Ken Tanaka has a blog

Wolverine: Early Retirement

2019-10-22T16:16:00.001-07:00

My friend Jimmy Howlett recently retired. He had a difficult job.
Sometimes he had to do things that he didn't want to do.
Terrible things.
"That's what I like about watercolors." he told me over milk tea at The Shepherd Cafe
"I can paint anything I wish to. Nice things. Beautiful things. My paintings never hurt anybody."
Jimmy took a sip of his milk tea we sat quietly for a moment.
"I spent so much of my life trying to answer questions.
I've learned to let my paint brush be the answer."

Woverine: Early Retirement. Acrylic Ink and Watercolor on Rives BFK

Below is an image by Frank Miller from the comic Wolverine which shows Jimmy in his younger days.

The Flash: Never Fast Enough

2019-10-22T08:40:00.001-07:00

Barry Allen is the fastest man alive. The last time I had coffee with him at "Basket Club" in Hamadayama he was looking very blue ( I mean sad not actually the color blue...he always looks pretty red because of his costume). Why are you sad, I asked. "You could run any event in the Olympics and you would win." "I know." Barry replied. "So why bother trying".

The Flash: Never Fast Enough - Acrylic Ink on Rives BFK

Batman: Trying to Quit

2019-10-01T16:13:00.002-07:00

Hello friends. It has been a long time. It has been a long time since I talked to you and also a long time since I have painted a painting. Today I painted a painting. It's my old friend middle aged Batman.

Batman has been smoking since he was 17. He doesn't like people to know about it so he always asks comic book artists to never show him smoking. I'm sorry to betray your trust, Batman, but I am hoping that the shame you feel when the public sees this picture will help you quit once and for all. Remember that time a few years ago when you promised you would quit, and then a few days later I noticed that the Batmobile smelled like a 1980s bowling alley. Remember how embarrassed you felt. It's time, Batman. I am doing this because I love you and only want the best for you.

Here are some other paintings of my friend Batman from the past.

Jacob the Jerk Squirrel's New Years greeting

2017-01-02T16:24:00.002-08:00

You might remember Jacob the Jerk squirrel from previous posts. He visits me every citrus season and eats all of my mikans. This year, Jacob the jerk has a new trick. He has been bringing oranges over into my yard and eating them. I don't know where these oranges come from. The neighbors on my right and left have no orange tree. Maybe Jacob gets them from a house across the street or maybe he buys them from a street side fruit vendor, he would probably have to trade nuts and acorns for them because Jacob the Jerk Squirrel is penniless. In any case, for the past month he has been bringing in the oranges and eating them in my favorite back yard tree Chester Jessica Treezerson. Chester doesn't seem to mind Jacob standing on him at all. Chester is a very patient tree and I have learned a lot from him.

I haven't asked Jacob about why he brings the oranges into my yard to eat, but I do know that he is an avid reader of my blog. I believe he also follows me on facebook. I am pretty sure that he read about how irritated I was when he ate my mikan. I guess he felt bad so he decided bring oranges in my yard and leave the mikan for me. I think it shows that he really wanted to spend time with me. He could have eaten the oranges in anybody's yard but he chose mine. It is quite flattering. I am humbled. It's very thoughtful of him, but I do feel bad knowing that somewhere an orange grower is probably very sad. Jacob eats every bit of orange meat and pulp and leaves the orange rind so clean so at least the orange grower can know that her oranges are being enjoyed bigly.
Last night I had a strange surprise at 12:01am just as the New Year had come. I was sleeping soundly in my futon when something scratched at my bedside window ever so slightly. Then I heard a "cockledoodledoo" but it didn't sound like a rooster saying it, it sounded much more rodenty. I pulled the curtains aside and there was Jacob, in a little rooster outfit with a noise maker and a champagne glass full of Orangina. He was the first animal to wish my a happy Year of the Rooster. Thanks, Jacob. I may have to stop calling him Jacob the Jerk Squirrel and come up with a new name for him. I tried out Jacob The Squirrel Who Used To Be A Jerk But Is Rather Kind To Me Now" but I can't quite get used to it. Do you have any ideas for good names for him?

Happy Rooster!!!!!! I love you!
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BUY MY BOOK, PLEASE! (Everybody Dies: A Children's Book for Grown Ups.)

Ken Tanaka Vs David Ury Christmas in Japan

2016-12-31T07:51:00.001-08:00

I got to spend Christmas with my brother David this year and in this video you can see us exchanging gifts. We also talk about Christmas in Japan. As you may know, since the 1970's Kentucky fried Chicken has been a popular Christmas Eve food in Japan. This started from an advertising campaign with the slogan クリスマスはケンタッキー (Christmas is KFC). If you go to Japan during Xmas you will see long lines at all the Kentucky Fried Chickens on Christmas eve. Since only 1% of Japan is Christian the holiday is not thought of as a religious holiday. Christmas Eve is known as a time when young people go out on dates. It is similar to Valentine's day in the U.S. In this video David brings me what he says is the food everybody in Japan eats at Christmas time. I think he is trying to be very friendly to me but he sometimes gets confused. I hope you enjoy the video. Please let me know what you think of it. I love you!!
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BUY MY BOOK, PLEASE! (Everybody Dies: A Children's Book for Grown Ups.)

Ken Tanaka vs David Ury- Are you grateful?

2016-12-03T16:05:00.000-08:00

In this new video I got to spend Thanksgiving dinner with my brother, David. If you don't know David, he works as a character actor in Los Angeles. He seems to think that he is very good at it and likes to remind me of his opinion in case I may have forgotten about it. Sometimes I get a little frustrated with my brother, but I love him and I hope we can spend every holiday together. I have big plans for Arbor Day.

Buy my book Everybody Dies from HarperCollins

Ken Tanaka vs David Ury- Welcome to Hollywood

2016-01-17T10:09:00.001-08:00

In this new video I talk about the new show that I executive produced called Grizzly and Hash. It stars my handsome twin brother David Ury. David interrupts me in this video to talk about how wonderful he is. I guess he's right. I'll be back soon to tell you more about this new show.

What kind of PREGNANT Asian are you?

2015-12-10T08:10:00.001-08:00

It's time for the sequel to our viral video What Kind of Asian Are You? Here it is. What Kind of pregnant Asian are you? Stella Choe and Scott Beehner have returned and this time they are joined by some friends and a fetus. The man playing Scott's brother is his actual brother, comedian Johnny Beehner. He has performed on the David Letterperson show. He is a very nice man. Diane Mizota is currently appearing on Access Hollywood and also in a television show called Scandal. I think it is a show about a scandal. She is very handsome.

Starring Johnny Beehner, Scott Beehner, Stella Choe, Diane Mizota Directed by David Neptune and David Ury Written by Scott Beeher, Stella Choe and David Ury Produced by Ken Tanker

And here's the original video.

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We've done a number of these and here's one that I like a lot but that went unnoticed. What Kind of Zombie are You?

LA's Best Ramen. Anzutei Ramen opens in downtown Los Angeles

2015-11-18T00:55:00.000-08:00

I recently visited Los Angeles' best new Ramen shop. It's called Anzutei and they feature Nagoya style TanTanMen, Miso Ramen, Shoyu Ramen and Tempura Omusubi (Tenmusu). Anzutei's menu combines recipes from two famous ramen shops in Nagoya, Konan (famous for it's shoyu ramen) and Anzutei (famous for TanTanmen). The two chefs who run Anzutei are both from Nagoya. One chef trained at Konan and one at Anzutei.

I visited Konan in 2008 in Nagoya and it was the best shoyu ramen I've ever had. LA's Anzutei has managed to capture the flavor and produce a bowl of ramen in LA that is pretty much identical to what you can get at Konan in Nagoya, Japan. Until now, almost all the ramen shops in LA had focused on Tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen. Tonkotsu is delicious but it is only one type of ramen, and really isn't the most popular standard type of ramen in Japan (Unless you are in Fukuoka and the Kyuushuu area). Although delicious, tonkotsu ramen is very fatty and rich and now that I am OYAJI (an old man) it tends to make my tummy very angry. Shoyu ramen , however, is usually much lighter and more delicate. After eating it my tummy smiled, looked up at me and said "Arigato Gozaimasu". He was very welcome.

Konan's ramen comes with a thick slice of charsiu which is grilled with a blow torch to give it nice a charred, porky deliciousness. The broth is savory with some sweet vegetable notes to it. The noodles are firm and friendly.

I also tried the TanTanmen which is a spicy ramen with sesame pasted added to the broth. (It's a Japanese version of Chinese DanDan noodles...but is quite different). The TanTanmen is richer due to the sesame seed paste and the natural oil from the seeds. It has a complex flavor and a beautiful rich red color. It mostly tastes like happiness.

Tenmusu is another speciality at Anzutei. TenMusu is short for Tempura Musubi and it's a famous Nagoya treat. A piece of shrimp tempura is put inside of a rice ball and wrapped with nori seaweed. Anzutei's shrimp has a natural sweetness and crispness to it. It's the perfect Omusubi. They serve it with kimchi style pickled cucumbers which also go well with the ramen.

Anzutei is located at 7th and Spring st in downtown Los Angeles. I hope you can try it.

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Illustration for Animal Adoption (Kaua'i Animal Welfare Society)

2015-10-25T11:47:00.001-07:00

Kaua'i Animal Welfare Society hired me to come up with a logo for their organization. Here it is. Hopefully it will help people want to support animals. This picture shows Jacob the mutt at the bottom, Jacob the schnauzer in the middle and J. Jacob Jacoby the feline on top. The sign he is holding was made by the good people at The Jacob Company. Please see them for all your sign making needs. For all your logo and illustration needs you can talk to me at KenTanakaLA (at mark) Gmail (dot mark) com. I love you and so do all three of these Jacobs.
Buy my Book, Silly

Abandoned Starfish

2015-07-13T13:46:00.001-07:00

One day, when Jacob the Starfish was very little, his daddy left him alone while he went shopping.
"Stay right there, Jacob. I'm just going to very, very slowly crawl over to the Sea Star Market 99 for some supper molluscs. I'll be back soon." That was 7 years ago. And Jacob never left his little rock. Maybe his papa will be home soon. He is probably on his way right now. Probably.
Buy an abandoned starfish print, t-shirt or other product
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Stella Choe Stars in "Ode to my Father." A Korean blockbuster film (국제시장)

2015-01-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

You may remember actress Stella Choe from our viral video, "What Kind of Asian Are You?" She is currently starring in the Korean blockbuster film, "Ode To My Father," which will be getting wide release in North America this week. Directed by JK Yoon and starring Yun Jin Kim from TV's "Lost" the film tells the story of a Korean family separated by the war. The film is hugely popular in Korea, with over 8 million tickets sold in the past 3 weeks, which means that nearly 20% of the entire population of South Korea has already seen the film.

How was American actress, Stella Choe, cast in this Korean film, you might ask? I am very proud to say that she was discovered when the producers of the film saw our YouTube video "What Kind of Asian Are You?" The producer messaged me and asked me for Stella's information so that she might audition for the role. A few months later, Stella was in Korea, filming her part. Co-creators of the video, David Neptune, David Ury, and myself, are all so proud to see Stella on the big screen and to know that our little video helped Stella to take part in this important film.

We got to see the movie at a screening in LA's Korea-town, and it was fantastic. It's a very sad movie. And everybody in the theater was sniffling through the entire 2 hours. I am happy to report that my sinuses were clearer than they have been in many years after seeing Stella's moving performance. The film is also somewhat controversial in South Korea, with some saying that it is overly nationalistic. I did not see it this way at all, but I do not have much knowledge of Korean politics. I think it is the kind of cross over film that anybody could enjoy and I hope you will get a chance to see it. In the meantime, please check out Stella in some of our best videos.

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Hollywood Cartoon

2014-12-03T09:06:00.001-08:00

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Asian Stereotype Police, Undercover.

2014-06-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Stella Choe and I recently collaborated on this new video series called Asian Stereotype Police. You might remember Stella Choe and Scott Beehner from our viral video "What Kind of Asian are You?" which came out last year.
Stella Choe came up with the idea of Asian Stereotype Police and asked me and David to help her write and shoot it. We decided to make this first episode a kind of continuation of What Kind of Asian are You? using the same actors and setting. This time we added a talented canine named FO-FO. The video also stars actors Marcus Choi and Chase Kim who appear at the very end. TV viewers may recognize them as actors who frequently appear in American TV shows. They also appear in episodes 2 and 3.

Recently Buzzfeed and the very funny comedian Jenny Yang did a video that many people have compared to ours called "If Asians said what white people said". It's a funny idea. Here's the video.

Is Japan racist? 差別の国日本？

2014-06-02T16:28:00.001-07:00

We recently posted a video called "But we're Speaking Japanese" which went viral and now has 650k hits. The video is about non-Japanese people in Japan who speak Japanese and brings up questions about race and identity. This new video was actually shot before that one, but we decided to release it later.

Korean version and English version of "But we're speaking Japanese" video

2014-05-19T20:23:00.001-07:00

With our video "But We're Speaking Japanese" going viral a lot of people have been sending me similar videos to watch. Here are two interesting ones. The first is a BBC comedy sketch from Big Train called "Do You Speak English".

This second one was sent to me by one of the creators and is a similar situation to our video but in Korea instead of Japan. In just two weeks, my book Everybody Dies: A Children's Book for Grown Ups, from HarperCollins, goes on sale in bookstores. You can order now at Amazon with the link below! Or Click here to go to the website.

Dog Bite!

2014-05-17T10:14:00.002-07:00

A while ago a very angry dog jumped out and bit me on the knee. Where were you then #herocat ...where were you then?

I was walking across the street talking on the phone to cartoonist Lonnie Millsap. A woman was walking with a medium sized dog who had a cone around his neck. As he passed, Mr. Dog suddenly jumped out and bit me knee. It left a very pretty purple and pink work of art (mixed media) on my knee. I don't expect hero cat to always be around to save me, but he could have at least sent a card or texted me to say he was sorry he couldn't be there to stop the bad dog. #dissapointed #letdown #kenTanakaStillLovesYouHeroCat

In just two weeks, my book Everybody Dies: A Children's Book for Grown Ups, from HarperCollins, goes on sale in bookstores. You can order now at Amazon with the link below! Or Click here to go to the website.

"But We're speaking Japanese" and "What Kind of Asian are You?" Videos on race and identity.

2014-05-16T16:37:00.001-07:00

This is our new video "But we're speaking Japanese". This video is about race and cultural identity and is very much like our other, most popular viral video, "What Kind of Asian are You?"
I'm very happy to see that it is being shared and spreading quickly. It has over 100k views in less than 24 hours. It seems that many people can relate to this experience.

In just two weeks, my book Everybody Dies: A Children's Book for Grown Ups, from HarperCollins, goes on sale in bookstores. You can order now at Amazon with the link below! Or Click here to go to the website.

Early Animal Rights Activists (Cartoon)

2014-05-15T11:22:00.001-07:00

In just two weeks, my book Everybody Dies: A Children's Book for Grown Ups, from HarperCollins, goes on sale in bookstores. You can order now at Amazon with the link below! Or Click here to go to the website.

Godzilla meets White Samurai

2014-05-08T12:11:00.003-07:00

Next week the new Godzilla movie comes out. Godzilla will be in American in this new version and , according to the internet, some Japanese Godzilla fans are complaining that Godzilla has gotten too fat. That's probably just because of the larger sized portions he is served in American restaurants. I got fat too when I first came to Los Angeles from Shimane.
In any case, I don't think a giant reptile monster should be judged by his weight, but rather by the strength of his character. I got a chance to work with Godzilla in this video , sponsored by Daizen Mineral Water, the wettest water in the world. I found him to be very kind and gracious with a keen sense of humor. I did get a little uncomfortable when he started to talk about how much he hates Mothra (Mothra is an old family friend).
This video was made at the YouTube Space LA where Legendary Films (I guess they are the ones who made the new movie) built Godzilla sets and allowed us to film on them and also use footage from their movie trailer. I hope you enjoy this video, and please make sure to wash it down with a gulp of cool, refreshing, Daizen brand mineral water.

Buy my book Everybody Dies from HarperCollins

Motorcycle Doggy.

2014-05-01T08:46:00.001-07:00

This is my newest friend. His name is Miho. By his name, you might think that he is a Japanese woman but he is actually a male dog. I always think of him as Jacob the dog though. Jacob is a motorcycle enthusiast and also a World War 1 flying ace.
A lot of dogs like to have flight goggles hanging from their necks just to look cool (especially in Brooklyn). It's nice to see a dog who actually puts his goggles to use. I met Miho (Jacob) outside of a farmers market in Los Angeles. Sadly, due to his advanced age (he is a world war 1 survivor after all) he is now dependent on a human to drive hi around on his motorcycle.

Buy my book Everybody Dies from HarperCollins

"Garbage Man" An action film

2014-04-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

This Action film parody/ Book Trailer for Everybody Dies: A Children's Book for Grown Ups, stars Sam Macaroni and veteran character actor Jasper Cole who you have seen in the film Macgruber.
It's directed by David Neptune and myself and co-written by me and David Ury. It was shot as part of the YouTube Studios LA collar program and there are slightly different versions of the video on the YouTube channels for Jasper and Sam. You will see links to them at the end of this video.

Buy my book Everybody Dies from HarperCollins

Breaking Bad book trailer by Takeo

2014-04-28T17:04:00.001-07:00

My pal Takeo-Kun directed a book trailer for Everybody Dies starring some Breaking Bad cast members (including my twin brother David). We made this video to talk about the new book trailer which is on the DavidUry YouTube Channel. Here is our video. Stella Choe (From What Kind of Asian Are You?) also makes a guest appearance.

Buy my book Everybody Dies from HarperCollins

New Video Baby Possum

2014-04-28T17:01:00.001-07:00

I found a handsome baby possum outside, so I made a song about him.

Buy my book Everybody Dies from HarperCollins

Daizen The wettest water in the World : commercial

2014-03-18T19:49:00.003-07:00

Visit the Daizen Website.

Buy my book Everybody Dies from HarperCollins

Ken Tanaka has a blog

Wolverine: Early Retirement

The Flash: Never Fast Enough

Batman: Trying to Quit

Jacob the Jerk Squirrel's New Years greeting

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Ken Tanaka Vs David Ury Christmas in Japan

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Ken Tanaka vs David Ury- Are you grateful?

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Ken Tanaka vs David Ury- Welcome to Hollywood

What kind of PREGNANT Asian are you?

LA's Best Ramen. Anzutei Ramen opens in downtown Los Angeles

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Illustration for Animal Adoption (Kaua'i Animal Welfare Society)

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Abandoned Starfish

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Stella Choe Stars in "Ode to my Father." A Korean blockbuster film (국제시장)

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Hollywood Cartoon

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Asian Stereotype Police, Undercover.

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Is Japan racist? 差別の国日本？

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Korean version and English version of "But we're speaking Japanese" video

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Dog Bite!

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"But We're speaking Japanese" and "What Kind of Asian are You?" Videos on race and identity.

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Early Animal Rights Activists (Cartoon)

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Godzilla meets White Samurai

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Motorcycle Doggy.

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"Garbage Man" An action film

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Breaking Bad book trailer by Takeo

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New Video Baby Possum

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Daizen The wettest water in the World : commercial

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