Famous Japanese musician

How much do you know about Japanese musicians? Today, we will tell you about famous Japanese musicians. First, do you know ''YMO'' ? ''YMO'' is an abbreviation for that is Yellow Magic Orchestra. YMO is one of the most famous Japanese musical groups. They are a techno pop group. It is composed of three members: Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Especially, Ryuichi is a very famous pianist in the world. YMO's masterpieces are 'RYDEEN', 'TECHNOPOLIS' and 'Kimi ni mune-kyun'. They were organized in 1978 and broke up in 1983. But in 1993 and 2007, they ware reorganized. Today, YMO has become active.

http://blog.neoteny.com/eno/archives/2007_02_ymo.html

EXILE is a group of 14 men who play Japanese-Pop and dance performances. They are not only playing music but also making magazines, animated cartoons, and apparels. And some of the members are also actting as acting. When they debuted, they made dance number music. But recently they make mostly pop music. The songs they make are always bought by many people. They are very popular in Japan!

http://natalie.mu/news/show/id/19502

We will next introduce another famous rock band. L'Arc〜en〜Ciel is the Japanese rock band. It has four members, hyde, ken, tetsuya and yukihiro. The meaning of the band name is ''the arch in the sky(=rainbow)''. They started in February 1991 in Osaka. And they made their major debuted in 1994. Then, they were just like top of Japanese music. But, they stopped action in 1997 and 2001. However, in 2002, they released a new single "READY STEADY GO", they revived perfectry. Until this time, they released many popular songs. "KASO", "HEAVEN'S DRIVE", "Killing Me" and so on. But to our regret, their concert won't be held until 2011.

http://www.nautiljon.com/people/l-arc-en-ciel.html

Up to today, many Japanese artists have played an active part. We have expectations for them, and want to listen to good songs. How about you? Do you have expectations for your country's musicians?

By, Taro Nakatani, Ryosuke sakaguchi

MUSIC LIFE in JAPAN

As you know, KARAOKE is popular in Japan. After we enter the university and make new friends, we have a lot of parties to get to know each other. At that kind of party, we usually go to KARAOKE after having a couple of drinks and food. Strangely, although we can't talk much in a KARAOKE room with loud music, singing together bonds our friendship. Everyone has more than one favorite song which they can sing well and sing it everytime when they go to KARAOKE. It's called "18ban"(no.18). (use it like "I'm gonna sing my 18ban")

HitoKara (go to KAEAOKE alone) has been becoming more common especially since some famous people said they do HitoKara in their free time on TV shows. Even some young ladies do HitoKara. They are too busy to make time for friends in the rush of modern life, so they want to release their stress whenever they want or just for practice in singing for a KARAOKE party.


Hikaru Utada is a very popular artist in Japan. She is a singer, songwriter and she also writes lyrics. Her first album "First Love" sold 8 million copies. The song "First love" is still sung at Karaoke even though it was released 10 years ago. The music and the lyrics are too beautiful to be forgotten. She sang this song when she was only 16 years old. You may know her because she made her debut in the USA in 2004 as Utada. Her first single "Devil Inside" got 1st first prize in the dance chart Billboard.

A decade ago, in Japan, there are some original type of Japanese music. "J-POP", "Enka", Mood Pop", "Idol Pop", "Youthfulness Punk" and etc.. The most popular type, a symbol of Japanese music, is "Enka".This is the most famous singer of Enka, is Misora Hibari.She was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, and at the time of her death, she had recorded around 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After her dead, her swan-song "Kawa no nagare no y ni" (川の流れのように) is often performed by numerous artists and orchestra's as a tribute to her.And, this is another guy, named Jero, born Jerome Charles White, Jr. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.He is a Japanese Enka singer who is American-born of African-American and Japanese descent. His maternal grandmother was Japanese. He is the first black enka singer in Japanese music history.And his first single, Umiyuki (海雪), was released in Japan on 2008. It entered the Oricon charts at number 4.

BY Sawako, Shizuka, Hayato

Disney Land

Disney Land


　We will introduce the differences between Tokyo and Hong Kong Disney Land.

① Differences in theme lands

　In Tokyo Disney Land, there are 7 theme lands:

・ Clitter Country

・ Western Land

・ Adventure Land

・ Fantasy Land

・ Toontown Land

・ Tomorrow Land

・ World Bazaar

　In Hong Kong Disney Land, there are 4 theme lands:

・ Adventure Land

・ Fantasy Land

・ Tomorrow Land

・ Main Street USA

　World Bazaar and Main Street USA are similar. And three land are the same. We will show you the lands of only Tokyo Disney Land. Clitter Land is the home of small animals. Western Land is the American age of west exploitation. Toontown Land is the house of characters.

　You can enjoy the diferrences between Tokyo Disney Land and Hong Kong Disney Land when you go to both Tokyo and Hong Kong.

http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tdl/japanese/7land/index.html

☝Site of Tokyo Disney Land theme land

http://adisneyland.disney.go.com/html/japan/HKDL_ParkMap/index.html

☝Site of Hong Kong Disney Land theme land

②　1. difference of castle

　Tokyo Dizney land has castle which is named Cinderella Castle.
It is a symble of Magic Kingdom.
Cinderella Castle’s feet is 189ft tall.It is very high.
And it has Mystery Tour which is famous for guests. Have you ever tried it? It was interesting and exiting.

　　2,　Mystery tour
　

　I’ll introduce about Mystery Tour.
Cinderella has a happy life with her prince. One day a bad man tried to take over Cinderella's Castle so the guests tried to catch the bad man.
There are a lot of attractions in it.　If guests defect the bad man with a dagger, guests are given a medal.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　If you come Tokyo Disney land , you should try it. You can enjoy it and try to get a medal.

　Next I’ll introduce about the differences between ①Tokyo Disney Land and ②Tokyo Disney sea and thier defferent meaning.
①is for kids, but ② is for adults.
And,①’s meaning is kingdom of dream and magic,but ②’s meaning is adventure and a sea of imagination.
I’d like to introduce why it is different.
First, ①　is like an amusement park. ① has 41 kinds of attractions but ② has only 23 kinds of attractions.

There are only 23 kinds of attractions ,but we can completely enjoy them.
②　is for adults , so we can drink beer anywhere. Of course ,adults only.
-Good points of ①and ②-
① we can see Disney characters frequently and we can see a parade at noon and night.
There are a lot of characters dining .
This means that Michey or Minnie come to a restaurant and the guests and characters eat breakfast together.
②attraction are few, but even adults can enjoy them.
We can shop slowly, because ② is smaller than ①.

　Finally, I recommend both of them. Each has good points, so you should visit ①and ② someday.

③ About Disneyland and Disney Sea on New Year’s day

　From January 1 to January 5, Disneyland and Disney Sea each hold New Year’s events every year. The name is “New Year’s greeting”.

　At Tokyo Disneyland, guests are met at the entrance by big New Year’s decorative pine branches (KADOMATSU) and by Disney characters in Japanese clothes (KIMONO).

　　http://disneymaniax.jugem.jp/?eid=559

　　Disney Maniax

　It is a special event for New Year’s term, so seeing these characters is one of the guest’s pleasures.

　At Tokyo Disney Sea, characters show guests a lot of things on the stage. For example, they pound streamed rice into cakes, dance the Japanese dance and perform their tricks.

　Also, a countdown party is held in these parks at the end of the year.

　

　New Year’s goods are already sold in stores yet. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in the Dharma doll is a hot product now.

　　　http://www.lovedisney.net/blog/

　　Love Disney

　Disneyland and Disney Sea are frequented by guests the whole year around. They are loved by people all over JAPAN.

By Rie Tajima, Atsumi Tanaka and Fumika Miyoshi

TEA CEREMONY

〈History of tea ceremony〉
During the Muromachi Period, Murata Juko founded "Wabicha" and later, Senno Rikyuu perfected the tea ceremony. In the early days of the Edo Period, it became known as "Sado."
This is a form of traditional Japanese lifestyle culture that finds its basis in hospitality and service. With a present string of actions, all the different styles have slight differences in the way they serve tea to the guest.


We belong to tea ceremony club. We practice it twice a week in a tea house on campus. Powdered green tea tastes a little bitter,but it matches Japanese cake, "Wagashi". It is a traditional Japanese cake. It is often served with tea.Wagashi is made from natural based ingredients.There are many types of wagashi. We eat "Higashi" in autumn and winter. Higasi is dry and contains very little moisture. In spring and summer, we eat "Namagashi" . It contains a lot of moisture,so it can't last.

This below picture is Namagashi.

〈Tool of tea ceremony〉

・Chawan(Tea bowl)

It is like a tea cup. It is made of clay. Chawan is Japanese traditional handiwork.There are many regional styles, for example, Kiyomizu, Bizen, Seto, Oribe, Kiseto, and Hagi ware.

・Chasyaku(Tea scoop)
It used to scoop up the powdered green tea. It is made of ivory, bamboo, mulberry, maple cherry, ume tree and so on.

・Chasen(Tea whisk)

The chasen is used to make tea. It used to blend green powder with hot water. It is made of spared bamboo.

There are many styles of tea-serving manners, depending upon the occasion,season and so on. For example, Hatugama(First kettle), Robiraki(Open furnace), Haruchakai(Spring tea ceremony), Akichakai(Autumn tea ceremony) and so on.

There are two main ways of preparing "matcha" of tea ceremony. Thick (Koicha) is more bitter than Thin(Usucha). We prefer Thin to Thick.

She is performing tea serving manners.

We held tea ceremony of autumn, and we wore Kimono. Kimono has various patterns. It is very beautiful. We usually don't have a chance to wear Kimono,so we are looking forward to hold tea ceremony every time.

〈Temple〉

We always use famous traditional temples when we hold a tea ceremony. There are Japanese gardens. Those gardens have Sekitei(Stone garden), Tourou(Garden lantern) and so on. We can learn traditional Japanese culture in tea ceremony.

〈Way to drink〉
1.Greeting
If the tea cup is put in front of you, say "Otemae chodai itashimasu."

2.Taking the tea cup
Take the tea cup with your right hand and put it on your left,then raise it little. Place the tea cup in front of you and turn it 45 degrees clockwise.

3.Drinking
Drink in three and a half sips. Then, make a sound and drink remaining foam.

4.Wipe the edges
Wipe the place where you sipped, using three fingers,and wipe your fingers with a "Kaishi". (Kaishi is a paper that you use when eating a Wagashi.) And turn the tea cup counter clockwise until the front of the cup is in front. Finally, put the cup just outside of the edge of the Tatami.

5.Take in the view of the tea cup
Put your elbows on your knees and look at this. After that, face the front of the cup forward and put it on the edge of Tatami.

(picture)

http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/circle/washinkai/index.html

by Mari Kunimatsu

Chihiro Fujimura

Marisa Funabashi

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