Japan's celebrity pianist, Hiromi Uehara

In this video clip, Japan's charming celebrity pianist Hiromi Uehara shows off the amazingly nimble fingerwork for which she's famous.




—Mellow Monk

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Tribute to Toshiro Mifune

Here is a 9-minute series of clips of some of the greatest scenes from some of the greatest films of Japan's greatest actor, Toshiro Mifune [more posts about him here].


Featured are the films Sanjuro, Hidden Fortress, The Throne of Blood, Miyamoto Musashi, and the TV miniseries Shogun, among others.


The films' original soundtracks have been replaced by an atmospheric song used in the anime classic Akira.








—Mellow Monk

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The part of Rhett Butler will be played by a Japanese woman

In 1977, Japan's all-female theater group Takarazuka Revue premiered its production of a musical version of Gone with the Wind.


The role of Rhett Butler went to Haruna Yuri, then the troupe's biggest star, who played the role with a Clark Gable-style mustache.


That she was the first Takarazuka actress in a leading role to sport facial hair would have caused enough of a stir on its own. But Ms Yuri multiplied the controversy tenfold by wearing the mustache offstage at public appearances. She explained that she wanted to get used to it and so be less conscious of it on stage.



"After this show runs its course, maybe I could get into painting."


—Mellow Monk

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Yazawa Eikichi, Japan's Elvis

I wouldn't use the phrase "Elvis of Japan" lightly, but Eikichi Yazawa is certainly worthy of the title.


Yazawa got his start in the early '70s and is still going strong today. One of his secrets is that he is a one-man music industry—a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, publicist, marketing department, and road manager all rolled up in to one. He has never depended on any single producer but instead has a knack for inspiring the musicians around him to create the rock 'n' roll sound he envisions.


Here are a few clips of Yazawa—or "Ei-chan," as fans know him—on stage in the U.K. and Japan, singing in English and Japanese.


"Don't be Cruel"





"Flesh and Blood" (in Japanese)





"Rockin' My Heart" (1982)






"Pure Gold" (in Japanese)








Eikichi Yazawa at the Budokan.


—Mellow Monk

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Japanese jazzer Masayoshi Takanaka

Jazz guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka has been around Japan's music scene for a long time, and he's still going strong. His old-school "cool jazz"-style music brings to mind a lazy day on the beach or in the backyard, lounging with friends and family. Very mellow stuff.


Here are a couple of his videos I found on YouTube.


"Blue Lagoon" - In concert





"Ready to Fly" - Live, with violinist Ikuko Kawai)





"Nagisa Moderato" - In concert




—Mellow Monk

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There she is, Miss Japan

Eri Suzuki, a 20-year-old student at Nihon University, beat out 2,940 other contestants to be crowned Miss Japan 2008.


Talking to reporters after her win, Ms Suzuki said that she didn't even expect to make it into the top 10 finalists, who were chosen that morning. In fact, she had told her parents and grandmother, who were in the audience, that they would all go out for yakiniku after her loss, and so when she not only made it into the top 10 but was then announced as the winner that evening, the look of utter surprise on her face was completely genuine.


[Source: Mainichi Shinbun]



Eri Suzuki, Miss Japan 2008.


—Mellow Monk

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Japan's Martha Stewart

... minus the prison stripes, that is. (Sorry, I just couldn't resist.)


Harumi Kurihara is more than a mere TV show host. She is "a brand that encompasses restaurants, housewares stores, a magazine and more than 20 cookbooks that have sold more than 7 million copies. (Not bad for someone who began working at age 36.)"


GlobalAtlanta interview with Harumi Kurihara (through an interpreter)





Harumi Kurihara at work in her home in Tokyo.



Harumi's 2nd cookbook published in America.


—Mellow Monk

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Zatoichi sings "Sunny"

Here he is, the late, great Katsu Shintaro, singing the jazz standard "Sunny." This is from his album "Yoru Wo Utau" (Singing the Night).





Katsu gained superstardom in Japan in the 1960s playing the blind traveling gambler and masseur "Zatochi" in the long-running movie series of the same name.


For an actor, Katsu was a pretty decent singer, and it stands to reason: As the son of a famous Kabuki actor, he was trained in classical Japanese acting and singing in his early youth.


Also on this track, check out the funky jazz guitar, the jamming piano, and the melodious background singing.



The cover of Katsu's album "Yoru wo Utau."



Katsu Shintaro as Zatoichi in "Zatoichi 3: New Tale of Zatoichi."


—Mellow Monk

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Toshiro Mifune's late-in-life indie flick

Here's a cool factoid about Japanese movie great Toshiro Mifune: In 1994, when he was 74 years old, Toshiro appeared in a small independent American film.


The film, Picture Bride, is about a young Japanese woman who in 1918 is sent to Hawaii to marry a man she's never met. This compelling, well-made film began life as a short-film project while the writer-director, the late Kayo Hatta, was still in film school but expanded into a full-length feature when Ms Hatta realized the story was too important for a short.


Here's where Toshiro Mifune comes in.


Before filming of Picture Bride began, Kayo Hatta wrote to Mifune asking if he would appear in the role of the benshi, a professional narrator of silent films. She knew the letter was a "Hail Mary" pass and later said she never expected Mifune to say yes. But that's exactly what he did.


The rest, as they say, is history.


You can read about the filming of Picture Bride here.



Mifune in 1962's Sanjuro, sequel to Yojimbo.



A real-life picture bride.



—Mellow Monk

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R.I.P. Miyoshi Umeki

Remember the Bill Bixby TV show "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"? Remember the show's Japanese-American housemaid? Well, she was played by Japan-born actress Miyoshi Umeki, who sadly died on August 28.


In addition to co-staring with Bill Bixby in "Courtship," she also shared the screen with the likes of Marlon Brando and Red Buttons in the 1957 film "Sayonara" and Nancy Kwan in 1961's "Flower Drum Song."


Ms. Umeki was born in 1929 in Otaru, Hokkaido.



The late Ms. Umeki with her "Sayonara" co-stars.


—Mellow Monk

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Learn Japanese with Akira Kurosawa

Here is a page where you can learn Japanese by watching clips from the films of Japan's most renowned director, Akira Kurosawa.



The late, great director in action.


—Mellow Monk

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The fall and rise of the world's most famous sushi chef

Although one of the world's most famous sushi chefs today, back in 1987 Nobu Matsuhisa was deep in debt after his first restaurant burned down the weekened it opened in Anchorage, Alaska.

That was his low point. It was all "uphill" from there. This goes to show, grasshopper, that it is the uphill climb that leads to the top of the mountain.



"Sushi, anyone?"


—Mellow Monk

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Daisuke Matsuzaka invents new baseball pitch?

Some are saying that Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka has invented a new "miracle pitch" called a gyroball. The pitch is purported to spin like a spiraled football and break in a way that makes it impossible to hit.

If real, this would be the first new pitch in baseball since the split-fingered fastball 40 years ago.

Here is a slow-motion movie of Matsuzaka throwing the mystery pitch.

—Mellow Monk

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Miki Ando: Japan's best Olympic hope?

With Japan still medal-less in the Torino Olympics, some are saying that figure skater Miko Ando has the best chance of snagging one.

—Mellow Monk

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Figure skater Mao Asada

Last Saturday, Japanse figure skater Mao Asada outskated two-time world champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia to clinch the women's title in the Grand Prix Final, but the 15-year-old is too young—by only 87 days—to compete in the Winter Olympics.

—Mellow Monk

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What Ichiro's name means

Ichiro Suzuki, the Japan-born Seattle Mariners powerhouse known among baseball fans simply as "Ichiro," is obviously his parents' eldest son. We know this without having to verify it. Not because of lines on his palm or some sort of aura around him, but because of his name, which literally means "first boy." When they named him, Ichiro's parents were following a very old custom that is still followed today, although was much more common, say, a hundred years ago. Then, the average couple had 4 to 6 children, and there were lots of Ichiro's, Jiro's (second son), and Saburo's (third son). Interestingly, a similar custom apparently exists in the Spanish-speaking world, where first-born sons sometimes receive the first or middle name of "Primero" (first), and sons born next are sometimes named "Segundo" (second). We wonder if similar customs exists in other cultures, as well.

UPDATE:
As an astute reader recently pointed out, I was wrong about this one. (Hey, everyone is allowed one mistake per lifetime, right?) Actually, I had posted a correction, but I should have also posted a correction to this, the original post. What can I say. I was young and not well versed in the ways of the blogosphere then. —Monk, April 28, 2008.


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