Category > Manga
Tokyo based English Language Magazine Metropolis have just published an interview with Helen McCarthy. She talks about her Book The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga and it's recent Eisner Award Nomination.
Souce: Metropolis
Category > Events
NY based fans of Japanese Cosplay Singing Maids will want to head over to the anime and Japanese Cultural event PJ "mini" Pop to see Reni Mimura . The event is set to run on Sunday May 23rd 2010 from 12:00 until 6:00pm at the The Dwyer Cultural Center in South Harlem.
Read More... | Souce: Reni\'s Blog
Category > Retail
Bento, beautiful and healthy lunchboxes, is an otaku passion that keeps niggling at the edges of mainstream consciousness. The New York Times ran an article on it recently, some of the most amazing photos made the Flickr blog last week and there has been an explosion of books (US, UK) about the topic.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Culture
BBC News are running an interesting story about blood types in Japan. Similar to horoscopes, profiling people by A, B, O or AB is common, with it even being a popular question in speed dating. Blood group B get sounded out for people having bad experiences with them being "flamboyant free-thinkers, but selfish". You may have also noticed blood groups as part of the character profile in some games too.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Manga
The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga by Helen McCarthy has been nominated for the prestigious 210 Eisner Awards. The book is up for Best Comics-Related Book, it competes against the following titles -
- Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel, by Annalisa Di Liddo (University Press of Mississippi)
- The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics, by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle (Abrams ComicArts)
- Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater, by Eric P. Nash (Abrams ComicArts)
- Will Eisner and PS Magazine, by Paul E. Fitzgerald (Fitzworld.US)
The Otaku News crew congratulate Helen McCarthy and the team behind the book for the nomination and wish them the best of luck in winning the award.
Souce: Comic-Con International
Category > Art
UK based Hetty Rose designs and makes bespoke shoes using vintage kimono fabric from Japan. Her most popular market is weddings. They're perfect for the bride looking for something unique and colourful. We're wondering if they'll be popular with the fashionable otaku girls out there? It's interesting to see what kind of twists designers are doing with traditional Japanese fabrics, mixing the old and the new.
Souce: Hetty Rose Shoes
Category > Events
UK based anime fans will want to head over to Richmond next weekend (Saturday 27th February and Sunday 28th February 2010) where the Japanese Arts Festival will return to the Richmond Adult Community College.
The free event is set to start at 11am and end at 5pm. It includes a great line up of expert guests and speakers - Akemi Solloway, Helen McCarthy and Sonia Leong.
Read More... | Souce: Japanese Art Festival
Category > Fandom
BBC News have an interesting article about Beckii Cruel a girl who dances to anime theme music and J-Pop on YouTube. Internet sensation then followed and she even got to fly out to Akihabara to perform. She releases her debut album on Wednesday. DVDs are also available.
Her father said:
"So far it's been a tremendous adventure, not many teenage girls get to travel across the globe and have this sort of exposure".
What's also nice to note is responsible parenting (instead of paranoia about the internet):
"We've brought our children up with the internet, they've always had access to it."
"Rebecca is well aware of the online dangers, she's been well advised and has told us when there have been problems."
Rebecca got into anime fandom when she picked up a copy of Fruits Basket.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Events
In London this weekend? Looking for something interesting to do? On Saturday 30th January to Sunday 31st January there will be a Tokyo Day. Aimed at promoting the Japanese city as a tourist destination the free event is divided into 3 zones. Traditional Culture, Experience Tokyo and Modern Culture.
The event will be held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre near Westminster Tube station.
Opening hours are 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.
Souce: Tokyo City Promotion
Category > Culture
Author JD Salinger dies, aged 91. Anime fans who have seen Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex, will be aware of the Laughing Man. The Japanese producers of the series created the antagonist after being inspired by a short story by JD Salinger, which was called The Laughing Man.
The logo used in Ghost In the Shell : Stand Alone Complex also references Catcher in the Rye, his best known work.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Culture
It's well know that cute things are popular in Japan. BBC News have an interesting article about dogs in Japan that are used as fashion accessories.
It highlights the lucrative business of doggy fashion and how papered the pups get well groomed in special beauty parlours (which isn't that uncommon in the UK and US).
The article has lots of pictures of dogs dressed up in clothes apparently dungarees are fashionable for dogs in Tokyo this year. It also points out that due to the declining birth rate in Japan dogs are said to outnumber children under the age of 10. As a result dogs are pushed around the cities in buggies instead.
It also briefly covers the trend of cat cafes where you can rent cats to pet by the hour.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Retail
A keen eyed Otaku News reader has sent us details about the latest range of IKEA Textiles. The flat pack furniture store is probably best known to otaku alike as the place to go to get Billy Bookshelves to store manga and stuff.
The website Ikea Fans has details about the new manga inspired IKEA Textiles.
Read More... | Souce: Ikea Fans
Category > Events
A man sits in the corner of the busy square caressing his gun then pointing it at a bunch of schoolgirls who shriek in excitement and begin flashing the cameras, while another man beside him dressed elaborately in leather swishes his cape to an amused crowd of photographers. Welcome to Comiket!
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Fandom
BBC News have an interesting video about History Girls in Japan. The video shows girls who like to cosplay has historical Japanese characters including shinsengumi the samurai police with distinctive blue and white uniforms. The girls with an interest in history are known as rekijo, or History Girls. Making it one of the buzz words for 2009
The article mentions it's more about fantasy than historical accuracy and highlights that many girls get into the historical side of things through games like Dynasty Warriors. They point out that historical men were more rugged than today's modern wimpy men too.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Freaky Things
BBC News have an amusing article about the Santa Penguins of Matsue City. The article includes a video of the 5 African penguins who parade around a local park in Santa costumes. The handmade costumes consist of a red cape, with small bell along with a white trim. The parade is due to take place everyday until Christmas. It's not every day you see cosplaying penguins! We wonder if they dress as Pen Pen for the rest of the year?
Souce: BBC News
Looking for Anne a Japanese feature film inspired by Anne of Green Gables has won the prestigious Asian First Films Festival Award in Singapore.
It's the first feature for Director Takako Miyahira. The film won best film and best director.
According to an Associated Press article -"The feature film 'Looking for Anne,' directed by 30-year-old Japanese film director Takako Miyahira, wowed the juries at the festival."
It's the first time a Japanese film has won an award at the festival which as been running for 5 years.
The film tells the tale of a 17-year-old Japanese girl's visit to a rural Canadian island to look for a Canadian World War II veteran who was her late grandmother's first love and had given her grandmother a book, Anne of Green Gables.
Souce: Breitbart.com
Category > Culture
The Times has a fascinating article about the rise of Japan's 'girlie man' generation. Known as the herbivore generation these fashionable men turn away from the traditional life of the corporate salaryman. Not keen on drinking or expensive cars.
The article highlights that rather than grinding away at the work place they'd rather have a much more fulfilling life.
"They are thrifty and abhor consumerism."
"In every Japanese convenience store are special sections devoted to men's cosmetics, eyebrow shapers, packets of disposable wipes for dealing with sweat and body odor, skin whitener. The herbivores may not buy beer and cars but they spend on keeping themselves odourless, hairless and pale. Their clothes come from cheap, fashionable chains such as Uniqlo. This week, Shinya Yamaguchi, 23, a fashion designer, launches his latest collection of skirts and lacy tops - all aimed at men. Many of Japan's younger male celebrities, bands such as Arashi and actors like Eita, Teppei Koike and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, project an effeminate, herbivorous look."
So is the herbivore the next stage of evolution for the bishie?
Souce: The Times
Category > Events
London Fans of J-Pop, Vocaloid Songs, moe and anime music should head over to WOTA London on Saturday 21st November 2009, from 5pm to 10p, at the Freedom Bar in Soho, Central London.
This event is billed to support those otaku that loves otaku culture. Great for those who want to dance the night away.
Souce: WOTA London
Category > Events
Academic anime fans will want to get London on Friday 30th October 2009 for the Animation industry in the UK and Japan: Creativity, identity and the global marketplace. It's going to run in Council Room, Strand Campus, King’s College London.
It's free to attend but booking in advance is required. We suggest you book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: King\'s College London
Category > Fandom
Contributing writer for G-FAN magazine Armand Vaquer has sent us details about a new travel guide he's written called The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.
The travel guide is due out next month and will retail for $15 a copy.
Read More... | Souce: Armand Vaquer\'s Blog
Category > Cuisine
BBC News have an interesting video feature on the Plastic Food common in Japan. The title of the article states that the food is common in Tokyo, when in fact plastic food used for window displays is pretty common all over Japan.
It shows the workshop where they make the plastic food. Firstly they take silicon casts of the real food, then use that as mould to make plastic copies. They are then painted. Pretty much anything you can imagine is made at the workshop, from bowls of rice, noodles, soup, Pork Katsu, Ice Cream Sundae, even beer.
Souce: BBC News
Former Japanese Prime Minster Junichiro Koizumi will helping Japanese superhero Ultraman out in his new movie. The popular former leader will be voicing the roll of Ultraman King. The film is currently in production is titled Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie. It's due for release in Japan on 12th December 2009.
Souce: Reuters
Category > Anime
Fans of Osamu Tezuka, the founding father of modern anime and manga will be pleased to hear that a new book is due out November 2009. Written by prominent anime and manga expert Helen McCarthy the hardcover book published by Ilex Press reveals what makes Tezuka one of the key figures of 20th century pop culture.
It includes 350 colour illustrations and a 45 minute DVD documentary never aired outside of Japan before.
The publication coincides with the annual Comica Festival.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Buy from Amazon.com
Read More... | Souce: Ilex Press
Category > Culture
Fans of Akiba culture, especially singing maids based in New York will be pleased to hear that Reni Mimura’s new songs and CD are on sale at http://www.renireni.com/.
Read More... | Souce: Reni\'s Blog
Category > Culture
AFP have posted details about UNESCO's latest additions to the list of intangible cultural heritage.
The Tango has been given most of the headlines, but Japan has 13 additions. Mostly folk dances and processions, including the float-ceremony in Kyoto to a seventh century rice harvest ritual from Akiu. Sekishu-Banshi paper making techniques were also added as well as the Ojiya-chijimi and Echigo-jofu art of making hand-woven, tie-dyed fabrics from the ramie plant.
Souce: AFP / Yahoo! News
Category > Culture
Not knowing what to order at a cafe? Or fancy a surprise? Mac software developer Cabel Maxfield Sasser has discovered the solution. At the Kashiwa Mystery Cafe. Essentially it's a bit of performance art. You order and pay for something, and then you get what the previous person ordered. For example if you ordered a lemonade, you'd get an orange juice, and the person who orders after you gets a lemonade and so on...
Officially called the Ogori Cafe, the idea is to treat someone.
It's an interesting experiment. Of course if you can't read Japanese this can be very confusing!
Souce: Cabel\'s Blog
Category > Events
Fans of Akiba culture in NY should head over to Top Tunes Karaoke Bar on October 4th 2009 where Japanese Copsplay Singer Reni will perform anime songs and J-Pop.
Read More... | Souce: Reni
UK based readers who are keen to watch Japanese TV in English, will be pleased to hear that NHK World broadcasts on Satellite. Viewers should tune into Sky Channel 516 or Freesat Channel 209. The channel is included in all Sky Packages.
The channel includes Japanese News, TV shows about Japanese Culture, Business Shows, Tokyo Fashion and lots of other arts.
The full schedule can be found on the NHK World TV Website.
Read More... | Souce: NHK World TV
Category > Fandom
The good folks at MTV Iggy (which is focused on breakthrough music and pop-culture from around the globe) have sent us details of their new feature - Otaku Culture.
They've got a couple of videos up from Otakon 2009 in Baltimore. It includes some otaku steampunk culture along with a video on ball jointed dolls. They've also got details of J-Rockers VAMPS, and plenty more to explore too.
Souce: MTV Iggy
UK based fans of felines of should tune into ITV 1 on Sunday 6th and 13th of September 2009 at 7pm to catch Joanna Lumley Catwoman. The actress turns "cat detective" and travels around the world, one of her stops is Japan, where she'll meet a Japanese cat fashion designer (we also suspect a mention of Hello Kitty).
The world's largest cat festival in Belgium, should also prove interesting, as we've heard rumours in the past about Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service making the odd appearance there.
Souce: ITV
Category > Culture
BBC News have an interesting article about the current trend in Japan of Bunny Cafes. The article focuses on one in Nagoya, which allows visitors to pet cute rabbits, eat rabbit themed food (nothing with carrots in, just cute pictures of bunnies on). Guests can even bring their own pet bunnies to socialise.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Events
London based readers should head over to Spitalfields on Saturday September 19th 2009 for the Japan Matsuri. A Matsuri is a festival with lots of stalls, food, fun and games along with plenty to see and do. It's set to run from 10am to 8pm.
A few readers might remember that this is not the first Matsuri in London. The last major one was at Hyde Park on 19th and 20th May 2001! As they don't happen as often as we like we strongly suggest you get to this one for all the festivities.
Read More... | Souce: Japan Matsuri
Category > Culture
London based fans of ancient Japanese art, that has influenced anime, manga and video games should head over to the British Museum.
From 10th September 2009 to 22 November 2009 they'll be hosting an exhibition on The power of dogu: ceramic figures from ancient Japan. The exhibition is free to get into. No tickets are required, you can just walk into the museum and walk over to Room 91 to see this great bit of cultural history.
Read More... | Souce: British Museum
Category > Culture
BBC News have published the details of a study by a team from Glasgow University. The study showed that different cultures read different facial expressions differently.
They discovered that East Asian participants in the study focused mainly on the eyes, but those from the west read the whole face.
"The paper states that the Eastern participants used a culturally specific decoding strategy that was inadequate to reliably distinguish the universal facial expressions of fear and disgust.
It concluded that information from the eyes is often ambiguous and confusing in these expressions, with consequences for cross-cultural communication and globalisation."
The researchers also cited the difference between western emoticons - :-) and Eastern emoticons - ^_^.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Culture
BBC News have just published an interesting article about their stroll in Akihabara the otaku heartland.
The article introduces readers to the area, then they go on a tour around the district. They cover the hardware hacking scene in the area, focusing on the component shops. This is then followed by a mention of the surveillance equipment available. It then concludes with the homemade software culture, the article calls it unlicensed software, but we think they mean doujin software.
"This underground amateur culture has always been a big part of Akihabara and 'otaku' culture, back from home made comic books, now moving into homemade hardware and software."
Souce: BBC News
Category > Culture
BBC News have discovered the Manba scene in the UK. The article titled Japan's fashion rebellion goes West, features two fans of the Japanese fashion, along with a video of them Para-para dancing and a separate video interview.
"British teenagers like 18-year-olds Eilish and Declan got caught up in manba after an interest in Japanese culture led them to start researching on the internet, where they came across the style."
They've discovered how to apply the make-up by watching videos on YouTube, and use Japanese social networking site Mixi to keep up with Japanese people who are also into manba fashion. The article also mentions they meet up with other mamba fans in London's Chinatown.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Technology
Wired are currently running a feature article about the technology blessings at the Kanda Shrine near Akihabara in Tokyo. For a small fee (800 Yen, which is about 5GBP or 8 USD) you can get good luck charms that look like microchips to protect your favourite gadget, or for 5,000 Yen (about 30 GBP / 50 USD) you can get a private blessing ceremony.
Apparently the Shinto shrine started doing IT blessings when Windows XP went on sale in Japan. The local otaku started to snap up the protection talismans to prevent system crashes, and from then on the requests started flooding in. Apart from gadgets the shrine will even bless blogs and ISP services!
Update: Spike reminds me that we covered this story last year, before it was covered on Wired.
Souce: Wired
Category > Events
London based fans of Jazz will want to head over to Barbican on Friday 10th July 7.30pm see Hiromi, Yaron Herman Trio, Tineke Postma Quartet featuring Geri Allen and Terri Lyne Carrington perform some jazz.
Read More... | Souce: London Barbican
Category > Events
Fans of traditional Japanese quilting in London should head over to The Japan Foundation on Tuesday 30th June 2009. Michele walker will be exploring the world of Sashiko.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation
Category > Events
UK readers who are able to get to Richmond in Surrey, should keep the weekend of the11th and 12th July 2009 free. As they'll be a Japanese Art Festival at Richmond Adult Community College. Entry to the event is free. They'll be stuff to do for anime and manga fans, long with people with an interest in Japanese culture.
They're also looking for gophers, so please do get in touch with them if you can help out.
Souce: Japanese Art Festival
Category > Events
We've discovered the details of Ryuichi Sakamoto's European Tour. You may have heard the musician's music in many films.
He'll be in the UK from end of November to the beginning of December 2009. As always with these events we advise in booking early to avoid disappointment.
If you want to keep up to date with Ryuichi Sakamoto, you can also follow him on Twitter.
Read More... | Souce: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Category > Events
Fans of Japanese inspired art will want to visit the Barbican in London on Wednesday 22nd April 2009 on 6:45pm to see Ideas from a Japanese Garden. Where Marc Treib, Professor of Architecture Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley and author of A Guide to the Gardens of Kyoto, examines key ideas behind historical garden design in Japan, and considers their potential relevance to art in the West. Admission is free.
Read More... | Souce: Barbican
Category > Anime
Audio interview with Japanese culture expert Helen McCarthy in conjunction with Irish Film Institute.
Read More... | Souce: Eeeper\'s Choice Podcast / Otaku News
We've got a request from our chums asking for some help with Japanese charity and their Film Festival in the National Gallery, London.
They need help promoting the event and at the event itself. The kind of people they are looking to help appear to be our readership. ^_-
They want volunteers on or before 15th-17th April 2009.
Read More... | Souce: National Gallery
The National Gallery in London is to host a Japanese Film Festival (including Barefoot Gen) in aid of Japan Care for the Elderly from 15-17 April.
Read More... | Souce: National Gallery London
Category > Culture
We've been sent the details of Hiroki Azuma's best selling book OTAKU: Japan's Database Animals. The English translation of the book is due out this April.
Update: We've also got a review of OTAKU: Japan's Database Animals.
[Pre-order Paper Back on Amazon.com]
[Pre-order Paper Back on Amazon.co.uk]
[Pre-order Hardcover on Amazon.com]
[Pre-order Hardback on Amazon.co.uk]
Read More... | Souce: University of Minnesota Press
Category > Culture
Travel Magazine Wanderlust have just announced their annual travel awards. Japan won top country.
Wanderlust readers were:
"... mesmerised by its man-made attractions: Tokyo's 'fluorescent skyscapes', its indoor rollercoasters, hi-tech loos and hotels boasting 'unbelievable levels of service and comfort'."
Readers also were moved by the "country’s ancient culture and underlying serenity".
The article reads like everything an otaku already knows about Japan. ^_^
Souce: Wanderlust
We really should scour the Radio Times more often. UK fans of Japanese culture will be very pleased to see that BBC Four are currently running a Japanese Culture Season.
Read More... | Souce: BBC Four
Category > Anime
In April 2009, Alma Books will publish an English translation of Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel Paprika. The basis of Satoshi Kon's award-winning animated film of the same name, the English translation was handled for Alma by Andrew Driver. Otaku News can now present an interview with Mr. Driver which he graciously agreed to do with Eeeper on behalf of Otaku News in which he talks about his work on the novel.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
UK TV viewers may want to tune into BBC 2 on Friday 13th February at 8pm to catch the Natural World Documentary on the Snow Monkeys of Japan. The film focuses on 3 groups of monkeys. The urban scavengers, the mountain dwellers and the famous snow monkeys of Japan. The snow monkeys are known for their love of the local natural hot-springs.
Souce: BBC 2
Category > Events
We've received a press release that'll interest our readers in New York City, or who can get to the big apple on March 1st 2009. Top Tunes will be hosting a Japanese Maid Show.
Read More... | Souce: Reni\'s Blog