Japanese Sunday News #35
Every Sunday we gather the week’s weird and interesting Japanese news and present it to you in our Sunday News column. It might not always be hard-hitting news, but we hope that it still informs and entertains you. Enjoy!
Photo by bonnieleelamadeleine
Japan routs U.S. team to win Little League World Series title: Japan has long been a giant in the world of baseball, but who knew they started so young? The Japanese team claimed its eighth championship title in the Little League World Series last Sunday by defeating the US team. Unfortunately for Japan, nine is an unlucky number, so this might be the end of Japan’s run. [via Shisaku]
AKB48 Announces Tectonic Line-Up Shift: In what will sure go down in history as one of the most monumental shake-ups in music history (or not), Japanese pop group AKB48 shuffled around its lineup, eliminating one of its teams and moving idols around. Fear not though: for all of us who don’t closely follow AKB48, you’ll likely notice no change whatsoever.
Snaaake!!! Metal Gear movie announced: After years of fans pining, video game creator and evil genius Hideo Kojima has finally agreed to turn his precious Metal Gear franchise into a movie. Shortly following the announcement, Kojima offered some advice to film makers not involved with the project.
Snaaake!!! Metal Gear movie announced: After years of fans pining, video game creator and evil genius Hideo Kojima has finally agreed to turn his precious Metal Gear franchise into a movie. Shortly following the announcement, Kojima offered some advice to film makers not involved with the project.
Fukuoka Girls: Don’t You Wish You Were Cute Like Me?: Big Japanese cities have different districts that have their own, unique reputations, but Fukuoka might be the first to have created its own district for tourism – the “Cute District” (可愛い区). We’ve written before about how important cute is in Japan, and it seems that Fukuoka is trying to market itself as the cutest city in Japan to attract those lucrative kawaii dollars.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Becomes “Kawaii Ambassador” of Harajuku: Not to be outdone by Fukuoka’s “Cute District,” Tokyo’s Harajuku has upped the stakes once more and appointed an “Ambassador of Cute” — the queen of Harajuku fashion and bizarre music videos, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. With a sovereign state of cute and an ambassador of cute, what can we expect next? Cute embassies? League of Cute Nations? One can only hope.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Becomes “Kawaii Ambassador” of Harajuku: Not to be outdone by Fukuoka’s “Cute District,” Tokyo’s Harajuku has upped the stakes once more and appointed an “Ambassador of Cute” — the queen of Harajuku fashion and bizarre music videos, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. With a sovereign state of cute and an ambassador of cute, what can we expect next? Cute embassies? League of Cute Nations? One can only hope.
Territory Tensions Threaten Japan’s K-Pop Boom: Though tensions have been unusually high between Japan and its neighbors to the west since a South Korean Olympic athelete re-ignited the debate over disputed islands in the Sea of Japan, people have been missing the real issue here — how will this all affect the Asian pop market? Will K-pop continue to thrive in Japan, as it’s done for years now, or will sale fall? Won’t somebody please think of the idols?!Header image by Dj ph
