Wasamin: I still can’t help but “fanboy” all over her…

The wind has been knocked out of Denny’s sails, so he has not posted in several weeks.  I have not even logged in for a couple of weeks (sorry). The weasels in the Japanese music industry have made it extremely hard to be a fan.

I don’t blame the artists, I don’t blame the girls – just the management dickweeds. (Well, that would describe 99% of the music industry in America too).

Thus, this is the dream I had: … as I approach the Japanese islands in my Black Ship … a lone Samurai (who looks a lot like Toshiro Mifune, by the way) is waving his sword on the beach and shouting (in English, oddly).

I know, I saw “Red Lion” too.

GET AWAY FROM HERE!!

THERE ARE NO “IDOLS” HERE!!!!

THERE ARE NO IDOLS … ONLY MULES!!!

… THAT’S RIGHT — WE ONLY HAVE MULES … GO AWAY!!!

IF YOU TRY TO LOOK AT ONE OF MY MULES I WILL CUT YOU DOWN!!!!!!

Ahem … needed some coffee after that…

Still, I can’t help but “fanboy” all over the delightful Miss Iwasa Misaki-san. Here she is on that Japanese variety TV show. I don’t know the same of it, all I know is that she is a frequent guest, and often sings “Enka” ballads while she wears an amazingly beautiful kimono.

Well, she is not wearing a kimono here, but she sings this wonderful “traditional” Japanese song.

Note the junior high kids from that popular anime about the junior high school band “Hibike! Euphonium” are there — IN REAL LIFE!

http://myanimelist.net/anime/27989/Hibike!_Euphonium

Well, there will probably not be a Christmas song from Miss Iwasa, so this will have to do. I think it has a very “holiday” feel. Please enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWH8VGWN3pM

Happy Holidays if I don’t see you …

Starlight: Lots of parenthesis!

See more Misaki-san on my Pinterest board for her linked here.

Also see more Mifune-san on my board for him here !

 

KIMONOS ON MONDAY: Kimono costume wardrobe worn in the 1980 TV series “Shogun”

Blackthorne: “Is this the Japans?”

Kimono costume wardrobe in the 1980 TV series “Shogun”:

I watched the “Shogun” TV miniseries when it first aired way back in 1980. I watched it again last year. Now that I have a much greater interest in kimonos and Japanese culture, I enjoyed it a lot more.

The show was a ground breaking series. Much as European countries knew little about “The Japans” in the 16^th century, most Americans knew little about Japanese culture in 1980. (Yes, count me too.) I can recall back then when the “urination scene” and the “beheading scene” caused a lot of reaction.* The great thing about re-watching it on Netflix DVD was that there are many “making of” special features and interviews included.  One of the irritating things is that there are no subtitles or closed captions. Like Richard Chamberlain‘s “Blackthorne” character, the viewer has to keep asking “What did he say”?  The sets, the artwork and the costumes were great.  It was a treat to watch the great Toshiro Mifune as Shogun Toranaga. At one point in the interviews, the director said that millions of American men fell in love with the “Mariko” character. (Yes, count me too.) The actress Yoko Shimada was cast at the last minute, when the original actress left for a singing career. She was  fascinating to watch.

*I encourage you to watch-it-again-for-the-first-time!

Here is a snippet from the gentle musical soundtrack (from there, YouTube links to more).

Starlight: It took 34 years for me to re-view this wonderful TV miniseries!