Modern day fashion: Dress like a samurai

Modern day fashion: Dress like a samurai

Tuesday, March 1, 2016 / No Comments

When you mention Japan to an otaku, they will only think of anime, games, manga and figures. Otakus easily forget that Japan, if anything, is about fashion. So I was reading casually about how samurai chic was making its way back into the fashion scene. It was one small article and I thought nothing of it. But then I found two other separate articles and thought, hey if you buy all three, you can really look like a modern day samurai! So let's start with the history of how a samurai dresses. 

A complex 20 step illustration of preparing for battle, starting with the undergarment all the way to armour, But for this article, you require only the knowledge of three items, the haori, the shitagi and the hakama.

Trove is a Japanese fashion brand that has been around for centuries. And that explains the hefty pricetag. Both the navy wool and the ventile haori will cost 29700 yen! But there are cheaper options.

This looks just like any cotton T-shirt. But its actually a shitagi. Made by Kyoto-based Kimono Factory nono, its authetic and you can actually use it as one like so.

The neckline is adjustable for any weather. And it only costs 6480 yen, affordable. 

Kokichi's hakama was the one that didn't fit so well. From a distance it looks modern.

Up close though it looks strange and hard to match.

Tuck out your shirt and it looks ok again

At 7800 yen, Kokichi is the only brand that is considering international orders. If you are considering getting everything, please send in what you look like with the whole set. 

Written by Don

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