thirty-four. (Seohyun, Jessica)
# of words is unknown
and One Day You'll get There (that day is not Today).
author's note: this is depressing. basically - Seohyun doesn't know how to deal.

( She wants to scream at them. She wants to run into the living room, stand in front of the television, and make them notice her. )

2009-12-05 12:30:23
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WHITE PERIOD II in Osaka☆


I'm back!!
Thank you for the Period in Osaka! It was fun☆

Well~, there was a lot of stuff that got people hyped up!
There was even an unexpected drum solo... (laugh)
Mah, it was a live where we didn't know what was going to happen!!
We played songs we hadn't performed in a long time too but with different arrangements and stuff, and there were a lot of things we wanted to include until we all agreed on it, so I'm glad we made it on time for Osaka (sweat)

I'll surpass myself again for the Shin-Kiba period!!
With that said, I hope you're looking forward to Shin-Kiba too!!


Thanks to everyone, I was able to get to like playing drums very much.
I said those words at the Forum too,

but I want to show that I meant it.


Anyway,
I have no makeup so that was Nao with sunglasses~☆
(´┏_┓｀)

2009-12-04 21:25:42
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So suspicious!


Ono-manager looks so suspicious!!



He's pretending... to be someone else... (laugh)
(´┏＿┓｀)

2009-12-04 15:48:48
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Tairyou bento☆


I ate eki-bento☆


It's a bento full of seafood which Shou-kun hates (laugh)


Lives until I get back home!!

I'll do my best again today☆
v(｀┏┓´)v

2009-12-04 12:54:45
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Post-Period


Post-Period bath addititve☆


As attractive as in your dreams... (laugh)


Even though I used it last night, I don't feel like it's working...
(´┏＿┓｀;)b

→ DBSK, Shinee, Super Junior
Total: 48 icons + 15 banners + 5 headers



will be locked by the 31st.

here @ zerograavity

"Why are you making things hard for me? I’ve done everything you wanted."

Artist: BEAST
Song: Mystery
Perfomance: December 19, 2009 on MBC's Music Core
Nationality: Korean
Genre: Pop
Summary: A song about how the sudden change in a relationship is a mystery

My Opinion: I like this song much more than "Bad Girl". I only watched two performances of "Bad Girl" so my comparison might not be accurate but I enjoy watching the choreography for this song a lot more. Even though the neck part makes me die laughing, the rest of it is really fun and entertaining. And I also like how the singing parts are divided more equally this time. I chose this particular performance to sub because I love the suits and this is the best hairstyle Junhyung has had since they started promoting this song. Yoseob, AJ & Dongwoon look the same to me but I'm really liking Doojoon's short and spiky hair. However, the award for most changed has to go to Hyunseung! Damn. I never paid much attention to him before but this new cut/makeup has brought out his hotness for everyone to see. The dance break is really good too, especially the awesome backflip that AJ does! Overall, I'm enjoying this song and the performances. If you weren't impressed with "Bad Girl" either, make sure you check this out.

P.S. Sorry the video quality isn't as good as it usually is. It seems nobody is uploading 1080px performances anymore :(

( Download links, thumbnails & credits under the cut )

Movie theaters in Japan this year found themselves jam-packed with Hollywood's latest offerings in 3D CGI animation--Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Monsters vs Aliens, A Christmas Carol, Tinkerbell and Up, just to name a few. Can non-American CGI films, such as the Japan-France production Yona Yona Penguin, which opens on Dec. 23, even hope to make a dent in that market? That film's director, Rintaro--who was involved in classics such as Astro Boy and Galaxy Express 999--says they can, because they can offer something that feels "completely different from, say, Pixar."

"Japan's CGI animators will never beat Pixar at its own game. But what's the point of making the same kind of stuff they do anyway? We have a sensibility and concept of beauty that is unique to Japanese animation," Rintaro tells The Daily  Yomiuri. "That is how we can compete with the likes of Pixar."

Yona Yona Penguin, which took seven years to complete in partnership with French and Thai companies, is a fantastical adventure about a little girl named Coco, who finds herself in a fantasyland where she is responsible for protecting a tiny village from an evil threat. The filmmakers took a pure, simple approach in telling the story, making it more likely to appeal to families and children than older anime fans.

Rintaro has been a major player in the TV anime industry since directing the influential Astro Boy TV series in 1964 for Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production. He also was involved in popular series such as Jungle Taitei and Moomin. In 1983, he joined anime house Mad House--the company behind recent hits, including this year's Summer Wars--and directed Genma Taisen: Harmagedon (1983). That part of his career saw him being particularly active during the animation boom of the 1970s and 80s.

It was in 2001 that Rintaro first encountered the real potential for CGI, when he directed the 2D CGI sci-fi movie Metropolis--based on Tezuka's manga about humans and robots struggling to coexist. But he felt that Japan's animators weren't up to task.

"I don't know if we can say they were behind, necessarily. I rather think that Japanese animators just weren't interested. Over the past 50 years of 2D anime history, we've polished the skills we needed to enable us to do a great deal of work with pencil and paper. It had never occurred to us that we could rely on computers. There have been creatives working with CGI in the fields of graphic design and game design, but they weren't animators," the 68-year-old says.

===
 
( Read more... )

A very good read!

SOURCE

Arashi J-pop group member Kazunari Ninomiya and singer/actress Kou Shibasaki will star in the live-action film adaptation of Fumi Yoshinaga's award-nominated Ōoku: The Inner Chamber manga. ASMIK Ace will release the film in Japan on October 1, 2010.

The historical science fiction story takes place in an alternate history version of medieval Japan, in which a bizarre disease has dwindled the male population. This has led to a matriarchal society where women outnumber men by 4 to 1. The shogun and de facto ruler of Japan keeps her own harem of men, or Ōoku. The film will adapt the story in the first volume of the manga.

Ninomiya (Tekkonkinkreet, Letters from Iwo Jima) will play Hiroyuki Mizuno, the young man rising through the ranks of the Shogunate, while Shibasaki (Battle Royale, Dororo, Sekai no Chūshin de, Ai wo Sakebu) will play Shogun Yoshimune herself.

( Read more... )

plot: Ooku is set in an alternate version of Japan in which a disease has drastically decreased the male population, turning the nation into a matriarchal society in which young men are treated as a precious commodity never to be risked in sports or war. Hiroyuki Mizuno (Ninomiya) is a commoner from a struggling samurai family who isn’t allowed to marry the woman he loves because he’s too poor to afford that right.

( Read more... )

source: ann

*____*

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's emperor greeted thousands of well-wishers on his 76th birthday Wednesday, expressing hopes for brighter days ahead as the nation struggles to shake off its worst recession since World War II.

 

Although the world's second biggest economy is technically growing, a vicious cycle of falling wages, spending and prices threatens to derail its future.

"The severe economic conditions have led to many difficulties," Akihito said from a balcony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. "There seem to be many people who are struggling. I hope the coming year will be even a little better."

He made three such appearances during the day Wednesday, accompanied by Empress Michiko, Crown Prince Naruhito, Prince Akishino and their wives.

Akihito assured the flag-waving crowds that his health had gradually improved. Last year, the emperor marked his 75th birthday after a series of illnesses including prostate cancer, an irregular pulse and internal bleeding.

The emperor lightened his official schedule this year, though managed to make his first overseas trip in two years. He and the empress visited Canada and Hawaii for two weeks in July.

"My health is now better than it was last December, and I would like to spend the coming year as I did this year, and I will try not to give people cause for concern," Akihito said in a statement issued by the Imperial Household Agency.

Akihito marked his 20th year on the Chrysanthemum Throne - the world's oldest hereditary monarchy - in November.

The throne has undergone major changes since World War II, when his father Hirohito was officially considered a living god. Hirohito renounced his divinity under the Allied occupation, and his role was redefined as that of a ceremonial symbol of the unity of the nation, without significant political powers.

Akihito canceled a news conference traditionally held about a week before his birthday. The Imperial Household Agency noted that the royal couple answered journalists' questions just last month, according to Kyodo News agency.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and other top officials are scheduled to visit the Imperial Palace throughout the day to offer their birthday greetings. The emperor's birthday is observed as a national holiday.

© 2009 The Associated Press

SOURCE

Popular young celebrities Nozomi Ohashi, 10, and Seishiro Kato, 8, will chair the kids corner on NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” (Red and White Singing Contest) held on New Year’s Eve. It will be the first time for the pair to appear together, and Ohashi will captain the kids on the red team, while Kato will lead the white team.

A total of four songs will be sung by kids and SMAP’s Shingo Katori, 32, will be the judge, dressing up as a police officer as per his character in this year’s TV adaptation of “Kochikame.”

( aww so cute )

Source: JapanToday

Top 20 Drama Couples:
20 Nagai Masaru & Aibu Saki - Buzzer Beat
19 Nakayama  Yuuma & Kato Rosa - Koishite Akuma: Vampire Boy
18 Ikuta Toma & Higa Manami - Majo Saiban
17 Tanaka Koutaro & Suzuki Ami - Love LEtter
16 Koike Teepei & Mizuki Arisa - Ohitorisama
15 Takaoka Sousuke & Karina - Real Clothes

( click to see them all )


source: Kawaii-Joyuu

In response to an article by Japan's Sankei News about increasing numbers of young men choosing to dress as women in Japan, the blog news109.com posted a round-up of some of the country's top cross-dressing bloggers. The general consensus? "It's okay so long as they're pretty."

Truth be told, Japan has always had a live-and-let-live attitude towards transvestitism. Onna-gata, male actors in drag, are a beloved part of the Kabuki theater. But the recent explosion in interest among young urban men is a different trend.

Recent developments include a handful of cross-dressing maid cafes, in which men decked out in lace and frills serve customers. There is now a guidebook for men who want to transform themselves into beautiful girls. And last year, lingerie company WishRoom released a bra designed specifically for men.

It's hard to say exactly how popular the activity truly is among average Japanese males. The occasional Harajuku fashion-victim aside, men in skirts are hardly commonplace. But one thing is for sure. In Tokyo, there's never been a better time to get in touch with your feminine side.
( Crossdressing Maids Serve It Up... )

SOURCE: Japanese / English / English

( Images + Information )

Ja ne~!

Iwate Prefecture, Kuji City
 

Japanese online bulletin boards are alive after a Japanese Ama Diver (the women and very rarely men who dive for abalone (called “awabi” in Japanese) with virtually no equipment. It is one of the old traditional occupations in Japan. The tradition of women free-diving in the sea is said to have started over 2,000 years ago. Tourists can watch them work and eat seafood like sea urchin or oysters right out of the sea there and in other nearby parts of Japan.

 
( Read more... )

SOURCE 

2009-12-03 15:25:28
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Osaka!!☆


Today is the White Period in Osaka☆

And it's also rehearsal period☆


I'm looking forward☆
(´┏＿┓｀)

2009-12-02 20:03:54
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It's rare!


Today I went to Starbucks after the studio!

And at the store, they had run out of sauce to put on my Caramel Eclair Late, it was sold out so...
(´┏＿┓｀)UNEASY


So I used another sauce!!☆


It's rare though...

It didn't really taste strange and I didn't notice the difference (laugh)


That makes me a bit sad... (cries)
(；┏_┓；)