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.

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!

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.

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.)

Shin Yamato Damacy: Ep. 1

My excellent friend Luka has started Shin Yamato Damacy, which you could say is a spin off of Yamato Damacy. In their first episode, they ask people (I think around Maebashi station XD) who they would want to be.



I can't believe Doraemon lost to Kitajima.

See also my response:

Yamato Damacy

If you know anything about me, you know that I lived in Japan for 3 years and that I made a series of videos while I was there with my friends Rahman and Luka.

The name comes from 大和魂 (yamato damashii), which is a phase roughly translated as Japanese Spirit, and is generally a nationalistic phrase. You'd never hear a gaijin saying it... which is why we used that name. It goes along with the suprise everyone had at us foreigners speaking Japanese.

It was a lot of fun. And people seemed to like it. But since I haven't been able to do anything nearly as big, it makes me feel like a total internet famous has been. ><; The best episodes are as follows: Episode 9: Setsubun

This episode was the BEST. Dressed up as an 鬼 (oni), I ran out of a phone booth to scare people.

Episode 3: Karaoke

This episode was funny just for the end, if nothing else.

Episode 10: Vanity Project

On the whole, we usually would just do interview videos. But in this one, we were fed up showing others, and just made a short film featuring us. It turned out okay, but people really seemed to like it.

Episode 29: Vanity Project 2

This episode was the prequel to Episode 10. The editing and cheesy dialogue make this a classic.

You can see all the episodes on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=40EA472A4F34B0AD

You can also check out the Revecess Wiki entry for even more info.