The results are in for the latest video game music poll! For those of you who don’t know, Ace Attorney (or Gyakuten Saiban, in Japanese) is a video game series for the Nintendo DS about… well, lawyers. And yet it works so well. If I ever had to introduce someone to the Nintendo DS, I’d throw all the Ace Attorney games at them and send them away. There are five games released to date in the west (six in Japan, but we didn’t get the latest one translated) and Japan is expecting the long-awaited Gyakuten Saiban 5 on the 3DS this summer. Fortunately, that is getting translated!
Anyway, this is my favourite Japanese video game series of all time, which is why I decided to celebrate its music! The ‘cases’ are addictive, dark, amusing and there are some fantastic characters to boot. If you haven’t already, buy the first game and try it out! If you have played all the games, you’re fantastic. Either way, hopefully you’ll all like the tunes that made the Top Ten!
Well, it actually happened, Sophie’s Japan Blog has reached 100 posts! To celebrate, I thought I’d do something different this week, so here’s Sophie’s Top Ten things about Japan! Enjoy, and post below and let me know what your favourite things about Japan are!
Let’s get the geeky stuff out of the way first by putting it all in one place! My interest in Japanese cinema and pop culture almost certainly started with video games; namely the ‘Final Fantasy’ and ‘Ace Attorney’ series. After joining my university’s Anime and Manga society, I discovered a whole new subsection of conventions and cosplay… along with some wonderful people. It’s weird, it’s loud and it’s proud – and it makes up a good part of my personality and conversations with friends.
Fun fact: there is one vending machine per 23 people in Japan, and Japanese vending machines are the greatest vending machines in the world. There really are no photos to describe the joy I felt on first discovering vending machines in Japan. Need some regular soft drinks? Done. ‘Dragon Ball Z’ or ‘Detective Conan’ energy drink? Done. What about bags of rice, fortunes, disposable cameras or instant noodles? No problem. Freshly-pressed suit and tie? Well, if you’ve been working so hard and missed the last train back and are stranded in the city, done! UK, adopt these please!
Here’s something else that the UK needs to adopt – a good train service! Japan is famous for its super fast and reliable bullet trains, the shinkansen. What’s so great about them? Well, some cool features include the rotating chairs and the way the train rolls up perfectly on the platform and doors open on the designated door numbers painted on the floor. Also, they are fast, clean and never late! A two minute delay to a train can make the news! My train out of King’s Cross the other day was delayed by half an hour because “the driver was stuck in a taxi heading over from the depot”… Again, we’re missing a trick here!
Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples are some of the longest surviving features of Japanese architecture. Shinto shrines are dwellings of the Japanese gods and people visit to pay their respects. The Buddhist temples are not primarily a place of worship but a place of safekeeping for sacred objects. It is common to find shrines and temples alongside each other in Japan and they are still widely frequented by locals and tourists alike. Many of them have been standing for centuries and are steeped in history and tranquil beauty. One of the most famous Zen Buddhist temples is the Golden Pavilion of Kyoto (above).
Omamori, meaning ‘protection’, are amulets sold at religious sites and dedicated to Shinto deities and Buddhist figures. These small charms are kept inside a cloth bag and may contain a prayer or religious inscription, and are made sacred through ritual. It is believed to be unlucky to open your omamori. Some provide general blessings, whereas others traffic safety, exam success, successful marriage or pregnancy. Of course, they make brilliant souvenirs.
Yakitori, ramen, gyoza, tempura, okonomiyaki, mochi… Japanese food is absolutely delicious. If you’ve eaten Japanese food before, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. If you’ve never tried it, find a local Japanese restaurant in your area and go as soon as possible! Some of my favourite London locations are Shoryu Ramen and Tokyo Diner. Of course, it’s much better to try it fresh in Japan if you can get over there…
Manners are very important in Japan and one of the first things that strikes you when visiting is how polite and helpful everybody is. There are codes of conduct for everything from greeting, doing business, taking a bath, visiting shrines and temples and even living in your own house. One of my fondest memories of my last visit to Tokyo was seeing to businessmen, one standing at the doors of the subway and the other on the platform, bowing at each other so eagerly as they were leaving each other that the doors kept sliding open and shut! The behaviour comes completely naturally to you in Japan and the politeness and sense of order will make Japan feel like your home away from home.
3) The tea ceremony
The best way to explain the intricacies of the Japanese tea ceremony is to show you this video from iffywiffy! Japanese green tea is made by grinding matcha leaves into matcha powder, which has a distinct green colouring. It takes a long time to complete the ceremony, but it’s not just about making a nice cup of green tea. The ceremony is quiet and meditative and brings the people present closer together. You can of course buy matcha powder in England,’simply add water’ and it’s still delicious and is a much healthier alternative to your regular cuppa at work.
Where else can you find a flashy vending machine next to a centuries-old Shinto shrine, or spy a sumo wrestler boarding the Tokyo underground? Only in Japan! Despite how cheesy it sounds, the phrase ‘old meets new’ sums up Japan perfectly for me. Whether it’s the architecture, food, clothing, music or shops, there’s a little bit of traditional Japan around every corner. Long traditions are still going strong in Japan; it’s perfectly normal for teenagers to pay their respects at their local shrine or temple in a way that is extremely rare in the west. In this way, I find Japan completely unique from any other country.
Alright, maybe you guessed that this would be my top choice. Samurai were the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan. These warriors followed a set of rules known as the bushido; the way of the warrior, the samurai code stressing loyalty, chivalry and honour. Japan was under rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a ruling family of samurai, for over two hundred years and it is for this reason that many of their teachings are still found in every day life (see points 4 and 3 especially). My love for samurai can be explained by two things: my love of history and the amazing armour and weaponry.
Thank you very much to everyone who has been reading this blog over the (nearly!) past two years! Here’s to plenty more posts to follow…
Tickets are now on sale for the 5th Terracotta Far East Film Festival in London! For the last five years, Terracotta Distribution has travelled to international film festivals and searched for the best current Asian films of the year, and showcased them at the Terracotta Far East Film Festival. This year’s festival will be running for two weeks from Thursday 6 to Saturday 15 June at The Princes Charles Cinema and ICA.
Director: Okita Shuichi / Screening: Saturday 8th June 14:35 at The Prince Charles Cinema
It’s 1987 and eighteen-year-old Yonosuke has moved to Tokyo where he finds himself out of step with his more wordly counterparts at university. Despite showing little talent, Yonosuke joins the samba club and takes to dancing with wild abandon. Soon after, he meets Shoko, an eccentric rich girl who shows interest in Yonosuke. But Yonosuke is infatuated with a mysterious older woman named Chiharu.
Juxtaposed against Yonosuke’s life are his friends sixteen years later. However, missing is the affable Yonosuke, who is said to have become a cameraman after college. Little do they know of the selfless tragedy that has befallen their ‘ordinary’ friend.
See You Tomorrow, Everyone
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura / Screening: Sunday 9th June 12:40 at The Prince Charles Cinema
The Director and acting team behind the hugely entertaining ‘Fish Story’ and the engrossing ‘The Foreign Duck The Native Duck & God in a Coin Locker’ bring you a multi-layered look into life in a Japanese council estate!
Satoru is a simple boy who lives in a government built estate where he’s told that life is so perfect he never wants to leave. The estate has everything needed to live: schools, shops, department stores, friends: all things needed to live a happy life… but as time goes by with friends leaving, relationships changing and shops closing will there still be happiness to be found in the changing landscape?
Land of Hope
Director: Sono Sion / Screening: Sunday 9th June 20:20 at The Prince Charles Cinema
Sono Sion, the director of ‘Love Exposure’ and ‘Himizu’, takes a step back from his usual over-the-top film-making style for a restrained drama dealing with a family’s struggles in the aftermath of a Fukushima-style nuclear power plant explosion in their town.
Set in the fictional Nagashima Prefecture, the Ono family finds themselves torn apart when a large earthquake strikes and sends the local nuclear power plant into meltdown. The 20km exclusion zone set by the government goes right through their front yard and for their family’s future they make the hard decision for the son and his wife to flee while the older arents stay to keep their heritage alive.
Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter
(Friday 7th June 23:30 to Saturday 8th June 07:10)
Ghost Story of Yotsuya (1959)
Director: Nakagawa Nobuo
A classic retrospective presentation of an old Japanese Macbeth-like folk tale.
Henge
Director: Hajime Ohata
What would you do if the person you loved most in the world turned into a monster right before your eyes?
You can check out the full Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter line up on the website!
Sophie’s other recommendations…
There is such a range of films to choose from at this year’s film festival, and everyone’s preferences will be different, so here are a few more films I particularly like the look of and am sure you will too.
Hong Kong film: Cold War
Director: Sunny Luk, Longman Leung / Screening: Thursday 6th June 20:05 at The Prince Charles Cinema
An all star cast, an intricate plot and explosive action all combine to make ‘Cold War’ Hong Kong’s biggest box office hit of the year.
Korean film: Young Gun in the Time
Director: Oh Young-doo / Screening: Friday 7th June 18:50 at The Prince Charles Cinema
The director of Invasion of Alien Bikini returns with a quirky, low budget time travel romp filled with sex shops, machine gun hands and Hawaiian shirts.
Chinese film: The Assassins
Director: Zhao Yi Yang / Screening: Saturday 8th June 12:15 at The Prince Charles Cinema
Chow Yun Fat in a historical swordfighting epic tale of love, power and betrayal; this year’s ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’.
Indonesian film: Postcards from the Zoo
Director: Edwin / Screening: at ICA
The film revolves around Lana, a girl who was raised in a zoo by a giraffe trainer after she was abandoned. Lana grew up surrounded by animals, boundaries and the sounds of subdued wilderness.
There’s a great line up of films here, so if you’re in London you’d be foolish not to check out at least one! Tickets are now on sale so mark the date in your diaries and enjoy!
Name your Top Ten Tunes tunes from the Ace Attorney games!
In celebration of the latest trailer released for the latest Gyakuten Saiban (otherwise known as Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright in the west) video game, it’s time for another Top Ten tunes poll! This one is dedicated to Gyakuten Saiban, a marvellous Nintendo DS series from Capcom in which you play a defence attorney, Phoenix Wright, who solves the most ridiculous, suspenseful and entertaining murders of all time! Throw in some spirit mediums, hapless detectives, samurai superheroes and film stars and you have one of the most addictive video game series ever. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve replayed all these games – I probably won’t tire of them for a long time.
I’m assuming most of you readers will have at least heard of the series, if not played it, and obviously only those who have played will be able to vote in this poll. If you haven’t already, buy the first game and try the series out, and expect to buy the rest of them! To date, the west has had the first four Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games translated, along with the spin-off Ace Attorney: Investigations in which you play Phoenix’s rival, Miles Edgeworth. The second Miles Edgeworth game was never released outside of Japan, sadly, so the fans are pretty ecstatic about the upcoming release of this new instalment!
Here’s the trailer:
OK, so that’s all the ‘Phoenix Wright is the best thing ever’ rambling out of the way. Here’s how to vote…
Post below and name up to 10 of your favourite songs from any of the Ace Attorney/Ace Investigations games that have been released in the west
Share this poll with your friends, and get more and more people to enter!
Voting closes on Monday 13th May! Sophie will then mash together a short video of the Top Ten tunes and report back to the blog
Need reminding of some of the songs? Here are two of my favourites to get you started:
Cornered (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)
Shi-Long Lang’s theme (Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth)
Gyakuten Saiban 5 will out in Japan on 25th July, so the rest of us will have to wait longer for a translation. In the meantime, you can reminisce about the ‘good old games’ or play them for the first time and see what all the fuss is about. Oh, and it’s out on the 3DS, so if you’ve not got one, here’s a good excuse to buy it!
Powerful, spell binding and infectious; the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers are touring the UK this spring. As the most successful touring taiko drum group on this continent, Mugenkyo have developed a spectacular passionate style with music for the soul, fusing the traditional spirit with a contemporary look & sound, creating a modern stage performance that has captivated audiences everywhere.
Taiko drums are unique to Japan and drumming has been an important part of the country’s history for centuries. These magnificent drums are traditionally played in temples and shrines during religious festivals and ceremonies, and are a traditional accompanying sound to warfare. It has only been in the last 40 years that taiko drums have been bought to stage, and Mugenkyo is the UK’s longest established drumming ensemble. One of the most memorable taiko drums is the O-daiko, which is so big it permanently resides in the shrine or temple. It takes great endurance to play this powerful instrument. The smaller byō-uchi-daiko is made from a hollowed out piece of wood and shime-daiko have heads sewn on to iron rings which are then laced to each other around the drum body. The shime daiko can be tuned by tightening the rope but the byō-uchi-daiko is defined by the diameter of the tree they are made from.
Mugenkyo forge a new path for taiko drumming and present it as a modern performing art complete with dramatic lightning, choreography and costumes. They are touring England and Scotland this May, so find out if they are coming to a city near you and book some tickets! You won’t be disappointed.
Wednesday 1 May: Hamilton, Town Hall
Thursday 2 May: Aberdeen, Music Hall
Friday 3 May: Ayr, Town Hall
Saturday 4 May: Arbroath, Webster Memorial Theatre
Tuesday 7 May: Bolton, The Albert Halls
Wednesday 8 May: Leicester, De Montford Hall
Thursday 9 May: Birmingham, Town Hall
Friday 10 May: Weston Super Mare, The Playhouse
Saturday 11 May: Ilfracombe, The Landmark Theatre
Sunday 12 May: Exmouth, The Pavilion
Tuesday 14 May: Neath, Gwyn Hall
Wednesday 15 May: Taunton, The Brewhouse
Thursday 16 May: Portsmouth, Kings Theatre
Friday 17 May: Horsham, The Capitol
Saturday 18 May: Leamington Spa, Royal Spa Centre
Sunday 19 May: Welwyn Garden City, Hawthorne Theatre
Tuesday 21 May: Derby, Assembly Rooms
Wednesday 22 May: Halifax, Victoria Theatre
Thursday 23 May: Stockport, The Plaza
Friday 24 May: Lytham St Annes, Lowther Pavilion
Need more convincing? Just watch this video…
If you’re around Glasgow or Edinburgh, you can even head over to the Mugen Taiko Dojo and take part in one of their workshops!
If you happen to be living down south (like me), you may need to take a trip and have a night out with friends! With any luck, I’ll be able to make one of the performances and blog about it!
It’s been a long time since I last did a Japan travel post, so I thought I’d tell you about the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited in Japan (so far): Miyajima Island.
All photos were taken by yours truly, which is pretty rare for this blog!
Miyajima Island is considered to be one of the most spiritual places in Japan. It is home to the giant ‘floating’ torii gate, so-called because it appears to be floating when the tide is in. When the tide is out, you can walk right under it! Beyond the torii gate is Itsukushima Shrine, which is also built over the water. Torii gates mark the entrance of Shinto shrines, and people come to pay their respects to the resident kami gods and pray for good luck. To reach Miyajima Island, you must take a short boat ride from Hiroshima. It’s a site to behold when the floating torii gate comes into view for the first time.
Shortly after stepping off the boat, you’ll meet the friendly four-legged locals. The wild deer on the island have become accustomed to humans over the years, to the point that they will jump up at you and go rummaging around bags hanging over push chairs.
Beyond Itsukushima Shrine is Mount Misen, the place where Buddhism was first believed to be practiced. Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect and one of Japan’s holiest religious people, meditated at the summit and lit a flame at the Reikado (Hall of Spiritual Flame) which still burns today. A short distance from the summit is Misen Hondo, one of three places where Tantric Shingon Buddhism is taught, as well as a few other shrines and temples where you can pay respects to the kami and purchase an omamori charm for good luck.
There are two ways to reach the summit; either follow in the footsteps of Kodo Daishi and hike 529.8m above sea level, or cheat and take the ropeway and take a still rather hilly but much shorter fifteen minute walk to the summit. When I went with my mum in September, we decided to carry on beyond the summit and ‘explore’ the steep pathways but the heat and terrain soon beat us. At one point it looked like we were lost but we found our way back to the ropeway station, enjoyed the world’s most rewarding icecream and took the easy way back down to the town. If you’re a hardcore hiker, however, there are the Seven Wonders of Mount Misen to look out for:
Kiezu-no-hi: The sacred fire at the Reikado that has burned for over 1,170 years.
Shakujo-no-ume: Kobo Daishi’s plum staff where he left it and sprouted roots and leaves. If the staff-turned-tree doesn’t bloom its double blossoms in the spring it is considered a bad omen.
Mandala Rock: A large rock into which Kobo Daishi carved Buddhist sutras in Sanskrit and Chinese.
Kanman-iwa: A rock with a hole which is said to be filled with salt water during high tide and drain out during low tide.
Shigure-zakura: It is always damp under this cherry tree, so a perfect resting spot for hikers.
Ryuto-no-sugi: Ryuto is a phenomenon where lights appear on the sea, and it is best viewed from this cedar tree.
Clapping wood sound: At night, you can hear the sound of wood clapping on the mountain. It is said to be the work of a Japanese Tengu goblin clapping wooden clappers.
After all that walking, you’ll want to explore the rest of the island. One of the most beautiful structures in the town is the five-storied Tahota Pagoda, which sits on a hill rising behind Itsukushima Shrine. Nearby is Senjokaku, the pavilion of 1000 mats, so-called because it is the size of approximately 1000 tatami mats. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three great unifiers of Japan, commissioned the hall for the purpose of chanting Buddhist sutras in 1587. However, he died before it was completed and was succeeded by Tokugawa Ieyasu rather than his heirs, so it was never finished. Although it has neither ceiling nor a front entrance, it is still impressive to see.
The Daisho-in is also an essential viewing place. This temple is located at the bottom of Mount Misen and features various buildings, statues and religious objects. The most impressive place is a cave filled with 88 buddhas representing the temples of the famous Shikoku Pilgrimage. I recommend visiting Daisho-in at night when the staircase is lit by candlelight. You’ll need to stay in a traditional ryokan inn for at least one night in order to see the island in all its glory in both the light and dark.
There are so many breath-taking views and secrets hidden down the alleyways of the town. In many ways, it feels other-worldly. The best way to experience Miyajima is to see it so, for now, I will leave you with some more holiday photos and urge you to spend some time on this beautiful island.
Or should that title be ‘The many eyepatchesof Date Masamune’? Ha ha ha! *ahem*
Ever noticed how there seem to be a lot of good-looking men in Japanese TV series and video games- specifically, young handsome samurai? I came across this amusing article on Japan Probe, which tries to answer the question of why Japanese women are so in love with ‘scarred, disease-riddled, brutal men of history’. In fact, this question stretches to western women as well – I myself am a self-proclaimed Sengoku-era nut and, although I am genuinely passionate about samurai history, my perceptions have definitely been skewed by pop culture portrayals of various samurai. Let’s look at one particular example: Date Masamune.
My favourite line in the Japan Probe article is ‘The biggest turn-off might have been that Lord Date has been dead for 373 years, having flourished during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period’.
I’m having a few ‘easy’ blog weeks after the madness of the cosplay competition, so I’m using this opportunity to look at some of the modern variations of one of Japan’s best known samurai. If you’ve come across the post and have absolutely no idea who Date Masamune even was, here’s a summary taken straight from Japan Probe:
Masamune Date is not an obvious heart-throb for today’s young Japanese women. He has an aristocratic lineage and love of the arts — but he is also a one-eyed ruthless killer. He lost an eye to smallpox and in his relentless pursuit of power is said to have slaughtered his own brother, as well as Christian missionaries, Korean peasants and countless of his compatriots.
Oh my god, I totally want to take this guy back home and introduce him to my mum!
Sengoku Basara Date Masamune
I’m getting this one out of the way first, seeing how most anime fans will already be familiar with this version of Date Masamune. This show is guilty of so many historical inaccuracies it should really make me cry but I can’t help loving it. Sengoku Basara‘s Date Masamune is most recognisable by his steed decked out as a motorbike, the six electricity-generating swords that he wields and completely random English dialogue that makes absolutely no sense or relevance to the plot. It’s the Japanese equivalent of a show about Queen Victoria… and Queen Victoria is a Transformer.
Shut up, I love this show!
Here’s a video of this Date Masamune’s ‘best bits’.
This version of Date Masamune, along with Sengoku Basara‘s, is probably the most well-recognised modern depiction of our dear samurai. Note the eye patch and crescent moon helmet! Although it is well known in Japanese history that Date Masamune was indeed recognisable by that famous helmet, it’s debatable whether he ever actually wore an eyepatch, as he’s rarely depicted wearing it in traditional art. We might think that eye patches today are the epitome of badassery but Masamune’s missing eye is what led to his mother condemning him as unfit to take over the Date clan as leader. It’s even rumoured that she tried to poison him one night.
Anyway, historical inaccuracies aside, this Date Masamune (and Sengoku Basara’s) probably have the largest female fan bases today. He’s young, handsome, reckless and a bit of a bad boy. Is there any need for character development of any sort? No, the Samurai Warriors game series is all about the fighting and good-looking men.
Tono to Issho Date Masamune
The Date Masamune in this series (a parody sketch show of Sengoku-era samurai) is probably the stupidest Date Masamune of them all. He seems to walk into walls and get stuck under things a lot… plus, he has a million different eyepatches that have various and pretty useless functions. Definite eyepatch fetish thing there. It’s also hinted that he was probably dropped on his head a few times and, yes, it’s historically inaccurate again.
Here’s a clip from Tono to Issho, so you can see the stupidity in action:
Oh look, another historically inaccurate Date Masamune! I shouldn’t expect anything else…
Brave 10 is a manga and anime series based on the legendary Sanada Ten Braves, a group of ninja aligned to the samurai warlord Sanada Yukimura during the Sengoku era of Japan. For some reason he is very effeminate, unlike the other versions we’ve seen so far. He is also great rivals with Sanada Yukimura, as in Sengoku Basara, even though there’s no historical evidence that the two had much to do with each other…
I’m not even joking, there is a wrestler in Japan who goes by the name of ‘Masamune’. Even better, he forms the tag team ‘Sengoku’ with wrestling partner Hideyoshi. There’s something for you historians to enjoy! Masamune and Hideyoshi won two tag tournaments and competes mainly in the Osaka Pro Wrestling tournament, so I guess he kind of counts as a warrior?
Alright, so this Masamune is actually Mexican and lacks the main features associated with our historical subject, but I couldn’t resist adding this one to the list.
Of course, there’s no shortage of samurai drama on Japanese TV. Since 1963, NHK has broadcast the Taiga dorama (Big River drama), an annual year-long historical fiction series. The 25th Taiga drama, broadcast in 1987, was Dokuganryu Masamune, ‘dokuganryu’ translating to one-eyed dragon, and Date Masamune was played by Ken Watanabe. Does that name sound familiar? Well, for starters, he was Ra’s Al-Ghul in Batman Begins, and he also starred in Memoirs of a Geisha and Inception.
Sadly, I’ve not found any footage of Dokuganryu Masamune but I have every reason to assume Ken Watanabe pulls off Date Masamune well. He looks more ‘bad ass’ than ‘bishounen’, so it looks like NHK kept the samurai a little closer to his origins.
Now, I’m all for gender equality but I’m not so keen on this ‘presentation’ of Date Masamune. Sengoku Otome, Sengoku Collection and Nobunaga no Yabou obviously think otherwise.
There seems to be a theme of gender-bending in Japanese anime and, for some reason, Sengoku-era samurai seem to be the favourite targets for many show creators. Out of all of these shows, I managed five minutes of Sengoku Otome and had to turn it off. I can cope with historical inaccuracies but I draw the line at Date Masamune being a woman with huge knockers…
I hate to say something so painfully obvious but Japan really loves its cute stuff. There seem to be 500 odd anime or manga series that feature a cute kitty mascot and Nyanpire takes it to another level by making a vampire kitten the main character of its non-sensical yet cute series. There’s an array of fluffy characters and Date Masamune somehow worked his way into the series as Masamunya Dokuganryu. Well, at least they kept the eyepatch and helmet but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a particular fondness for cute fluffy kitties.
Of course, there are more interpretations of Date Masamune floating around out there but here are some of my favourites. I came across a salaryman version of Date Masamune but sadly can’t find it now. If anyone can point me in the right direction it’d be very appreciated!
When I first heard that a manga about the life of Apple founder, Steve Jobs, had been published in Japan, I was rather surprised and thought ‘erm… why’? Then again, the Japanese love their technology (just take a stroll down Akihabara) and it seems inevitable that most popular things get the manga treatment eventually, from samurai to baking bread.
Penned by Mari Yamazaki, author of Thermae Roma, the first instalment of the manga will be published in the young women’s comic anthology Kiss in April. The manga is inspired by the best-selling biography written by Walter Isaacson, following Jobs’ death in 2011, and opens with a conversation between Jobs and Isaacson.
‘So Walter’.
‘Yes?’
While we were walking, he made me an unexpected offer
‘Would you write my biography?’
‘Your biography??’
‘That’s right.’
‘So this is the reason why I came to Colorado to meet your wife and kids’.
‘Yep’.
‘I think I would make an interesting subject.’
The manga then moves chronologically through Steve’s life, and he is apparently portrayed as a “cute, doe-eyed kid” – typical manga hero, then? Steve grows from a young boy who worries over his relationship with his adoptive parents to a college student who female readers could easily fall in love with. No doubt, there will also be narrative on his business with Apple. I’m quite curious to see how that will be manga-fied for a young girl’s comic.
You can read a bit more on The Guardian but it looks like we’ll have to ‘wait and see’ before we can make any judgements. I’ve still got my first generation iPod touch and it works perfectly, as well as my beloved iPad mini, so I’m quite the Apple consumer. That said, does giving Steve Jobs the manga treatment bring anything new to his story, Apple or manga itself? I’m quite curious to see what other people have to say, so please post below! Is this the start of the American biographical manga trend? In which case, who else would you like to see manga-fied?
If you were thinking “it’s high time I go and check out to a new exhibition in London”, you’ll be glad to know that the ‘Souzou’ exhibition will be coming to the Wellcome Collection next week and running until the end of June.
Wellcome Collection’s spring exhibition, ‘Souzou: Outsider Art from Japan’, will bring together more than 300 works for the first major display of Japanese Outsider Art in the UK. The 46 artists represented in the show are residents and day patients at social welfare institutions across the main island of Honshu, and they present diverse bodies of work including ceramics, textiles, paintings, sculpture and drawings.
The exhibition is divided into six galleries, each exploring a different aspect of Outsider Art:
Language (artists’ efforts to overcome difficulties in communicating with others)
Making (unconventional materials, reused and repurposed)
Representation (the essence of people and things surrounding the artists)
Relationships (how artists depict themselves)
Culture (the artists’ keen awareness of their surroundings and wider cultural contexts)
Possibility (high levels of inventiveness in which new forms of creation are born)
It is interesting to note that ‘Souzou’ has no direct translation in English, although it has two meanings in Japanese. ‘Creation’ or ‘imagination’ – both alluding to a force in which new ideas are born and take shape in the world.
‘Souzou’ has been organised in association with Het Dolhyus, the Museum of Psychiatry in the Netherlands, and the Social Welfare Organisation Aiseikai in Tokyo. ‘Outsider Art’, defined as works made by self-taught artists who are perceived as being on the margins of society. The exhibition will record the intimate experiences of its artists through material and representation, exploring themes such as ‘representation’ and ‘relationships’.
This certainly looks like it will be a unique exhibition and well worth a visit, whether you are an art lover, Japanophile or just curious. You can read more about the exhibition on the Wellcome Collection website - and you can expect another blog post on the event in a couple of weeks!
What better excuse to play about with matcha powder in the kitchen than a ‘Great British Bake-Off’ in aid of Comic Relief at your office? I’m not the competitive type but I am the cake-eating type, so of course I had to join in. I’ve actually been ill with mild food poisoning/stomach bug (I’m not sure what, to be honest) which has meant I’ve barely eaten anything since Tuesday. Maybe jumping straight back in to sweets wasn’t the best idea but oh well…
Given how I baked some matcha cookies a few weeks ago and posted very similar results on the blog, I’m now convinced I’m cursed and should probably get outside my matcha cooking zone. Still, I swear these smelled amazing in the oven and still tasted pretty good!
Well, it’s all for charity, so I guess it’s the taking part that counts. I also decided to buy one of the red noses this year to get in the full spirit, so I obviously went with the geeky glasses-wearing squidgy dinosaur one.
I hope you managed to do something for Red Nose Day today, whether it was at school or work or elsewhere. If you’ve only just remembered what day it is today, make sure you watch BBC tonight! Here’s a link to the TV guide to save you the trouble!
On the subject of fun, don’t forget there’s still time to enter the blog’s cosplay competition in association with MVM Entertainment!
