Haruki Murakami on Translations

Haruki-san talks to Mainichi about translating American literary giants
Also Powerpuff Girls are now ten years old!

Buns of Steel

I don't want to think what's in it for me. Also the news about the um periodic blood being good for cancer. But something I can comprehend is that um beating off regularly is good for prostate cancer because you also regularly take out the toxic things that might accumulate in your prostate which just might mutate to cancer.
But seriously, I want you to consider Amy LaVere featured here in the Sun Sessions

Of all People! Japanese Come up With Heartbreak Leave

Yes, Japanese surprise me. A market research group in Tokyo is offering shitsuren kyuka, paid leave if you just got over a relationship or got busted. What happened to the reserved, nasa loob ang kulo, the tempest in the teapot Japanese? And the older you get, the longer your heartbreak leave. I don't believe this. I think the boss just wants to know who has a broken heart so he can be the Dennis Rodman, the rebound king. Because if you are nursing a broken heart and you took the leave, people would be watching your every move. Now grief takes stages to recover. They even say that a losing political candidate would take six months to recover. A 6-month heartbreak leave? If it is indeed true, then the dumper must pay for the leave of the dumpee. Fair enough.

The Filipino Song in Mothra vs Gojira

The lyrics are:
Naintindihan mo
Naiintindihan mo ba?
Mayroon ba doon?
Pumunta ka lang dito.
Halika't maupo.

Translated thus: Did you understand? Is there something there? You just come here. Come and sit. Of course, they made it "Japanese" by lenghtening the "na-i-i-intindihan mo." Thanks Ed Lejano for the very important trivia (ergo, no longer trivial)
The two girls are two tiny twin girls known as the Shojobin. They are trying to explain that the egg found by the three heroes came from Mothra Island and that the egg must be returned at all cost. So Mothra went on to destroy Tokyo. Why? Because the Shojobin were singing in Tagalog and people from the Mothra Island (re: Wengweng Island) are better left ignored.
This is all I got from the musical director Akira Ikufube. He was a composer of classical music. Note among his works: Overture to the Nation of Philippines (1944). Twenty years later, he came back with this haunting music in Mothra vs Gojira.

Cellphone Novels

Rin, a Japanese girl, was in the subway with minutes to spare. She texted a few passage and sent it to an sms hotline. She did this everyday until she came out with enough for a novel about a tragic friendship. "If You" made it to Japan's Top Ten Books. Nothing new about that: five of the novels on that list are so-called cellphone novels. New York Times described these cellphone novels as "mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels." Yet they sell and it opened a debate in Japan.
"The affordability of cellphones coincided with the coming of age of a generation of Japanese for whom cellphones, more than personal computers, had been an integral part of their lives since junior high school. So they read the novels on their cellphones, even though the same Web sites were also accessible by computer. They punched out text messages with their thumbs with blinding speed, and used expressions and emoticons, like smilies and musical notes, whose nuances were lost on anyone over the age of 25," NYT said.
Japan is imagining a million cellphone novels.
Hey, we are the texting capital of the world. We are married to our CPs. Why can't we churn out our own cellphone novels?
Or maybe I'm talking to paneity. Sorry.

Ichiro vs Bobby Fischer

"Ichiro has no business playing in the US and for a US team," Fischer says in his 2004 rdio interview with Bombo Radio. "Point two: The game has changed so much, the ball's livelier, the bats are livelier. The old records were much harder to make. Point three: I believe this has been staged between the Japanese and US governments. They could easily have stopped him from breaking the record, simply by giving him walks. Let's say he had been originally from Cuba and still pro-Castro. Do you think they would have let him break the record like that? No way. They would have given him walks or tried to hit him with the ball. I saw [Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro] Koizumi on TV congratulating Ichiro. Me he has put into prison, him and Bush working in conspiracy. That's perfectly okay for him. But he would never dream of putting Ichiro into prison, on an immigration charge."

Paper Airplane in Space

Japan would be testing a paper airplane to fly from space to Earth. The 3-inch plane, made with the help of origami experts, is expected not to burn up at re-entry but to make sure, they will make the paper heat-proof. The problem is how to make sure that the plane made it. Scientists said they will only rely on the honesty of the person who finds it.

Nilasing na Hito

You must have tasted nilasing na hipon or drunken shrimp. This is shrimp bathed with cheap gin, either eaten fresh or fried.
But in Japan, they have nilasing na hito or drunken carp. The huge carp in Tonami town were caught and then forced to imbibe large doses of sake or rice wine. According to Mainichi Japan, "Filled up with sake, the carp at first turned belly-up on the surface of the water. But they soon recovered and swam off."

Kid Millionaire

This picture and about 12 others had come out in the Internet wormhole. In the other pictures, Paris Hilton (that's her) was said to be wearing no underwear. There were even closeups. But my main preoccupation is the Japanese DJ in the picture. He is Steve Aoki, the premier DJ of the sans panty crowd. Aoki, more known as Kid Millionaire, came to Manila last August and again last December to play for the chi chi crowd. Hey, I also know some DJs for the sans panty crowd. They play in really dingy bars and their English is so-so incomprehensible. If you're not deaddrunk, you can sometimes make out the words "Isabel Ayala" or "International Modelzzz."

Rizal Day 3: Sisa

Did you watch The Dance of Sisa? Noh? Yes, it's a Noh play. It was taken from Amelia Lapena Bonifacio's Ang Paglalakbay ni Sisa: lsang Noh sa Laguna. Sisa, of course, is from Rizal's Noli. I wrote about this in Inquirer (Cimatu, Frank. Baguio gets a feel of the Noh, The Philippine Daily Inquirer Lifestyle. October 16, 2005)

Sumo Cats

One year ago, I saw this video of fat cats in Tokyo. One of them was so fat (27.5 pounds) they had to create a harness to help the cat walk.

Yatta by the Green Leaves

This is a classic I thought I posted a long time ago but I didn't. Asia's answer to Full Monty and YMCA.

The Kremil-S Workout

http://view.break.com/411110 - Andy Z, this is your exercise

Kewpie

Japanese Santas

Running from the Samurais

Japanese gameshows answer the ponderables we can only imagine. One, because they have the money to produce our imponderables. Two, because they are crazy like us. Three, they think of things we have not pondered on. Like, what if a walkathon champion in a semi-official record-setting walk was attacked by a team of samurais, will he still walk? Well, we won't tell you but you will definitely laugh. The world walkathon record holder is actually Ecuadorian so we have also to think if the Japanese humor crossed borders. From haha.nu

Japanese Buzzwords

Yes, Japan still looms large in my psyche so this list is helpful. From Pink Tentacle, we bring you the 60 buzzwords for 2007.
5. It couldn’t be helped [shouganai - しょうがない] A Japanese minister used this to refer to the bombing. Two weeks ago, the pilot of Enola Gay, the plane that bombed Hiroshima, died and still maintained that he never lost a sleep over what happened. Is this a way to absolve him?
6. Cabinet of friends [o-tomodachi naikaku - お友達内閣]: “Cabinet of friends” was used to describe former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first Cabinet. Similar to Erap's Midnight Cabinet.
9. Madame Sushi [マダム・スシ]: When giving a lecture during a visit to Washington, former defense minister Yuriko Koike said to the audience: “Some people call me the ‘Japanese Rice’ after Madame Secretary Rice. Why don’t you call me ‘Madame Sushi’?” In Japan, ‘rice’ means ’sushi.
18: Kawaigari [kawaigari - かわいがり]: Kawaigari usually means to “cherish” or “take under one’s wing,” but in the world of sumo it refers to the tradition of severe “training” given to rookie wrestlers at sumo stables. At the Tokitsukaze sumo stable, 17-year-old rookie Takashi Saito died after he was beaten with a metal bat as part of his kawaigari.
21. Sonna no kankei nee [そんなの関係ねぇ]: Sonna no kankei nee (”It doesn’t matter!”) is the catchphrase from comedian Yoshio Kojima’s wildly famous routine. Thanks to YouTube, Kojima’s popularity has spread quickly across the globe.
22. Oppappi [オッパッピー]: This is the other famous line from Kojima’s routine, which is apparently an abbreviation of “Ocean Pacific Peace.”
28. Bottom-biting bug [oshiri kajiri mushi - おしりかじり虫]: Oshiri Kajiri Mushi (”Bottom Biting Bug”), the popular song about a dancing bug that likes to bite people on the butt, became a huge hit on Minna No Uta, a daily NHK program featuring original animated videos for family-oriented songs. Oshiri Kajiri Mushi became the featured dance number at this year’s school athletic meets, cultural festivals and other events nationwide.
30. Dried-fish woman [himono onna - 干物女]: Himono onna (”dried-fish woman”) is an expression used in the movie Hotaru No Hikari to describe the main character, a woman in her 20s who has renounced the pursuit of romance. She spends her evenings reading manga and drinking at home alone, and she spends her weekends lazing around in bed. She’s a dried-fish woman. Akin to the APO hit song, "Tuyo na'ng damdamin" with "tuyo" meaning "dry" or "dried fish."
32. The power of insensitivity [donkanryoku - 鈍感力]: Made popular by Donkanryoku(The Power of Insensitivity), a best-selling book written by popular novelist Junichi Watanabe, this expression means something like “thick skin” and refers to the ability to live in a relaxed manner without getting worked up over the little things. In Philippines, that is President Arroyo's culture of impunity regarding the killing of journalists and NGO workers.
33. Akachan post [赤ちゃんポスト]: Akachan post (”baby post”) refers to the controversial drop box for unwanted babies set up at a hospital in Kumamoto this year, which is designed to provide parents a safe and anonymous way to abandon their babies. Similar baby hatches have been set up in the past, including one at a foster home in Japan’s Gunma prefecture that was used from 1986 to 1991.
39. Monster parents [モンスターペアレント]: The term “monster parents” refers to Japan’s growing ranks of annoying parents who make extravagant and unreasonable demands of their children’s schools.
40. Dark website [yami site - 闇サイト]: Yami sites (”dark websites”) are online networking sites where people can take out hit contracts on others, make illegal transactions (drugs, fake bank accounts, hacked cellphones, prostitution, etc.), and meet suicide partners. Japan has seen a recent rise in the number of murders arranged through these web-based hotbeds of criminal activity.
41. Net cafe refugees [net cafe nanmin - ネットカフェ難民]: “Net cafe refugees” is an expression used by the Japanese media to refer to the growing number of day laborers who spend their nights in 24-hour internet cafe booths. The Japan Cafe Complex Association (JCCA) opposes the media’s use of the word “refugee” to describe these important customers. A government survey this year estimates there are about 5,400 net cafe refugees in Japan.
46. China shock/China-free [チャイナショック／チャイナフリー]: “China shock” refers to the impact felt in world markets after the Shanghai Composite Index took a steep plunge in February. “China-free,” a phrase that grew in popularity after a string of Chinese products (toothpaste, toys, etc.) were found to contain hazardous materials, refers to products not made in China.
51. Motepuyo [もてぷよ]: Motepuyo, a term that means something like “chubby cute,” describes women who are plump, small in stature, and cute. With a fine line between motepuyo and chubby, some say the only difference is whether or not a woman has a cute face.

Bobbing for Marshmallow

You must have joined in the "apple eating contest" where you eat an apple hanging by a thread. When we were young, apples were expensive (no globalized trading yet) so the apples themselves were the prizes. Now you substitute the apples with marshmallows. How easy is that. Not if you're Japanese because you find ways of making it sadistic and hilarious.

U.S. Manga

You need to download this history of manga in the US.

Pre-Cursor

Remember that award winning Japanese ad about how your cursor works? Nano-Japanese carrying a huge cursor sign. Well, this is the prototype: