This blog offers selected features of alternative Asian TV segments, news stories, editorials, photos and more from Japan, Korea, India, China and many other Asian countries. This blog also includes some WTF Japanese, North Korean online videos, entertainment news, beautiful Chinese and Japanese models, and much more.
For decades, Japan's Hello Kitty icon has been the world's leading soft power fictional character seen across the globe and is now the centerpiece of the current worldwide "kawaii" sensation. And since 1974, Sanrio has made everything imaginable with some form of the world's cutest little white Japanese Bobtail cat with a red bow. Recently, Sanrio even made a Hello Chucky doll and it sold out in less than 48 hours.
But that is now about to be challenged by America's most lovable and comical family from the fictional town of Springfield - The Simpsons. On Friday 20th Century Fox announced that the world's first Simpsons store will open in Beijing, China in March with an additional store opening in Shanghai in June. Following that will be a global expansion of up to 100 stores. This announcement comes after The Simpsons were previously banned in 2006 for a controversial episode about Homer visiting China.
Here is a recent CNN News video on this development:
Could this be the proverbial last nail in the communist coffin? Maybe.
For centuries, Japan has religiously worshiped the steel phallus. And then, partly as a result of all of that hard work, in 2006 Kurara Chibana won the Miss Universe title in her famous Ninja High Heels.
So, not to be outdone by any of that, and in an effort to attract more female members to its congregation, we now have Taiwan's new wtf spectacular development of the church of the glass slipper now completed and about to open next month:
It is tempting to make fun of this, but since it is an actual church of some kind or another I will tread lightly as blasphemy will mean the eternal damnation of my sole. ;)
One of David Bowie's most consistent, most significant and important collaborators has been world renowned pianist and composer Mike Garson. He first started working with Bowie back in 1972 and continued all the way through to his last live performance in 2006. Earlier today he uploaded his new song entitled Tribute to David:
This song was originally written and recorded in 2011 by Mr. Garson for his Bowie Variations album but he has never performed it since then.
"While the whole album was variations on David’s music, this one meant the most to me because I wrote it for him. It’s how I felt about David in musical terms. Though there’s no doubt I have more music for David coming, this is what I have to offer this morning. Please feel free to share this with others and respond with your memories, thoughts and feelings."
"David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief."
In this song "Lazarus" he sings "Look up here, I'm in Heaven"
Quite a fitting stage exit from this world, indeed. RIP.
Note: The sold out off Broadway play Lazarus written By David Bowie & Enda Walsh continues through January 20th. Most likely it will be continued for a much longer run.
Here is an up and coming Japanese new wave pop group known as Crunch (Noriyo Hotta, vocals/guitar; Reina Kawagoe backing vocals/bass; Yoshiko Jinno drums) performing their short, airy and melancholy song entitled "Blue" live at K.D Japon:
Lyrics
I have been searching something in all my life, with hollow in my mind.
I would be swallowed by the deepest blue as soon as looking into it
I always pretend to be not interested in, even if I expected to. apart from touch by anyone.
Are you kidding? Actually you are so wired.
It is so free as lonesome, beacuse I can decide anything.
I have nostalgia for inconvenience caused by being with someone together.
In the city of night where many lights are together
I used to be tearing at somewhere, it blinked, It's translucent days.
I was stranger there, Nothing left but to go home and sleep.
It is same about a future I hope or a future you won't hope.
It is so free as lonesome, beacuse I can decide anything.
I have nostalgia for inconvenience caused by being with someone together.
It is so free as lonesome, this feeling with transparency.
I was waiting in sun shower, but that guys were in sunlight.
Earlier this year in August, the Taipei Zoo released the cutest Giant Panda videos ever seen in the history of the internets. These starred momma Yuan Yuan and her then one-month-old cub Yuanzai. These highly emotional short clips went mega viral and were broadcast on many international television news stations and are still quite popular all over the world wide web.
Well, just the other day the Taipei Zoo did it again and has now brought us a very cute behind-the-scenes look at baby Yuanzai as she gets lost after an examination and, literally, stumbles into momma's bamboo grazing grounds:
Note: Due to the recent popularity of this video,
playback may be slower than normal.
In an effort to alleviate the fear of Fukushima's ongoing nuclear disaster and food safety, the Fukushima Industries Corporation (a refrigerator/freezer manufacturer) has recently unveiled an all-new corporate character named "Fukuppy":
On the introduction page for this character it begins with this question and answer:
Q. Where were you born Fukuppy?
A. I was born in a Fukushima refrigerator.
The character also states that it is not yet a male or female because it is still an egg (with wings). It goes on to explain that it enjoys eating alot of food and is always on patrol and checking out the quality of meat, fish and vegetables in all new refrigerators. Also, to be fair, most likely, the Japanese pronunciation of this new oddity is "FOO-KU-PEA" or 「ふくっぴ」. And perhaps the logic behind this is that by putting a raw egg in one's refrigerator, somehow it will then indicate if any food has become irradiated. Mmmkkaaaayy...
Recently in second-best Korea it was reported that a young woman was literally "trapped" on the internet inside of her own live video webcams! This damsel-in-distress news quickly made its way to 4chan and then exploded across the Asian internets. Many viewers struggled to interpret her scribbled signs and one time when she remained motionless for hours, several others began to wonder if the web had been trolled by a corpse!
Well, even though it is well known that there are no girls on the internet, it turned out that she is a real, living young Korean woman residing somewhere in Seoul. She has been given the nickname of "Chip-Chan" partly based on her own self-scribed Engrish history as seen on her personal blog entitled "Verichip for criminal destroys me". And in the below video, it does appear that she actually goes outside:
Mmmmkay.... so we have a woman in trouble. She suddenly gets discovered by millions of guys on the web who are now all fully registered members of her fan club base known as "Chippies". Then soon afterwards she seems to either find the way out of her "trap" or she went to sleep in one of her filing cabinets as she has been known to do in the past. Whadayathink? WTF Actual right? Because Korea right? Pr0n site promo right? Incidentally, the local authorities are aware of this woman and they know her real, true identity and address in case anyone is worried.
But probably the most likely outcome is that Chip-Chan is now actually dating some of her very own "Chippies" and no longer is "afraid of sleeping" so to say. Well either way, her live video webcams are still up and running even though she has temporarily disappeared from the spotlight.
In a recent Vice Japan episode, investigative reporter Yuka Uchida traveled to Seoul to visit Dr. Lee Chang Soo a traditional Korean medicine doctor in order to try human feces wine or "Ttongsul" (똥술) which has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. According to Uchida, Dr. Soo is one of the last Korean physicians who prescribes and makes Korean Poo wine for his patients.
This episode also includes a visit to the Toilet Culture Park in Suwon. This unusual public garden/museum includes many amusing statues and ancient toilets from centuries ago. It is explained how servants would use these hand-held scoops to collect the King's feces. Once done, the first servant would test the odor and the second servant would also smell it and even eat some of the King's shit in order to get a more accurate health level! This was done despite not knowing exactly what healthy excrement was supposed to taste like. (?) O_O
Next up is Mr. Toilet House. Included here is a collection of mini statues of human beings squatted down in the process of practicing the ancient Korean tradition of outdoor defecation. Three of the statues are reported to be of the Buddha, Eve, and Jesus himself!
So to summarize, we have an "investigative reporter" who said "it was hard to find reliable information online". Also, with no fact checking at all, she claimed that Dr. Soo is "one of the last Korean physicians who prescribes and makes Korean Poo wine for his patients." And, according to the Toilet Culture Park manager, long ago, servants would sniff and taste samples of Korean Kings' excrement even though it was not known what healthy feces should taste like.
Riiiiiiiiiigghhtt!
(Does anyone want to buy a river-front condo inside the DMZ?)
Yuka then gets a call from the good Doctor saying that his bowel movement brew was now ready. Can Yuka drink it? Let's see how that goes:
Well, the broadcast of this episode on Chosun TV stirred up quite a shit storm of negative reactions and anger from some Korean viewers according to Kotaku. Is anyone surprised by that?
Just pause for a second and realize how incredibly MAGNIFICENT this title is: "Dennis Rodman Headed Back To North Korea". Seriously, with the way world events are now happening, this could turn out to be one of the greatest headlines of all of 2013:
OK, let's break it down some. Back in March of this year, the five-time NBA Champion, seven-time NBA rebound king and NBA Hall of Fame inductee Dennis Rodman visited Kim Jong Un and the Pirate Bay (temporarily) moved to Pyongyang. And since his first visit, other political events have occurred that could make this next trip a whole lot more meaningful if Rodman can successfully secure the release of Korean/American citizen Kenneth Bae. However, that is one big, huge "if", indeed.
Now, of course, this time around there will be more haters. And they're going to say that Rodman's a "traitor" and a "media whore" et al. And that Vice unethically manipulated and then paid off the DPRK elite etc. Or that the White House is secretly setting up the visit since it is now uninvited blah blah blah. But, maybe the real reason why this wonderful reunion is happening again is very simple and very human: Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un are just good friends.
And is there any better reason than that?
Associated Press/AP news video of Dennis Rodman returning to North Korea on September 3, 2013:
Just released about a month ago, here is the very first short film about American surveillance secrets whistle blower Edward Snowden and his controversial Hong Kong international spy debut entitled "Verax":
"Verax" was Snowden's secret codename and it means "truth teller" in Latin.
Just over a month ago, first-time mother panda Yuanyuan gave birth to a beautiful daughter named Yuanzai at the Taipei Zoo. However, Yuanyuan accidentally broke Yuanzai's foot while carrying her. There was some concern that the mother might kill or eat the baby so they had to temporarily separate the two. The zoo's nurses and veterinarians took very good care of the baby panda and on August 12th, mother and baby met for a brief, but very emotional moment.
Then earlier today (Aug 13th) both mother and baby were reunited and Yuanyuan breastfed Yuanzai with no problems. Below is an incredible video of the two coming together again:
Released earlier today, on her birthday, here is an exceptionally beautiful fine art photograph by Japan's one and only Julie Watai. The model is Hanami-chan and this was taken at the studio of sculptor/designer Kaz Asada in Osaka, Japan.
Thank you for this wonderful gift Julie! Happy Birthday! お誕生日おめでとうございます!!
Yes, that headline is correct as a truckload of piglets overturned in Guiyang province in southwest China forcing highway police to chase after the escaped squealing swine. A truly hilarious modern-day episode of The Keystone Cops followed as the speedy piglets continued to evade the slow, dumbfounded police officers trying to apprehend them. Here is a very funny ITN news video of this comic chase scene:
Of course the police finally caught them, but they didn't go away quietly.
Last month, Australia's dynamic comedy duo Hamish and Andy filmed some of episode three of their popular TV show "Hamish & Andy's Asia Gap Year" in downtown Shibuya, Tokyo. A segment of that third chapter is entitled "Ultimate Japanese Wingman" in which Hamish tries his best to find a new girlfriend for his buddy Andy. This hilarious skit starts out simple and cute but then snowballs right over the top!
