifference that led to 4 young children being left for months on their own in a Tokyo apartment- but also depicts beauty and triumphs in the small details of their lives together. While clearly about very dramatic stuff, it’s never overly melodramatic, balances a documentary-like approach with a more fantastic poetic style, and is apparently a bit less grim than the real-life case- bonus!  Definitely check it out.

Watch the English trailer:

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

 Here is a segment from my favorite Kurosawa flick, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.  Incredible cameo by Scorsese.

The end of an era, man. The end of an era.

The Abe resignation speech and Q&A brought to you in four parts- one for each beautiful season of his leadership.

Part 1 Vocaulary:

職（しょく)- work, employment, job, position, post (shoku o jisuru= resign)

決意　（けつい) – resolve to (お決意をいたす）

改革　（かいかく)　- reform, reorganization (かいかくする）

方向　（ほうこう）- direction, course (hookoosee o kaete wa naranai)

国際社会　（こくさいしゃかい）- the international community

活動　（かつどう）- activity

中段（ちゅうだん）- discontinuation, interruption

テロとの 戦い (tero to no tatakai) – fight against terrorism

評価　（ひょうか）- assessment, valuation (takai hyooka sarete iru kono katsudou o chuudan)

継続　（けいぞく）- continuation (Nan to shite mo keizoku shinakute wa naranai)

判断（はんだん）- decision, judgment (handan-suru, watashi no handan dewa)

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Asian Kung-Fu Generation

“Kimi no Machi made”

Another sweet video and a new appreciation for synchronized swimming…

Halcali

Here are a couple of tunes I came across by Halcali- I definitely dig the old-school style hop-hop infusion. Pretty rocking videos to boot. Possibly not for those who hate slightly annoying cute crap…

Halcali

Giri Giri Surfrider

Halcali

Tandem

The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (Yuki Yukite Shingun) – 1987

Hands down the most captivating documentary I’ve ever seen. By director Kazua Hara, it follows a 62 year old WWII veteran, Okuzaki Kenzo, who served in New Guinea and upon returning to Japan went to prison for sling-shotting steel balls at the emperor outside of the imperial palace. The movie follows Okuzaki’s journey to expose the atrocities committed upon his fellow soldiers in New Guinea- two of whom were executed even after the officers learned of Japan’s surrender. This movie is one giant ball of intensity and revelation, and gives a fierce shake to any preconceptions of the Japanese post-war psyche.
In an opening scene, we are introduced to Okuzaki driving to a wedding in his van, decorated with slogans and equipped with a megaphone. (Having spent a year in southern Kyushu and grown used to these kinds of propaganda-mobiles, known for their right-wing messages and among other things their anti-foreigner bent, I immediately cringed and got ready for what I thought would be a depressing reminder of familiar themes, but…) Okuzaki goes on to shout calls for justice and an opening of dialogues, and pursues his own form of vigilante justice through confrontation and documentation through film. It’s full of gut-wrenching scenes that make you feel both how close we all are still to these memories that haunt just below the surface, and how continually important the reminder.

Shugo Tokumaru, “Green Rain”

Check this guy out… interesting music and video.