Archive for 'Entertainment' Category

The world’s first Hello Kitty’s dental clinic open

“Hearts Dental Clinic”(http://www.hearts-dental.jp/), which is featured with Hello Kitty, a worldwide super popular kitty character of Sanrio(http://www.sanrio.co.jp/english/index.html) was open on Jan.10th in Koto ward Tokyo.

The clinic is fully supporetd by Sanrio, and Hello Kitty is adopted as its official mascot. The clinic’s building is coverned with a lot of  Hello Kitty’s pictures and its other designs.   The clinic has a basic policy of “full of smiles with bright and pleasant atomosphere”, wiping away a generally negative image of scary and bad dental clinics, and had drastically remodelled since last November.

This is the very first clinic with Hello Kitty as its mascot in the world, and plans to host introductory tours on this Jan. 13,14,and 15th.

 

The 2nd “MOE GUEEN” Grand Prix

The 2nd “Moe Queen” contest final was held in Akihabara, the mecca of “Moe”(sprouting passion or stimulus attractiveness of a character) culture on this Jan. 7th.  Among the 13 finalists who performed singing, dancing, or other kinds of performances, the Grand Prix was given to “Chiu”, a popular “maid” of  Furatto Maid, a Akihabara guide shop. http://f-maid.com/

The primary of the contest whose purpose is to choose “Moe-type cute or beauiful girls” started on Sep.1st 2011 and Chiu says, she is so happy to have achieved such a glorious goal because she had started making intensive efforts for the contest for about two years since the last contest, having been supported by a lot of her fans. Chiu says, “Though I look innocent but actually I like Japanese sake and have tastes of those of middle-age men”.

Chiu was awarded sub-prize money of 100,000 yen and  a right to debut as a singer to produce CDs.  Takuro Morinaga, a currently famous and popular TV commentator who is known as a enthusiastic figures collector as well, made a remark about her, saying, she is overwhelmingly Akiba-like, and so, she  has successfully caught the heart of  Akiba-type geeks”.

The 53rd Japan Record Award given to “Flying Get” of AKB48

The 53rd Japan Record Awards ceremony was held by  JACOMPA in New National Theatre in Tokyo  on 30th. http://www.tbs.co.jp/recordaward/

The Japan Record Award (Grand Prix) was conferred on “Flying Get” of AKB48, which has sold more than 1587,000 cds and No.1 hit of  all of the five AKB’s songs that sold more than one million this year, namely, “Everyday Katyusha” ,”Kaze wa Fuiteiru”, “Uekara Mariko”,and “Sakura no Kini Narou”.

AKB48 has received the Japan Record Award for the first time since their debut in 2005.  Minami Takahashi, the captian of the group says in her speech “We are so happy now  we have done our best for whole of one year since  last time here “, Atsuko Maeda, No.1 winner of the AKB48 election this year said, “I want to say thank you very much to everyone”, and Yuko Oshima, the captain of TeamK said, “Flying Get is sung by the selected members of the election, therefore, this award given by all of our fans ”.

AKB is one of thge most popular idol groups at the moment and Exile, the winner of the Grand Prix three years in a row 2008-2010 had given up the nomination of their song this year showing fairness and appreciation to fans , AKB was thought to be the leading candidate.

“AKB Project” including AKB48, SKE48,NMB48,HKT48, JKT48, and SDN48 is going to perform at the NHK “Kouhaku Utagassen” on the new year’s eve (tomorrow !) ,whose total number is  210 on the stage that is the record high of the population of a group of performers of Kouhaku Utagassen in history.

Other award receivers are as follows;

Best New Performer/  Fairies

Excellent Works/ “Esperanza” (Kana Nishino), “Go Go Summer!”(KARA), “CALL” (AAA), “Kono Yoru wo Tometeyo” (JUJU), “Shounai Hiya Kaze no Naka” ( Kaori Mizumori),  “Jounetsu no Mariachi”(Kiyoshi Hikawa ), “Soredemo Shjinjiteru” (FUNKY MONKEY BABYS), “Flying Get”(AKB48), “Why?(Keep Your Head Down)”(Toho Sinki), and “Waratte Tainda”(Ikimonogakari).

And all other awards and the receivers’ names are annnounced  on the above mentioned official website of The Japan Record Awards.

Japan Anime Festival in Shanghai

“Japan Anime Festival” was hosted jointly by the Japanese and Chinese governments Nov.23(Beijing) and 25(Shanghai)-29 in Beijing and Shanghai China.http://www.anifes.com.cn/anifes/index.jsp?lan=jp

The event was a part of a series of  cross cultural  collaboration events of Japan and China which started in this June with Japanese movies introduced to China and Chinese movies and anime introduced to Japan in this October.

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Japan Fashion Leader Award 2011

The award ceremony of “Japan Fashion Award 2011″ , a prize given to celebrities who are highly rated for a lot of contributions to spreading of casual fashion in Japan was hosted by Takarajima Inc., a major publisher  on the Dec.6th

in Tokyo.  http://tkj.jp/campaign/fla2011/

The award was given to five popular showbiz females, namely, Tomomi Itano(an AKB48 member), Rinka (a fashion model), Nozomi Sasaki (a fashion model), Becky(a TV personality),and Ryoko Yonekura(an actor).

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Kamen Rider’ restaurant in operation in Ikebukuro Tokyo

A restaurant based on themes from the TV hero series “Kamen Rider(仮面ライダー）” or Masked Rider in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first airing of the series.

Families with children watching the current series and middle-aged former fans have been visiting “Kamen Rider the Diner” — an official restaurant operating through next spring in collaboration with the TV program. Read the rest of this entry »

“K-ON!” live event in USJ Osaka

A special live performance event of a popular anime series “K-ON!” (http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/k-on/)was held at USJ  (Unversal Studios Japan http://www.usj.co.jp/e/)  in Osaka on this Nov.27th. The five popular voice actors,namely, Aki Toyosaki,Yoko Hikasa, Satomi Sato,Minako Kotobuki,and Ayana Taketatsu, playing the parts of the five main characters of the work appeared wearing the characters’ costumes on the open-air stage in front of the zealous audience of more than 5,000 most of whom were huge fans of the work or the actors.

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The first cosplay nationwide contest in Russia held

The first nationwide contest of cosplay of Japanese subculture in Russia was held  on Nov. 20-21 and a girl group of 23-year-old girl and 25-year-old girl won the grand prix.  This event was a program of  “J-FEST”, a promotion event of  various aspects of contemporary popculture of Japan, such as music, anime, fashion,and so forth hosted by the Japan Embassy in Russia.http://www.j-fest.org/

More than enrusiastic 800 people visited the J-FEST ,which was beyond the capacity of the venue in Moscow. At the cosplay event , 30 groups that had passed the preliminary contest out of 80 groups showed their Japanese popculture-related costumes. The winners were given tickets to take a travel to Japan, which made them quite happy and excited as they are interested in the anime and its related  cosplay culture’s “mecca” in Japan.

The 24th TIFF TOKYO held

The 24th TIFF TOKYO  (Tokyo International Film Festival)was held Oct.23-30  at TOHO CINEMAS and Cinemart Roppongi in Roppongi Tokyo.http://2011.tiff-jp.net/en/

Both foreign and Japanese movies and related staras and staffers were invited.”Untouchable” from France won the Sakura Grand Prix and Award for  Best Actor.

AKB48 CAFE & SHOP AKIHABARA open,and the second “out of Japan” sister group of AKB48, “TPE48″ is launching

A new and the second “AKB48 CAFE & SHOP” opened just in front of  Akihabara station Tokyo on Sep. 29th. http://akb48cafeshops.com/wp/akihabara/

At the cafe consists of four sections, namely “Theater”,”Cafe”,”Private room”,and “Shop”.  At “Theater”, you can enjoy buffet style meals with movies of AKB’s concerts on a large screen. At “Cafe”, you can enjoy special dishes created by AKB’s members ,which are to change from month to month. And “Private Room” whose capacity is 16 people is equipped with DVDs of AKB.  In addition, at “Shop” you can buy original items related to AKB.

Sometimes AKB’ members make “surprise” visits to the Cafe& Shop, which  makes customers amazingly happy.

And here is another new information concerning AKB48 project. On this Oct. 1st,  AKB’s management announced it is going to launch a project of a new sister group of AKB48. The new group is “TPE48″,  which is to be based in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.  Further details of the project will be noticed to public at the end of this year, and the new group is expected to start theatrical performances around the summer in 2012.

TPE48 is to be the second sister group of AKB48 out of Japan, following JKT48 which I wrote about here before.http://www.tenkai-japan.com/2011/09/12/jkt48-project-launched/

Mao Inoue, Arashi to host ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen’

Actress Mao Inoue (井上真央） and pop group Arashi （嵐）have been chosen as the hosts of NHK’s popular New Year’s Eve program “Kohaku Uta Gassen” (Red and White Song Contest).

Mao Inoue

Inoue, 24, who starred in this year’s NHK morning drama series “Ohisama,” will represent the Red team (women), while Arashi will represent the White team (men).

Poster of “Ohisama” NHK drama

The 62nd “Kohaku Uta Gassen” will be aired from 7:15 p.m. on Dec 31 and is expected to be a little more somber than in previous years out of respect for the victims of the March 11 disaster.

EVANGELION STORE opening in Harajuku

“NEON GENESIS EVANGELION”, one of the most popular anime work series both in Japan and the world, is going to open its first “real ” or “physical” store of related items, “EVANGELION STORE” in Harajuku Tokyo on this Nov.23rd. http://www.evastore.jp/real/index.html

So far, that store chain has widely and successfully developed popular items and goods related to the anime work and prosperous as an online store chain. http://www.evastore.jp/pc/

The name of the new real store is “EVANGELION STORE TOKYO-01 ” , jointly operated by GroundWorks (http://gworks.biz/) and MOVIC (http://www.movic.jp/index.html), both of which operate the online store chain as well.

The location of the new store (1-8-23, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku,Tokyo) is in the quite popular and well-known area of  cosplay and subcultural fashions as well as a traditional Japanese culture where Meiji Shrine, one of the most popular Shinto shrines is located.  The area is popular the young and old or even foreign tourists with interesting harmonized atmosphere of  old and new aspects of Japanese culture.

This first real Evangelion Store is to be two-storied, whose first floor is featured with apparel an fashion sorts, and second floor is of  various kinds of Eva’s items expected to meet  requirements of  both ordinary fans and great lovers of the anime work series. The first floor also includes an event hall where various events of Eva series are to be hosted, such as some special events to promote the new anime movie “Evangelion new theatrical version:Q” which is planned to released in autumn 2012.

The management say they intend to enhance  more firsthand communications with fans and expect the fans to view and touch the items to feel the attractions more intensively. The store plans to host special presale events of related items  occasionally.

 

Nadeshiko Sushi celebrating its first anniversary

“Nadeshiko Sushi” that I wrote about here before (http://www.tenkai-japan.com/author/kawamura/page/4/)  hosted its one year anniversary party on the Oct. 1st.

Nadeshiko Sushi(http://www.nadeshico-sushi.com/) was visited by about 40 attendees to the party at that night, all of whom had bought a special ticket to join it in advance…including myself !     

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Hello Kitty shop offers dance-club atmosphere

A Sanrio character shop opened in Tokyo’s Shibuya area in late September featuring a cool club vibe.

Club KT Shibuya, located in fashion building Shibuya 109, targets teenagers and sells about 1,000 items of merchandise mostly related to its Hello Kitty character.

Customers can browse everything from variety goods and cosmetics to accessories and compact discs as they listen to music and watch dance videos in shop decorated with mirror balls and spotlights.

Club KT Shibuya also has a DJ booth equipped with the latest turntable and mixer. “DJ Hello Kitty,” wearing headphones and a black dress, entertains customers at events, most held on weekends, and is often joined by guest DJs.

View Shibuya109 in a larger map

Spa Resort Hawaiians in Iwaki, Fukushima partially reopen with admission fee 50% discount

“Spa Resort Hawaiians”, a popular spa resort in Iwaki City in Fukushima Pref. reopened on this Oct 1st for the first time in 200 days, since the huge earthquake and tsunami disaster in Tohoku on March 11th. http://www.hawaiians.co.jp/english/index3.html

This time the resort partially reopened with ,such as the four spa facilities including a huge open-air bath and a part of accommodation facility.  The main facility called “Water Park” and a new hotel under construction are scheduled to be open in the next January.

Just before the opening time 10:00am, there were more than 200 people standing in line to wait for the reopening.  And a special reopening ceremony was hosted by the operation company  Joban Kosan Co.,Ltd..  At the ceremony, the famous hula team of this resort, Hula Girls of 28 members  performed a special hula show.

The team leader Maluhia Yukari said, “Now we finally have this day because  you have always given us warm encouragements and supports. “

 

And the president Kazuhiko Saito made a speech saying, “We would keep exerting every effort co-operating with local communities to make our resort more pleasant than it was before the earthquake disaster. Before the disaster we used to served 380,000  overnight guests and  1.5 million one-day visitors a year. We aim to regain the same level number of visitors before the disaster in three years, primarily implementing endeavors to dispel damages caused by harmful rumers. ”

Yu Aoi, a popular young female actor who played a main character of a movie “Hula Girl”(/フラガール) (http://blog.excite.co.jp/hula-girl/) that described the back story of this resort in 2006, and  Shizuyo Yamazaki , a popular  vaudevillian who played a part in the movie as well , attended the ceremony.  Aoi said,”Though I am not from Fukushima, still I feel as if this place were my real home. I really would like to come up with what I can do and carry them out to help peoeple here.”, while Yamazaki said,”I am very happy for every one here gives us such a warm welcome.”. 

 

 

The admission fee of the resort is half- priced during the partial operation period as follows;

Adult(a junior high school student or older) : ￥1500  (normally:￥3150), Child (an elementary school pupil):￥800(normally: ￥2000), and   Infant ( a 3-year-old or older and younger than a Child  kid):￥500 (normally:￥1400), and there are some other discount rates for groups and the disabled.

Upon the grand opening scheduled in the next January, the fee prices are to be resumed to the normal ones.

Originally, the resort was founded in order to reinvigorate the area which once had been prosperous with mining industry and had become deteriorated after the total closure of the mines. The project of the spa resort was dramatically successful and led that area to  flourishing again. That historical back story and success were described in the above mentined movie. Therefore, people hope the resort “again” will work as a messiah  to save the area or whole of Fukushima which is now suffering from the radiation problem and other aftermaths of the disaster. I do hope that will work to bring good rebuilding and prosperity again soon as well.