When thinking about who is King of City Pop, no one is better deserving of the crown than Tatsuro Yamashita. He has many hits, including his album and single of the same name “RIDE ON TIME”, which became a smash hit upon its release in 1980 and reaching #1 in the Oricon rankings. But most notable, in my opinion, is his sixth album and...
Born and raised in Hawaii, Saleva’a Fuauli Atisano’e grew up in a modest household and was a devout Christian. Throughout his early education, he maintained honors, demonstrated outstanding abilities in math, and excelled in swimming, track and field, and basketball. After transferring to the University Laboratory School at 15 years old, he served as the offensive lineman of the school’s football team. During his...
GREAT NEWS! It was announced that ONE OK ROCK will hold its first online live <ONE OK ROCK 2020 “Field of Wonder” at Stadium Live Streaming> on October 11th. The performance will be broadcast live from ZOZO Marine Stadium to the world at the same time, and an online live performance that can only be expressed by non-audience will be held. Check this out!
Now, the much-anticipated UNIQLO’s AIRism Face Mask debuted in the US. The triple-layer face coverings utilize the Japanese apparel brand’s signature AIRism technology. Will the AIRism masks catch on in the US? On August 22, 2020, UNIQLO released the AIRism face mask at its online and retail stores in America. This is the second generation of the AIRism mask after the first generation received...
Throughout Grand Sumo’s history, Jesse James Wailani Kuhaulua remains the first foreign-born wrestler to have won the top division championship. Known for his impressive stature, the 450lb, 6’3” Hawaiian transitioned from a high school football player to one of Takasago stable’s recruits. In 1964, he made his official debut as “Takamiyama” in Japan’s Grand Sumo ring. For context, professional sumo is divided into two...
There are many music genres in Japan. Some of you may be familiar with City Pop, or Japanese pop music from the 70’s and 80’s, which has become popular outside of Japan in recent years. Tatsuro Yamashita, Mariya Takeuchi, Toshiki Kadomastu, and Anri are all examples of artists from this genre, whose songs have become popular among young people in Europe, America and Asia...
As a combat sport that is unique to Japan, sumo bouts take place in a dohyō – a 15ft-diameter ring made of clay-mixed sand. Each of the two white lines, or shikiri-sen, sits in parallel at 1.2ft away from the center of the circle. At the beginning of each bout, two sumo wrestlers, rikishi, position themselves behind the shikiri-sen. After both wrestlers have clenched...
Legend has it that ninjas date back to 6th century Japan, when poor farmers had to travel as mercenaries to make a living. The most prominent schools – Iga and Koka – were located in the mountainous region near the ancient capital, Kyoto. To escape ongoing civil wars, many samurai and aristocrats passed through these mountains only to be ambushed by Iga and Koka...
When you visit an izakaya next time, make sure to order “Motsunikomi.” Montsunikomi, Japanese tripe stew, is a popular izakaya dish. The recipe calls for innards, a variety of vegetables, konnyaku jelly made from a konjac. The ingredients are cooked in dashi soup stock and seasoned with soy sauce, Japanese sake, etc. Motsunikomi is an irresistible dish for meat-lovers. The tripe is firm and...
Natto is a popular Japanese breakfast food. You’ll find it in many family refrigerators. The nation consumes about 7.7 billion 40-gram packets a year. That’s a lot of natto! Natto is fermented, like cheese, but it’s made from soybeans. Natto is very nutritious. One origin story for natto goes something like this: Back in the 10th century, a samurai on an expedition told local...
