This boy is super cute. He is a 10-year old (9 in this video footage from the Ellen show) who loves Ozzy Ozbourne and has made waves on YouTube. Super cute! He started playing at age three by watching his dad. I love his face when Ozzy shows up on stage. They actually got to play together this summer on Ozzy's six-day tour.
(Thanks, Walter!)
In this commercial for food company Glico, actress Rie Miyazawa stars as Hello Kitty, an aspiring Broadway actress. So random!
(Thanks, Kazu Y!)
Satoshi Kon died on Wednesday, August 25th, but not before writing this incredibly moving, sad, and detailed blog post. He describes the moment he received his diagnosis in May — less than half a year to live due to a metastasized cancer — and then goes on to talk about the things he worried most about as he approached death: paperwork, his guilt for leaving his wife and the staff of his unfinished movie Dream Machine, saying good bye to everyone. The original post is in Japanese, of course, and I encourage you to read it if you have any knowledge of the language. If not, there is an English translation here.
The part that struck me the most is when his parents come down from his native Hokkaido to see him one last time. His mother, at his bedside, says to Kon: "I'm sorry I didn't give you a stronger body."
He finishes the blog post with the simple words: "Osaki ni."
A polite way of leaving the room early.
The Miss Universe pageant took place tonight, and Mexico won. Japan sent this woman, Maiko Itai, to compete in the beauty contest. Itai is a 25-year old from Oita Prefecture, which is my dad's home town. Apparently, before she became a pageant contestant, she worked at the municipal government office in Oita and was known for being very understated.
I went over to my friends Ben and Nina's house today, and Ben was wearing a shirt he'd bought at Uniqlo with an illustration of Giant Baba on it. Giant Baba was a Japanese baseball player-turned-wrestler who was famous for being a really tall, prolific wrestlerfrom the 60s through his death in 1999. In his lifetime, he wrestled in over 5700 matches and was battling it out on the ring just nine days before his passing. What's more, he was known throughout society as a kind, gentle person.
The amazing video footage above is from a public funeral held several months after his death, in which famous wrestlers from around the world came to pay their respects. I love the moment when his wife comes on the ring and puts his wrestling shoes down. Here's another video of Giant Baba and Andre the Giant in a match against The Land of Giants circa 1990.
On a side note, I love how Uniqlo makes t-shirts commemorating nostalgic figures from my childhood. I just bought a Dr. Slump tee at Narita on my way back from Tokyo this past winter.
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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