Japan blog

Moumoon – It’s Our Time in Paris

July 17, 2017 by Yein Jee

Music video for It’s Our Time by Japanese pop duo Moumoon, released in June 2015. Found this song after blogging about them a couple of months ago.

They shot the MV in Paris when the band held their first solo concert (sold out) in the French capital in May 2015. The song is OK, love the video though… it looks like a beautiful travelogue.

Feels like visiting Europe again after watching this. It has been over a decade since my last trip to the continent. Always thought I would be there again much sooner.

By the way, half of the group name moumoon comes from a French word. “Mou” means soft in French, hence their name can be interpreted as soft moon in English =)

Aiku Maikawa x Taiwan Festa

July 14, 2017 by Yein Jee

Taiwan Festa [Jp] is a Taiwanese culture event which will be held at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo on July 29-30. The festival will feature food stalls, souvenir booths, as well as performances by both Japanese and Taiwanese artists.

Aiku Maikawa

Model and photographer Aiku Maikawa is endorsing the event for consecutive years. She is a second generation Taiwanese-Japanese. Her parents are Taiwanese who settled in Japan, while she’s born in Tokyo and holds a Japanese citizenship.

Japanese model Aiku Maikawa Taiwan Festa 2017

Moumoon, Shooting Star, Assassination Classroom

May 16, 2017 by Yein Jee

Japanese MV for Hello, Shooting Star by pop duo moumoon, released in February 2015. It’s an ending song for popular anime series Assassination Classroom.

I was a fan of moumoon’s Sunshine Girl in 2010. Haven’t heard much from the band since then, but they are probably doing well in their home country. Many Japanese commercials, movies and TV shows have used their songs over the years.

Haruo Nakajima – The man in Godzilla suit

March 11, 2017 by Yein Jee

Short English documentary about Haruo Nakajima, the man who portrayed Godzilla in the first 12 movies of the popular Japanese media franchise.

The costume was made of concrete in the first Godzilla film in 1954, that alone deserves respect LoL. Check the rest about his early career from the video.

Nakajima also played other giant creatures in various movies and in the Ultraman TV series. Hence, in some ways he’s the real king of monsters in Japan.

He retired from his suit acting roles in 1972. Fans still remember him fondly, and many people credited him as the greatest suit actor of all time.

Rest in peace

[Update] The legend passed away in August 2017, aged 88.

“In the end, the Godzilla I played remains on the film forever. It remains in people’s memory, and for that I feel really grateful.” ~ Haruo Nakajima

Ko Shibasaki x Utsukushii Kimono Magazine

December 8, 2016 by Yein Jee

HD photos of popular Japanese star Ko Shibasaki who’s featured in 2016 Winter issue of Utsukushii Kimono Magazine [Jp]. The traditional dresses look delicate and beautiful, and probably pretty expensive LoL.

Ko Shibasaki Japanese Utsukushii Kimono Magazine

The final issue of Japanese AneCan Magazine

November 17, 2016 by Yein Jee

Japanese model Moe Oshikiri is the cover girl for the last issue (December 2016) of AneCan Magazine. The fashion magazine will suspend its publication after running for a decade because of business reasons. Poor sales, to put it boldly.

Oshikiri was also the cover girl for the first issue of AneCan in 2007. So it’s fitting that she’s the one who brings down the curtain on the magazine.

AneCan Magazine December 2016 final issue Moe Oshikiri

AneCan targeted women in mid to late twenties who have “graduated” from reading CanCam, its sister magazine for younger women and college students.

The challenge

CanCam is still running after 35 years though (first published in November 1981.) It’s an amazing feat but the future looks grim for fashion magazines worldwide, with the shift of interest and competition from internet publications etc.

To survive, the magazines have to build a strong branding with solid online presence and to venture globally. The later is something the Japanese media have fallen behind in the past decade, it’s so difficult for non-Japanese to reach their contents.