So our friend Nex just sent this video over of her friend Alan Jr, a rapper from Southern California who is living in Togoshi-Ginza. Alan is just an awesome guy who is lovin life and sharing that love with everyone around him! His rap style is comedy-rap, and he describes his sounds as a mix between Insane Clown Posse and the Japanese band Rize. Alan became infatuated with Japanese culture in High School when he found his now favorite band Rize a...

If you find yourself having trouble making your lunch cute, then this book could be the answer for you. “Yum-Yum Bento Boxes” was written by Crystal “Pikko” Watanabe and Makiko “luckysundae” Ogawa, two women who absolutely love making food look super cute. So much so, that a book wasn’t enough for them to tell you about it. They both have their own blogs, too, with limitless pictures of cute bento boxes and just cute foo...

This is an odd little story. This big old fish, the Asian Sheepshead Wrasse, has been spotted off the coast of Japan. That’s nothing surprising, as the fish is common to the area. What isn’t so common, though, is how this fish supposedly resembles the animated movie character Shrek.  Check out the video: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy I….just don’t see the resemblance. To me, t...

These chocolates are the real deal. Out of their packaging they are the EXACT same size as on the box. No foolin. That goes a long way in today’s world. On the inside you’ll find what appear to be bits of real Dalmatian! Delicious – how they made it taste like cookies and cream ill never know. What’s also great about these treats is that they shine in any temperature. Fantastic frozen, better at room temperature, and best warm ̵...

What is a “virtual vacation”? Well, thanks to the company LovePlus+, single men in Japan (and from wherever) can take a romantic vacation to the town of Atami, formerly a popular destination for honeymooners….but they don’t necessarily have to have a real-life date. As this article describes, The men are real. The girls are cartoon characters on a screen. The trips are actual, can be expensive and aim to re-create the vir...

I have recently come across a large number of photos of Japanese architecture, so I figured that it was time to make a blog about it. Some of these photos are just amazing. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all had a personal Japanese architect to make a house for us? Yea, it would. Anyways, these pictures show mostly modern Japanese architecture, which is known for minimalism, the incorporation of gardens into buildings, and difficult design...

Do you ever wonder what your role is in the music community is, as a fan, or possibly as a musician? You have more power and influence that you may realize. Everyone knows that you “vote with your dollar”, and that supporting your favorite bands includes the basics–buying CDs and iTunes downloads, merchandise, and attending shows. More passionate fans involve themselves in the industry, joining street teams, volunteering to supp...

Photo from LA Weekly Blog This past weekend was the Power Morphicon, the fan convention for Power Ranger enthusiasts…be they fans of the original series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or any of the numerous spinoff series that are still actually on television. Growing up, I was ADDICTED to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, watching it every single day and tirelessly wanting more. Yeah, I was obsessed. The show, which was originally based on a Jap...

Hey guys, so me and my husband finally found out what purikuras are this weekend! We attended the Aloha Galifornia party at Kira Kira in the City of Industry put on by Tune in Tokyo and were very impressed with the fashions displayed and the high-tech photo booths they had to offer! If you’ve never seen one before, purikura is a mix between a photo booth and a video game. These are not the regular Knotts Berry Farm booths we are talking a...

With its 4-1 victory over Hawaii in the Championship game, Japan won the Little League World Series on Sunday. The Japanese team, a solid unit with stellar pitching and defense, held the kids from Hawaii to only a few singles and one run, easily dispatching them for the title. This recap from Yahoo! Sports tells the story, as The All-Star team from Tokyo’s Edogawa Minami Little League became the first international squad to take the crown sinc...

This kid has been an internet phenomenon for a while now, apparently he was on Ellen a while back? Anyway, this is new AND awesome. At the recent Ozzfest ’10 tour, Ozzy himself had Yuto come onstage during “Crazy Train”. Wow. This kid looks stoked, and maybe a little nervous. But he freaking nails it and shreds so hard core! And, to top it all off, Ozzy lifts the kid on his shoulders while he is playing, just like he used to do...

This is an interesting manga comic that is in the middle of being translated at the moment. It’s astro boy teaching the ‘legend’ of John Lennon. It’s funny how his life is being told is such a fantastical way, but  it’s interesting nontheless. Here are a few example pages: Check out the rest here! a2a_config.linkname="Astro Boy John Lennon Manga"; a2a_config.linkurl="http://kawaiikakkoiisugoi.com/?p=4124"; a2a....

So, here we have Tommy Lee Jones starring in his own line of Japanese commercials. You don’t even have to be able understand the language to appreciate the awkwardness of Tommy Lee Jones, who is playing an alien that has been sent to Earth to spy on humans. a2a_config.linkname="Weird Japanese ad of the day"; a2a_config.linkurl="http://kawaiikakkoiisugoi.com/?p=4120"; a2a.init("page");

Check out these awesome photos of Gion, a district of Kyoto. I like how they have a familiar feel to them, although the photographer doesn’t have much information about himself on his site, I feel like he grew up here and knows all the best little views of the town. Which looks so beautiful and picturesque!  I’m impressed. Gion is definitely going on my travel-to list. You can go to the photographer’s page here “Am 4:30....

Tune in Tokyo has become a regular hang out for the J-music fans in LA. Usually a dance/hip-hop DJ event, every once in awhile they have special hold special events with performing guests. August 19th was one of those events. The night started off with Nightmare For Robots and while the style seems like it could be interesting… it was really hard to tell since they had multiple problems with the in-house system. In fact, most shows that I ...