Archive for 'Tokyo' Category

A Special Event of The Girls’ Day at Nadeshiko-sushi

March 3rd is “The Girls’ Day”, which we celebrate a festival  for a girl’s health and happiness , setting special adorned dolls, eating special sweets, drinking sweet rice juice, and others.

This year Nadeshiko-sushi, the popular sushi restaurant in Akihabara that I sometimes write  about here, hosted a special event for that day. One excellent young female sushi chef there cut wonderful sea breams quickly,elaborately, and even elegantly… rolled   

while some  made colorful hand-rolled sushi, Read the rest of this entry »

“Hello Kitty”‘s special shop & “Miffiy”‘s special shop at Tokyo Station

“Hello Kitty Tokyo Station shop” and “miffy style Tokyo Station shop” are going to open, at the same time, on coming March 16th along Tokyo Character Street on First Avenue Tokyo Station in Tokyo Station. http://www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/en/

 

This Hello Kitty’s newest store(the second one in Japan after Kichijoji shop) is planned to sell about 1200 kinds of Kitty’s popular items, while miffy’s shop(the third one in Japan) is going to sell about 400 sorts of miffy’s items. The two stores are both to be run by Sanrio and the latter is to be managed jointly by Sanrio(http://www.sanrio.co.jp/english/index.html) and Dick Bruna Japan (http://www.dickbruna.jp/).

 

Hello Kitty(http://www.sanrio.co.jp/characters/hellokitty/english/index.html) and  miffy(http://www.miffy.com/) are quite popular animal characters worldwide, so,  Tokyo Station  which is the central station of  both Tokyo and Japan known as one of the most popular tourists’ destinations as well, is expected to be visited by a lot of  tourists and passengers. I hope those new stores will be  popular sites to draw people to contribute to enhancement of tourism in Japan  a lot.

Reconstruction Agency inaugurated

Reconstruction Agency(/Fukkoucho, 復興庁)  came into being to boost the rebuilding activities from the aftermath of 3.11 disaster on this Feb.10th. http://www.reconstruction.go.jp/ The agency’s duration is planned to be 10 years and will be over at the end of March 2021.  The post of  the first  Reconstruction Minister was assumed by Tatsuo Hirano, an ex- Minister of State for Disaster Management.

The agency is directly controlled by Prime Minister and the Minister of  Reconstruction is in charge of  managing the total operations to assist the Prime Minister.  The agency ‘s  “Main Office” is in Tokyo,  a “Reconstruction Bureau” and a “Branch Office” is set in  Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima respectively,and an “Office” is set in Hachinohe City Aomori and Mito City Ibaraki respectively. The above prefectures and cities are all damaged areas of the 3.11.  The agency is in charge of  planning reconstruction strategies, approving the budgets for rebuildings, disgnating Reconstruction Special Zones, and so forth. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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”
Read the rest of this entry »

“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).

Read the rest of this entry »

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.