The event I forgot: Sapporo Snow Festival

The event I forgot: Sapporo Snow Festival

Monday, February 29, 2016 / No Comments

As the title suggests I was too overwhelmed with work and I had really forgotten about it, even though I had already prepared the pictures a long time back. A thousand apologies.Here's something to cheer you up.

Hokkaido is the mostly all year winter part of Japan nearest to Russia. Temperatures can dip as low as an extremities freezing -12 degrees! And yet tourism is at almost 50 million a year, with foreigners at about 7 million. 

One reason is food, food, food. Hokkaido has almost everything dairy products, to fresh seafood, pastries, and even ice cream, and all of it will never cost as much as mainland Japan. The festivals help too. And for the otakus, the main attraction is probably the yearly Sapporo Yuki Matsuri in one February week.

Featuring fantastic ice and snow sculptures, the icy weather helps to preserve them for any visitor till the end of the Matsuri week. From chisels to chainsaws, the variety of exhibits on display is breathtaking. This detailed building, for example, is almost as tall as the real building beside it!

But this year, they really went all out on the Titans Sculpture. Look the gigantic scale of the thing!. The crane looks almost toylike. There's even scaffolding involved!

 

Not surprisingly the revived Dragonball made an appearance. As did Hatsune Miku.

People are already making fun shots with editing software. So brave the winter, people, for a fun trip to the coldest place in Japan. Because there are many places to go. The Sapporo Snow festival is just one of the many winter events. For example, extra content: Fireworks at Lake Akan.

 

Written by Don

Introduce a doujin creator: Banpai Akira

Introduce a doujin creator: Banpai Akira

Saturday, February 27, 2016 / No Comments

I have been reading through the contributions on the main page when I have the time. And here is something interesting. While Nana has covered briefly what is doujin and a guide to comike, she has not really mentioned any doujin creator. For obvious reasons. Most of the doujinshi being sold are considered pornographic in any other country. I have already touched on how Japan's liberal attitude towards sex made even westerners squirm previously, and of course I cannot cover most of the stuff here. But there are vanilla doujins, family friendly titles that can be sold anywhere without raising eyebrows. And several of these creators are cult favourites with fans. One of these is Banpai Akira.   

Now banpai akira is not her real name. Its a actually a spin on Vampire. Indeed her works have a vampiric feel. Even her Twitter nick is @vampirekiller. She has certainly been involved in the doujin circuit for more than 5 years. But she became famous even in the west for the cult hit Castlevania doujin game, Koumajo Densetsu, and Its sequel, Koumajo Densetsu II.

There is probably no gamer alive who does not know Konami's Castlevania series, though it no longer resembles the 2d scroller titles it used to be. Frontier Aja brings the player back to the roots of what made Castlevania a hit. Their Touhou take on Symphony of the Night has Reimu taking on the role of Richter Belmont, with Sakuya playing Alucard. The feel and the music of this title has captured the essence of why Symphony of The Night is an unforgettable hit. And it offers way better graphics that the Playstation 2. Studio Aja, has, unfortunately, not been updating their homepage for many years. Many doujin circles die a natural death when their members get on with life, either more studies or coming out to work. 

Akira is still publishing with her circle, Yatsukame, regularly. She also is involved with other doujin groups for guest illustrations and contributed to Pixiv Girls Collection 2012. Unfortunately that is all she has revealed about herself. Nothing is else is know about her. Let us hope that she can continue to publish for a long long time. 

Written by Don

Snippets: Nikkei and the 4 letter word, Diablock dragonquest mural wows in Shinjuku (photos)

Snippets: Nikkei and the 4 letter word, Diablock dragonquest mural wows in Shinjuku (photos)

Wednesday, January 27, 2016 / No Comments

Okay, it is time for another round of snippets. And it is fun one.But please do not be drinking anything when you read the next paragraph. 

The Nikkei is probably THE most respectable newspaper in Japan. So I literally could not believe my eyes when I saw this. On page 3 , no less!

No, this is not some prank or photoshop fake. Even Peter Landers, Wall Street Journal's Tokyo bureau Chief tweeted "Just curious ... did the top folks at Nikkei approve of having the f-word printed in big letters on page 3 (albeit in an ad)?"

Even in the liberal west there would be some form of censorship. Like this. The title of the book that ad is promoting is actually "F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way". Now the title of the book is actually a funny spin on how probably the western equivalent of the Eastern concept of letting go is that, and its selling quite well. But to print out the entire uncensored title when even the english version censored its title is simply crazy. Because the four letter word has EXACTLY the same meaning for the Japanese. There is no Lost in Translation joke, no linguistic ambiguity at all. So we will wait and see if the Nikkei prints an apology soon. All in all, this is simply a WTF story. 

Fans visiting Shinjuku soon take note. There is now a fantastic wall mural in the basement of Shinjuku Station! Built entirely with Diablock, the Japanese answer to Lego, this glorious piece of art took thousands of blocks and the details are simply great. The pixelated look brings out the nostalgic feel of the old classic. How many monsters can you 

spot?

This is actually to promote the next title, Dragonquest Builders, out this month. Go down quick before they remove it!

Sign up for explosive cosplays! Cosnavi and its crazy events! (photos)

Sign up for explosive cosplays! Cosnavi and its crazy events! (photos)

Monday, January 25, 2016 / No Comments

Japan is the land of cosplay, and of course copslayers are pushing the limits every event. In steps Cosnavi, now trending for its various mass location shoot events. Cosnavi essentially is a cosplay events company and the average cosplayer is simply spoiled for choice. They have shoots in almost every imaginable setting. 

This beautiful river is perfect for Fate cosplay. Events like this generally don't cost much. And transport is provided, even if it is only to the nearest station.

Of course any cosplayer can recognise a nice sakura spot when they see one! A quiet place is the best for shoots. You can be sure they will be hunting for these every year. Bookings are available now.

Nice winter shoot. They even offer to pick you up if you are not confident to drive to this obscure spot because of the thick snow.

Perfect for monogatari's nadeko snake!

They actually booked an entire shrine for cosplay, with permission given to shoot in the interior! You don't get to do this on your own. 

Shibuya Club! These Death Parade guys are not missing the opportunity! Cosnavi booked the entire premise!

For all your dancing needs! Great for Persona dancing all night cosplay! There are other interesting locations too.

An abandoned building.

Mundane places such as a school and its library

I have no idea where to find a huge white building with long staircases and high walls either. But they do.

So let's end the article on money. For the explosive shoots, for example, at Mount Iwafune, famous for the various tokusatsu scenes done there, it is 5000yen per entry. Non cosplayers pay 2500yen. They charge 1300yen per person for every explosion.

And then there's the fantastic fire photography, like what the Sengoku Basara and the FF Agito cosplayers are using. 

Its another 5000yen per cosplayer, and 1000yen for every torch. I have no idea how much they charge for the fiery curtain above. 

Overall, this is a relatively inexpensive outdoor trip for cosplayers to have fun and do gatherings, or do location shoots for cosplay DVDs. With production like this, who needs CGI?

Written by Don

Itasha, Itansha or Itabag?

Itasha, Itansha or Itabag?

Sunday, January 10, 2016 / No Comments

To All,

For today, let's examine the changes of one of the most amazing trends cultured in Japan -- the Itasha.

Itasha, renowned for its name in Kanji which translates to "Painful automobile" has not made certain if the pain was contributed to by the cost of applying the print of your favorite anime character to your car, or the moment when your car gets scratched. Perhaps it's both. Or maybe it's due to the cost of purchasing a car?

If you have been to AFA, you have definitely seen an Itasha. Those cars covered with Suenaga Mirai or Hatsune Miku decals are (strangely) one of the few things I expect to see at every AFA. Perhaps it's because I don't own an Itasha, or because I don't frequently come across Itasha in Singapore, that seeing one is one of my perks at a convention!

Is there anyone who would like to put some To Aru decals on their car?

(Aoshima decals can be found on sites like HobbyLink Japan or Amazon jp)

And in case, you think of Itasha as simply putting decals of your favorite character on your car, you're wrong. True Itasha fans go beyond the exterior and decorate even the interior of their cars, building the perfect anime haven for themselves!

Going from wrapping their seats with Dakimakura (body pillow) covers to displaying magazines, plushies and even figures of their favorite characters... As long as you can name it, I'm sure there's a car out there who has it!

All itasha images are taken from DannyChoo's website.

As someone who doesn't own an Itasha, the question that always bugs me when I spot an Itasha is "Do people actually drive this?"

Actually, to the Itasha owners or those who plan to get an Itasha someday, would you actually drive your Itasha? And if your answer is yes, how frequently?

Personally, I wouldn't drive an Itasha around since I'm afraid the decals might get scratched and replacing them would cause more "pain" to both my wallet and my heart. I would never be able to take it if there was a scratch across my favorite character's face!

I have heard some shops in Singapore do provide printing of decals for Itasha, though they are not actively advertising it. However, this means that it's possible to get your car turned into an Itasha even if you aren't in Japan! 

So if you're someone who is hesitating to get an Itasha due to shipping prices, why not consider getting your decals printed in local stores? Not only would you save on shipping, you'll also have an experienced team helping you paste the decal on!

But that's not all. Disregarding the many aspects of pain brought about by Itasha, many Japanese moved on to Itansha, which, in my opinion, is a more remarkable and affordable method of displaying your favorite anime character, albeit being much smaller than on a car. Buy hey, beggars can't be choosers, right? There's only so many people in the world who can own cars.

Itansha, similar to itasha, involves posting decals -- but not on the car's body, but on a motorcycle or bicycle's body. The Itansha picture above which Danny Choo managed to capture really is an impressive Itansha! I would love to be able to take a picture next to it!

Similar to Itasha, owners have their own freedom to design their own Itansha in any fashion they like, and to display any goods they like. I'd like to think that displaying figures was difficult so owners chose a safer option and who'd disagree with me that the bikes look incredible?

But like I've mentioned before, other than bikes, decorating your bicycle is also another category under Itansha. Personally, I feel that having a decorated bicycle in Japan makes more sense as most students and the young working force go around with bicycles. It's really just more convenient usually with a bicycle and train than with an automobile!

But alas, the fad with "pain" doesn't only end there. Recently (or not so recently), there has been another rise, this time with Ita-bags, where fans decorate their bags with merchandise of their favorite character. The merchandise used range from plushies to badges to rubber straps to acrylic keychains... and the list goes on.

And spare me for using this as an example but what's a better option than using an award-winning Ita-bag?

I don't want to imagine how heavy and costly all these are.

(Image credit to the Ita-bag contest winner's twitter)

And if you're wondering if people are actually using these bags, japanrealm has shown us that yes they are! But for the purpose of everyday use or just for conventions will remain a mystery.

(Image credit to japanrealm)

Let's not judge the sanity of these people because what we have upcoming, the "Otaku armor" will be even more shocking!

(Image credit to Rocketnews)

If the prospect of Ita-bags sound too feminine for you and you do not wish to be seen walking around with your favorite anime girl on your bag, why not try camouflaging yourself with her and becoming one together?

Rocketnews has brought us images of this lovely armor made of merchandise of Minami Kotori from Love Live! And yes, this person actuallywears it out. In fact, many of these 'warriors' do wear their gear out to conventions!

Now that's what I call a dedicated fan!

As strange as this might sound, I'm proud of him as a fellow Kotori fan. Sadly, I don't think I have either the finances or the dedication to ever reach that level.

Ita-bags would be the furthest I would go with this trend, though I have barely started. It's just more affordable, merchandise and decals aside. Motorbikes and cars are much too expensive for me to consider at the moment...

In any case, if you own an Itasha or Itansha or a Ita-bag please share your pictures with the rest of us! I'm sure it'll be a good source of inspiration!

Thank you for reading and have a Happy New Year!

From Your Fellow Fan of Japan's Culture,

Reina-rin