Can you open a beer bottle with a ... helicopter?

A Japanese TV show showcases a talent that very few humans possess — the ability to open a beer bottle with a helicopter.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Relaxing on a beach at sunrise (video)

Here's a nice, mellow video to relax to—five minutes of sunrise on a beach in Tasmania. So brew yourself up a nice cup of green tea, sit back, relax, and prepare to be transported to the shores of Tasmania [click for the larger version].





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

From Hawaii to Japan, without a sail or a motor

Kenichi Horie first achieved fame in Japan by becoming the first Japanese to cross the Pacific alone.

Now he's become the first ever to cross the Pacific in a wave-powered boat. (There's some technical detail here.)

He set sail from Hawaii on May 17 and completed the 4,000-mile voyage to Japan's Kii Peninsula in 110 days.

Here's a video released when he first left Hawaii:

—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Top 10 Jackie Chan stunts

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Robot conducts symphony

I can't make up my mind whether this is cool or creepy. A little bit of both, I suppose.


At any rate, here is Honda's Asimo robot conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Reese at tea

Watch actress Reese Witherspoon, clad in lovely kimono, learning how to whisk up a bowl of frothy matcha green tea the traditional, tea-ceremony way.


Ms Witherspoon is visiting Japan to raise awareness of breast cancer and domestic violence as an Avon "global ambassador" in a project also supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women. (Read the full story here.)





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Amazing contact juggler

Found on YouTube—a video of an amazing contact juggler practicing his art somewhere in Japan. The ball actually seems suspended in mid-air.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

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

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Cats playing the theremin

It's a simple filmmaking concept: You buy a Theremin Mini — a scaled-down version of the original theremin — turn it on, stand back, and let your cats discover their hidden musical talents:








—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Bloomin' cherry blossoms in Brooklyn!

Here's an excellent, set-to-music timelapse movie of the cherry trees blooming this year at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Bobby Valentine on "The Zen of Bobby V."

Former NY Mets manager Bob Valentine talks about what it's like to coach baseball in Japan. He also discusses "The Zen of Bobby V.," an ESPN documentary about his life and career in Japan. Below is an interview with the filmmakers.






Bobby V.


—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Spidercat

Here's a video that shows you've got to be careful about what movies you let your cat watch.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

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

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

More meditation videos & music

Here's a plan for a 15-minute stress-busting meditation break:


First, brew a cup of green tea. Once the leaves have steeped for 3 to 5 minutes, remove the leaves from the water. (Or, if you're brewing in a teapot, pour a cup of tea from the pot.) While waiting for the tea to cool, play the first video. Keep your eyes closed and focus on the music. Try to smell the tea that's cooling.


When the first video is done, have a few sips of tea. Between sips, breathe deeply. When you've finished about half of the tea, start the second video.


Close your eyes and relax again. Focus on the music, on the taste of the tea in your mouth, on the warm feeling of the tea in your belly.


When the 2nd video is over, finish the rest of your tea, then stand up and stretch your arms above your head.


Don't you feel better?

—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Rare ibis seen in Aso, Japan

Reporters and birders in Japan have been flocking [pun intended] to Aso to see a kurotoki, or black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus), a species rarely seen in Japan. (Its normal habitat is China and Southeast Asia.)


According to this news video [in Japanese only], this individual ibis first appeared in Aso last fall and has been seen in the area almost daily ever since. "He's like a member of the family now," says the woman interviewed.


The news report also says that although the bird seems to have an injured leg, it can still fly and feed itself, so the local branch of the Wild Bird Society of Japan (Yacho no Kai) has decided not to capture it for protective purposes.


The kurotoki ("black toki") is not to be confused with the crested ibis, or just plain toki, which was once common throughout Japan but long ago disappeared from the country's skies. Captive breeding efforts using birds from China are attempting to save the crested ibis from extinction and re-introduce it to Japan.



The rare bird. (Click on the photo to watch the video.)


—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Human Tetris

This TV show clip isn't subtitled, but subtitles aren't really needed: Contestants try to pass through strangely shaped openings in moving walls—or get knocked into a pool of water.






—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Meditation video: crashing waves

This is wonderful—a 14-minute video of waves crashing against the shore. That's it; nothing more.


So tune yourself out from the world and either gaze at the screen or close your eyes and listen to the relaxing sound of the waves as you focus on deep, deliberate breathing and on gradually relaxing all your muscles.


Remember—the secret to relaxing through meditation is getting used to doing and thinking about nothing.


The full-size version of the video is available here.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Hardware Wars, the original "Star Wars" parody

Here it is, in two parts, "Hardware Wars," the first-ever "Star Wars" parody. This was made soon after the first "Star Wars" movie came out, and it's still funny today.


The voice-over was done by voice actor Paul Frees, who dubbed Toshiro Mifune in many of his English-language films as well as dubbed versions of Mifune's Japanese films.


So boil yourself up a pot of tea, kick back, relax, and prepare to "laugh, cry, and kiss three bucks goodbye."



Hardware Wars - Part I





Hardware Wars - Part II




—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

"Smoke on the Water," Japan-style

Just as the title implies, a Japanese version of the Deep Purple classic "Smoke on the Water," with shamisen instead of guitars.


This version, whose title translates into "Firefighting in Edo" (O-Edo no Hikeshi), describes efforts to fight fires in Edo (as Tokyo was known until the mid-1800s), which was frequently engulfed in infernos because of its densely packed wooden buildings.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Korean tea ceremony

Here's a video of a Korean-style green tea ceremony.

—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Music videos from Hifana, Japan's way-out-there electronica duo

I'm the first to admit that Japan's hip-hop/electronica duo Hifana are not for every taste. But their music videos are so off-the-wall and so surreal as to be mesmerizing. The events unfold in a dreamlike way, keeping the viewer wondering what on earth could happen next. It's like "Sgt. Pepper" meets Ukiyoe.



"Wamono"






"Connect"




—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Chinese ice bar and Japanese mint insoles

At an ice bar in Harbin, China, everything is made out of ice—right down to the chairs, glasses, and tables.







An entrepreneur in Japan hopes that a new type of odor-eating insole laced with natural mint will boost patronage at traditional Japanese restaurants, where diners often take off their shoes before stepping into a tatami room. Research showed that more and more people were avoiding such restaurants because of a reluctance to unshoe their less-than-pleasant-smelling feet.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Otemoyan—Kumamoto's most famous song

Of the many things for which Kumamoto Prefecture (home of Mellow Monk tea) is famous, one of the "big three" is said to be the traditional song and dance "Otemoyan" ("Little Miss Otemo").


(The other two of the big three are Mt. Aso and Suizenji Park.)


Below are a couple of clips of the song performed in Japanese films.


Here's actress Chiemi Eri singing a version of the song in the film "Orishidori Senryogasa."







Here's a more modern version of the song, from "Seishun Kouro." I believe this is Chiemi Eri again.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Online origami

If you find ordinary origami instructions (like these) too hard to follow, you might want to check out these online origami instructional videos, provided by the Peabody Essex Museum.



Instruction for what is probably the most popular origami figure, the crane (tsuru).


—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Videos of Mt. Aso

Below are a few videos of Mt. Aso, the active volcano on which is centered the region of unspoiled natural beauty where Mellow Monk green tea is grown.


The moonscape-like nature of the terrain around the volcano's crater is because the sulfuric gases emitted kill off most of the nearby vegetation.


Also, gas emissions from the crater, as well as seismic conditions throughout the vicinity, are closely monitored 24/7.


A ride up to the summit of Mt. Aso






Super cool—a helicopter ride over Mt. Aso's steam-belching crater







Touristas at the summit, right next to the crater, on a foggy day







Japanese news coverage of a minor eruption in 1979





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Hatsumode—first shrine visit of the year

Here's a great atmospheric video of a hatsumode (New Year's shrine visit) at a small shrine somewhere in snowy Japan.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

Get in the driver's seat of a Japanese train

Railway TV is streaming video taken from the front of an actual train plying the rails in Japan.


Just FYI: you need to have Flash verion 9 installed to see the video.



Your typical Japanese commuter train.


—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

It's a Green Tea Partay, West Coast style

Last year, Smirnoff released a comedy viral video called "Tea Partay" featuring made-up East Coast rap group Prep-Unit.


This year the company released a sequel—a West Coast version called "Green Tea Partay" sung by the also made-up group Boyz in the Hillz (as in Beverly Hills).


Just think how impressed your kids will be when they find out you know what "Green Tea Partay" is.





—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)

"Tokyo Stories" (movies)

"Tokyo Stories" is a series of Flash movies about life in uber-modern Tokyo. After the welcome screen appears, you have to click on a play button for one of the movies shown.


(Warning: Unless you have the absolute latest version of Adobe's Flash, you'll be prompted to upgrade, but it's well worth it—and free, of course.)


Seeing these movies, I'm reminded of how different life in Tokyo is from life in rural Japanese areas such as Aso.


Tokyo, a great place to visit, and a great place to live if you've got the energy—and the money.



A wedding in Roppongi, one of a couple dozen photos in a series (click the image to see more).


—Mellow Monk

Go to the Mellow Monk tea page
Subscribe to the blog feed (RSS)