http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCyuEQKNyvA

A cute video with sleek design and animation.

In an attempt to get back into the swing of working on my own blog (most of the time I spend editing and toiling over R’s blog, which has a new design up by yours truly), I’m going to write about what I’m into at the moment every Friday.
Design: I am seriously digging the design […]

Kawakami Meiko turned blogging into a literary art form when she won the highly acclaimed Akutagawa Award for best new writer. Originally started to promote her music career, Kawakami started to get attention from readers for her writings instead.
Kawakami won the award with her third novel that was compiled with her prose-like blog entries, […]

If you ever find yourself in America Mura in Osaka, keep an eye out for a small vertical neon pink sign pointing to a little CD shop called Time Bomb Records. Follow the sign downstairs and you will find yourself in place that could be only described as the basement of a friend who […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqq8LD0QQhs

I caught this as the number 3 on MTV Japan’s Top 10 Countdown for this past week.  It’s off of Sukima Switch’s debut single, Hajimari no Uta , which means First Song.  It seems a little boring at first, but stick with it and you will be in for a treat.  It starts off with […]

Enka is a classic style of Japanese folk singing. You might recognize the sound from various old school Japanese samurai films. Quentin Tarantino ventured to use some of Meiko Kaji’s songs for his films Kill Bill vols. 1 and 2. Since I was little I couldn’t stand the sound, often comparing it […]

As it so often happens on the Web, through chance I (quite belatedly) discovered Plastic Bertrand’s (one-?)hit Ca Plane Pour Moi, a song that launched him to popularity in the late 70s. The song has been re-made many times by various artists, and it’s probable that you have already heard this catchy punk inspired […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC_jenG0_vQ

I first saw Nakamura Ataru (中村 中) last fall on TV with this stunning music video.  The song is haunting, and the vocals are as beautiful as the artist herself.  A little research revealed some surprises: 1.) that she is my age and has been musically inclined as young as 10 years old (boy do […]

While doing some research for my part-time job teaching young ‘uns English, I came across this podcast from They Might Be Giants, featuring original songs and animation that are aimed toward kids. I love their 7 Days of the Week video and intend to show it once a week for a month with the […]

NHK is Japan’s national television station, and in the morning they have kids’ shows that often feature songs that become hits among everybody.  In 2007 it was Oshiri Kajiri Mushi, which translates to Bottom Biting Bug.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3m8Qje1e8Q

This little bug can be seen everywhere, and there is even a dance made for this.  It’s so cute and […]