Archive for 'Tokyo' 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”.

Coming-of-Age Day ceremonies :Tokyo Disneyland&AKB48

New adults attended ceremonies and festive events across Japan on Monday to mark Coming-of-Age Day.

One of the most popular spots was Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, which drew more than 1,200 new adults on Monday. Young Japanese women danced with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Pluto and other Disney characters on a stage.

No less than 15 members of idol group AKB48 and four members of the sister group SKE48 also celebrated their coming of age. Atsuko Maeda, Tomomi Itano, Minami Takahashi, and other members of the groups went to Kanda Myojin, the honorary shrine for the nearby Akihabara (Akiba) district, mark the occasion with a ceremony. Read the rest of this entry »

“Dezomeshiki”- New Year’s Fire Review

The annual New Year’s Fire Review, called “Dezomeshiki,” is a spectacular demonstration of fire and disaster prevention performed by the Metropolitan Fire Department.

It features firefighting drills, rescue, first aid, a parade of firefighting equipment and other various performances.

The performers mostly the firemen dress themselves up according to the Edo-period costumes to perform the stunts. Later they climb on the ladders to showcase the tricks at the Harumi Pier in Chuo Dori.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR ! 2012-The Year of The Dragon

Happy New Year , everyone !!   In Japan  last year was kind of a year of  hardships and tragedy, but I do hope this year is full of  happiness and good fortune for everyone.

This year 2012 is a Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zoidiac. And what is more, personally I am a “Toshi Otoko”(a man who was born in a year with the same Chinese zodiac sign as the current year) . One Chinese zodiac sign comes once in twelve years and now I experience being  my third time  Toshi Otoko in my life this year.

In general on the January 2nd (today) , the Imperial Palace  opens to the public for its visitors to offer congratulations to the emperor ,and the emperor and some imperial members will show up in front and wave to them.

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.

Bicycle-sharing system “Cogicogi” gaining popularity in Harajuku

The membership-based bicycle-sharing service “Cogicogi”is offered within a roughly 3-kilometer radius of the Omotesando district. Popular entertainment and commercial centers such as Shibuya, Aoyama and Roppongi are included.

Bicycle-sharing service “Cogicogi”
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“LIGHTOPIA 2011″ currently held

“LIGHTOPIA 2011″, a festival of light is currently being held in Marunouchi, the business and political center near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo 22nd-29th(daily 17:00-22:00). http://www.kouto-tokyo.jp/

The event is has been annually hosted a few times at the end of a year jointly by  Tokyo commerce  chamber, Mitsubishi Real Estate and other major companies supported by  Tokyo Government, JTA, and other public associations.

At the festival, the venue of the road about 140M long between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace and other adjacent areas are breathtakingly beautifully decorated with illuminations and lanterns which have pictures or messages drawn by  elementary school pupils who are suffers of  the earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku and celebrities ,such as Shigeo Nagashima , the Lifetime Honorary Director of Yomiuri Giants,  Norio Sasaki , the manager of Nadeshiko Japan , some Nadeshio Japan’s members, and so forth.

This year’s subject of the festival is  ”Bonds, Hopes and to the Future ”, which implies we Japanese people strongly hope to regain vitality and energy overcoming the blow of the aftermath and huge grief of the earthquake related disaster and confirm and strengthen the solidarity of the nation so that we can create  bright future.

First One Piece art exhibition with new artwork by Oda will open

One Piece manga creator Eiichiro Oda (尾田栄一郎)will be the executive producer for the next One Piece film. Viz Media also announced that the film will open in Japan next December, and the first One Piece art exhibition ― with new artwork by Oda ― will open in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills on March 20, 2012.

Located on 52F just below the Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View observation deck with its panoramic views of Tokyo, Mori Arts Center Gallery is a 1,000㎡-class gallery. Read the rest of this entry »

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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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/

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.

 

Madame Tussauds waxworks on display in Odaiba

A three-month waxwork exhibition organized by London’s Madame Tussauds wax museum opened in Odaiba, featuring life-sized figures of celebrities including Hollywood stars.

Madame Tussauds Tokyo

The “Madam Tussauds Tokyo” exhibition at Decks Tokyo Beach commercial complex in the Odaiba waterfront area comprises around 20 waxworks that can be touched freely.

Madame Tussauds Tokyo

The waxworks on display include those of Audrey Hepburn, Michael Jackson and Johnny Depp, as well as Japanese figures such as musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, violinist Taro Hakase, animation character Astro Boy and Yuko Oshima from pop idol group AKB48.

Yuko Oshima of AKB48

From 15 to 20 artisans are involved in carving, casting, coloring and grafting hair by hand and it takes about four months to complete a single figure.

Madame Tussauds wax museum at Decks Tokyo Beach
Fee: Adult 500yen / Child 300yen
Hours: 11:00 to 21:00
Restaurants: 11:00 to 20:00 (some restaurants until 24:00)


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