Ichigoichielove - Love, Life and Learning in Japan
Yesterday was Hina Matsuri (or Girls’ Day, Doll’s Festival), where families place out dolls in Heian dress, eat tons of food and wish the best for their daughters’ health and happiness. Sadly it’s not a national holiday even though it should be, given that Boys’ Day (<-in May, and renamed Children’s Day but with no other changes) is one. Even without it being a day off, it’s still a good excuse to eat something deliciousーYJ and I hit two birds with one stone and ate doll-shaped cakes.
Music/Fashion/Other
- Talented manga artist (she worked on the famous Prince of Tennis manga!) Jamie Lynn Lano is holding a commission campaign to help get her new manga business off the ground. She will draw any person of your choice (actually, as many people, things, animals as you likeーprovided there’s room) for $40 (USD). I already ordered one for us (because usually one of us has an awkward facial expression… looking at you, YJ) and will share it on the blog once it’s done! If you’re interested in having a professional manga artist draw a picture for you, you can find all the details here. Also, more info about her in the interview I had with her for Metropolis magazine last year.
- If you have trouble with procrastination, Fluent in 3 Months addresses three mind traps that get us delaying what we should doーand thankfully also how to get over them. If you’re like Texan in Tokyo though, you’ll be doing the “right” type of procrastination: working > housework. ^^
- Flower and foodie lovers should be checking out Foreign Sanctuary’s weekly photo postsーthere’s plenty of both! There were intricate statues carved out of carrots and more last week, and some amazing puppet displays (and cherry blossoms!) the week before.
- A great interview with Diane Kichijitsu, a British rakugo performer here in Japan (and a very lovely ladyーhave had the pleasure of meeting her once), about how she got into the rakugo scene. She performs in both English and Japanese, which is amazing! Rakugo is a really minimalist form of comic storytellingーthere’s only one person who sits on stage with just a couple of props. It’s quite impressive! The first video is an interview with her, the second is an explanation of what rakugo is, and how it works. (Unfortunately I couldn’t find a video of her performing in English!)
- …And now for something completely different! What happens if you fill a bath tub with Coke Zero and wear a Mentos suit? Japanese Youtuber Hajime finds out:
He also performed a stunt involving a giant water balloon in his bath. I don’t think this guy is going to be allowed to stay in his apartment for much longer… ^^;
- And finally, a music clip from Kent, one of my favorite Swedish bands. It’s always hard to choose what song to share with people who have never heard of a certain bandーespecially when they’ve played music around for almost 20 years! But I’ve decided to go with my absolute favorite, “Mannen i den Vita Hatten (16 år senare)”. It’s not for everyone since it’s really sad (even if you don’t understand the lyrics) and kind of long, but it’s easily one of their greatest works. If you’re keen to hear more (or want to see if they have something more to your liking) check out the official Kent Youtube page. ^^
Beautiful tsubaki (camellia) flowers still blooming!
Our Stuff
- YJ and I have been holed up at home mostly with cold/flu symptoms for almost a week (in quarantine??) which wasn’t fun, but we’re both on the mend finally. ^^; Don’t worry though, we managed to eat ourselves back to some sort of normality thanks to some delicious kimchi nabe (hot pot).
Blaming the blur on fever.
- Giveawaygiveawaygiveaway! I announced last week in the blog’s 100th post there will be a giveaway! Details will be out on Friday, so keep your eyes peeled for that! It may pop up late Friday night Japanese time, since I’m running behind on everything (see previously mentioned cold XD).
That’s a wrap! Am I the only one panicking over the fact that it’s already March??
The post The Weekly Bulletin: Week 10, 2015 appeared first on Ichigoichielove.
