Live from Roppongi

Winter Fail

2011-01-18T23:53:00.000-08:00

Japanese Girls with manly voices

2011-01-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

This is a CM from Japan, I dont wanna say too much about it because it would ruin the punch line. Just watch and enjoy

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Groupon Japan appologize

2011-01-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Article taken from;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/groupon-ceo-apologizes-to_n_809894.html

TOKYO — The chief executive of Groupon, the rapidly growing online coupon provider, apologized to Japanese customers Monday for a New Year's deal gone wrong that highlighted the difficulties the company faces in managing its global expansion.

In a subtitled video message uploaded onto YouTube, the company's founder and CEO Andrew Mason acknowledged that the company had "really messed up" and outlined steps it was taking to rebuild its tarnished image in Japan.

Mason attributed the latest misstep to similar growing pains that the Chicago-based company has felt in the U.S. Groupon has expanded quickly since launching two years ago. It owns the Internet's largest ad network and its daily discounts now reach about 50 million subscribers in 35 countries. Last week it secured a nearly $1 billion investment to fund its growth.

"We created Groupon to help enrich people's lives by bringing new exciting experiences to them," he said. "So when we do the opposite, as we have in this case, it really hurts."

The blunder that prompted Mason's apology involved a deal for delivery of "osechi," which is a traditional New Year's meal. Osechi usually includes a variety of Japanese dishes painstakingly prepared and beautifully presented.

Unfortunately, some customers who paid 10,500 yen ($127) for this particular bargain were left feeling like they had been duped.

Many of the 500 osechi sets sold arrived late, while others' meals were in "terrible condition," Mason said. In an explanation earlier this month, Groupon Japan said the sets didn't match the picture or description provided by the restaurant, Bird Cafe, which was overwhelmed by the volume.

Angry customers took to the Internet, posting pictures of the underwhelming delivery on message boards, triggering a slew of criticism and bad publicity for the company.

Groupon subsequently refunded customers' money and offered them vouchers worth 5,000 yen.

Groupon – a fusion of "group" and "coupon" – combines social media with collective buying clout to offer deals on products, services and cultural events in local markets. Promotions are activated only after a certain number of people in a given city sign up.

Last week, it completed its biggest deal so far: a $950 million investment that will help finance further growth and enrich its current shareholders, including some of its employees. The infusion came less than two weeks after the company outlined its plans to raise the money in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mason said Groupon has developed capacity planning formulas to help businesses determine just how many customers they can handle and how many deals they should offer. The system is available in the U.S. and other countries but had not been introduced in Japan.

"Basically because the popularity of Groupon Japan has grown so quickly it took us off guard," he said. "We weren't expecting to run into this problem so quickly."

Groupon entered the Japanese market in August when it bought Qpod Inc. for an undisclosed price.

Mason said his company has begun teaching its Japan staff on capacity planning and will implement similar training in other countries "as soon as we launch."

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Here is what they received
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Japan; Land of Herbivorous Man - Sou Shoku Danshi

2011-01-16T22:49:00.000-08:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/japanese-men-losing-sex-d_n_809271.html

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/survey-shows-rising-indifference-to-sex-among-male-teens-couples

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-06-05/world/japan.herbivore.men_1_japanese-men-men-and-women-girlfriend?_s=PM:WORLD

Miyabi gets accepted in MIS.

2011-01-15T03:59:00.000-08:00

We finally got the good News. Miyabi was selected among a selected few to join MIS from April. MIS is the only recognize English School in Japan. We are very happy but also very tight on Money. I have saved for the first 2 years of tuition already but I need help if she wants to continue her education in English.

We need your help!

I work a full time Job in Tokyo and on the little free time I get I also sell product online (flutterscape.com) and I started an account on fiverr.com.

Please help which ever way you can.
Every child should have the right to education

Please follow or reffer your friends to come visit our Blog.

Thank You

Jezebel in Osaka joint uses feminine guile to turn tables on her captor

2010-10-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

October 12, 2010
Tokyo Reporter
http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2010/10/12/jezebel-in-osaka-joint-uses-feminine-guile-to-turn-tables-on-her-captor/

Sometimes form follows art. Some time ago there was a famous V-Cinema film about monkey business behind bars titled “Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion.” This time, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (Oct. 21), something occurred in an Osaka detention facility that was remarkably similar to the plot of the film.

On September 29, senior police inspector Yasuyuki Takagi, age 49, was placed under arrest. Takagi had been attached to the administration section of the detention facility at Makikata City in east Osaka Prefecture.

According to the charges, Takagi had engaged in sexual relations on the morning of September 10, 2009, with a woman who had been confined to the facility for stimulant drug abuse.

“Takagi was working the night shift,” relates a reporter from the local newspaper. “He was invited by the woman to engage in sex. It seems she sucked him off.

“The case became known when the woman was detained on a similar charge in July of this year at a hotel in Neyagawa City,” the reporter continues. “‘Takagi had been kind to me, so I thought I’d reciprocate,’ she told her captors. ‘We waited until the guard was away and then embraced.’”

A police source explains how the dirty deed could have been pulled off.

“Usually guards don’t carry keys to the cells,” he says. “It’s believed that Takagi got his hands on a special key that can only be used to open a cell in the case of an emergency. If that’s true, then even if he was invited by the woman it’s pretty obvious that he was rarin’ to go himself as well.”

Takagi has so far maintained his innocence. But the police have apparently obtained testimony from a female detained in a neighboring cell that night, who recalled she “heard the sound of the cell being opened.”

The aforementioned reporter says that while the details of Takagi’s partner in crime have not been released, she appears to be a masseuse from China. As she was a repeat drug abuser, this raises the possibility that she intentionally set Takagi up.

According to a source in the Osaka police department, women undergoing interrogation often try to distract the officers, such as by opening the top buttons of their blouse or by pretending to masturbate while in their detention cells. (K.S.)

Source: “Osaka fukei no keibuho ga hamatta joshuu to no ‘kangoku sex,’” Shukan Jitsuwa (Oct. 21, page 202)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of “fair use.” Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as “typical” behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

"Japan" in Music

2010-09-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

I am trying to find all music videos from around the world (exept Japan) that has a refference to Japan, either in the Title, as a refference or shot in Japan.
Please help me complete the list

Mr. Roboto from Styx ;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cShYbLkhBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cShYbLkhBc

Read my mind from The Killers ;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc8hbSM1zVo&ob=av3e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc8hbSM1zVo&ob=av3e

Thoia thoing from R. Kelly ;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8Vd0FTjdo&ob=av2e
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8Vd0FTjdo&ob=av2e

Lovers in Japan from ColdPlay ;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_exesnCA5Y&ob=av3e

Read My Mind from the Killers with Cameo from Gachapin and Mukku:

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Japan viewed by the eye of Foreign Media - The Simpsons - Thirty Minutes over Tokyo (1999)

2010-09-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

The family, on Lisa's suggestion, visits a cyber café named The Java Server. However, when Homer looks at his bank account online, he is cyber-robbed by Snake, which saddens Marge because they were saving the money for their family vacation. When Ned Flanders catches Homer burgling his house to recover the lost money, he says that he got more for less by attending the Chuck Garabedian Mega-Savings Seminar. After considering Ned's advice, Homer steals Ned's tickets (and his Jesus fish fridge magnet), and the Simpsons attend the seminar, in which Chuck explains many money-saving strategies. Later, in order to save money, the family goes to a 33¢ store where Homer eats a can of plankton which contains red tide poisoning, as warned by “the Mexican Council of Food.” Then, when they snag mega-saver tickets from the Flanders family at the airport, they decide to go to Tokyo.

The Simpsons arrive in Japan and, although Lisa wants to explore Japanese culture, Homer prompts the family to eat at an American-themed restaurant named Americatown. Later on, Homer and Bart attend a sumo match. While there, Homer picks a fight with one of the sumo wrestlers. He and Bart knock him out, and the Emperor of Japan Akihito, comes to congratulate Homer. However, Homer thinks he is another wrestler and throws him into a dumpster of worn mawashi. As a result, he and Bart are put in jail, where they learn Japanese and explore its culture until Marge pays the bail. Consequently, the only money the family has left is a one-million yen bill, which Homer loses in the wind after he makes an origami crane from it (prompting him to say "D'oh!" in Japanese).

Now broke, the family goes to the U.S. Embassy, where the Ambassador suggests that they get jobs. They eventually find work in a fish-gutting factory in Osaka, but are dissatisfied, except for Bart who believes he has found his purpose in life. Then, they notice a TV game show called The Happy Smile Super Challenge Family Wish Show. They decide to appear on the show, telling the game's Japanese host Wink that what they wish for is plane tickets back to Springfield, but to get them they have to go through physical torture (particularly Homer). Eventually, the tickets are theirs, but they have to pick them up from a rickety bridge over an active volcano. Lisa is able to get the tickets, but the bridge breaks and the whole family falls into the volcano, which is actually only orangeade with lots of wasabi added. As the Simpsons leave Japan, their plane is confronted by Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera and Rodan, but Lisa goes to sleep and the monsters let the plane fly off on the journey back to America.

A scene from Battling Seizure Robots is played throughout the end credits.

Japanese Refferences;
When Marge says to Homer on the plane that he liked Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa, Homer claims he doesn't remember it that way. The underlying joke is that this famous film is about people remembering different things about the same event they witnessed.

A sign on the Japanese Royal Hotel says: "Now with 20 % more bowing. (See Customs and etiquette of Japan).
When Homer goes to the to
ilet, we see a picture with モスラ written on it. This is the Japanese name of Godzilla's enemy/ally Mothra. Later in the episode on a neon sign is the Japanese name of Godzilla as well.

The buildings Lisa sees out of the hotel window are the Imperial Gardens, the Meiji Shrine and the Hello Kitty factory, where the cats are heard screaming as they are being incinerated.

The fictional mecha anime Battling Seizure Robots is a reference to the infamous Pokémon episode Dennō Senshi Porygon (or, as known in the English translation of the title, "Electric Soldier Porygon"), which is known for having caused around 700 photosensitive epileptic seizures around 20 minutes into the episode. This event is also known as "Pokémon Shock" (ポケモンショック, Pokémon Shokku), and caused the episode to be banned worldwide. It also changed the laws for Japanese television broadcasting.

Homer and Bart tell Marge and Lisa that during their jail time they had to perform in a kabuki play called The 47 Ronin, followed by origami, flower arranging and meditation.

Other typical Japanese things like haiku, fusuma doors (which Homer keeps walking through instead of sliding them open), square watermelons, geishas, origami, sumo, Japanese gardens, Emperor Akihito, the tea ceremony, wasabi, torture reality game shows, and water spraying toilets (see Toilets in Japan) are referenced.

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Japan viewed by the eye of Foreign Media - Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003)

2010-09-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

Kill Bill is a two-part action thriller film released in 2003 and 2004 by writer-director Quentin Tarantino, and starring Uma Thurman as The Bride. Originally conceived as one film, it was released in two 'volumes' (in late 2003 and early 2004) due to its running time of approximately four hours. The film is an epic-length revenge drama, with homages to earlier film genres, such as Hong Kong martial arts films, Japanese Chanbara films, exploitation films and Italian spaghetti westerns; an extensive use of popular music and pop culture references; and aestheticization of violence. Filming took place in California, Texas, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Mexico.

During this time her thoughts turn to those responsible for the massacre (“members all of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad”), and in particular on her first revenge target, O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), who, we learn, has become “Queen of the Tokyo Underworld” in the four-year interim. A short animated sequence details the early life of O-Ren.

After regaining full control of her lower body, The Bride travels to Okinawa to obtain a sword from Hattori Hanzō (Sonny Chiba), a renowned swordsmith who has retired to the life of a sushi chef. She asks Hanzō to make her a sword, which at first he refuses to do, but he then decides to break his oath to never make another sword when he correctly infers that her purpose is to wreak revenge on his former student: Bill. It takes a month for Hanzō to make the sword, and in that time The Bride follows his suggestion to practice.

The Bride then travels to Tokyo, where she confronts her first revenge target (O-Ren Ishii) at a night club called the "House of Blue Leaves". The Bride first severs the arm of O-Ren's “second lieutenant”, Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), who was also present at the wedding chapel massacre. She then kills all of O-Ren’s immediate guards, including her personal bodyguard, Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama). O-Ren's army of henchmen, the Crazy 88, then arrive, and The Bride engages them in a lengthy fight, killing or seriously wounding all of them except one. She then duels O-Ren, and eventually kills her.

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The quotation "Revenge is a dish best served cold" (attributed as being "an old Klingon proverb," in reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) at the beginning of Volume 1 was replaced with a dedication to "master filmmaker" Kinji Fukasaku in the Japanese version.[23] There are also numerous differences in the editing of the film, including, but not limited to; a longer version of O-Ren's origin anime, more violence and comedy in the House of Blue Leaves battle (which is also shown in full color) as well as Sofie Fatale having her right hand removed by the bride during the interrogation scene in the trunk of the car.

The differences between International and the Japanese version of Volume Two are rather marginal.

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Japan viewed by the foreing media - South Park Episode 612 - A ladder to Heaven

2010-09-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

The boys win an all-you-can-grab candy prize. However, they cannot claim it without the stub of the ticket they bought. After thinking hard, they realize that they gave the ticket stub to Kenny to hold on to before he died. Upon visiting Kenny's house, the boys find out that Kenny was cremated. Not understanding what this means, the boys hope to find the ticket in the urn that Kenny's parents say he is now in. They steal the urn and are disappointed to find it only contains black powder. Cartman assumes it must be some kind of chocolate milk powder. He mixes the ashes with milk and drinks them.

Meanwhile, it is announced via television that the Japanese have reached Heaven, and although the "Heaven" depicted is obviously set in a studio (with "angels" suspended in the air, and when the set falls over, the Japanese newscaster angrily shouts), this ironically and inadvertently convinces the adults that Heaven is real. They continue building the ladder and preparing an attack on Heaven when they spot the boys. They are disappointed to find out the boys were "only interested in candy", to which Cartman replies, "I've never heard the word 'only' and 'candy' in the same sentence before.
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Japan viewed by foreign media - South Park episode 310 - Chinpokomon

2010-09-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

The children of South Park become obsessed with an animated Japanese cartoon, Chinpokomon. The cartoon features overt embedded marketing to encourage consumption of Chinpokomon related merchandise. Unbeknownst to the parents, Chinpokomon products all contain anti-American sentiments, such as an exhortation to "DESTROY THE EVIL AMERICAN POWER" that is received when children pull a string connected to a representation of Pikachu.
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Kyle is originally oblivious to the fad, and as its popularity increases he reluctantly attempts to keep up-to-date to avoid ridicule from his friends. Unfortunately, the merchandise lineup is so extensive that he's always one step behind. Meanwhile, the boys make plans to attend the official Chinpokomon camp - which is actually a front for a recruit training boot camp designed by the Japanese Government to train and brainwash the kids into becoming soldiers for an upcoming attack on Pearl Harbor. As the adults start to become aware of the scheme, the Japanese distract them by telling them that Americans have "huge penises" compared to the Japanese - a tactic that works surprisingly well against the male characters.

The parents start to suspect the nonsensical cartoon is dangerous - as "stupidity can be worse than vulgarity and violence" and compare it to Battle of the Network Stars. Sheila Broflofski suggests it is just another harmless fad. This is juxtaposed with the truth of the fad's influence, which has turned the children into brainwashed soldiers and left Kenny in trance-like state after an epileptic seizure caused from playing the Chinpokomon video game.

Japan viewed from Foreigned Media -Austin Powers Gold Member (2002)

2010-09-03T00:14:00.000-07:00

Goldmember is a loose Parody of the James Bond Films, Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice, also incorporating elements of the Spy who loved me and GoldenEye. The film took in Approx. US$296.6 Million from movie tickets worldwide.
GoldMember offer great shot reffering to Japan, most of them are crude humour but you get the laughs.

'>http://www.youtube.com/v/TDxf1hRTiME?fs=1&hl=en_US"><> name="allowFullScreen" value="true">'>http://www.youtube.com/v/TDxf1hRTiME?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385">
'>http://www.youtube.com/v/maMhH6cVYFQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true">
'>http://www.youtube.com/v/OX2VaVtFYfs?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true">

Tokyo Metro - Manner Ads

2010-07-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

Tokyo Metro post a manner poster every month on what to do and what not to do.
The poster are often amusing but are also a reality.
Depicted here is a drunken "salary man" past out in the metro.

Japanese Salary man have a tendencies to drink too much.

http://www.tokyometro.jp/anshin/kaiteki/poster/index.html

Tokyo,Japan Most expensive city in the world

2010-07-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Forbes Magazine (http://www.forbes.com/)

1. Tokyo, Japan
A strong yen was the reason Forbes gave for Tokyo being back in the top spot. Expats living in the metropolis spent more money than those living in any other city, while average 2 bedroom apartment rents are now listed at $5,000 per month.

Price for a movie ticket - US$22

Price for a single medium pizza - US$31

Ijime - A social Ilness in Japanese School

2010-07-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ijime stands for Bullying in Japanese, this is a real problem in Japanese school. In some cases some students have committed suicide to avoid being "Ijime".

This is a real problem that often goes unaddressed. Most teacher do not see the bullying or will simply close their eyes in this case. Parents tends to avoid any issues regarding school, all the parents really care abouts are the grades and the rest is left to the teachers, whom most often don't see the big picture.

So the child is left alone and the bullying continues.

Japan is still pretty closed to foreigners, the number of "half-kids" is growing but still remains very low. The fact that they look different often brings them to get bullied in Japanese school.

More and more "talento" of "half" decent have started to speak up about the problem on TV.

Its already not easy growing up, its even harder when suffering from Ijime.

This is One more reason I wish to send my Child to an International school.

To be Continued

Very good article on Ijime from Danny Choo

http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/1294/Bullying+in+Japan.html

Nicolas Cage and his Pachinko Cm

2010-06-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

We all knew that Mister Cage lost most of his money in weird spending.

Well I guess this can be explain by the following. this is a series of add that he did a few years back for a Pachinko chain. For the ones who dont know Pachinko they are a type of Gambling machine, mostly to the profit of organized crime.

these Commercial are fidel to Mr. Cage acting talents. I will let you be the judge.

One Piece Cell Srap Give Away

2010-06-30T05:48:00.000-07:00

I would like to try something New.I would like to open a type of Lottery for a Good Cause.

Press the Like Button for Facebook for a chance to win 1 of the 3 One Piece Cell Strap.

I will choose 1 winner at the end of July and send it for Free.For the other 2 strap come to visit my blog (http://livefromroppongi.blogspot.com/) and add yourself to the followers, I will select 2 winners at the end of July.

Simple Engouh?

Limited edition from Banpresto

Each strap are 9cm

I was lucky enough to get my hands on 3

Luffy

Chopper

Bandock

A donation For My daughter Tuition would be greatly appreciated

Help me get an English Education for my Daughter

2010-06-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

Good evening,

I don't usually ask anyone for anything, but the truth is that without your help I will not be able to afford an English Education for my daughter.

I am a simple "Salary man" and my Salary will not be enough to enroll her into the school.

The Tuition to get her to grade 6 (elementary School) is ￥１３，２２０，０００ or at the current exchange rate US$ 144,505.
This is without including the bus fees, the lunch fees and other activities she may join (ie;School trip)

The name of the school is Makuhari International School an it is the only school in Japan to be accredited by the education board.
I have attached the link in the side bar, if you wish to have more information.

Please Help me send my little girl to school. Please Donate Generously or help me get the word around by passing this to all your friends.

Here are the basic fee breakdown.

Kindergarten 1 - 3 Paid Termly/Yearly 1,200,000
Grades 1 - 6 Paid Termly/Yearly 1,500,000
Application Fee One time payment. 20,000
Entrance Fee One time payment. 200,000
Maintenance Fee One time payment. 400,000

Tokyo Sky Tree

2010-06-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

"Tokyo Sky Tree" will appear in the Narihirabashi/Oshiage area of Sumida Ward, Tokyo in 2012. Boasting a height of 634m, the tower will be one of the world's tallest.

In July 2011, the current analog broadcasting will end and a complete transition made to digital broadcasting.
Five commercial stations and NHK took this as a turning point to advance preparations towards digital broadcasting from a TV tower with a height of around 600m and decided on the Sumida/Taito area as the site for construction of the tower.
In addition, for "one-segment broadcasting (one-seg)," a digital broadcasting service for mobile devices that was launched in April 2006, it is ideal to have transmissions from a height that is not very vulnerable to the forest of super high-rise buildings that stand at heights of around 200m in downtown Tokyo.
Expectations are also on the tower to serve the role of a tower equipped with disaster prevention features.

Watch the Construction Live

http://www.rising-east.jp/webcam/

Lotteria Tower Cheese Burger

2010-06-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

Lotteria is offering to plug your arteries for the sum of ￥９９０

A burger that weights 580g with 10 beef patties and 10 slices of Cheese. With a Staggering 1,823 calories.

I do not think it is humanely possible to get this to fit in your mouth

Here is what it looks like for real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyyvFap7r_U&feature=related