Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.(Sorry it's been awhile...)
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 11:31 AM
0 Comments
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
(Sorry it's been awhile...)
Friday, April 18, 2008
MegaTokyo
Hey all! My apologies for my lateness.
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for supporting this blog. It's something that we started on a trial basis, but it's had a huge response. If you'd like to leave your comments or questions, you may do so by leaving a comment on our posts, leaving an online or offline private message with the meebo window on the right side of our blog, or by emailing us at contact (at) fudocom.com. We read and respond to everything we get (which seems to be quite a process lately!).
Recently, I happened along a webcomic made by foreigners for foreigners about a couple of gamers who find themselves stuck in Japan. Though I'm anything but an avid gamer, I find the comic hilarious and insightful with interesting references to life in Japan. Obviously the references may be blown out of proportion and wildly exaggerated, but it's nice to see a somewhat positive look at being in a foreign country.
The comic is called MegaTokyo and was started in August 2000. As any media does, it began a little roughly but evened out over some time. MegaTokyo follows the story of Largo and Piro, two game enthusiasts stuck in Japan with no money or place to stay. To live they have to blend with the locals, so to speak. The comic is updated 3 times a week (it would be nice if we could update our blog that often, don't you think?) and has been made into printed versions. But the creators vow to keep it absolutely free on the net. Whohoo!
To date, there are 1111 installments in the MegaTokyo saga.
Please check it out!
posted by Fudocom - Rei @ 5:04 AM
0 Comments
Monday, March 31, 2008
Huh, no kidding...
Hey everyone!! Please accept my apologies for the long long wait for this post.
I was having a look at our latest top 20 and happened to come across the gentleman to the left. On first glance, you might think this artist would be the newest on the hip hop/rap scene. And admittedly, his music videos look like something straight out of a Jay Z video. However, Jerome White Jr., aka Jero, is the newest singing sensation to hit Japan. His music type? Enka.
For those who don't know what Enka is, it's often been referred to as Japanese country music. But I don't quite agree with the terminology. It's one of those types of music that you definitely have to hear to fully understand. I would explain it as an old-school Japanese sort of folk singing. Occasionally Enka songs make an appearance in our top 20, but it's something quite difficult to compare to pop groups like News and Morning Musume types.
Jero is an American born Japanese enka singer, the first black enka singer in Japanese music history. It's surprising that more foreigners haven't tried to appear in this market. Obviously the appeal of a foreigner being Japanese-like would skyrocket them to success regardless of their actual ability. Not that I'm saying he isn't talented, but most of you would agree that being a Japanese entertainer has 100% to do with your marketability and 0% to do with actual raw talent. Not that the west isn't much better (eg Brittany).
Check out Jero's latest video, Umiyuki below.
posted by Fudocom - Celina @ 4:23 AM
2 Comments
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.(Sorry for the delay everyone! We haven't been posting due to an error. Things will hopefully go smoother from now on. The next regular blog post should be up by tomorrow. Sorry again! Rei)
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 1:24 PM
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.(Sorry for the delay)
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 8:33 AM
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Shin-chan the potty-mouth?
If you have kids in Japan, then you'll definitely know the antics of Crayon Shin-chan, an anime character with a sassy mouth and a tendency towards disrespecting his parents. But it's usually innocent enough and quite amusing. So much so that Spain was one of the first to adopt Shin-chan and L-O-V-E love him (and they did quite a good job with the dub, I might add). Recently I had the chance to catch the American dubbed version of Shin-chan and was more than a little surprised.
Shin-chan originally went to America in 1994. But with so many censor issues it didn't have quite the same impact or popularity. It wasn't the first anime to be hacked and slashed by the American censors and definitely won't be the last. In 2006, FUNimation acquired the licensing and decided to make an edit-free, extremely adult-content version for adults. Can you imagine Shin-chan and his friends making sexual jokes and swearing like sailors? It's not quite right, is it? See for yourself:
posted by Fudocom - Rei @ 5:35 AM
0 Comments
Thursday, February 14, 2008
WWE Fever
Hey kids, sorry for being sooooooooo late. This was supposed to be posted Monday and some idiot (me) forgot to press the "post" button. The next post will be in a couple of days so you'll get two for this week!
This past weekend, marked the visit of WWE to fair Tokyo on their Royal Rumble tour. Now, first of all, when did WWF become WWE? Wrestling has much changed since my little girl days. My foggy memory remembers wrestling as being a slightly low budget, but amusing weekend excursion that was about good wrestlers with little amusing bits of story and the occasional spat about whose exceedingly big-chested girl belongs to who. Now it's a big-budget commercial enterprise that seems like more of the male soap opera variety than actual good-old-fashioned wrestling. But I digress. Commercialism is key to making it in little Tokyo and WWE did not disappoint.
I was actually surprised to find out just how many Tokyo fans there are of WWE. On regular and even cable television it doesn't appear to be so regularly televised. But, nevertheless, thousands upon thousands of Japanese paid their ticket price (3000-20000 yen yikes!) and showed up to catch a glimpse of their fave puroresu star. Exceptional. I worried that the Japanese folk wouldn't understand the "story" going on, but once the beating began, it didn't seem to matter. And it was an enjoyable event, I have to say. I'd take it over Pride and K1 any day.
WWE Royal Rumble Tour in Tokyo, catch it on paperview....probably.
posted by Fudocom - Celina @ 7:05 AM
0 Comments
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 12:04 PM
0 Comments
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Overpriced Much?
Hi all!
If you live in Japan you'll notice a distinct pattern that everything is exceptionally overpriced. Sometimes so unreasonably so that items spend unreasonable amounts of time sitting on the store shelves waiting for a clearance sale that will never come.
Oh how I miss the stores of North America when one could comb the racks for an item with the tiniest blemish and demand a 20% retribution for its purchase. Where crappy service could lead to cheap or free and politeness is an actual real-live concept.
Here in Japan-land I have been astounded day after day about how much money leaves my wallet, and about how little I have to show for it.
Probably the biggest culprit of my money woes is food. For the non-family type person such as I, eating out costs just about as much as eating in unless you're happy eating greasy convenience store bento boxes meal after meal (and I assure you, I'm not). In the restaurants you might notice that things are a bit topsy-turvy. Things with alcohol cost less than things without alcohol, condiments like salt, pepper and ketchup are sometimes privileges that you must beg and plead for and the idea of "doggy-bagging it {to take home what you haven't eaten while dining in}" is unheard of even if the restaurant offers "take-out {to order for the purpose of eating away from the restaurant}". It's all in the same container, isn't it?
Merrily strolling my way through a shopping area near Osaka station not too much unlike Tokyo's Shibuya, I stumbled upon a "restaurant" offering items one wouldn't really find sufficient of a full meal. I took the three pics below as I found them hilarious. See if you agree.
Would you pay 400 yen (about $4 US) for a small baked potato with a little butter?
Or 430 yen (about $4.30 US) for a single tomato with a helping of mayo as a dressing. By the way, ew, who eats tomato with mayo?
For a tomato and a half and the chef's expert mayo application your price is 550 yen ($5.50 US).
Outstanding. With prices like that it's no wonder why most Japanese are skinny and cheap haha.
posted by Fudocom - Rei @ 9:21 AM
4 Comments
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 4:26 PM
0 Comments
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A Victorious Billy
Hi all. Geez it's been too long. Sorry kids, my fault. I hope everyone had a joyous holiday with lots of presents, friends, family and/or merry holiday alcoholic beverages.
One of the items flying off the shelves this season was none other than Biriizu Buutokyanpu. What absolute joy to open a present and discover that your friends think you're fat.
For us non-Japanese we've known Mr. Billy Blanks for years now. He single-handedly sparked North America-wide interest in aerobic boxing. But with the rise of Billy-Billy-Billy it sparked all sorts of competitive ways to get fit and/or lose weight while having a bit more fun. My favorite: Carmen Electra's "Fit to Strip," or as I like to call it, "Lose weight while practicing for a fulfilling career." Ha.
So what does one do when their popularity fades a bit in America? Why, go to Japan, of course! And Billy's Bootcamp quickly caught on. So much, in fact, that Billy's even got himself a top 5 music hit. It's true World, Billy's got his own song. Thankfully, his "singing" in it is minimal. This song is an obvious yet brilliant marketing ploy to sell more Bootcamp DVD's. How can I tell, you ask? It's simple really. If it were Billy's idea I bet it wouldn't be called "Boom Boom Wonderland."
Give it a listen:
What did you think? I'm betting there won't be an English version of this song.
posted by Fudocom - Celina @ 10:34 AM
2 Comments
Friday, January 04, 2008
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 9:59 AM
0 Comments
And it begins
Hello!
I hope everyone had a merry merry Christmas and is enjoying the new year! I do so apologize for my delay. We hardworking employees were given a surprise early holiday. Whoohoo!
While away, one of my good American friends sent me an email about a movie she had sworn she had heard about before. It's true. One Missed Call, or Chakushin Ari as it was called in Japan, is going American. As the world sighs a collective "Why?" to yet another butchering of a foreign classic, Hollywood readies itself for what looks like an almost-certain box-office flop.
For those who have yet to see the Japanese version, One Missed Call is a movie with a similar feel to Ringu (or the Americanized The Ring). The victim would receive a call on their phone with a freaky-deaky haunting ringtone. Seeing a missed call, they would check their voicemail. The voicemail would quote a date and time in the future and play a message featuring themselves in the brief moments before their death. If disregarded, life would continue quite normally up until the moment of their death. Freaky, no? This movie's quiet eeriness put me off cell phone use for a month.
With Hollywood's explosions and thrills movie tactics, a movie that relies more on subtlety will most definitely be significantly cheapened, in my opinion. And what a shame. Recently, I've been watching perfectly good Asian movies be redone with little or no credit to their original. What ever happened to subtitles and dubbing? In fact, that is how most Americans prefer their anime so why don't we set the standard on movies as well?
See the trailer for the American One Missed Call below:
See the trailer for the original Japanese One Missed Call below:
One good outcome of the American version is that a subtitled version of the Japanese movie should most definitely be circulated at your local Blockbusters. Until now, only downloaders have been able to access subtitles for this movie. I recommend watching both if you have the opportunity!
posted by Fudocom - Rei @ 7:45 AM
2 Comments
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 5:50 PM
2 Comments
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Put some clothes on!
Happy holidays! Sorry for the delay guys, my fault. It's our new years resolution to updated once or more times a week in the new year.
The above is probably the most-dressed and thus blog appropriate picture I could locate for this post's topic. For those who live in Japan, you might be familiar with what I'm about to talk about.
One of the things you can't help but notice in Japan is its large selection of adult literature. Whether it be the bus, train or friendly neighborhood convenience store, adult comics, photos and magazines are in large supply. Naturally, the fans of the stuff range in age but, and perhaps a bit more difficult for the foreigner to grasp, so too do the models/characters.
How old do you think the girl in the above picture is? While Japanese are professional at looking young, a child is a child.
In Japan, under 15 models (U-15) is a popular concept. You'll see them modelling skimpy outfits in some pretty questionable poses. In any other country this would be child porn, so why is Japan yet to crack down on this industry? And what do their mothers have to say? With a little research, I discovered U-15 modeling is somewhat of a sport in which mothers often pressure their daughters as if they were a US beauty pageant contestant. And the others? Often approached and offered a price for their "services" in busy places like Shibuya and Shinjuku.
As foreigners in this country there's little we can do to influence the going ons, but if you have children in Japan, please please watch over them carefully..or send them to study abroad.
posted by Fudocom - Celina @ 5:09 PM
0 Comments
Monday, December 10, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 6:40 PM
0 Comments
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 9:37 AM
0 Comments
A Little Christmas Magic
Hi everyone! Boy it's been ages since I've written. And we've finally been able to recruit Stephen to write some posts for us. Yeah!It's the beginning of December and Christmas shopping is in full swing. I'm truly amazed at how much us Japanese have gotten into the season. But what country wouldn't take full advantage of the commercialism that is Christmas?
This year, among the Christmas stuff lining the shelves you'll find this little creation that's a great stocking stuffer (Japanese have yet to adopt the stocking) or more famously a gift-to-give-someone-you-don't-really-know-well/care-for. The Magic Christmas tree comes in green or white (or a heart-shaped red for Valentine's Day - they're starting early, you see). Out of the box it literally looks like a cheap cardboard cutout in a petri dish with water (water sold separately). After about an hour to a period of about 12 hours, you'll be able to watch it bloom into a mildly passable Christmas tree. Don't believe me? Have a look.
The leaves will last from one week to about 2 months (but I don't believe it) depending on how much or how little you shake, move or water the tree. In an earthquake society such that Japan is, not shaking the tree may be easier said than done. But for about 7 American dollars, you can afford to buy two.
Where to get yours: try shops like Don Quixote and Tokyu Hands or online shops (for the Japanese able) such as Yahoo and Rakuten. Look for the "Magic Christmas Tree". It also comes in a more popular snowman shape.
posted by Fudocom - Rei @ 7:57 AM
0 Comments
Friday, November 23, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 11:10 AM
0 Comments
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Is this really necessary??
So sorry for being so late kids. I was away on, well let's call it vacation. On my way back to Japan, I was bombarded by the new rules and regulations that immigration would be enforcing as a way to keep Japan nice and safe from terrorism. Fingerprinting and picture taking. What? "But I've been a resident here for years and years," I say. " "Do you have a Japanese passport?," is their humble answer. "I, thankfully, do not," is my not-so-humble answer. "Back of the foreigner line, please." Darn...
Now I know that Japan is not the first to employ this line of defense to terrorism, the States having been the first. But the problem with USA's method is that they do not use it consistently with all foreigners. Often only the ones they believe to be threatening will have to go through the photo/fingerprinting song and dance. Japan, however, intend to ID all foreigners, regardless of their residence status. While this sounds like a good idea, I really fail to see how in a terrorist attack they would be able to use the information. In fact, I see more of a potential for its misuse in barring good people with the typical "I can't get a visa" immigration troubles from entering into this humble country. Immigration intend to employ a blacklisting system by fingerprint with this new procedure, so who's to say their policy won't change a little to blacklist the decent folks who hopped to Korea for a short trip to avoid overstaying their visa?
Fingerprinting for terrorism? Frankly sir, I don't buy it. But as a foreigner in Japan with no rights, what choice do we have but to deal with it, a sentiment that's actually quite Japanese, isn't it?
posted by Fudocom - Celina @ 2:48 AM
2 Comments
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 4:03 PM
0 Comments
Friday, November 09, 2007
What is a Rolly?
Hello! I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Stephen. You may have seen my posts previously...or maybe not, it has been awhile. But I'm now a full-fledged writer for this here blog.
And so onto my post.
What is Rolly?
Well, that is the $64,000 question isn’t it? To kill some time one afternoon last week I popped into Bic Camera in Shinjuku to check out the latest gadgets and gizmos. One thing that immediately jumped out at me on display under the SONY banner was a pretty looking thing called “Rolly.” “What is it? What does it do? What is it for?” I immediately asked myself. It looks interesting – shaped like a egg on its side. The promotional video from Sony shows it rolling on its side quite gracefully with “ears” that flap to the music that it plays. It seems to be designed with the aim to be a cross between a portable music centre and a robot pet. The family in the video is in awe of the cuteness of it as it is rolling and ear-flapping to the music as if it was the cutest puppy.
Rolly looks very well designed and it’s a cool toy. You can’t argue with that. The problem is that I don’t understand what it is for. It’s a wonderful gizmo to show off to gob-smacked friends at parties. (If one of my friends had one I would definitely be begging for a chance to see it in action for a good 5-10 minutes.) But are we really supposed to play with it when we’re alone and no-one is looking? For years to come?
I’ve checked out the Sony website for more info and promotional videos at Sony and I still don’t feel like I’ve answered my original questions. “What is it? What does it do? What is it for?” Perhaps I’m missing something.
I still want one though.
Check out the official promos
posted by Fudocom - Stephen @ 3:34 PM
0 Comments
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 5:58 PM
0 Comments
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 3:10 PM
0 Comments
Friday, October 26, 2007
Not so Super Nova
Years ago, Nova was a conglomerate, hiring native English teachers from abroad, bringing them over, housing, feeding and of course paying them in exchange that they speak the language they were born into. Of course, Nova's had its bumps along the way with its teachers, all seemed to be functioning well within it's corporate doors. Stock, students and its marketing efforts were up. It's mascot bunny even coming out with it's own buyable products. Take that, Hello Kitty.
But, as it is with most conglomerates, they got a bit greedy. With their "No Risk!" long-term prepaid contracts from the Japanese only wanting a bit more than their un-cultured neighbor, if they tried to cancel their contract, they soon found Nova intended to keep their money. Now, in my experience when one or two Japanese are screwed out of money they may just take it in stride. After all, Japan isn't a "I'm gonna sue your a**" type of nation. But when you screw a large group, daddy governement may decide to step in. And so, was the case. Nova was suspended for 6 months of obtaining new long-term contracts, their obvious bread and butter, as punishment for false advertising. Seeing the progression, other Japanese long-term students took the opportunity to run like rats from a sinking ship and ex-students filed lawsuits to get their money back. Oh Nova.
Money now quickly departing from Nova's bank account, the president, Nozumu Sahashi, took his cue to flee to...well noody's seen him since. Under new leadership, Nova desperately tried to analyze its possibilities. With the debt piling up, office space rent and its employees were going unpaid, which brought a whole new pile of problems as the Japan Labour board stepped in to settle the dispute. And, with their obvious financial problems made very public and inadequate amounts of teachers left to teach its lessons, Nova was forced to "temporarily" close its doors and apply for bankruptcy protection. What it boils down to is that the employees and banks may just get their money back, but the students-the ones so wronged in the first place- may, unfortunately, still be out of luck. Nova 's been given one month to find a sponsor so that it may continue in business. And it seems to be hopeful for another large school or IT company such as Yahoo to bail it out. But that will most probably signal a dismal goodbye for its bunny-like mascot. But there's an obvious lesson here. To all you other huge corporations, we people do have a say. Mess with enough of us, and you too will face the consequence of being bought by Yahoo...or something like that.
posted by Fudocom - Rei @ 8:46 PM
0 Comments
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 2:38 AM
0 Comments
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Music List Updated!!
Click here to view this week's featured music single and top 20 music hits from Japan.
posted by Fudocom - Robot @ 11:46 AM
0 Comments
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