Photo of Japanese Geisha posing in swimsuits (or bath-suits) during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) or Taisho Era (1912-1926) of old Japan…
More pictures available on Flickr [via Japanprobe]
Music video collection of Japanese singer-songwriter YUI. The Fukuoka-born star made her professional debut in 2004; her music career started off reasonably well, but not really an instant hit… but she gradually build her fame and is now one of the most popular female artists in Japan.
Good-bye Days
YUI’s breakthrough came in 2006 with “Good-bye Days”, which was used as the theme song for movie “Midnight Sun” (Taiyou no Uta) in which she played the leading role…
YUI actually received the best newcomer award from Japan Academy Prize, but she didn’t wander much into acting, and the movie is the only film she has made so far.
Actresses Miki Maya, 44, Asaka Seto, 31, Ryoko Hirosue, 28, and ex-volleyball player Kaoru Sugayama, 29, were named as having the most beautiful legs at the annual Parcassio Beautiful Leg Awards.
The event was organized by six shoemakers; and Parcassio is an artificial leather used in their products [via Japantoday]
(L-R) Kaoru, Miki, Ryoko and Asaka; the actresses were selected according to each age group (20s, 30s, 40s) while Kaoru for sportswomen category (Image via Tokyotimes)
Japanese companies always come out with these kind of awards, i.e. best dressers, best jeanists, cotton awards etc… and the Japanese celebrities seem to be quite supportive for these events. Afterall, commercial endorsement means huge money… the celebs won’t want to offend any of the potential sponsors.
A Japanese board is heated up with debates about Japanese star Aya Hirano and her seemingly upside-down bikini photo published in her 2009 calendar.
To be frank I wouldn’t have noticed the mistake if I didn’t read it from Tokyomango, it’s just a cute photo for me… ladies might have sharper sense on this kind of malfunction though…
The alleged photo and how the bikini should be worn instead
Naomi Yotsumoto is currently one of the most talk-about Japanese ping-pong players, not just for her skills, but mainly for her fashion and style during the games…
Japan’s “CountDown TV” has recently concluded their annual poll for ‘the most wanted artist as girlfriend/boyfriend’ in 2008… with YUI and Jin Akanishi topping the girlfriend and boyfriend category respectively.
CDTV’s Japanese countdown video below which gives a fast glance on the trend setters in J-pop these days… [Hat tip to Thierry]
Top 20 Japan’s most wanted girlfriend 2008
1. YUI 2. Kaori Mochida 3. Ayumi Hamasaki 4. Ai Ōtsuka 5. aiko 6. Ai Takahashi 7. Ai Kawashima 8. Kiyoe Yoshioka 9. Maimi Yajima 10. Yui Aragaki 11. Nocchi 12. Namie Amuro 13. Ayaka 14. Kaela Kimura 15. Kumi Koda 16. Misako Uno 17. Hiroko 18. BoA 19. Mai Kuraki 20. Reina Tanaka
Top 20 Japan’s most wanted boyfriend 2008
1. Jin Akanishi 2. Kazuya Kamenashi 3. Hyde 4. Jun Matsumoto 5. Tomohisa Yamashita 6. Takahiro 7. Takahisa Masuda 8. Jaejoong 9. TAKUYA∞ 10. Shō Sakurai 11. Kōichi Dōmoto 12. Akihito Okano 13. Kentarō Kobuchi 14. Ryo Nishikido 15. Yusuke Kamiji 16. Yuya Tegoshi 17. Masaki Aiba 18. Haruichi Shindou 19. Teppei Koike 20. DAIGO
It seems like only singers are being shortlisted for this poll. Korean stars BoA and Jaejoong (from TVXQ) are the only two non-Japanese celebs that made the list.
Yuko Ogura has won the 1st Japan Gravure Idol Award organised by gravure idol site ZAKZAK. The result was based on the sales of DVDs and photobooks, as well as exposure to media and appearances at public events. [via Tokyograph]
Gravure idols are Japanese models who posed primarily in bikinis and other provocative clothings for photo spreads in magazines, photobooks and DVDs. Some gravure idols would cross over into acting and singing… a few of the famous gravure idols could actually match the popularity of some A-list stars.
Below is the music video of “Onna no Ko ♥ Otoko no Ko” (オンナのコ ♥ オトコのコ; Girls ♥ Boys), a song from Yuko Ogura which was used as the ending theme for Japanese anime “School Rumble”…
Super GT race queens, Zent Sweeties at Malaysia Super GT Int’l Series 2008…
(L-R) Kaori Morita, Hitomi Furusaki, Mayu Oya and Junko Iida