JAPANESE DRAMA! To start with I should mention out of all things “pop culture”, drama has probably been one of my least watched things. It’s not that I don’t like them as such, but its been a matter of finding the right ones that I would like, getting a hold of them to watch and then actually finding the time to watch them considering each series will generally run for something like 9 or so hours once you’ve watched the 11 or so episodes they usually have in the series. Eventually I do pretty much always manage to get a hold of the series I mainly hear of through word of mouth, though now adays forums seem to be the place to look if you ever want to hear of a good drama besides those that people always seem to know like “Hana-Kimi” (花ざかりの君たちへ) or other such popular ones that usually are adaptations of a popular manga just like “Flowers over boys” (花より男子, though read 花より団子) or whatever it is called, which I actually have so far successfully refused to watch (and shout out to Elain; thats 2 seasons I’ve successfully refused to watch)…None the less, lets just get on with the list before I end up delaying this post even more :)

1. Buzzer Beat (ブザー・ビート) – A sports drama based around basketball, probably why its a dead give away that I could not NOT choose this as my favourite drama. Not to mention 北川景子 (Keiko Kitagawa) playing the lead female role, its practically win-win. I’ll try explain it a little; its based around Naoki played by “Yamapi” (Yamashita Tomohisa [山下智久]) who is a rising star or something along those lines in the basketball team of a Japanese company. There are a couple of female music students who get caught up with the team through a player leaving their phone behind on a bus. Then their is a new player joining the team due to their recent poor performance/lack of success, which causes problems and cheating etc. It’s really not so easy to explain, but a very good drama to watch so I’ll leave it at that and hope you watch it!

2. Pride (ポライド) – Though I have only seen a few of his drama’s, this is my favourite of Takuya Kimura’s that I have watched thus far. An excellent story of gaming with love, and aspiring to improve. Everything is probably a little typical as far as dramas go, but still its made very good probably just because Kimura is in it. All based around hockey, and the hockey team Kimura is playing in whom have a change of coach due to their previous coach (his idol pretty much) falling ill. All in all, very watchable (y)

3. Hanazakari no Kimitachi e/(花ざかりの君たちへ)/Hana-Kimi – with out giving too much away, the story of a girl who dresses up as a guy to go to an all boys school to try inspire the person who had inspired her with his jump (and a certain incident, but thats spoilers so I won’t go there just incase…). Its the first drama I ever watched, but still probably one the best. A very entertaining show, pretty funny as well. Though I must add its probably a little too “fan girly” for my liking, which is why its not at #1.

4. Hero – Yet another Takuya Kimura drama. It seems to be the trend that if you are always safe in terms of quality with a drama starring Takuya Kimura. This is probably the most famous out of all the drama’s he has starred in, there was also a movie as a sort of ‘follow-on’ from the series. In this drama Takuya plays the role of Kuryu Kohei, a young public prosecutor who gets tranferred to the Tokyo division. He is not the type to follow standard procedure, so from that stems a string of events which are impacting on the entire ‘team’ at the Tokyo division in the end, as his brilliance and ideals prove to be quite something. I think there is a certain appeal behind this drama because it is not so strictly following any sort of love story, as it focuses more on the main plot rather than going through multiple series of side plots (such as a cheating husband (one of the prosecutors) and Kohei and his working patner’s subtely growing bond).

I’m just going to leave it at a “top 4″, both because I have not really watched enough to make a long list (i.e. the others I have watched I don’t feel are worthy of a mention/were total rubbish), and because this post has just taken too long to be put out and I don’t want to delay it any further! And a reminder, if you want any of these shows/bands/movies i’ve mentioned in my last few posts just give me a yell and I’ll be more than happy to chase up a download link for you, just don’t want to go posting them on here that’s all. Anyway, soon to come as uni is starting up again is some posts about my journey once again with some new exciting opportunities arrising for me.

じゃ、ピース！Peace.

There are also a lot of drama movies, based on high school students and likely aimed at people from the same age groups, hence I end up watching them. Maybe I just don’t get out enough, but it seems to me that there isn’t quite the same number of movies of that style that come to Australia. In addition, unique to Japanese cinema productions is the number of ninja/samurai movies. Though I suppose it is their equivelant to our mostly gun based fighting movies, not to mention that war movies (i.e. based on world wars) would probably never be able to achieve the popularity that such movies see in the West (and for obvious reasons too).Either way, a lot of these style of movies end up being similar in quite a few ways, so you’ll have to excuse my lack of mention to these type of movies in the list below. One of these common occurences in these movies is the shift to starring a main character who is meant to be some hot shot female ninja/samurai who usually wears something that will draw the crowds pretty much, its rather pathetic and usually makes for a poor film.

None the less, let the listing begin!! (oh and note: all the images are linked to their source, so go there if you want a bigger version of it etc)…

1. Howl’s Moving Castle – an animated movie directed by the famous Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿) (who also brought other great movies like Princess Monoke, Spirited Away and 崖の上のポニョ (Ponyo On A Cliff)). He actually came out of retirement for this movie as the original director would no longer do it, and probably sparked Miyazaki to continue his career. Its a story of witches and wizards, and a young girl who I suppose you would say gets caught up in it all. The mysterious wizard Howl is voiced by Takuya Kimura (a very famous actor in many drama’s such as Pride and Hero, and is also a member of SMAP (a musical group)). Though I don’t believe it has been as well liked as Miyazaki’s more recent works, still a very good movie as expected from Miyazaki.

Howl's Moving Castle

2. Crows Zero – a movie adaptation of the manga “Crows” written by Hiroshi Takahashi (高橋ヒロシ). The plot begins when freshman Genji (son of a Yakuza boss) enters Suzuran High School. Genji’s father once went to the same school, a school of fighting where the aim seems to be be strong and rule. None the less through many thrilling fight scenes with some comedic bits mashed into the plot along the way I say it makes for a pretty epic movie as Genji tries to ‘gather the troops’ so to speak, and take over the school completely, firstly by taking out his largest rival Serizawa. Constant fist fights, Yakuza and someone getting stabbed in the face with a fork…All in all I’d say its definetly worth watching if you like a good fight minus any soppy crap.

Crows Zero (comparison to manga characters)

3. Sword of the Stranger – another animated movie, but definetly different from the other anime movies I’ve seen. It’s more of an action type where they don’t constantly stand around talking waiting for something to happen. The plot is quite direct and easily understood without large side-plots to drag things out. The fight scenes also follow this sort of pattern, with only one real side-plot developing, and that is the samurai’s past which has caused him to have a fear of drawing his sword (this isn’t a spoiler though I assure you, they make this quite obvious quickly). All in all, a good movie of evil vs. good.

Sword of the Stranger

4. 転校生：さよなら、あなた (English name: Switching: Goodbye me). Firstly, if you can read it you maybe as confused as I am as to why the English name is that, but oh well it’s just what I’ve been told! Well anyway, if you put both English and Japanese names together you may be able to see how they got the names…The movie (is drama by the way), is about a student transferring back to a town he used to live in, where he meets a friend from many years ago and to cut it a little short the transfer student, and his female childhood friend switch bodies. You might hear this and expect comedy,which there is a little bit I suppose which mostly draws from the differences in speech and manner between males and females. However, its different because it goes into characteristics of friendship and love, as burdens have to be carried which are not their own and so forth. I won’t really say much because its a movie I recommend almost anybody to see. Oh, and its probably not as soppy a I make it sound (or I probably wouldn’t have ended up watching it myself).

転校生：さよなら、あなた (Switching: Goodbye Me)

5. The Hidden Blade (隠し剣 鬼の爪, Kakushi Ken: Oni no Tsume) – a 2004 film, based in the 1860′s in Japan. A period where the West was beginning to have its influence in Japan with the end of the Samurai era drawing near. This is the second movie after The Twilight Samurai, another of my favourite movies based on an era where the Samurai were still prominent. Both the Twilight Samurai and The Hidden Blade have been one of the very few Japanese movies that you ever get to see shown on SBS (in Australia at least), so I presume they must have some popularity. There isn’t much I can really say about a movie like this though because its a style of movie you can either enjoy or not, so anything I say will likely just be spoilers in the end.

The Hidden Blade

Well, I don’t think I should lengthen this any further, I haven’t obviously watched every Japanese movie there is to watch, but I’ve watched a fair amount in the last year or so. If there is one you highly recommend then please leave me a comment and I’ll get onto it!!

じゃ、ピース！Peace

]]> http://anohito.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/pop-culture1102/feed/ 0 anohito91 http://anohito.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/pop-culture1101/ http://anohito.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/pop-culture1101/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:25:30 +0000 anohito91 http://anohito.wordpress.com/?p=81 ]]> Just to kill a little time for both writer and reader alike, I thought I would at random make some lists about Japanese popular culture, i.e. bands, drama’s and movies. I think pop culture is quite a large part of Japan, a little more so than in I seem to find in Perth, because its just so much bigger, and obviously because of language barriers there is much less of a ‘global’ influence on their pop culture scene… OK, so currently heres a list of my top 5 – 10 bands/artists, with my lists of movies, and drama’s in posts to come as a part of a 3 part series of sorts I suppose!

Bands/Artists (all links open in a new window/tab):

1. Monkey Majik – there is a very interesting story behind these guys and how their band is unique in the way it is. They consist of 2 Canadian brothers (Blaise and Maynard Plant – both guitar and vocals) and 2 Japanese guys (tax – drums, and DICK – bass). Both the Canadian brothers are fluent in English, French and Japanese, and both now have their solo careers on the side of the group’s music.

2. Flumpool – up and coming really, from the Osaka Prefecture. Just released their second album after almost 3 years together. The only problem I’ve seen with them thus far has been their obsession with not using clothes for their album covers, as seen below with their first two albums..hahaha

Note: no clothes featured…

3. RADWIMPS – the vocals for the band lived in America for a number of years, so these guys have some songs with a lot of English.

4. Aqua Timez – a pretty well known pop/rock group, though still young with just over 4 years in the industry under their current name. Were pretty much set up with their featuring theme songs in the Bleach anime series and movie.

5. Home Made Kazoku – hip hop trio who tend to use quite a bit of English phrases (a trend in pop music that they seem to follow). Pretty easy-listening stuff this.

6. ONE OK ROCK – a rock band, as suggested by the name, I picked them up in Japan while sitting ill watching music TV most of the morning when I was awake enough not to try sleep.

7. M-Flo – a once trio, though now mostly featuring with other artists to make up for their lack of vocals (their former member was their main vocals, but now they only have a DJ and an MC).

Was hard to find a picture of the group with their former member Lisa, so this will have to do..

8. Spontania – hip hop/reggae group, pretty tricky to get hold of their music I admit so they can’t be too well known, but who cares when the pair are named Massattack and Tarantula!! Epic names will always go further than popular music.

Left: Massattack, Right: Tarantula, Centre: ???

9. UVERworld – yet another Japanese rock band. Definetly one that most people seem to know about…so really not worth mentioning much more than this…

10. Well the list goes on, so really there is no 10 because I don’t know where I should end such a list :O!!

Well anyway, if you are interested in a particular genre of Japanese music or something its always worth asking me, I listen to a pretty wide variety to be honest..

じゃ、ピース！Peace

Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. Japan’s 3 writing systems <3

So obviously being crazy about all this I have decided when/if I go to Japan I want to go as if I’ve already completed Intermediate Japanese at university, because at that stage I would have only done Intermediate I and not II. This means I’ll of course have to spend my breaks studying where possible…and so this is kind of what I’ve done/been doing, though not so productively so far I might add. But even so, with what little things I’ve been studying (at the moment I’m just learning stuff that is outlined for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, starting at level 4 working my way up) I have seen how frustrating it can be learning vocabulary and kanji for Japanese in a way that the University deems to be best. Because it has ended up being that I have learnt kanji, and I have learnt vocabulary that is used with that kanji, but for some strange reason they never tought us that the kanji can be used for that vocabulary. So in a way, I suppose I don’t like the pace they are taking on learning these things, and I’m kind of hoping for a jump up in pace from beginners to intermediate (though when the jump comes I’ll probably complain about that being too much for me to handle…).

I think this is mostly frustrating to me because kanji once you begin to learn it, gives so much more meaning when reading and writing Japanese, and I think its stupid we are taught to use kanji only partially even though we know other places where they could be used…for example learning the kanji for above/top ue 上, and learning the verb to give (honoring the receiver)　agemasu あげます、but for some reason not learning that the kanji 上 can be used as 上げます. So for anyone learning Japanese, whats your experiences with learning kanji in Japanese? Are there bits you find you end up finding out yourself? How do you learn kanji? (I just sit and write them, and write them reading it in my head over and over as if the different hiragana/kanji that are usually used with it were written beside it so I get used to its different readings). and while I’m at it, what are the things you find hardest in learning Japanese, and what do you find most important in learning Japanese effectively?

じゃ、ピース! Peace

I don’t imagine this next period waiting for a response will be an entirely comfortable one, with such suspense. It seems to have left me in a situation where I’m not sure if I should continue on with my research and enthusiasm into the exchange program to a point where I am certain about almost everything, which would only lead to greater disappointment if I do get rejected. Or my alternative, which on second thought is probably the preferred option, I get back into studying Japanese rather than just Japan and exchange there because I imagine if I do get there, at the end of the day having a greater knowledge of the language will always help me more than knowing where to buy a surge protector for my laptop when I get to Japan (though I still need to know this, I’m not going to destroy another $1500 laptop just because I didn’t have the correct electrical adaptors to safely use it…).

A slight dramatization of what might happen…

Thinking of just how much I will probably rely on having a laptop in Japan (if I go, ergh so many “ifs” and “buts” at this point in time…), it’s got me thinking, what would be the 10 most important things that would be required in Japan on exchange, not necessarily tangible things either for example: a mind ready to absorb new culture and language is definetly on my list to make the experience worthwhile..So I leave you with this question, what would YOUR 10 most important items be to take on exchange (not necessarily to Japan either), and they can be both tangible or in-tangible.

じゃ、ピース！Peace

UWA’s Application Questions for 2010 semester 2 exchange

And I’m sure once you’ve read it, you will understand why it is that I am having trouble answering questions  1a),1d) and 1e) of Part C: General Questions in the application. This sort of self assessment for me is not the easiest sort of thing to write about, I think they look at this and try find a well-rounded person instead of rather just someone who stands out, because it is often likely someone who stands out in a way that is almost unnatural just screams that what is written doesn’t come from within, but rather just what they can come up with off the top of their head. So although time may seem tight for me getting down to the last week before the exchange application is due, I think I’ll still really try take my time on this and make sure what I write expresses me, and doesn’t go in a direction that chases ‘good attention’ from the readers of the application.

On top of this though the application involves a statement of purpose (including academic motives, expected challenges and benefits of the exchange etc) which is limited at 2 pages in length. Also of course for formality purposes, there are other basic details and questions on the application, but when it comes down to it the bulk of the decision that rests with the people processing the applications would be based on how well the person can answer the questions, demonstrate their ability with researching the information that would be required to draw as much as they can from the exchange experience and of course the students grades. I’m hoping that I can satisfy all these criteria and more and get just that one step closer to stepping foot in Japan once more!

Step by step…

Ok, so lets get a little bit ahead of myself and just assume acceptance from UWA, where does the path take me from here? Well to more applications of course, hardly delightful I know, but if I’m not even willing to go through the application process then I obviously don’t have what it takes to go at all. So next in line for applications, would be my application to the host university, Kansai Gaidai University. This is where it gets a little more involved, a list of the following things is required by Kansai Gaidai:

1. Application for Admission (submitted online + a copy printed and signed and mailed)
2. Transcript(s)
3. Three Letters of Recommendation (Forms to be downloaded from K-GENESYS)
   These letters should be from former or present instructors or academic advisors of college level institutions.
4. Japanese Instructor’s Reference Form (can be included as a letter of recommendation).
5. Medical Information Form (Form to be downloaded from K-GENESYS)
   To be completed by the applicant and a physician.
6. Confidential Financial Questionnaire (Form to be downloaded from K-GENESYS)
7. Ten Identification Photographs (with quite specific measurements etc.)
8. Certificate of English Proficiency (not required if English is your native language)
9. A copy of passport

Kansai Gaidai Campus – What this is ALL about…

It’s probably not as all as bad as it sounds, and it really doesn’t matter anyway because I’d be willing to sit through virtually anything to get me in. But anyway moving on, that is not where the applying ends. There is more. This is where things become a little more blurry for me so far, and I’ll probably have to wait until the time comes and request assistance from my home university, because from here comes scholarship applications (such as JASSO and Japan’s Government “Monbukagakusho” scholarship) and the process to obtain a student visa for Japan (which first requires acceptance from the host university Kansai Gaidai). And once all this can be confirmed I can pay for my plane tickets and start packing! Of course I am well in advance of myself here, as I won’t even find out until around March 2010 if I have the recommendation of my university to go on exchange.

I think everyone goes into this whole process quite unprepared for just how much is involved, I know I certainly did. And although it is still early days, I see room for growth in such a short period because the amount of commitment and effort required to go through the entire process really makes you think “Is this what I want?”, “Will I be able to draw a lot from such an experience?”, etc etc. I know I certainly have found further confidence in myself knowing just how much such an experience would mean for me. And most people will soon find that if they really desire for the exchange experience like I do, it becomes more than just academic motivations and the raw elements that can be drawn from it such as better language ability and better cultural understanding, I believe it goes much deeper than that with such a large amount of reflecting necessary for the process. Am I alone in this? Am I a little bit crazy to think that student exchange expands beyond being an academic and cultural experience? What do you think, and if you’re in the process of applying or have been on exchange before, what are your experiences?

And I’ve just realised it, I should probably pardon myself for going a little off topic from applications, but I just wrote what flowed and figured it’d be nice to get my thoughts down as a reference point especially for myself as I progress through this process…

じゃ、ピース！ Peace