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K-20 Japan's Answer to Super Heroes

Date: 2008 December 29 16:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Super Heroes aren't something that springs to mind when you think of Japanese pop culture. The Japan Times has an interesting article about a new movie K-20 and it's take on super heroes. The article also suggests reasons why the super hero genre isn't that popular in Japanese pop culture -
"One reason, perhaps, is that in a group-oriented society, human superheroes may seem arrogant - or even offensive."

Souce: Japan Times

Japanese Art Festival in Richmond

Date: 2008 December 14 12:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Anime fans who can get to Richmond, Surrey in the UK, will want to keep Saturday 28th February and Sunday 1st March 2009 free for the Japanese Art Festival. The event is organised by Akemi Solloway, and will be at the Richmond Adult Community College. It's set to have art, cultural activities and fun, including a Manga and Anime Art Exhibition.

They're also looking for volunteers to help out too, so sign up if you can!

Souce: Japanese Art Festival

The ascent of manga: Japan's hottest export goes global

Date: 2008 December 04 12:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Independent are running a great article about the global reach of manga and how it has influenced British artists.

Helen McCarthy, Sweatdrop Studios, Emma Vieceli, Sonia Leong, the Manga Bible and Manga Shakespeare all get a mention in the article.

Souce: The Independent

The Akiba: A Manga Guide to the Akihabara

Date: 2008 November 07 13:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Press Releases

We've been sent a press release for a new book that sounds perfect for otaku paying a trip to Tokyo. The Akiba: A Manga Guide to the Akihabara (published by Japan Publications Trading), is an interesting blend of manga and travel guide.

Update: We've reviewed The Akiba: A Manga Guide to the Akihabara

Japanese Cars at the Science Museum in London

Date: 2008 October 19 12:55 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Fans of design, cars, science or just cool Japanese stuff in general will want to pay a visit to the Japan Car exhibition at the Science Museum in London, from 29th November 2008 until 19th April 2009.

The exhibition is set to focus on size, environment and "moving urban cells". It will also display cars along other elements of Japanese culture, including bonsai, art and design.

Japanese Cultural Workshop in London

Date: 2008 September 05 17:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

London based fans of Japanese culture will want to head to Orbital Manga in-between Leicester Square and Covent Garden where they'll be having a Japanese Cultural Workshop by Akemi Solloway. The event is scheduled for Saturday 20th September 2008, with two sessions starting at Midday until 2pm, and then 2:30pm until 4:30pm.

Kami-shibai - Japanese Paper Theatre in the UK

Date: 2008 August 12 16:50 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've received some interesting details about a very special Kami-shibai showing in the UK. The paper theatre performances from Japan used to entertain children in an age before television. This is form of story telling had a direct influence on the evolution of manga.

Fans in the UK should keep their September free to attend at least one of these extremely rare events:

Friday 19 September: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin www.cbl.ie
Saturday 20 September: Urbis, Manchester www.urbis.org.uk
Sunday 21 September: Liverpool Biennial 08 at "Atelier Bow Wow" www.biennial.com/content/LiverpoolBiennial2008MADEUP/Artists1.aspx
Monday 22 September: Japan Foundation Language Centre, London workshop for Japanese language teachers
Tuesday 23 September: Barbican Centre, London, as part of "Osamu Tezuka 80th Anniversary Season (18 - 23 Sept 2008)" www.barbican.org.uk/ilm/series.asp?id=600

As always with popular events we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.

London Manga and Anime Art Exhibition

Date: 2008 August 01 16:22 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

We've got some details from an Otaku News reader about Manga and Anime Art Exhibition in London, which will run from August to November 2008. The exhibition will be held at at Westminster Reference Library and St John's Wood Library. It's a great opportunity to exhibit work by new an established artists. Highlights include talks by Akemi Solloway on How Manga and Anime's costume is connected with Japanese traditional Culture, plus traditional Japanese dancing, music, and origami.

British Theme for Fuji Rock Festival 2008

Date: 2008 July 27 16:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

BBC News have an interesting article about this years Fuji Rock Festival, which has a British theme, to celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Japan.

With Union Flags flying everywhere, the article states that many are wearing British themed outfits.
"British acts including The Courteeners, Hard-Fi, Primal Scream and headliners Underworld shared the main stage with Japanese performers on Saturday."

The article also highlights that the Fuji Rock Festival was inspired by Glastonbury.
"We call it the Fuji experience. It is like Glastonbury, but has been perfected in that Japanese way," says the festival's international organiser, Johnnie Fingers (also known as the founding member of The Boomtown Rats).

Souce: BBC News

London Barbican Osamu Tezuka Season

Date: 2008 July 17 15:37 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

We've received some exciting news from the London Barbican about a special Osamu Tezuka Season they'll be running from Thursday 18th to Wednesday 24th of September 2008.

The season is curated by anime expert Helen McCarthy (who's written tons of good books and articles on anime and manga). The line is up a great showcase of Tezuka's work, with The Film Is Alive: Osamu Tezuka Filmography looking especially interesting, as it we're certain Helen will bring an informative take on the panel with the event.

Osamu Tezuka is the granddaddy of anime and manga, without doubt the most influential and inspiration artist, as always with these events we suggest you book early to avoid disappointment.

Celebrity Japanese bloggers

Date: 2008 July 07 03:31 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Websites

Wired are currently running an interesting story about celebrity Japanese bloggers. The article states "They're good-looking, they're geeky and they love to blog". It then has a profile of each blogger along with a photo.

Souce: Wired

PiQ To Stop

Date: 2008 June 17 17:31 | Posted By: LittleWoodenBoy

Category > Culture

PiQ's July issue to be its last.

Manga Jiman '150'- Japanese Embassy in UK launch manga competition

Date: 2008 June 16 06:28 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Culture

Time to get drawing! The Japanese embassy in the UK has launched another manga contest. This time on the theme of '150'. Entrants must be over fourteen and live in the U.K, the manga must be between six and eight pages. The closing date is the 26 September.
Prizes are as follows:
The amazing First Prize is two (2) return air tickets to Japan, courtesy of All Nippon Airways!

The Second Prize is a fabulous TOSHIBA laptop computer.

Third Prize is a superb RICOH digital camera.

Souce: Embassy of Japan (UK)

The art of sword making

Date: 2008 April 28 15:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

The Japan Times On-line have an excellent article about master swordsmith Yoshindo Yoshihara, who has been designated "Mukei Bunkazai (Important Intangible Cultural Property)," by the Japanese government.

The article is packed with interesting facts about sword making, including that all swords sold in Japan have to be to be registered with the Agency For Cultural Affairs, and that they're only allowed to make and sell 4 swords a month - 2 katana (classed as swords 60cm or longer) and 2 wakizashi, (short swords 30 to 60cm long) or tanto (30 cm long or less).

Souce: The Japan Times

Japanese Etiquette Guide for Westerners

Date: 2008 April 03 14:28 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Although it's an old article, we thought it's worth pointing to. The Telegraph have an interesting article about Japanese etiquette for Westerners. As a foreigner to Japanese culture, it seems that gaijin can get away with a few things, such as talking in the wrong tone to someone superior, or pretending not to understand cold-callers and similar salespeople. However it seems that as soon as you get married to a Japanese person, all these rights are revoked, as the article mentions a western lady who married a Japanese man, and now is given less slack than a normal gaijin would.

Souce: The Telegraph

Conan the Buddhist Bowwow

Date: 2008 March 31 16:50 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

BBC News are currently running a story about Conan, a lovable dog at Jigenin temple on Okinawa island.

The little Chihuahua sits on his hind legs, raises his paws and puts them together as if praying, copying the Buddhist priest at the temple. Apparently it only took him a few days to imitate the motions of praying. The temple now gets 30% more visitors as a result of little Conan joining in the prayers.

Souce: BBC News

Yamato Drummers new show UK premiere

Date: 2008 February 07 05:37 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The Yamato Drummers of Japan will be performing the UK premiere of their new show Shin-on in London from Wednesday 19th to Sunday 30th of March. Fans of the traditional Taiko drumming will certainly be in for a treat, and if you haven't seen such a performance before, this is a rare chance to see such a special show. Performances will be in the Peacock Theatre, and as always with popular events, we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.

Imagine FX magazine goes manga style

Date: 2008 January 21 23:07 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Art

This month's dose of Imagine FX will be manga flavoured, featuring articles on anime as well as manga workshops and manga Q & A. With the booming of amateur manga coming from the UK right now, it can only be a good thing!

I would personally recommend Imagine FX magazine to any CG artist or illustrator. It is beautifully presented, with detailed articles and a wide, varied selection of artists. They have featured articles on manga/anime based artwork and software before, so it was inevitable a whole issue would be released. It is a welcome joy!

Souce: Imagine FX

Virtual Idol Proves to be big in Japan

Date: 2007 December 11 16:27 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Gaming

The Mainichi Daily News have published an interesting story about some new software that allows users to create their own songs and have them performed by a virtual idol singer. This sounds a bit like a real world example of Sharon Apple to us!

The software Vocaloid 2 Hatsune Miku uses computer-generated vocals mixed with an actual human voice (supplied by voice actress Saki Fujita). It can be configured to perform any song and has proved to be a big hit with people wanting to create their own virtual idol generated songs.

The article states that the software is especially popular with the middle aged, even though it's priced at 16,000 yen (145 USD / 72 GBP) to appeal to the teen market.

Souce: Mainichi Daily News

Inemuri a Japanese word to add to your vocabulary

Date: 2007 November 29 17:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

BBC News are running a story about sleep deprivation and different strategies for coping with it. The article covers the Japanese concept of inemuri, which translates as "to be asleep while present", the idea is you can fall asleep in without getting into trouble, such as at meetings. Apparently it's viewed as a positive thing, and suggests to those around you that the tiredness is from exhaustion from working too hard and sacrificing sleep at night. Naturally some people fake this to give the impression that they're working really hard.

Souce: BBC News

Tokyo Top city for good food

Date: 2007 November 20 13:34 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Cuisine

BBC News have just published a story which states that Tokyo has the finest cuisine in the world. The Michelin guide, famous for awarding the coveted Michelin stars has devoted it's first ever edition to an Asian city. Tokyo was awarded a total of 191 stars, which is nearly twice as many as Paris and more than 3 times New York's total.

The article ironically states that 3 of the top 8 restaurants in Tokyo serve French food.

Souce: BBC News

Cosplay pubs all the rage in Japan

Date: 2007 November 12 17:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

The Mainichi Daily News has an interesting article about the latest trend in Japan, Cosplay pubs, where staff dress up in cosplay (and sometimes customers too). The costumes vary from venue to venue and don't seem to be anime themed. The article concludes that it's a great way for office workers to unwind and isn't "as geekish as the maidcafes the otaku like to go to".

Souce: Mainichi Daily News

London Expo October 2007

Date: 2007 October 26 13:19 | Posted By: LittleWoodenBoy

Category > Events

A look at the recent London Expo (featuring cosplay photos).

London School of Oriental and African Studies Launches Rare Exhibition

Date: 2007 October 03 18:11 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Fans of Japanese art and culture that can travel to London from October to December 2007 will want to pay a visit to SOAS (the School of Oriental and African Studies), where they'll be hosting a exhibition of Treasures, which are used as objects of instruction, a suitable tie in for a place of education.

They'll have lots of very interesting things on display, including the late 14th Century Japanese Reisai yawa (Chinese: Lengzhai yehua; Evening Discourses from the Cold Studio). This is the oldest printed book in the SOAS library and one of few known copies of its kind in the West.

Head to the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, it'll be open from 11th October to 15th December 2007, on Tuesday to Saturday 10.30 – 17.00 Admission Free.

London Barbican Anime Screening Details for October 2007 until June 2008

Date: 2007 September 25 17:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Anime fans in the UK will be pleased to hear those nice folks at the Barbican in London will be showing some more anime from October 2007 until June 2008. As with the last season each title will be introduced by anime expert Helen McCarthy who really makes the screenings worth seeing with the extra details she brings to light with each title.

They've got a great line up too. Tickets cost £8.50 (£7 members and concessions), £4.50 under 15s and they also have a special offer if you buy 3 or more tickets you'll get them for £6 each.
They'll be showing the following titles:

Romeo X Juliet (15) Tuesday 30 October 2007 - 8.30pm
Speed of 5 Centimeters per Second (Byosoku 5 Centimeters) Tuesday 27 November 2007
Tales from Earthsea (Gedo Senki) (PG) Tuesday 29 January 2008
Yugo the Negotiator (15) Tuesday 26 February 2008
Area 88 (15) Tuesday 25 March 2008
Patlabor II (PG) Tuesday 29 April 2008
Le Portrait De Petite Cossette (15) Tuesday 27 May 2008
Metropolis (PG) Tuesday 24th June 2008

The Barbican screenings have been known to sell out quickly so as always we recommend that you book early to avoid disappointment.

Anime film screenings at the British Museum in London

Date: 2007 July 24 16:50 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Following on from our earlier story about a free Naruto screening in London, fans should keep their calendars free on the following dates, as the British Museum will be offering free or very cheap screenings for some excellent movies. The titles marked as free have no entry fee, however booking is required. The other titles are priced at less than the cost of an average coffee in London, with all movies priced at £3 and concessions £2. This forms part of their Manga to Anime for Families season.

British rural tea-rooms seek geisha girls

Date: 2007 July 12 17:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

BBC News are currently running an interesting story about the quest for geisha in Cumbria. The Lake District is a popular destination with Japanese tourists. So much so that Cumbria Tourism has translated a map of tea-serving places off the beaten track into Japanese and even hosting a Green Tea Day on 19th July 2007. Cafes on the tea trail are advertising for geishas to help with intricacies of the tea ceremony. Experts are also required to help translate the more trickier recipe names like "tarty tarn drizzle" into Japanese.

Fully-trained geisha are rare and apparently would charge up to £7,000 (more than $13,000 USD) to fly across from Japan. So the tourist association is hoping some more local experts can help out. Which is why I'm really posting this story on Otaku News. I know of our readers would be able to help. Any experts when it comes to tea etiquette in Japan should contact Cumbria Tourism. I'm sure a few translators could come in handy too. ^_-

Souce: BBC News

Anime at the British Museum

Date: 2007 July 06 16:22 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

The British Museum is an amazing place. It's home to the Rosetta stone, the Portland vase, the Elgin marbles and a pretty nice collection of Asian art too.

It's also going to be showing a bunch of anime films for free. All you have to do is book in advance. The thing that suprises us is the so-so angsty tweenage Ninja film Naruto: Clash in the land of Snow is being shown.

I love Naruto but even I'm a bit suprised to see it keep company with Nausicaa, Porco Rosso and Barefoot Gen.

Cambridge Film Festival this weekend

Date: 2007 July 06 16:09 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

The Cambridge Film Festival has started and includes some anime. Highlights include:

Earthsea - 10th and 12th July
Paprika - 10th and 11th July
Ghost in the Shell S.A.C- 9th July
Highlander (anime)- 7th July

Souce: Cambridge film festival

Mikio Naruse Season at BFI Southbank in London

Date: 2007 July 04 17:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Japanese cinema fans who can get to London this month (July 2007), to catch the classic films of Mikio Naruse, which will be screened for a season at the BFI Southbank.

Fans flock to Japan

Date: 2007 June 20 17:52 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Culture

Kotaku have spotted a a rather interesting article on fans of Japanese culture making the trek to visit and study in Japan. Whilst not the first article of it's kind by anime means it is positive.

Souce: France24

Father of Sodoku

Date: 2007 June 16 04:06 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

BBC News have an interesting feature on the father of Sodoku - Maki Kaji who runs a successful puzzle magazine Nikoli.

The article reports on Kaji's discovery of sodoku and also the refinement of puzzles by the magazines readers, who generate 80% of the content for the magazine.

Souce: BBC News

Izumi Sakai aka Zard dies

Date: 2007 May 30 10:36 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Culture

Izumi Sakai aka Zard has died after falling off the landing off a staircase at Keio University hospital. She was only 40 and had been weakened by a battle with cervical cancer.

She was invovled with the music of numerous anime including Case Closed, Slam Dunk and Dragon Ball GT.

Souce: Anime News Network

Japanese Embassy in the UK to hold a manga contest and exhibition

Date: 2007 May 24 14:43 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

The Japanese Embassy in the UK will be holding an exhibition dedicated to celebrating Japanese inspired manga named MANGA JIMAN.

The exhibiton will run from 11-19 June including a seminar which will investigate "what is manga?"
The contest is for anyone UK resident aged 16 and over, entrants need to create between four and six A4 pages. They can choose their own theme but it must reference Japan in some way. The deadline for that is 14th September 2007. Prizes include a Toshiba laptop and flights to Japan!

Souce: Japanese Embassy UK

Hikonyan the cat helps Hikone Castle

Date: 2007 April 27 15:38 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Everyone knows that cute stuff is popular in Japan. To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture they created a mascot cat called Hikonyan, a fat white cat wearing a samurai helmet sporting big yellow horns. According to The Mainichi Daily News, Hikonyan toured major cities and generated massive merchandise sales. Apparently people travel to Hikone Castle now just to see Hikonyan, who comes out four times a day to greet visitors, people are willing to wait for hours, lining up for the greeting sessions. The article states that part of Hikonyan's popularity is down to his vulnerability making him appealing to otaku.

Souce: Mainichi Daily News

Island hopping in Japan

Date: 2007 April 26 16:12 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

The Times On-line have a great travel article about the side of Japan many people would not consider, the tropical islands. It's a great read even if you are never going to go island hopping in Japan. They travel through Okinawa, Ishigaki, Taketomi (which is famed for it's star shaped sand), and the remote Iriomote.

Souce: The Times On-line

Manga Workshop at Daiwa House

Date: 2007 April 21 16:14 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Continuing on with it's Rising Stars of manga season Daiwa house is playing host to a manga workshop day on the 14th of May. The wokshops will be held by three previous rising stars of manga winners. Booking in advance is required.

Souce: Daiwa House

2-Chan the voice of a nation

Date: 2007 April 19 15:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Wired have a very good article about the popular Japanese bulletin board 2-chan. The article focuses on the impact 2-channel has had in Japan, from cancelling advertising campaigns, to producing 830,000 replacement folded paper cranes, mass suicides, solving crime and even helping Train Man become a national phenomenon.

Souce: Wired

Hokusai's Mount Fuji

Date: 2007 April 02 16:11 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Art

The nice people at Abrams have sent us details of a new book they're publishing Hokusai, the artist who created one of the most famous bits of Japanese artwork, often called Tsunami by Hokusai or The Under the wave off Kanagawa. The book is printed excellent quality paper. At £15.95 it's superb value for money especially considering it's all in colour. It's due out 30th April 2007. We only wish the book was bigger so that they could print the artwork larger, but I guess we've been spoiled by looking at anime artbooks all these years. The book has some great examples of Japanese culture in the period and come highly recommend by the Otaku News crew.

Hokusai: First Manga Master

Date: 2007 April 02 15:38 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Art

The good folks at Abrams have sent us details of a new book they're publishing about the groundbreaking artist Hokusai. The book contains lots of lovely selection artwork from Hokusai and is a great example of the variety of work he did. The book is well worth £10, for curiosity or academic interests. It hits the shops on 30th April 2007.

Tokyopop at Daiwa House

Date: 2007 March 31 13:16 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Culture

Tokyopop are holding a rising stars of manga exhibition at Daiwa House which runs until 17th of May. They are also holding a seminar on the 19th of April entitled "Bringing Manga to the UK" this requires advanced booking from the website.

Souce: The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Extreme Origami

Date: 2007 March 24 18:47 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

The Times On-line have published an interesting article about Extreme Origami, the article focuses on computer geeks coding programs to create some incredibly complex folding problems. The article mentions super geek Robert Lang, a former NASA scientist who is a professional folder, consulting with car companies on the best way to fold their airbags and space telescopes!

Souce: Times On-line

UK MP fears reduction of British children's TV

Date: 2007 March 19 15:30 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > TV

The Guardian are reporting on British Conservative MP John Whittingdale's recent speech at the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers conference. Mr Whittingdale is the chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee. He's rather worried about a children's TV and the impact of pulling food advertising from children's TV - "[It will] have a damaging effect on children's broadcasting that will lead to money going out of it, the effect will be fewer children's programmes produced in this country except for the BBC," the main concern he stresses is increase in imported Children's TV - "There will be a growth of the likes of Japanese anime cartoons and American animated content which is something we are concerned about and may need to be addressed as part of challenge of maintaining public service plurality."

So in a nut shell he's worried that there won't be enough British produced children's TV, as ITV has been reducing it's children's output. The Otaku News crew want more TV greats like Danger Mouse. ^_^

Souce: The Guardian

Japanorama is back!

Date: 2007 March 15 14:37 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > TV

The folks at AnimeUKNews.net have spotted Johnathon Ross is back with Japanorama season 3! Episode one promises a sneak peak of Afro Samurai.

The Manga Bible release details

Date: 2007 February 26 09:21 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

We've received a details from publishing house Hodder and Stoughton regarding the Manga Bible. We're not talking about some sort of ultimate must have guide to manga, but the New Testament produced in a manga style. Using the TNIV (Today's New International Version) as the basis, London based artist Siku, who is best know for his work on 2000AD.

Manga Shakespeare

Date: 2007 January 16 16:17 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

We've been sent an interesting press release from SelfMadeHero about their Manga Shakespeare series. The bard's classic tales have been reinterpreted into a manga style. With Romeo and Juliet the action has relocated to Shibuya in Tokyo, with yakuza talking the place of the more traditional families in the original. Hamlet is still set in Denmark, but in the future cyber world of 2017. SelfMadeHero inform us that the series keeps true to the text of Shakespeare, but is specially abridged for use in the manga. Sweatdrop Studio's very own Sonia Leong illustrated Romeo and Juliet, while Emma Vicieli illustrated Hamlet.

Both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are due for release on 1st March 2007, priced at £6.99. The Tempest and Richard III are due to be published in Autumn 2007. Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are planned, but no release date is mentioned.

Our readers still in education might want to show this to their English and drama teachers, while our other readers might just enjoy reading a new interpretation of Shakespeare's works.

This is not the first time Hamlet has been made into a manga in English, our good friend Amethyst Angel has done a fan version using characters from Slayers, entitled Hamlet: The Manga.

Japanese Artists display work at London gallery

Date: 2007 January 06 15:16 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Our art connoisseur readers near London will want to check out Sea Change Group Show at the Mark Jason Gallery from 1st to 23rd February 2007. The group show features work by a group of emerging print makers. Japanese artists include Chie Kutsuwada, Akiko Takizawa and Katsu Yuasa.

The Mark Jason Gallery can be found near Edgeware Road Tube Station on Bell Street.

Akutai Matsuri, the Japanese swear by it

Date: 2007 January 02 15:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

The Japanese are famed for being polite, however everyone needs to vent now and again. The Mainichi Daily News are currently running a story about the Akutai Matsuri, held in late November in the city of Kasama. The festival has a chief priest and 13 tengu goblins dressed in white parading along a steep path, chanting and making offerings at small shrines along the way.

Apparently on-lookers scream out obscenities and try to snatch the offerings. The priest and goblins are prepared and parry away anyone with green bamboo staffs. Eventually the religious parade are overwhelmed and the onlookers snatch away their offerings. Snatching one of the offerings is said to grant the bearer the power of the tengu's spirit, which is why they are so desirable.

Oddly enough in recent years more English speakers have been taking part in the festival, with popular English obscenities creeping into the traditional Japanese taunts.

Souce: Mainichi Daily News

Rick Stein cooks for the Japanese ambassador

Date: 2006 December 15 16:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Cuisine

BBC TV chef and seafood expert Rick Stein has made a new one off special on his travels to Japan to cook seafood for the Japanese ambassador.

The BBC are currently airing trailers for this show and it looks like a promising, with lots of interesting sushi facts.

The show will be aired in the UK on Tuesday 19 December at 8pm on BBC Two and is repeated on Thursday 21 December at 7pm. It looks like viewers will be in for a culinary treat.

Souce: BBC Food

More single grain sushi fun

Date: 2006 November 10 15:28 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Following on from our eariler article about single grain sushi Otaku News reader totsubo over at Ege-Sushi sent us some photos of his single grain sushi creations.

Souce: Ege-Sushi

Chinglish bad Engrish begone!

Date: 2006 October 15 13:22 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Freaky Things

Those familiar with Engrish the nonsense English found in Far Eastern countries where English can be written in unpredictable and impossible to understand ways, will no doubt feel a bit of sympathy towards Beijing who are trying to clamp down on what BBC News have dubbed Chinglish in time for the 2008 Olympics. People can report the mistranslations and a panel of English professors and expatriates will review the signs and hopefully provide a more meaningful translation.

Souce: BBC News

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