Japanese actress Keiko Kitagawa is playing a swordswoman in her new movie After the Flowers, which is scheduled to show in March 2010. Don’t have much clue what the film is about; love its promotional pics for Keiko though…
Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has found himself a new job… as a voice actor for an upcoming live-action Ultraman movie.
The full title of the film is Giant Monster Battle: Ultra Galactic Legend The Movie, to be precise lol.
Koizumi will lend his voice as the Ultraman King, an ancient Legendary Hero in the Ultra family. The film will open in Japan on December 12.
Koizumi is one of the most of popular postwar Prime Ministers in Japan. He retired in 2006, and the political arena has been in chaos ever since. The current PM Yukio Hatoyama, amazingly, is Koizumi’s 4th successor in just over three years.
[via Animenewsnetwork and Japanprobe]
Introducing the prettiest digital clock ever.
Bijin Tokei (literally beauty clock) is a web application with cute Japanese girls showing you the time on your PC, iPhone, gadget, website etc., which refreshed automatically with a new image every minute.
Japanese talent agency Avex is running an audition campaign in the US. The first confirmed venue is at Honolulu, Hawaii on November 14; the remainder of the schedule will be decided upon the responses from respective cities.
The online registration will expire on October 31. Japanese pop star wannabe… kindly check the official audition website for details.
Avex is one of the biggest entertainment agencies in Japan; boosting the likes of Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, Kumi Koda, Ai Otsuka, BoA and Tohoshinki etc.
Also check out SM audition and JYPE audition, from two major Korean agencies which are hunting talents in Oct/Nov in US and Canada.
A 10m tall giant rubber duck, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, was displayed in the Japanese city of Osaka recently. The rubber duckie (and its taller cousin) has been travelling around the world since its creation in 2007.
The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, Japan, is the world’s second largest aquarium behind the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, USA. It’s one of the very few aquariums in the world that keep whale sharks in cavity.
Video of Kuroshio Sea, the largest tank in the aquarium; shot by Canadian filmmaker Jon Rawlinson. Mesmerising stuff; I can watch this for hours…
After the highly popular life-size 18-metre Gundam model in Tokyo, another giant Japanese robot statue, the Tetsujin 28-go (lit. Iron Man #28), is set to welcome its visitors in Kobe following its completion earlier this week.
Tetsujin 28 was created in 1956 by Kobe-born Mitsuteru Yokoyama; it was one of the earliest giant robot characters in Japanese manga. The comic was later adapted into anime series and was aired in US as well, retitled as the Gigantor.
The Tetsujin 28 statue is located at Kobe’s Wakamatsu Park. It’s similar in height with the Gundam statue, but doesn’t have moving parts like the Tokyo counterpart. The Kobe robot is built as a permanent structure though, whereas the Gundam was disassembled after two months of exhibition.
If the trend keeps going, we might be seeing dozens of giant robot models across Japan in future… pretty fitting tourist attraction for the #1 robotic nation lol.
[image from the project's official website [Jp]]
Video game developer Square Enix has released a seven-minutes long Japanese trailer for Final Fantasy XIII at the Tokyo Game Show 2009…
The Final Fantasy console game series was revolutionary in the 80s and 90s, popularising the role-playing-game (RPG) genre with its well written plots and high quality visuals & soundtracks.
Not sure if the game will appeal to younger generation these days; but for RPG gamers who grew up in that era, it’s a highly anticipated game for sure.
FFXIII will be released in Japan in December 2009 on PS3. Xbox and international versions estimated to be available in spring 2010.
[video via qarisu@Youtube]