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My friend Adam, a photographer, took this picture of a restaurant in Niseko, in Hokkaido:
It was away from the main road in the town so it was never very busy, but it stood out like a beacon in the darkness of the night. The food was mediocre. Still looked cool.
You must watch this crazy jazz version of the classic Japanese folk tale, Momotaro. In it, a team of comedians tells the story of the heroic boy who was born from a peach via a series of American jazz tunes. PRI's The World called up Roland Kelts and analyzed it on air recently. Apparently it was a segment on Tamori's show, which makes a lot of sense.
Apolo Anton Ohno is an American speed skater. I'm sure you've seen him on TV — he's very famous, tied for first for the most winter Olympic medals one by an American, and he was also on Dancing with the Stars in 2007.
Interestingly, Ohno was raised by his dad, a first-generation Japanese. Since the dad had to work a lot when Apolo was young, he enrolled his kid in after-school sports. That included roller skating and speed skating. You can see his dad in this Father's Day promo video for the Vancouver Olympics. He's doing really well this year and determined to win more medals, even if it means making some controversial moves, so keep an eye on him.
Did you know that Glee, my favorite thing to watch on American TV, is airing in Japan? So exciting! Glee is a musical comedy about a bunch of high school kids in Ohio who are in a Glee Club — a group of people who sing and dance, often at the bottom of the who's-cool-in-school hierarchy. The story line is fairly simple, but it's so much fun to watch — it is, in fact, probably the only show on American TV that genuinely makes me happy. Instead of just having ordinary casting calls, producer Ryan Murphy spent a bunch of time on Broadway recruiting some of his favorite talented singing-dancing actors there. The main character, Rachel, is actually played by broadway veteran Lea Michele, for example.
I just discovered this Glee Japan ad via actor Cory Monteith's Twitter feed. (He plays the part of Finn, a sweet airhead football player who likes to sing in the shower — my favorite character in the show!) It's an amazing clip featuring legendary sumo wrestler Akebono that really gets at the heart of how enjoyable and silly the show is.
Btw, here's one of my favorite scenes from Glee:
In 2008, Chronicle published my book: Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan.
I am also the founder of The Tofu Project, a boutique program that helps Japanese entrepreneurs and creators think deeper, tell better stories, and go out into the world in a much bigger way. We work with companies like Mixi, Japan Airlines, and Salesforce.com.
Sometimes I try to explain Japanese culture on CNN, BBC, CBC, WSJ, ABC (so many acronyms!) or in person at places like the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, ETech, and Ignite!
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