japanamerica

The sort of stuff that helps me finish the next book.  Thanks.

Happy Holidays from Japan & America -- and to each and every one. Egg nog, Boston, 2012 Osechi, Tokyo, 2012 Hanukkah, Los Angeles, 2012   Singalong, Brooklyn, 2012 Chocos, Manhattan, 2012 Brandy

Hatsune Miku Goes Highbrow By ROLAND KELTS Special to The Japan Times On her own, Japanese pop superstar Hatsune Miku can't sing. Nor can she rap, dance or DJ. She is drug- and alcohol-free because she can't indulge in either, and she can't have affairs or engage in offstage shenanigans fit for YouTube scandals or tabloid headlines. Now entering her sixth year as a beloved idol with a global fan base, she looks as youthful and demure as she did when she debuted. She can't even get old. Itoh, CEO of Sapporo-based Crypton Future Media, is a software developer and so-called meta-creator, whose goal is to aid others in realizing their artistic endeavors. In 2007, he asked a graphic artist named Kei to create an anime-inspired digital avatar, the kind of cartoon-company mascot common in Japan, to represent both Crypton and its virtual-voice program for Yamaha's Vocaloid software — a singing-voice synthesizer. Vocaloid enables its users to create songs by typi...

Writer Evelyn Anderson won the jackpot by becoming the first guest contributor to the Japanamerica blog. Herewith, her take on Japanese hip-hop.  Move over, PSY. Hip-hop in Japan: Carbon Copy of America or Japanese take on an American Movement? Hip-hop is arguably one of the most influential subcultures in the world. It has caused teenagers all over the globe to don baggy clothing, wear their caps back to front and slip pieces of urban American slang into their conversations. It is therefore no surprise that the youth of Japan has been heavily influenced by this movement, with young people emulating the fashion, vernacular and musical tastes of the US ghetto. There are now over three hundred shops selling hip-hop clothes in central Tokyo alone and it is commonplace to see young men dressed in the ‘b-boy’ style that was popular amongst American rappers during the ‘80s. However whereas in the past, Japanese hip-hop fans imitated their American counterparts without adding ...

By Dan Grunebaum, from The Christian Science Monitor : It’s been 50 years since Kyu Sakamoto’s “Sukiyaki Song” became a worldwide smash. The only other Asian artist to replicate the feat? Psy, from rival South Korea, with his viral hit “Gangnam Style.” Even as Korean tech giant Samsung turns Sony into a has-been, Japan’s erstwhile colony is also beating it in the pop culture sphere: A decade after journalist Douglas McGray famously calculated “Japan’s Gross National Cool” and awoke the country to the potential of capitalizing on the global infatuation with its anime, games, J-pop, and manga, the concept of “Cool Japan” is under assault. Artists whose work drove the trend are distancing themselves from the commercialized moniker. “Dear ad agencies and bureaucrats,” tweeted renowned artist Takashi Murakami earlier this year. “Please stop inviting me to ‘Cool Japan’ events.... I have absolutely no link to ‘Cool Japan.’ ” But others say a more nuanced drive to deploy Japan’s nati...

Townshend: Japan, U.K. took same postwar path By ROLAND KELTS Special to The Japan Times Who guitarist and composer Pete Townshend originally wanted to call his memoir, "Pete Townshend: Who He?" His publisher, HarperCollins, settled on the less cheeky, more digestible, "Who I Am" — though a better title might be: "Who I Was." Townshend has long been rock music's most articulate interviewee, a multi-syllabic spokesman for a style of music that thrives on immediacy and rhythmic simplicity. As a writer friend a few months ago in New York said, "Sometimes I enjoyed his interviews more than his music." In interviews, Townshend could be both bombastic and eloquent, veering from the personal to the political to the literary in one or two comments. The narrative of his digressions was driven by his confusion — the thoughts of an individual earnestly trying to trace the convergences in his mind while sustaining a world-famous rock ba...

Latest travel column on returning to China to speak at The World Economic Forum and meeting a new friend en route. For Paper Sky magazine.

Vast thanks to all of you who joined us. **** F riday, Nov. 30:   Join us for the  annual   ALi-MO Bo- Ne nkai Bash   this year  @ Crawfish, Akasaka.   Dance, Drink and Rock Out the final days of 2012 w/'Tokyo's Coolest Band.' No cover. Just party. Date:   November 30, FRIDAY Venue:   CRAWFISH Akasaka http://crawfish.jp/   (03-3584-2496) Social Akasaka BF 3-11-7 Akasaka Minato-ku, Tokyo JAPAN　107-0052 Price:   FREE!! Doors Open -- 7:00 p.m. Music Starts 8:30-ish p.m.

Hard Times for Soft Power Roland Kelts for Number 1 Shimbun : Three days after Prime Minister Yoshihiro Noda announced that his administration had purchased the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, municipal authorities in Beijing ordered a prohibition of Japanese imports – not of cars or electronics, but book content. Chinese publishers were asked not to release books by Japanese authors and those related to Japan by authors of any nationality, and also to cancel cultural promotional events. The economic damage to the automotive and manufacturing sectors stemming from Japan’s territorial disputes with Asian neighbors China, South Korea and Taiwan has been widely analyzed and measured in recent weeks, with some pointing to Japanese makers losing out on sales and others noting the losses to Chinese workers employed by Japanese firms. News reports in Japan repeat the meme of Japanese corporations fleeing China for the more stable environs of nearby Southeast Asian nations. But ...

from The Weekly Standard : Why Romney Lost the ‘Asian Vote’ Drill down into the numbers, and it’s not a surprise. Michael Warren December 3, 2012 ,  Vol. 18, No. 12 Falls Church, Va. Turning off U.S. 50 at a chaotic six-way intersection onto Wilson Boulevard, you can just see the red roof of the clock tower at Eden Center. A replica of the Ben Thanh market in old Saigon, the clock tower peeks out above the shops of this Asian shopping mall seven miles west of Washington, D.C. Buildings here go by names like “Saigon East,” “Saigon West,” and “Saigon Gardens.” The colorful and ornate Imperial-style gate entrance into the parking lot is impressive. Two stone lions maintain sentry posts beneath the pagoda-like tiled roofs of the entryway. Flanking the lions are two flags, American and South Vietnamese. A few weeks ago, I pulled into Eden Center for a banh mi sandwich and noticed about 20 Romney-Ryan yard signs lining the driveway just past the gate. Minh Duong, 57 an...

Professor Joseph S. Nye, who coined the phrase "soft power" thirty-some years ago, on the recent uptick in nationalist sentiment in Japan. F rom   Project Syndicate . Japan's Nationalist Turn TOKYO – Japan has been in the news lately, owing to its dispute with China over six square kilometers of barren islets in the East China Sea that Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyu Islands. The  rival claims  date back to the late nineteenth century, but  the recent flare-up , which led to widespread  anti-Japanese demonstrations in China , started in September when Japan’s government purchased three of the tiny islets from their private Japanese owner. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said that he decided to purchase the islands for the Japanese central government to prevent Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara from purchasing them with municipal funds. Ishihara, who has since resigned from office to launch a new political party, is well known for nat...

Many thanks to those of you who helped us pack the room at the FCCJ in Tokyo yesterday and fill the air with excellent inquiry.

Join entertainment/media lawyer David B. Hoppe of GAMMALAW, JAPANAMERICA author Roland Kelts and NIPPON POP author and music journalist Steve McClure for a presentation/discussion about Japan's new illegal download law and the debate over online media: should it remain free and unfettered, or should it be legally controlled and restricted? Lunch served. MEMBERS: *Please register BEFORE MONDAY EVENING, Nov. 12, at the FCCJ site here:  http://tinyurl.com/b2hs9oz NONMEMBERS: Please RSVP BEFORE MONDAY EVENING,  Nov. 12, here or via email - and let us know if you would like to purchase lunch. エンターテインメント/ メディア分野を専門とする弁護士のデビッド・B・ホッピ、 『ジャパナメリカ』の作者であるローランド・ケルツ、 そして『NIPPON POP』作者スティーヴ マックルーアの三者が出演するプレゼンテーション/ ディスカッションです。 日本で論争を巻き起こしている新しく厳格な「違法ダウン ロード禁止法」そしてオンライン・メディアに関する論議 。 それは果たして拘束せず自由なままにすべきなのか、また は法律で規制し制限されるべきなのか。 来場者にはランチが出ます。 FCCJ会員の方：11月12日（月）の夜までにFCC Jサイト（ http://tinyurl.com/b2hs9oz ）でご登録をお願いします。 一般の方：11月12日（月）の夜までに本FBページ、 またはメールにてランチ予約の有無をご連絡下さい。

Sat, Nov. 10th - Pink Cow Grill Night Dinner #1 & Ali-MO Live! One grill for meat & one grill for veggies plus all kinds of wonderful side dishes, salad bar, cheese, fruits and desserts! Awesome food to accompany great classic rock band Ali-Mo gigin’ live! Saturday Night Live with Ali-MO! Dine, Drink & Dance w/Tokyo's coolest band in their debut show @ the New Pink Cow in the heart of Roppongi. Rock, R&B & Pop from 4 Decades--plus a Grill Night Buffet. Don't miss it! ¥2,500 for dinner, 7-10pm (drinks separate) please email for a reservations for the best tables for dinner to cowmail@thepinkcow.com For maps and more info about The Pink Cow please check  www.thepinkcow.com グリル・ディナーナイト＆Ali-Moライブ！ １１月１０日（土） グリル・ディナーナイト＆Ali-Moライブ！ お肉用のグリルと野菜用のグリルをそれぞれご用意します ！ベジタリアンもOK! サイドディッシュ、サラダバー、チーズ、フルーツやデザ ートなども充実！クラシックロック「Ali-Mo」のラ イブ演奏を聴きながら楽しく美味しく皆で食べよう！ボリ ュームたっぷりの美味しいビュッフェ。沢山食べてね！ 土曜の夜はALi-MOのライブで！ 六本木のど真ん中、新生ピンクカウでの初出演です。 往年の？ロック、R&B、ポップスを聞きながら飲んで踊 って Pink C...

Acros Building, Fukuoka, Japan

 [latest column for Paper Sky ] IN a JFK airport lounge after midnight last month, one voice stood out. It was throaty, raspy at times, and female.  Julie Kavner in a Woody Allen movie, Marge Simpson with less phlegm and pitched slightly lower: a vintage Brooklyn yawp over an otherwise placid airport sanctuary.   The lounge was filled with Asian and American businessmen quietly clicking laptops or fingering Blackberry keys and iPad screens, sipping wine or whiskey and tossing their heads back to down salty snacks. “I don’t mind the presentations and stuff,” the voice said.  “That’s fine.  What I hate are the lunches and dinners, you know?  Where you have to talk to these people and you don’t know what to say to them.” I was there on an unusual mission. Several months earlier, I’d been invited by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to participate in their annual event in Asia , an adjunct to their more famous gathering in Davos, Switzerland, ...

The Harukists, Disappointed The annual autumn buzz here in Tokyo for the Nobel Prize in Literature was more intense last week than in any years past. The Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, whose global audience and literary stardom confound conventional publishing wisdom (he’s not American, doesn’t write in English, and not a single vampire or wizard appears in his oeuvre), has been in the running several times, but this year he topped everyone’s list of favorites. Leading up to the word from Stockholm, early evening local time, a major domestic TV network aired a segment in which Murakami readers worldwide expressed their love for him and his books in a babel of languages. One Chinese reader declared that the latest China/Japan spat over disputed island territories had zero impact on China’s love for Murakami, despite the author’s recent newspaper article calling for both sides to lay off the liquor of nationalism. (Some Japanese newspapers were reportedly banned in China last mo...

Pete Townshend's War I first met Pete Townshend fifteen years ago in a modest London hotel suite. I was there with my friend Larry David Smith to interview Townshend for Smith’s book, “The Minstrel’s Dilemma.” We were already seated inside when I looked out the first-floor window and saw Townshend pulling into the parking lot. He arrived alone, sans entourage or fanfare, driving himself in a gray Mercedes station wagon. Minutes later, the knob on the suite door rattled and shook. I stood, thinking that it might be a member of the hotel staff and wondering if I should turn the knob from our side. There was a pause, then more rattling, then the door swung open and Townshend burst through, eyes wide with exertion. He had apparently been trying to pull when he should have pushed. [Read more]  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/10/pete-townshends-war.html#ixzz28xLTefGL

More talk about the Japan/China island dispute.  You can watch it here .

Japan's ambassadors at The World Economic Forum, Tianjin.

Video Here:  Smart Art

See her here .

Just back from The World Economic Forum conference in Tianjin (below) and now talking about the Japan/China island dispute for The Madeleine Brand Show on KPCC/NPR .

THE FORBIDDEN DIARY from monkey business: new writing from japan #1 Sachiko Kishimoto transl. by Ted Goossen * February–March The Cancel-Out Apartments I have a little brother sprouting from a spot behind my right hip. He’s about four inches long without any arms and legs, and when he gets hungry (which is like all the time) his face turns red and he starts bawling in this ear-splitting voice; and then he whips his body back and forth so that it goes whap, whap against my butt. I hate the kid, and there’ve been so many times I’ve thought about taking a razor and slicing him off, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Cicadas shrilling outside my window. February 4 Heard a rumor about something called the “Cancel-Out Apartments” today. Seems it’s a two-story building with five small apartments on each floor. If, say, a cop is living on the second floor, and then another cop moves in on the first, the two cancel each other out. I mean, they both vanish, poof, ju...

Book: Yurei Attack!: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide by Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda; illustrated by Shinkichi. Break: Night @ Inokashira Park, Tokyo, Japan. Matt and Hiroko give me tips on the last night of Japan's Festival of the Dead ( O-bon ) on surviving a Japanese ghost: Whew. Straight faces please! Book Break Take: Forty Japanese ghosts rendered in gory detail; their roles in Japanese history, culture, mythology--and who they haunt today; how to recognize them, why they're here, and what to do to survive an attack. The authors call it, "ghost porn." Snip: Ghost-- "[ Oiwa ] is hands-down the most famous ghost chronicled in this book ... she has inspired legions of imitators -- most recently Sadako, from the hit J-Horror novel and film series Ring . Her ragged tresses  and ruined face are the first thing many Japanese think of when they hear the word 'yurei.'" Survive-- "Visit the Tamiya Shrine on the site of Oiwa's fam...