The Peanuts, a female pair of Japanese twins (Emi and Yumi Ito), who were a major presence in the Japanese music world back in the ’60s, are planning to release a new album to mark the 50th anniversary of their debut back on 1959.
Here are a few of their better known songs in Japan.
If […]
1966: Pipeline
1990: Various
2008: Nara TV Commercial
Since news is slow today, here is a video of what I think is probably one of the very best Japanese songs ever written: Koibito yo by Mayumi Itsuwa (1980).
If you want to see one person’s translation of the lyrics into English, check out this version.
A recent exchange about the meat content of processed food products reminded me of my first encounter with a Japanese hot dog back around 1969.
This was a time when imported food products were basically unavailable, and prohibitively expensive when they were. So imagine my surprise when one day shopping I came across a pack […]
Heard this on an oldies program this evening, and it reminded me just how great Ozaki Kiyohiko’s music sounds, even though this super hit (Mata Au Hi Made) is already 30 years old.
From the amazing and talented Koharu and friend comes the following video of their Tokyo street performance.
If you missed our past posts on Koharu, here is a blast from the past.
More here.
according to an article in the new york times online,written by norimitsu onishi, the ashes in a japanese urn are an apt metaphor for the future of the system of funeral buddhism in the country.
where as in the past, the japanese reliably counted on buddhist priest’s and their rituals as a source of […]
A recent California Supreme Court ruling paved the way for gay marriage in the state. Many news outlets, including the BBC, are covering perhaps the most famous person to take advantage of the opportunity, Japanese-American actor George Takei, best known as Sulu from Star Trek. He obtained a marriage certificate and plans to wed his partner […]
Caught a TV show last night that featured Japanese R&B singer Masayuki Suzuki, and it reminded me of the big 1980 hit he had with his group called Chanels called Runaway.
I recently subscribed to a great podcast named Botar’s Old Time Radio, which plays episodes of old radio shows like Superman, Burns and Allen, Captain Midnight, Fibber McGee and Molly, etc.
The other day they played a 1941 episode from the Adventures of Superman called Dragons Teeth, which had Clark Kent going into the Chinatown district […]
in january of this year, what is being called a “missing link” from the cretaceous period was discovered in iwate prefecture by one kazuhisa sasaki.
this specimen is the oldest praying mantis specimen to have legs with hair and spines.
interesting…
The other day we got email from renowned Dutch journalist, photographer, and producer Kjeld Duits letting us know that he is a regular reader of JAPUNDIT. He also took the opportunity to alert us to a new blog he has started that is dedicated to old photographs of Japan.
Old Photos of Japan is dedicated […]
Here is a Japanese TV commercial from the 1980’s for athlete’s food medication, which seems to be trying very hard to make the most of the “tentacle sex” theme that has been so prevelant in Japanese pornography over the centuries.
Via Pink Tentacle (of course!)
scattered around buddhist temples in the tohoku region of japan there are mummified bodies enshrined in . practitioners of an ancient set of rituals known as shugendô, these monks actually mummified themselves in a prolonged act of asceticism. believing that they could attain enlightenment in a mere ten thousand days (about 8 years, […]
From Popgadget comes news of a super-looking little digital camera - the Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0. And the magpie in me is squawking “Want!”
Made by Komomura Corp., the MiniDigi AF5.0 is modelled on the original twin-lens 6×6 Rolleiflex, which debuted in 1929 and is still going.
This is a follow-up to the original MiniDigi, […]
according to an article released in february 21st by the economist, the magazine revisted an issue they first discussed in print a decade ago, namely “ japan’s amazing ability to disappoint.”
while the steady economic growth of the past few years has been an encouraging sign, there are major structural problems in the economy which threaten […]
He made his only previous appearance in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 at the age of 22. You might expect 66-year-old Hiroshi Hoketsu to be looking forward to spectating at this year’s games, but remarkably, after a 44-year absence, he stands to make a record-breaking comeback when Japan officially announces its Olympic […]
As 2007 draws to a close, all of us here at JAPUNDIT would like to say thank you to everyone for stopping by and taking part, and to wish everyone the best for 2008.
Taking us out are a couple of videos of mixed-race female entertainers in Japan, past and present. They will give you […]
The following is my personal favorite of all the TV commercials Arnold Schwarzenegger, current governor of California, did in Japan back in the 90s.
If you own a TV, the law requires payment of a fee to NHK (Japan’s Public TV broadcaster.)
And, that fee goes towards purchase of the best programs! I’ve been watching a lot of the original Charlie’s Angels TV series aired in the USA in the mid-1970’s. Farrah is awesome!
Other programs on NHK now: Full […]
