Jamaipanese

Gundam 00 Movie Teaser Trailer

Jamaipanese — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:24:06 +0000

I am a big fan of Gundam 00 since it first started airing in Japan and I have blogged my reviews of Season 1 and Season 2. At the end of season 2 a Gundam 00 Movie was teased at for 2010 and that date is drawing closer. A trailer has been released for the Gundam 00 movie that should tie up some of the loose ends and hopefully make up for an underwhelming ending.

The majority of my Gundam figure collection consists of mobile suits from the Gundam 00 universe with a couple of my favourite gunpla figures being Seravee, Exia and Astraea Type-F. Setsuna, Lyle, Alleluyah and Tiera will star in the Gundam 00 movie, check out the trailer and descriptions of their updated mobile suites below.

New Gundams

00 Quanta, Setsuna’s unit. Exia’s lineage. It has binders and shield on its left shoulder, as well as numerous Funnels (informal name).
Gundam Harut, Allelujah’s unit. Harut and Marut are two angels mentioned in the Qur’an. The Gundam has a visor like the Astraea and the GN Archer. It can transform.
Gundam Zabaniya, Lyle’s unit. The Zabaaniyah are the gardians of Hell in the Qur’an. Looks like a close-combat unit. It has a slim torso and big legs like the Virtue. It carries a “GN Armor lite” on its back.Main weapon : Double hand gun.
Gundam Raphael, Tieria’s unit. See the Archangel Raphael. It has wired cannons in its fingers (like the Belphegor Gundam) and 4 cannons on its shoulders.

Information Sources

Anime Vice and Gundam News Blog

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A Look back at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

Jamaipanese — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:31:58 +0000

G’day good people of Jamaipa. I’m reesan from loneleeplanet and I am honoured to be here writing a guest post on jamaipanese.com. Inspired by Jamaipanese’s coverage of the Tokyo 2016 Olympic bid, in this guest post I explore Tokyo’s contribution to the Olympic Movement when they played host in 1964 to the Games of the XVIII Olympiad.

Tokyo was the host of the 1964 Summer Olympics winning the rights to the Games in 1959 in the IOC’s first round of voting over bids from Detroit, Vienna and Brussels. It was the first time that the Olympics were hosted by an Asian country. Originally Tokyo was awarded the right to host the 1940 Olympics however due to rising world tensions and Japan’s war in Asia the 1940 Games were rescheduled to Helsinki and then eventually canceled altogether due to the outbreak of World War II.

Japan’s rise from the atomic ashes of war

The 1964 Tokyo Games were a proclamation by Japan that they had emerged from their post-war reconstruction and were now a major economic power and technological leader. This proclamation was embodied in the selection of Yoshinori Sakai to light the cauldron with the Olympic flame. Yoshinori Sakai (also known as ‘Atomic Bomb Boy’) was born on the outskirts of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. As the final torchbearer he symbolised Japan’s rise from the atomic ashes of war.

A total of 93 nations competed at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad. South Africa was banned from participating as a rebuke to its racist policy of apartheid. Indonesia and North Korea were also notably absent after voluntarily withdrawing their teams. Two new sports, Woman’s Volleyball and Judo, were introduced to the Olympic programme. Interestingly Japan took out gold in Woman’s Volleyball and gold in 3 out of the 4 inaugural weight classes in Judo. However, Japan was left heartbroken as the most coveted prize of all – gold in the open class – went to the Dutch giant Antonius Geesink.

The Games were officially opened by Emperor Hirohito (aka Emperor Showa) at the opening ceremony on October 10 1964 and concluded at the closing ceremony October 24 1964. The main stadium, National Olympic Stadium (Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujō Kyogijō), is located in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Takashi Ono, a Japanese gymnast, took the Athlete’s Oath on behalf of 5,151 participating athletes – 4,473 men and 678 woman.

First Hi-tech Olympics

Japan was hailed as a technological leader as a result of the Tokyo Olympics. These were the first Games to not only be broadcast in colour but via live satellite. Furthermore, it was the first time in Olympic history that computers were used to keep results including the introduction of new electronic timing devices, variations of which are still used today. Interestingly, the first shinkansen line opened in time for the Games, just 9 days before the Opening Ceremony.

These Olympics had greater representation from Africa and Asia than any previous Olympics with the following sixteen nations making their debut: Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Zambia, Senegal, and Tanzania. The most successful athlete at the Games was American swimmer Don Schollander who won four gold medals and set three world records. However special mention should go to Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, having become the first-ever black African gold medallist four years earlier, successfully defended his marathon title. Impressively, he did it only six weeks after having his appendix removed.

Jamaica at the 1964 Olympics

This was the 5th Olympics attended by Jamaica counting 1960 when they attended as part of the West Indies Federation team and Jamaica’s first Olympics as an Independent nation. Jamaica’s 21 member team did not win any medals but came close in many events including the 4×100 sprint where Jamaica placed 4th. Guess who owns the 4×100m world record now?

Below is a vintage newsreel recounting the 1964 Tokyo Olympics:

The footage is extracted from the a documentary was made in 1965 entitled Tokyo Olympiad which chronicles Tokyo’s hosting of the 1964 Olymic games It was directed by Kon Ichikawa, excepts from the documentary can be seen here and here.

Information Sources

For more on the Games of the XVIII Olympiad check out reesan’s article on Australia’s participation at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

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Otaku Encyclopedia and Crazy for Kanji

Jamaipanese — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:13:56 +0000

My quest to rediscover my reading mojo has been proving quite successful, the last Japan related book I read through was Japan: An Illustrated History and a few school and non Japan related books later I decided to get two more books, they are Crazy for Kanji: A Student’s Guide to the Wonderful World of Japanese Characters and The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider’s Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan.

Otaku Encyclopedia and Crazy for Kanji being inspected

While cleaning out my man cave recently I dug up some Japanese study material that weren’t being used and decided to put them to use now. I have been stuck at Hiragana and Katakana only for whats seems like forever with knowledge of about a dozen or so basic kanji like mountain, gate and 4 -_-. I’ve been using Smart.fm on and off to help with my Kanji study but through research I decided to get a book help me understand the world of Kanji better and Crazy for Kanji is that book which will add another layer to Kanji study and practice. The Otaku Encyclopedia however wasn’t necessarily an impulse buy as I have been hearing about it for months and have been seeing it on many Japan blogs but it only became available in the States (and by extension Jamaica) last month, so I bought myself a geektastic gift online.

L Meeting Moe-chan

3-D girls vs 2-D girls

Apparently my Nendoroid L is not a big fan of all things moe and got up from his chair to give me a good scolding while reminding me of the benefits of liking living breathing 3-D girls over their 2-D counterparts. Interestingly enough my reading guide for the Otaku Encyclopedia is called “Moe-chan” and can be seen just above L’s head mocking him. Please vote in the poll at the end of this post and decide weather to side with or go against L’s female philosophy, watch this video which might help you decide.

Crazy for Kanji going through immigration

Security is Tight

Being the only Gundam figure I own that’s not really a “Gundam” GN-X III gets picked on a lot by my other Gunpla mainly Exia, but to counter his inferiority complex I assigned him the role of room guard. Above he can be seen inspecting my new Crazy for Kanji book just before it is admitted entry into the Kingdom of Jamaipanese.

Buy these books on Amazon

Crazy for Kanji: A Student’s Guide to the Wonderful World of Japanese Characters
The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider’s Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Innocent Love – Japanese Drama

Jamaipanese — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:39:02 +0000

Innocent Love is the 6th Japanese drama I took the time to watch in it’s entirety and the second most recommended one behind Great Teacher Onizuka. The main reason I didn’t watch it earlier is because I judged it from just looking at the advertising poster (seen below) and the name, I expected some kind of shallow, generic love story but it turned to have much more depth than I expected and almost joined My Boss My Hero as one of my favourite doramas.

Innocent Love Plot Synopsis
A mysterious fire destroys the home Akiyama Kanon killing her parents and leaving her homeless and her brother, Akiyama Youji locked up for arson. She defends he brother’s innocence and due to that is shunned by her neighbors and forced to move to the city to find work and escape from it all. Not long after moving to the city she falls in love with Nagasaki Junya and that is where things start to get interesting.

Akiyama Kanon is played by the same actor as Kotani in Nobuta wo Produce

Crazy People and Pacing of the Story

Innocent Love’s cast was a decent one and I like to joke that most if not all the characters seen on screen has some kind psychological or mental disorder but it is quite true. A lot of crazy people and put together in a decent story and it turned out quite nicely. I do feel though that the pacing of the story was a little off with certain areas glossed over too quickly while other less interesting parts were just short of being too long and unbearable.

Family portrait in happier times

Disappointing Ending

The story stopped short of being awesome because of an awkward and repetitive plot twist just at the end. As a whole though Innocent love is a decent drama with some interesting characters. It has some tear jerking moments and numerous high points that will keep you interested until the end.

Akiyama Youji will do anything fr his sister

Many scenes take place inside a Catholic Church

Ikeda Hiro – the definition of an inquisitive journalist

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Joker Racer – Cars controlled via the net

Jamaipanese — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:29:24 +0000

Joker Racer is a service by a Tokyo based company called Joker Works that allows users to control RC cars and model trains over the web. I have been follwing the progress of Joker Racer and should have made a post a long time go. All the function of the vehicle is controllable from a simple easy to use web interface that allows anyone, anywhere in the world to control the vehicle using just their web browser.

I took the monster trucks for a spin two weeks ago and had fun crashing into everything. Whats cool though is that you can also watch other users take control of the cars and join the line to wait your turn. I actually found myself watching more that driving. I remembered of Joker Racer earlier today and logged on to see what was happening only to realize that all the cars have been taken offline till mid November when a the service will be revamped. The announcement will come on November 6th at TechCrunch Japan’s Tokyo Camp.

My only two runs were controlling Monstertrucks

Feel free to check out the video of one of my crashadelic runs here, I’ll make a follow up post a few weeks from now when the service is back online and I have given it a proper test.

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Tokyo Anime Fair 2010 Official Character

Jamaipanese — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:04:59 +0000

I wasn’t sure if the official character for Tokyo International Anime Fair 2009 was a girl or boy, but this time around I will not have that problem. The winner of the 2010 Tokyo International Anime Fair character contest has been decided and since I blogged about teh contest earlier I decided to follow up with the a post with the winning design.

Introducing TAF-chan

A definate upgrade from last years character TAF-chan is described by the winning artist as a friendly girl character for the guide of animation and TAF under the theme of “telling everyone how fun animation is!” and “everyone to enjoy animation easily” regardless of age, gender, or nationality. Just under 400 entries were received for the contest

The winning character for the 2009 show

The annual Tokyo International Anime Fair biggest Anime expo in the world and will be held from March 25 – 28, 2010 at the Tokyo Big Sight.

Official TAF2010 website
Official Character profile

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God Eater Japanime Trailer

Jamaipanese — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:25:38 +0000

Watching trailers of upcoming video games is a favourite lazy pastime of mine. During one of those sessions earlier today I surfed into an excellent trailer for an upcoming game called God Eater made by Namco Bandai to be released on the PSP. A good trailer is the perfect way to get potential buyers interested in your game and boy did the over 10 minute long God Eater trailer deliver. Just watching the trailer grabbed my interest enough to have me do a little research on the game which will be a team-based high speed hunting action title similar to Monster Hunter which is a franchise enjoying quite a lot of buzz in Japan now.

Monster Hunter Tri is a title I have been following and since I own a Nintendo Wii I was planning to pick it up when it comes to the west next spring. God Eater has a more futuristic setting and has what looks like a decent cast of characters battling together against increasing difficult enemies, sucking the energy from them to power up their own weapons and armor. Clear 10 minutes in your schedule and sit back and check out the awesome anime style God Eater trailer below, you will not regret it.

I don’t own a PSP but this is the kind of game that could make someone go out and buy one just to play, that is if it ever gets released in the western hemisphere.

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Jamaica and Japan – Relationship Priorities

Jamaipanese — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:31:07 +0000

Greetings to all Jamaipanese.com readers! I’m Sachiyo Morimoto, aka Miss Chin, a Japanese author who resides in Jamaica since late last year. I am privileged to write a guest post for Jamaipanese.com today. Hear mi weh Miss Chin seh!

Last week, I wrote about the difference in priorities between Jamaicans and Japanese when we choose our mates. At that time, all the Jamaicans I’d spoke with said they value sex the most in romantic relationships. That situation seems to be changing though, as my poll survey at my blog (it’s left top on my page) is starting to tell a different story. Since my first post on the issue, I’ve received some feedback from my Jamaican readers too. Some say they value different things other than sex. Some say they value sex. So it seems to not be as simple as I thought at first.

The General Japanese way of Thinking

Generally (but not all of them), Japanese tend to value a person’s character and personality the most when we choose a mate. Click here to see the results of different surveys which were conducted in Japan and there is no one who answered “sex”. Its possible the reasons are;

Japanese are not as sexual as Jamaicans.
Japanese know we cannot have sex forever, or when we value sex the most, we might fall into the wrong kind of relationship.

Please note. Japanese also like sex and think sex is important, but at least it is not likely to become their top priority.

Imagine and Choose

Just imagine there are two men/women. “A” is someone you can have a great sex with. But he/she doesn’t fit you in terms of character and doesn’t share similar values with you. So you are not so happy with him/her, except for when you have sex with him/her. Another is “B”, who is someone you can have a considerate good sex, but it’s not like best or great. He/She has a great character and shares similar values with you. So you are happy and comfortable with the person most of the time. Which do you choose, “A” or “B”, or “BOTH”?

The choices we make

I don’t think we all have to live with one partner. If you want to live in an open relationship, that’s fine. It’s your choice, but remember, when you have multiple partners, you have to allow your partners to have multiple partners too. An old proverb states “What is good for the goose is good for the gander”. More question surface, if you choose your partner in terms of sex, do you leave the person when he/she cannot satisfy your need? Or you try to find someone else beside your partner to satisfy your sexual need?

Performance Obsession

I hear many Jamaican men worry about their sexual performance. Well, we all care about it to some extent. But look how many tonics are there in Jamaica, which are said to stimulate your sexual performance. It seems that they value sex too much and they are choking their own necks!

When I think about the importance of sex in Jamaica, sometimes I wonder if it’s because of its unstable social condition, historically unstable family structure and human relationships; people value sex with the knowledge that it’s not forever, but to enjoy right now with this moment. Many Jamaicans might not believe there is something “forever” that is how I feel.

Yes, there is nothing “forever” or “eternal” in this world. It’s the decision to maintain something for a long time, and it requires constant effort. So your priority in relationship seems to reflect your attitude towards life. What do you think?

I like to stick to “one-pot soup with one banner” kind of relationship, which needs a lot of cooking time but its taste become close to my taste eventually. I put many seasonings, vegetables, fish or meat in it, and stir, wait and enjoy the cooking. Sometimes I might add a little spice to season it up.

Share your opinion

Different people have different tastes. I know that Jamaipanese.com readers are from all over the world, but let me hear your opinion in the comments below. What do you value the most in a romantic relationship? If you are Jamaican, please vote in the poll on my website. It’s completely anonymous, and let’s see the results together.

http://mightymules.blogspot.com/

EDIT [ Oct 28 2009]

Hi, all! Thanks for your comments. I wrote a follow-up post on this topic. Please check my website by clicking here.

Note from Jamaipanese

I met Sachiyosan earlier this year and bought a copy of her book about gender and sexuality in Jamaica. Since then we have become good friends. She shares her experiences growing up in rural Japan and is always willing to answer my questions about Japanese culture or any Japan related matter. I am impressed by how approachable and honest she is and also do my best to answer any questions she has about Jamaica as she goes about her new life living and working here.

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Japan to Launch a Dozen Fish into Orbit

Jamaipanese — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:49:05 +0000

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency along with about 2 dozen other research organizations and universities has plans for a very “fishy” experiment in space. 12 Killifish will be sent on an all expenses paid trip to the International Space Station sometime in 2011. They better enjoy their laid back retreat making babies and enjoying the views though because as soon as they return home they will be cut up and experimented on, all in the name of research of course.

“There is a lot of common ground between humans and killifish, a fellow vertebrate,” says Makoto Asashima, a professor of developmental biology specially appointed by the University of Tokyo. “We should get a lot of data useful for Japan’s future manned space missions.”

Fishy Experiments

It is still not properly understood how radiation and weightlessness affects the human body and we can’t quite cut up live astronauts who have been in space for extended periods to study how their inner workings have been disturbed. Fortunately fish though are fair game so lets see how the animal rights groups will protest this one ;)

Fish in Japanese

In recognition of the achievements and contributions off the fish species to the development of science, all the sacrifices that the men and women of the fish race have made for the survival of the human species and to prevent a worldwide fish uprising I’d like to teach you the Japanese word word for fish.

魚 – さかな – sakana

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Jamaican Music – Mr G – Before the Year Done

Jamaipanese — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:53:37 +0000

The local music scene in Jamaica is a very vibrant one. The history of Jamaican music is a very interesting one an it is always fascinating to read books, watch TV programs or listen to veterans of the industry explaining how the local music scene has evolved from the 1950’s to what it is today. Everyone has their own opinion on whether the music is deteriorating and I have to admit that at times I am a harsh critic of some of the local music being produced and released in recent years. I acknowledge however that Looking back over the decades there is still a lot to be proud of and contrary to popular belief there are still some excellent tracks and talented artists out there if you are willing to dig deap enough and ignore the filth that often floats to the top in the industry.

Positive, uplifting and inspiring songs have been all the rage lately, maybe it’s a direct result of the global economic revision but there have been dozens of songs being released touching on those topics lately. I have a couple of them that I really like but my latest favourite is called “Before the Year Done” by Mr G. Although many of my readers might not understand the lyrics or even understand the Jamaican dialect it’s still worth a listen. I have embedded it below, give it a listen and leave your feedback in the comments.

Mr G – Before the year done

[Audio clip embedded: please view full post to listen]

I made a similar post like this many months ago with the track called “So Blessed” by Mavado

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