photo by kamikara diary
Nintendo Wii, floppy disks, anime, and - even - jumping shoes. History tells us that this island is one of the geekish places on earth.
Well, history does not disappoint. Check out these amazing gadgets from the annual Japan Media Arts Festival, helf from Feb. 4 thru 15 in Tokyo.
* The Penguin Bomb (Penguin Bakudan)
It's a simple paper craft, made only from paper and rubber band. As you see, a flattened piece of paper turns into a penguin once it hits the ground. The Penguin Bomb was nominated the festival's special award.
The artist's name is Haruki Nakamura. On his website, he says he wants "to produce papercraft that will enlighten people and that people will never forget." At least I won't forget this artwork!
* TENORI-ON ("Tenori" means "Handy")
You may have seen this before, it's a portable music recorder/player with multiple options depending on how you want to use the device. It's 16x16 LED button matrix is simultaneously a performance input controller and display. All buttons produce a different sound, and by operating and interacting with the LED buttons and the light, they produce you access to the device's numerous performance capabilities.
It's visually amazing. This was awarded Grand Prize in the Entertainment Division last year. More details here.
The Festival's english website provides a list of past award recepients. May be a good intro to what this art festival is all about.
[via: Japan Media Arts Festival]
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
"Penguin Bomb" is da bomb! Japan Media Arts Festival 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sweet delicacy “Obaman” from Obama City
LMAO when I first saw this one.
When Barack Obama officially announced his candidacy and began gaining popularity worldwide, so did this city named “Obama” (pronounced exactly the same!) in rural Fukui Prefecture. The mayor of Obama called Obama, expressing support for his candidacy.
And now that Obama is officially the world’s most famous face on earth, what does Obama City come up with?
photo: rakuten@kagamiya
“Obama-Manju”
“Manju” is a traditional Japanese sweet, with crushed beans stuffed in a layer of flour-based pastry. Japanese love to abbreviate every other word in their vocabulary, thus, this became known as “Obaman” (pronounced O-BA-MAN).
The city of Obama came up with this delicacy and held an exhibit at a department store (Keio Hyakkaten) in Shinjuku, heart of Tokyo. The Obaman was a hit among bloggers, as many took pictures and commented on this rare sweet. Whether it tasted any different is a mystery. You can actually buy this now at tourist stops in Obama City.
So, in the next 4 years (if not longer!), watch out for this Obama City to come up with further products, food, etc., by affiliating themselves with the US president.
>More photos of "Obama Manju"
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Asashoryu, GOD of Japanese sumo, sports
When introducing the sports culture of Japan (being a sport nut, could not resist the temptation), one need only look at sumo to understand the sports frenzies of the Japanese populous.
Now, before I get into the recent craze of this country over Asashoryu - the first-ever Mongolian to reach the highest rank in sumo - I need to explain the background of this sport a bit.
We've all seen, at one time or another, two fat dudes going at it in a ring the size of a one-car garage. Sumo wrestlers are so-called "rikishi," meaning "men with power." They also sport a different mask, as sumo is a national sport, meaning that cash to operate the sport are funded (and organized) by the Japanese government. A rikishi is - quite literally - constantly in the public's eye. Thus, sumo is the most watched sport in this country.
All rikishi are ranked, with the highest being the "Yokozuna" and the next rank being "Ozeki". For the sake of argument, I'm gonna make it clear that an Ozeki is the champ; and Yokozuna is GOD. God does not lose. You lose 2 or 3 times in one tournament, the public (with the nice push of the sports media) begin to speculate you're not worth the God-like status. God is forced into retirement. Age is of no concern. You lose, you're out.
I guess the closest comparison I can think of a Yokozuna is Tiger Woods in the modern day sporting world. You're expected to win. Still, if Tiger loses a tournament, he would be asked, "Why couldn't you win?" A Yokozuna, after a loss, would be pushed with the question: "Why didn't you win?" You get the point.
So, this Asashoryu is out in the papers, blogs, the TV almost everyday for the past few months, despite sitting out the last three tournaments of 08 with various injuries (or maybe because he was out for so long). And, as usual, everyone began to ponder the "r" word with Asashoryu before the start of the January tournament.
For those who do not know, Asashoryu is that one kid in every classroom constantly looking for trouble. God is supposed to be resilient, humble, politically correct; Asashoryu is quite the contrary - he's curses in front of the camera, he's arrogant, and he speaks his mind. Before the start of the January basho (or, tournament), Asashoryu was almost forced into retirment by the media. The papers said if he lost two bouts of the first five days of the tournament, he's done for good.
So, how does Asashoryu respond? He goes out and wins the first 14 of his bouts, before losing to Hakuho (the other God, alas Yokozuna) on the final day. With the two Gods all tied with a 14-1 record, they bump heads one last time in a one-match playoff to determine the tournament champ. Asashoryu lifts Hakuho out of the ring in God-like fashion. All of a sudden, the guy that was almost pushed out of ring by the public is back in the spotlight as national hero.
The funny thing with Asashoryu is that he was almost forced into taking the bad-boy role. He's the Dennis Rodman of the NBA, the Terrell Owens of the NFL, or Roger Clemens of the MLB. He adds a spice to the sport that the Japanese people have never witnessed before. Consequently, he has the same number of followers as haters. That's just life being a bashful Yokozuna.
So if you're ever in Japan, you might want to stop by the Ryogoku (the sumo stadium) to catch a glimpse of this guy. He's definitely worth seeing for a couple of thousand yen.
After all, he still is God of Japanese sports.
*Related YouTube video
2009 January tournament - final bout
2008 January tournament - another Asashoryu VS. Hakuho bout, this one even better!!
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