Exceptional Children’s Television Shows in Japan

When I was a boy, I used to watch Schoolhouse Rock, a Saturday morning television series of short animations produced in the 1970s that taught children about grammar, science, multiplication, and American history with the use of catchy songs. The “Hey Little Twelve-Toes” segment (multiplication by twelve) included an explanation of the base 12, or

An alternative to Kouhaku?

For the past seven years or so, I’ve watched Kouhaku Uta Gassen  (紅白歌合戦 literally, Red and White Song Battle), Japan’s big annual New Year’s Eve musical extravaganza. Kouhaku runs from about 7pm to midnight in Japan, which is roughly 2am to 7am California time. Usually it’s a lot of fun, but the 2018 edition seemed

New Music from Japan – January 2015

Artist: Himuro Yoshiteru Location: Tokyo 東京 Soundcloud Title: Beats Log 20150114 Genre: electronic Artist: OYMS + Kyosuke Takayasu (Totokoko label) Location (of Totokoko): Saitama さいたま Soundcloud / Twitter Title: Inside of a Wind Genre: pop Free Download Artist: Hizmi (Bunkai-kei label) Location (of Bunkai-kei): Tokyo 東京 Soundcloud / Twitter Title: Nue Genre: electronic Free Download

“A total performance!”

Exciting news, everyone! I received two emails from NHK World, about Haruka Matsumoto’s video (“Kanashii Uta”), which was featured on NHK World’s recent “We Love Japanese Songs! 2013” earlier this month. I was informed that Haruka’s song is featured on NHK World Radio Japan’s broadcast (hosted by Michelle Yamamoto and Jeff Otto) and can be

Haruka Matsumoto makes her debut on NHK World!

Out of over 200 videos received from 36 countries and territories, Jogovision Song Contest 2011 winner Haruka Matsumoto’s video for her song, “Kanashii Uta” (A Sad Song), was one of about twenty featured on NHK World’s We Love Japanese Songs! 2013 program! And as far as I could tell, Haruka’s was the only original song

Haruka Matsumoto will appear on NHK World!

I just received the following email: Dear Haruka Matsumoto, Thank you for sending in your video to “We Love Japanese Songs! 2013”. Your signing was so impressive that we decided to show it in our show! You can watch it on January 2nd (Wed) @ 2:10, 6:10, 10:10, 13:10, 17:10, 21:10 (UTC) on NHK World.

Haruka Matsumoto competes at NHK!!

Very exciting news here, folks! About a week ago I submitted a new music video for an NHK contest featuring my character “Haruka Matsumoto”. I came home tonight and found out it’s been accepted! Haruka’s song “Kanashii Uta” (A Sad Song) is competing in NHK’s “We Love Japanese Songs!” Haruka was the winner of The

Necomimi / 猫耳

Musician Ryūichi Sakamoto tries on a pair of Neurowear’s necomimi (“cat’s ears”), which responds to one’s emotional state.  They perk up when you’re excited or happy, droop when you’re sad or relaxed, and so on. According to Reuters, Neurowear says the necomimi will be available for sale in the spring, at a price of “several hundred

“Cobra Mist” by Mico (Mieko Hirota)

Very cool song by Mico (Mieko Hirota / 弘田三枝子) … the song and her singing style reminds me of Helicopter Girl.  In the 60s she was singing Japanese pop/”go-go” style songs, so this is quite a change.

The Wonder 3 / ワンダー3

I’ve never heard of Osamu Tezuka’s The Wonder 3 (aka The Amazing 3) before, but it seems to be one of the better animated series to come out of Japan in the 1960s. The animation and character design are more sophisticated, the characters have more depth to them, the storytelling is entertaining and crisp, and there’s even a