「31st」- A Film about Halloween in Japan

Halloween in Japan has exploded in the last 10-15 years or so. Now, Halloween merchandise and activities start in August and sometimes even continue into November. I would even make the claim that Halloween sales and celebrations rival those of Christmas in Japan. Globalization moves quickly. The recent popularity of Halloween here is hard to convey to my students, after all many of them are used to such things in their own countries. But the numerous comments and observations of old-timers and long-term residents voicing their own surprise ("Where did all this Halloween stuff come from?") justify my comments here. One of my former students noticed some differences between the celebrations in Japan and the United States and decided to make a short film about the subject. I think the film is quite good in capturing the differences as well as student attitudes towards the holiday and their use of social media. I am happy he has made it available on YouTube. Watch, enjoy and get in the trick-or-treating mood.

Halloween at Tokyo Skytree... and the cats do not look happy!

Video from The Japan Times - Multimedia, Oct. 19, 2017.

"Japanese ninja, samurai and courtesans star in new Red Bull ad set in Edo period"

Fun video - enjoy. No product endorsement intended.

Source: Japan Today, 9/20/17. https://japantoday.com/category/entertainment/japanese-ninja-samurai-and-courtesans-star-in-new-red-bull-ad-set-in-edo-period

The solutions to all of your modern First World problems...

Some fun globalization stuff... No product endorsement intended. First the problem:

Then the problem solvers:

And then see the product in action!



Choku Fish web page: http://www.choku.dk/

Friday Fun! "This [American] Sign Language Rap Battle Is Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen"

This is way too cool. Thanks to my colleague MH for sharing this with me. Check it out!



Again, very cool. But one might ask why was a stoned rapper asked to judge the interpreters? Where were the deaf people?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/08/sign-language-rap-battle_n_5112402.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Visual Fun: Young Rival's "Two Reasons"

I came across this wonderfully visual and fun video by the band Young Rival - perfect timing as we deal with midterm exams, projects, grant proposals, upcoming conferences, etc. There's a little Japan influence in the video as well...  Enjoy!

Story behind the video (info from the YouTube video site):

The band discovered the blog of Michigan artist James Kuhn via reddit in the Fall of 2011. They e-mailed him to ask if he'd be willing to collaborate on a music video, and he said yes.

The band was physically mailed CDs over the few months that contained 25 videos of lip-synched performances by Kuhn, which they edited into the final video.

"Two Reasons" is a track from Young Rival's new album, due out October 23 2012. Big thanks to James for his time, talent, and energy.

Young Rival Homepage: http://www.youngrival.com/

James Kuhn's Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawhawjames

Fun Visual Diversions (at no cost)...

Myra at the VAOJ Honolulu office always seems to know when I need some fun visual diversions to take me away from the challenges of real life. Mahalo, Myra!

Click here: http://inoyan.narod.ru/kaleidoskop.swf

Drag the mouse around at various speeds for more effects. There's a bunch of stuff like this, with music, on YouTube in you do the appropriate search. But for me, now, perhaps this is enough diversion...

Fun video with hands: "Man creates viral video love letter for girlfriend"

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/man-creates-viral-video-love-letter-for-girlfriend/20k1arvw?q=Viral%20video&rel=MSN&fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="Man creates viral video love letter for girlfriend">Video: Man creates viral video love letter for girlfriend</a>

Sour Music Video - Cool Webcam Videography

Here's a fun viral video that was recently featured on Boing Boing by the band Sour. Very creative, visual and collaborative. Check it out.

Chinese Invisible Man

(photo borrowed from IfGoGo.com)

Myra in the Hawaii VAOJ office brought my attention to this. No photoshop here, this man uses paint to blend in. Seems there is some political commentary going on as well.

Check out more photos of this art at IfGoGo.com
http://www.ifgogo.com/215/the-invisible-man-from-china/

Homogenous Japan? There are at least 51 stereotypes...

(Image borrowed from Kick Style.)

...and there are still some missing. How about a Hanshin Tigers fan and a visual kei figure? Anyway, Peter Machat has created 51 Japanese figurines. And we thought they were all one...

Link to 51 Japanese Characters:
http://www.51japanesecharacters.com/

Once you get into the site, you can click and create 100,000 different characters through mixing and matching. Have fun. And ponder Japanese individuality.

End of the Semester Funnies...

For all who are busy finishing up their final papers, grading, etc, here are some comics to help reduce your end of the semester stress. Enjoy... and 頑張って下さい.

Finger-pokin' Fun: Tuttuki Bako

(Image borrowed from Crunch Gear)

From Japan Today (11/30/08):

When it comes to thinking up vaguely creepy toys, Japan really takes the cake. Case in point is the new Tuttuki Bako, a plastic box with a finger-sized hole on one side. Stick in your digit and it magically appears on the screen in front. You can then engage in all kinds of poking, flicking and squashing fun. Our favorite is the Face Stage, where you poke a digital person’s nose until they sneeze. There are also several mini games that let you bounce a panda or squash an amoeba-shaped blob.

Here's some more things you can do with your finger. Lots of interesting visual potential here...

(Image borrowed from Crunch Gear)

Read more at Crunch Gear:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/10/08/augmented-reality-the-tuttuki-bako-box-needs-your-finger-to-play-with-virtual-characters/

Here's a YouTube clip illustrating the fun...

Monday Morning Fun: Sign Language Star Wars

Anything and everything can be said with the hands... The question is: would we "get this" if we didn't already know the story? This isn't real sign language per se, but gestures that could accompany a sign language in illustrating the story. Ponder the semiotics of it all, or merely enjoy the video on this early Monday morning.



Link to video:
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Sign_Language_Star_Wars/

Fun stuff...

Perhaps some visual images might be helpful...

(Image borrowed from The Daily Yomiuri, 1/28/08)




(from The Daily Yomiuri Photo Grand Prix, 1/27/08)

What a great photo! As the Yomiuri put it, this photo certainly "capture[d] the right moment." What does this photo say about Japanese people? What does it say about monkeys? What do you think?