News Sushi #58: Morsels of News from Japan and Beyond

News Sushi #58 And we keep serving News Sushi!

Editor Note:It is Friday and that means it is time for the World Famous, soon to be Intergalactic Famous, News Sushi from our very own, Hamish Downie. Hamish brings us a decidedly different slant on Pop Culture as viewed through the lens of a non-native living in Japan.

Thank you Hamish, for your insights.

 
This is now the column that ate itself… I knew the day would come…

Recently our fearless heroes, The Two Gay Geeks (see last week’s podcast in the hall of episodes) went to the Phoenix Film Festival and was photographed with its mascot…

Well, anyone in Japan who’s been to the cinema would know that it reminds me of this character

The mascot for the Phoenix Film Festival reminded me of this….

The pre-movie anti-piracy ad that has been playing for more than 13 years (that I’ve lived here). It’s so famous that people even dress up as it for halloween!

They even have their own figurines!

For more info: https://soranews24.com/2014/01/16/japans-infamous-anti-piracy-mascots-given-own-line-of-figurines-pre-orders-open-now/

For more info on the festival, please click here: https://www.tggeeks.com/blog/2019/04/05/bens-breakdown-phoenix-film-festival-2019-opening-night/

I received this press release from “The Container” recently, an art gallery in Shibuya. If you get a chance to come to Tokyo, please check it out!

“The work on the video installation Leinkauf created for his exhibition at The Container, Endogenous error terms, started over seven years ago, while he was completing a residency at Tokyo Wonder Site (now has been renamed Tokyo Arts and Space), some six months after the Great East Japan disaster in 2011, that was followed by the nuclear accident in the reactors of Fukushima Daiichi power plant complex. The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crises left a strong impression on Leinkauf and prompted him to investigate sheltered urban architectural spaces that are usually unseen or explored by the public. His research led him to an entire underground system of roads and tunnels, beneath the surface of the city, originally created over the last centuries by drilling into the subsoil to help control rivers and tides. Some of these secretive sites are hidden under Tokyo’s most iconic locations, such as Shibuya Crossing.

The following seven years, since his visit to Tokyo, saw Leinkauf exploring and documenting similar underground road systems all over the world, including cities across Europe such as Athens, Munich, Vienna and Florence, and stretching internationally as far as Mongolia. The Container is delighted to showcase this new video installation, the fruits of years of work, research and extensive travels, in the city that inspired the entire project, Tokyo.”
For more info: www.the-container.com
info@the-container.com

Actor’s Life… getting whipped!

I worked with Motokatsu Suzuki on a short film project some years ago. He’s often called upon to act as a Samurai in films, but, I’m sure this is a new one!

Hope you are ok, Suzuki-san!

via GIPHY

Till Death 004

Tempers flair and the claws come out as Amy and Death continue their journey in the musical comedy web series “Till Death!” Amy continues to wreck havoc at Jo’s bar when she comes across her former friend Rain and his closeted boyfriend Andy’s secret relationship. Meanwhile Yosuke and his friends Koji and Kaori reflect on his failed relationship. Rain and his band The Cloudy Days perform the hand clapping finger snapping rock song “They Go Wild” and the country tinged “Goodnight Irene” in this can’t miss episode!

HOT LINK OF THE WEEK

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Bye for now!


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