New Site!!!

Hello all!

I have graduated from blogspot and now have a new site! It's shiny and new, and you know you want to go visit it. XD

http://yamatologic.com

Yamatologic, it's dot com!

Anyway, I'll see you there.

Yuko Obuchi, living oxymoron?!

So we didn't get Japan's first female Prime Minister. We got Rozen-kun. But, he did appoint 中之条町's very own 小渕優子 (Obuchi Yuko) to his cabinet!

The only problem? She is the Minister of Birth Rate Decline. The official "Special Missions" (特命) that she is in charge of are counter plans for birth rate decline and gender equality.

Lisa over at TokyoMango pointed out:

The job title "minister of declining birth" is kind of horrendous—it takes a lot of power out of her hands already by defining what her role as the person in charge of gender is. Women don't get to choose their path in life, they just need to have more babies. That's kinda how that title resonates with me.

Now, Yuko Obuchi is married and has a 1 year old boy. My guess is that appointing her is a 作戦 (sakusen) to show women can have children and hold careers as well.

I don't think that directly translates to struggling middle class folk, not to mention, there really seems to be more issues with the declining birth rate than just the traditional "career" vs. "family" argument.

In any case, I wish her all the luck in her position and with her tasks. Oh, and by the way, maybe one way to combat the declining birth rate is to make immigration easier. I'm just saying.

Today is the JLPT Deadline

You have until 5pm today (PDT) to register for the JLPT if you live in the United States! If you live elsewhere, please check the international site for your deadline (may have passed already ><;).

So go do it!

I'm taking 1級 (ikkyu) in LA. The test is on Sunday, Dec. 7th! If you are interested in studying, leave a comment! XD

(Photo Mr Wabu cc by-sa)

Sushi Sabre you seek, yes...

OMG, everything has come full circle. George Lucas was inspired by the 侍 (samurai) and 刀 (katana) for jedi and light sabres, and now there is a light saber looking thing that shoots not but a glowing blade of Justice or Rancor, but a glowing column of 巻き寿司 (makizushi)!

I wonder what the light and dark sides of sushi are... 巻き vs. にぎり?

(via Random Good Stuff)

Shin Yamato Damacy Ep. 2.5 - Blind Date Part 2!

It is out! Episode 2.5 of Shin Yamato Damacy! Brian and Mariko go out for 刺身 (sashimi) and then カラオケ (karaoke). (Also available on YouTube.)

Go see the first part of this Blind Date episode if you haven't already.

This episode it a little long, but totally worth it. I remember using pen and paper a lot to when my wife and I first started going out. なつかしい！

Luka's style really comes out in this video. Luka is way better at letting things happen and filming it. I was more of a gonzo journalist. So I could have never made an episode like this.

Not to mention that sound effect. Whenever I hear that sound effect, I think of Luka. If you don't know what I'm taking about, go see The Legend of Ultraman or Vanity Project 2.

Excellent episode. I can't wait to see what's next for SYD!

NicoVideo for Busy People: Part 1

There is an interesting kind of ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga) called 忙しい人のための... ("... for Busy People"). I find that hilarious since my old Japanese textbook was called Japanese for Busy People. These videos are often songs where they remove lyrics such that the resulting sentences are humorous, or at very least nonsensical, like the text book.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. 忙しい人のための『粉雪』 - "Konayuki" for Busy People



This one is the best by far. レミオロメン (Remioromen) had this song probably about 2 or 3 years ago. It was everywhere. It's one of my karaoke favs. And the version for busy people is pretty epically brief. (Original version for non-busy people: ニコニコ動画, YouTube)

2. 忙しい人のための男女 - "BoyGirl" for Busy People


男女 for busy people! Very well done, IMHO. (Original version: ニコニコ動画, YouTube (subbed))

3. 死ぬほど忙しい人の為の「ポケモン言えるかな？」 - "PokeRap" for Deathly Busy People


Remember the PokeRap? Well, this is the Japanese version... for busy people of course. Note the title says 死ぬほど忙しい人の為 (shinu hodo isogashii hito no tame), which means you are so busy, you might die! (Original version (at least the audio...): ニコニコ動画, YouTube)

4. 忙しい人のためのにっぽん昔ばなし＆にんげんっていいな - "Japanese Fairy Tales" & "It's Great to be a Person" for Busy People


There was a popular show with animated versions of the old Japanese fairy tales, known as 昔話 (mukashibanashi). This is the opening and ending edited. You pretty much should watch the ニコニコ動画 version for the lyrics that people hear. They are too funny. My favorite line: 「人間っておいしいかな？」 ("I wonder if people are yummy?") (Original for comparison... Opening: ニコ動画, YouTube; Ending: ニコ動画, YouTube)

And since I am a busy person as well, I'll do part 2 another time! XD

Crying Out Love, In the Center of the Cabbage Field

First, some back story. There was a movie a few years back called 世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ (sekai no chuushin de, ai o sakebu; "Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World"). It was a real tear jerker about a guy having a kind of mid-life crisis about his dead high school sweetheart... Oh man...

Anyway (*sniff*), the following clip is about this place in my old digs, 群馬県 (Gunma-ken) in 嬬恋村 (Tsumagoi-mura, literally "Wife (Mistress?) Love Village") where you can stand on a platform in a cabbage field (Gunma is known for growning cabbage) and yell out your love for your wife. In the video, they call it キャベツ畑の中心で、愛をさけぶ, or Crying Out Love, In the Center of the Cabbage Field.



I thought this was cute. The couple featured is a little odd... but I totally dig it. The 80-something year old was the cutest by far.

This seems to be a popular thing for Japanese guys... they won't say 愛している (aisshiteiru) or 好き (suki) on a daily basis, but will yell it out at certain special moments... or at least, the dramas have me believe such.

The SmileVideo Meteor Shower

Say you want to go to DENPA 電刃, that crazy ヲタク (otaku) dance party in Tokyo (as seen on TOKYOMANGO), but you are way behind on your NicoNico culture? Well, this is your chance to study up!

Basically, there is a compilation of popular NicoNico Music called ニコニコ動画流星群 (niko niko douga ryuuseigun, NicoNicoDouga Meteor Shower), as it is a blast of popular songs on ニコ動 in quick succession:



There are a few versions:

1. The original:


2. With VOCALOID lyrics:


3. Orchestrated:


4. With the original songs remixed:


5. Like above but more chaotic:


6. Ronald McDonald style:


And below I have compiled a list of (almost) every one of these songs in order! Title linked to ニコニコ動画 and YouTube embeds. Enjoy!

00. 時報 - This would be a whole 'nother blog post trying to explain these. Basically, sometimes you get the time when watching ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga).


01. Star Rise - The ending theme to バンブーブレード　(Bamboo Blade).


02. 寝・逃・げでリセット！ - a song from the anime らき☆すた (Lucky Star).


03.　ハナマル☆センセイション - The ending theme to こどものじかん (kodomo no jikan)


04. caramelldansen - Best explained over at Tokyo Mango...


05. カービィのグルメレース - Did you know there are lyrics to that Kirby song (besides "drop it like it's hot")?


06. nowhere - a song from the anime Madlax.


07. チーターマン - Apparently a rap someone came up for the Cheetah Men II game theme.


08. Ievan Polkka - I've already posted this one, but hell, I love it so much, here it is again.


09. バラライカ - I won't pretend to say I understand what this is all about...


10. 男女 - A single by an artist called 太郎 (Tarou) released in late 2006. In early 2008, this nicovideo revived the song from obscurity!


11. モンタギュー家とキャピュレット家 - A movement from Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" that was in a SoftBank commercial.


12. "I'm lovin' it!" Do I really need to explain this one?

13. The Last Wolf Suite - a BGM song from るろうに剣心 (Rurouni Kenshin)


14. クリアまでは眠らない - "Can't Sleep 'til I beat it!" One of the two awesome Team猫かん (Team nekokan) rock songs about MegaMan.


15. 未来への咆哮 - "Scream to the Future", an opening from the anime マブラヴ (MuvLuv)


16. エアーマンが倒せない - "Can't Beat Airman" The other awesome MegaMan song. So brilliant.


17.　メルト - An original 初音ミク song.


18. だんご大家族 - "Big Family Dango" An ending theme from the anime Clannad.


19. 風の憧憬 - Known as "Wind Scene" in English, this is a song from Chrono Trigger.


20. 雪、無音、窓辺にて。　- A song from the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.


21. you - a song from the game ひぐらしのなく頃に解 (higurashi no naku koro ni kai)


22. 魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきました - a popular flash video made by IOSYS (featured previously).


23. U.N.オーエンは彼女なのか？ - Originally from the game 東方紅魔郷, this one has been remixed so much! My favorite is the Ronald McDonald one.


24. お嫁にしなさいっ！ - Another IOSYS production. "Make me your wife!" @_@ Very cute though.


25. ロックマン2 ワイリーステージ1/おっくせんまん/思い出は億千万 - Another hard one to explain in complete. The short version is that this the Dr. Wily Stage 1 song from MegaMan 2. The long version is that X Japan did a cover, and then someone did the linked video, and... I dunno. When culture gets remixed so much like this, it is awesome and really hard to follow! XD


26. After Dark - (Åh) När Ni Tar Saken I Egna Händer - Another one where I'm fairly confused about, but everyone calls it オナニー. Oh, nani?


27. ハレ晴レユカイ - That dance song from Haruhi, probably popular enough for you to have already heard of it. There's even a MegaMan version.


28. God knows... - Another song from Haruhi.


29. JOINT - The opening from the anime 灼眼のシャナII (Shakugan no Shana II)


30. 解読不能 - another anime song from コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ （CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion).


32. パーフェクトスター・パーフェクトスタイル - A perfume song!!! This is the version with the Idol Master characters.


33. 患部で止まってすぐ溶ける～狂気の優曇華院 - Another IOSYS creation.


34. Help me ERINNNNNN!! - Another IOSYS creation. From the CD Flowering ERINNNNNN!! Seems to have a lot of stuff going on related to it.


35. 千年幻想郷　～ History of the Moon - from the game 東方永夜抄.


36. Little Busters! - opening theme to the game of the same title.


37. 1000％SPARKING! - From an anime called ネギま！？ (negima!?)


38-39. Some songs from the Prince of Tennis musical


40. エージェント夜を往く - From THE IDOLM@STER game.


41. ネイティブフェイス - from the game 東方風神録


42. true my heart - Opening from the game Nursery Rhyme, here is the VOCALOID version.


43. ケロ⑨Destiny - Another IOSYS production.


44. YATTA! - You know this one if you have been alive sometime in the last decade. I'm actually in this video if you know where to look. :)


45. みくみくにしてあげる♪ - An original 初音ミク song by ika.


46. レッツゴー！陰陽師 - a song from the game 「新豪血寺一族 －煩悩解放－」


47. Air on the G String (nice boat)


You can now go to 電刃 without feeling too much like a 外人 (gaijin). I hope you enjoyed going through all these songs as much as I did. XD

Thank You Nagi Noda

TOKYOMANGO had a post about 野田凪 (Noda Nagi)'s last music video before her tragic death. I had been putting off watching it, but I finally got around to it today and I'm floored. It's so well done.

The song is precious, sung by MEG, music by 中田ヤスタカ (Nakata Yasutaka), the DJ behind capsule and perfume. The video is directed by the late 野田さん.

Her works feel like Michel Gondry, utilizing amazing tricks that are totally mundane in nature. Another video to check out is Yuki's Sentimental Journey for more of 野田さん's work.

In the MEG video, we have the people in black doing the magic. It blows my mind, because the first time I saw this effect was in 文楽 (bunraku), which is a Japanese puppet theatre where one pupper is operated by 3 people. When I first saw it, I thought it was a real person... and then the camera zoomed in on the puppet.



So this video has it all. Music by 中田ヤスタカ, PV directed by 野田凪, and MEG, of course. Bravo, simple amazing.

Yuriko Koike on NicoNicoDouga and YouTube

In case you haven't been in the Japanese government loop, Fukuda has resigned and there are a bunch of people who want to be the next prime minister. One of the many is 小池 ゆりこ (Koike Yuriko). If she were to actually become prime minister, she would be Japan's first female prime minister.

She's not really a front runner, but she does have an interesting strategy. She is using ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga) and YouTube to post videos of herself talking about the issues (or riding in jet planes). Why stand on top of a van in Shibuya when you can be on ニコ動... standing on top of a van!

I'd love to see her do well. Advancement of women and all that. But I have one major problem with her ニコニコ動画 videos; no comments! Comments on ニコ動 give you a sense that others are watching it too. So watching her comment-less videos (commenting seems to have been disabled) makes it feel like she is unpopular.

So, Yuriko-chan, let's start seeing some commenting, huh? I'd love to see some "wwwwwwww" comments stringing across when you get out of that F-15!

Shin Yamato Damacy: Ep. 2 - Is love really blind?

In this latest installment of Shin Yamato Damacy, Luka follows Brian and Makiko on a date!

Brian doesn't know much Japanese, and Mariko seems to be refraining from too much English, but its off to a good start as Brian shows himself to be a capable, かっこいい (kakko ii) guy!

From the previews, I see some similarities in this date to me and my wife's first date. Could this be love?! Can't wait for the second part! XD

(See also Ep. 1. This episode is also available on YouTube.)

A Better NicoNico Douga English Guide

When I post videos, I try to find the YouTube version for our ニコニコ動画 impaired friends, but I highly encourage everyone to visit the site and attempt to watch them. It improves your Japanese and is much more fun than watching a boring non-commented YouTube video.

So, for those of you without an account, there is a pretty good guide on how to sign up and watch videos over at Asiajin:

English guide for Nico Nico Douga, part 1: How to register

English guide for Nico Nico Douga, part 2: How to use

And if you already have an account, here is your reward:

IOSYS or Productive Fandom?

IOSYS is a music/art group that makes some awesome videos that are pretty popular on 2-chan and ニコニコ動画 (niconico douga). I think the videos are generally flash, but then they get put on YouTube and such.

Probably the one that I encountered first was 魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきました (Marisa wa taihen-na mono wo nusunde ikimashita). Marisa is a character from the 東方Project (Touhou Project). IOSYS generally just uses characters from Team Shanghai Alice games to make their songs/videos.

Strange connection to recently news in 魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきました (which has been around for a while)... at around 1:43 she says 「あなたとはちがうから」 which was echoed by 福田's whole あなたとはちがうんです thing. The comments on the ニコニコ動画 version reflect this. XD




Before I knew about this one, someone had already used the song to remix an episode of my old video podcast Yamato Damacy. Originally a 15 minute short film, this is the MAD (remix) version:



I laughed so hard the first time I saw that, I thought I was going to die. So when I found out what the song was in the background, I was already hooked.

Anyway, IOSYS will have been around for 10 years next month. Go visit their website and check out the Movies section or go buy a CD. You won't regret it.

Is perfume breaking up your marriage?

So remember I was taking about perfume, the wildly popular elecropop girls trio?

Well, looks like perfume are so popular, they are starting to break up marriages.

The story comes from
a thread on the message boards over at Yahoo!知恵袋 (Yahoo!chiebukuro). My translation of the initial post is as follows:

My wife is pressing the "perfume" question.

Hello. I'm a 29 year old married man. I don't have any children.

It's not like I'm really big into music, but I download and listen to a lot of different kinds of music. It doesn't matter if it is Western or Japanese and I enjoy music from any genre.

The other day, a friend of mine recommended I give perfume a listen, but although it was music that was fairly off my particular radar, I gave them a listen and really liked it. The music videos are also quite spectacular, so I really started to get into them and started to buy DVDs on Yahoo! Auctions and collect all the CDs I could.

When I recommended them to my wife, she quietly listened and said "This is some interesting music, huh?" But then, one day, I asked her over dinner, "Who is your favorite out of the three perfume girls?" She responded angrily, 『殺すぞ』 (korosu zo, "I'll kill you.")

"Who gets these girly DVDs and CDs at this age?! You are always listening to it everyday! You pervert!" Among the verbal abuse, she overturned the table. Since then, my wife has started to curse the very thought of perfume. If they show up on TV, she will change the channel. If their music is the background of a commercial, she will mute it just for that commercial. She does this all with a blank face. It's scary.

One day, when I came home from work, I found that almost all the pictures on perfume CD covers had labels put over the faces of かしゆか (Kashiyuka) and のっち (Nocchi). Somehow, あーちゃん (A~chan) made it unscathed. When I asked my wife what she was doing, she replied with the question "Which is more important, our life together or perfume?"

We aren't very wealthy nor affluent. It seems my hobby of trying to buy CDs and DVDs had ticked her off. In the end, she hit me with these conditions. "Put all of your perfume stuff on Yahoo! Auctions, and stop listening to perfume completely. If you can't do this, I want a divorce."

Up until now, I had a lot of CDs of young girl bands/singers in pretty heavy rotation, and I bought some DVDs, but my wife had never said anything before... And how come あーちゃん was the only one to make it out without being covered in stickers? But I'm not in any position to be asking these questions right now. I have to get rid of the CDs and DVDs by the end of the month. This is really harsh...

To the wives and women out there, is there some way that I can peacefully end this thing? My wife is the same age as myself.

Thank you for reading.

On a side note, my real name is Yasutaka.

(Translator's note: That last thing about Yasutaka, the DJ who produces and makes perfume's music is Nakata Yasutaka.)

Poor guy. But, I gotta say, if is wife is that upset about it, he must be totally otaku-ing out on perfume.

But that is a good question... why perfume? And why not A~chan? Maybe it is just her cryptic way of saying which on is her favorite?!

Ninja Drug Warriors!

lol... Japanese culture has pervaded the world enough that unenlightened anti-drug warriors were going around dressed and equipped as ninjas. The story goes that two guys, Tadeusz Pertkiewicz and Jesse Trojaniak went around in black suits with swords and ninja stars to clean up the neighborhood. When they left a warning letter, violating the first rule of the ninja to never been seen, they got arrested.

What it really looks like is that one of the guys couldn't get over his ex, and when she started smoking weed with her new boyfriend, they got all righteous. Seriously guys. Get over it.

Now a drug dealer fighting robot... much cooler and probably not as illegal.

Fukuda Kirby!!!

Oh 福田康夫 (Fukuda Yasuo)... he went from Prime Minister of Japan to viral web meme in two seconds flat after he made the comment 「あなたとは違うんです」 (anata to wa chigaun desu, "I'm different than you") during his resignation speech. There are a lot of good memes around, but my favorite is the following nicovideo one:



Someone aught to draw a Kirby with that look. Then again, what powers would Kirby get from eating Fukuda? Bitter resignation powers?

Check out Pink Tentacle, Tokyo Mango, and Japan Probe's coverage for more Fukuda Fun™.

Hatsune Miku: Virtual Idol

The title may read like a bad anime series title, but 初音ミク (Hatsune Miku) is not fictional. Well, she doesn't really exist, except for in ニコニコ動画, but she is the closest thing to a real virtual idol that I can think of.

Let me give you some background. Yamaha came out with a singing virtual vocalization program. It was released in Japan as Vocaloid. People started to make videos of it singing things, associating it with a cute anime girl character, and now all of this is exploding on ニコ動.

Imagine all those people who do karaoke on YouTube, but with a sense of shame. Why not have a virtual proxy sing songs for you. It's so meta.

I'm still amazed that they can even get a computer voice to sing. And the fact that this idol is a community created thing and not some corporation's mind control world domination plan (yet...) is something that makes me feel good about the world. The future really is here!

Here are a few of my favorite 初音ミク songs:

1. ワールドイズマイン / World Is Mine (an original song)

2.　みくみくにしてあげる♪ / MikuMiku ni shite ageru♪ (an original song)

3. Ievan Polkka

4.　ﾄｩﾙﾄｩﾙ☆ﾀﾞﾀﾞﾀﾞを初音ミクが歌って踊る / Hatsune Miku does Tunak


There are lots of covers and original songs, so go seek out your favorites!

Tunak vs. Capsule

A new remix video from the guy who brought us IKZOLOGIC... Tunak vs. Capsule. Enjoy.