HodoBuzz is a new “Japanese political mini-series” that started streaming in the U.S. and the U.K. last month following its controversial debut in Japan. It tells the story of a Japanese female journalist and her fight for the truth in reporting. It stars NYC-based actors Maho Honda as reporter Asuka Wada and Yuki Matsuzaki (Pirates of the Caribbean, Letters from Iwo Jima) as her new boss in the U.S.
The official press release describes the story as follows: “tired of sexism in Japan’s TV industry, reporter Asuka Wada quits her job in Tokyo as a game show host to move to New York City to work for a digital news company, HodoBuzz. With a new-found confidence, she speaks openly about the Japanese media industry’s false reporting, unethical business practice, and other industry taboos. Immediately, she becomes a target of intense online harassment.
HodoBuzz, a new Japanese political mini-series set in NYC
The series was produced by Derrrruq!!!, a group of independent filmmakers with two women and one openly gay man, who grew up in Japan and later immigrated into the United States. Honda, whose previous credits include Maniac (2018) and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015), is also credited as a producer of the series, while Masu Hiroshi Masuyama (In This Corner of the World, winner of the 40th Japan Academy Prize) is an executive producer.
The series is now available to stream on Amazon in the U.S. and U.K. (free for members of Amazon Prime) as well as several services in Japan.
RHYME SO – formed by Japanese producer Shinichi Osawa, a.k.a MONDO GROSSO, and RHYME, an Australian artist/poet – has released their new single “HOT” visualized as a 360° VR music video.
Set in a virtual nightclub in your mind, “HOT” was directed by Jordan Freda, who has worked on several projects with some of the world’s top artists including Katy Perry. The music video was created in collaboration with Strangeloop Studios, an up-and-coming LA-based creative company that produces cutting-edge “music & tech” such as live visuals for The Weeknd and Flying Lotus.
RHYME SO – “HOT” (Official 360° VR Music Video)
Combining an addictive, fresh dance beat by Shinichi Osawa with lyrics by RHYME that sharply and humorously capture modern society, the “HOT” 360° virtual nightclub can be enjoyed with a VR headset or on a mobile phone.
The visual movies playing on the monitors in the “HOT” 360°club (the RHYME version, the SO version, and RHYME&SO version) are now available with lyrics on the RHYME SO YouTube Channel.
RHYME SO was formed in Tokyo in 2017, and their first track, “Just Used Music Again”, was included in 2019 on the Head in the Clouds II label compilation supervised by 88rising’s JOJI. The song was also cut as a single and made an impressive debut, jumping to the top of numerous Spotify playlists in more than 25 countries around the world, including New Music Friday, with over 2.2 million streams.
88rising & RHYME SO – Just Used Music Again
Released in March 2020, the single “Fashion Blogger” cynically and uniquely mirrors modern society’s addiction to the internet. The music video is set in a figure skating competition and features MILK (RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 6 / All Star Season 3), a world-renowned drag queen and former figure skater.
The epic and avant-garde music video, which features MILK and RHYME skating on ice, has been featured in many media outlets and has been viewed more than 2.7 million times on YouTube. The video is currently nominated for “Best Music Award “, “Best Actress/ Model Award”, and “Best Major Brand Production Award” at the London Fashion Film Festival and in the “Best Music Video” category of the Berlin Commercial festival.
Fashion Blogger
ABOUT RHYME SO:
RHYME moved to Japan in 2017 soon after she met Osawa – the pair quickly formed a close collaboration and began writing together as RHYME SO; they’ve also performed together for DIOR in Tokyo. Their two cultures collide harmoniously as their distinctively rich musical abilities create exciting, relatable bops. RHYME SO’s music was picked up by Japanese/Australian artist JOJI and the duo’s debut single dance hit “Just Used Music Again” was released on 88 Rising’s 2019 album Head In The Clouds II, which gained accolades from Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, Billboard, Complex, Hypebae, Mixmag, The Line Of Best Fit, and more.
RHYME SO brings a refreshing sound and style that they’ve created on their own terms. Blending their infectious pop hooks, tongue twisters, and witty lyrics while pioneering a new era sound – which they call “Blank Post Genre” – the duo are set to hit the ground running with more new music to come soon.
ABOUT RHYME:
Rising alt-pop artist RHYME encompasses an eclectic but curated genre for herself as a word performer. As a DJ, she’s travelled the world playing rock’n’roll to experimental hip-hop to house to disco in front of large crowds. Born to Australian rock legend Richard Lara (The Screaming Jets) and stylist and make-up artist Michelle Michaleson (Chrissy Amphlett), the Sydney-born singer started playing classical saxophone at age 10 and also took up figure skating. At 18 years old, RHYME decided to stop figure skating full-time due to financial pressures and focused on modelling and music. For a few years she volunteered at Mardi Gras Pride Parade Festival and curated music at Sydney’s well-known club, Frankie’s Pizza. RHYME released solo projects including her latest EP INTERNET GIRL which received support from NYLON Japan. As a model she has appeared in global fashion magazines including CAKE Magazine and Re-Quest/QJ.
ABOUT SHINICHI OSAWA (MONDO GROSSO):
Shinichi Osawa’s career began as MONDO GROSSO in the early 90s. Osawa then became a successful music producer and composer for TV advertisements and film scores. He went on to produce some of the most stylish acid jazz, house, Nu-wave and R&B music in Japan. He also produced many of Japan’s top artists like Namie Amuro and bird. Shinichi Osawa then succeeded in the 2000s as an electro music pioneer. He released his first album, The One, via FatBoy Slim’s Label. His remix of Digitalism’s “POGO” was an epic of the electro era. His unique style has been influential in the music industry in Japan and beyond. In 2017, he released his first album in 14 years as MONDO GROSSO – soon after the release, the album ranked #1 on Japan’s iTunes album chart, and the music video “Labyrinth” from the album has since accumulated over 26 million views, receiving support from Mixmag Asia.
As Japan marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is remarkable and sad that some survivors are still fighting a battle. A recent court decision finally ruled that people who had suffered from the effects of exposure to radioactive “black rain” following the August 6, 1945 bombing of Hiroshima should be entitled to government support in spite of having been outside an officially designated radius of ground zero.
Known for his avant-garde collections and the dramatic way he blended traditional Japanese designs with bright and bold fantasy colours, Yamamoto Kansai was perhaps most famous for his collaboration with rock/pop icon David Bowie.
He died on July 21, 2020 at the age of 76 following a diagnosis of leukemia.
He was most influential during the 1970s and 1980s, and is particularly remembered for the flamboyant stage costumes he designed for Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane touring years in the early 70s. The photo shows a Yamamoto design from an exhibition of Bowie’s costumes first staged at the V&A in London in 2013.
“Some sort of chemical reaction took place: My clothes became part of David, his songs and his music,” Yamamoto said in a 2016 interview. “They became part of the message he delivered to the world.” He also designed clothing for other musical superstars including Elton John, Stevie Wonder and John Lennon.
Beyond fashion, Yamamoto also designed venues and social events, including for the 2008 G8 summit in Tokyo, and the Skyliner train that runs between Tokyo Narita Airport and the capital.
I assume this has actually already been done before, but it strikes me as a clever idea: mix manga and pop.
Story Teller Project describe themselves as a “rookie masked band” whose style is “poetry reading and singing, combined with comic pictures!” The debut release, Hatsu Koi – My Aoharu Days, is a pleasant romantic ditty that features the voice of popular young actress Sakurai Hinako (22), so there’s presumably some big company and serious money behind them. But it’s all packaged very well on their official website and social media channels.
The quartet is made up of “Sentimental keyboardist” Kazekaze, “Red hair and blue-eyed vocalist” Soramaru, “Sailor blouse” DJ Umi, and “Ironic bassist” Moriyama-san.
Emperor Akihito of Japan becomes the first in living memory, indeed in centuries, to abdicate from the throne, bringing the 30-year Heisei Era to a close. His son, Crown prince Naruhito, will formally ascend to the throne at midnight tonight, marking the beginning of the new Reiwa Era.
Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo (via Kyodo)
Akihito is widely loved and respected, both at home and abroad. His reign stood in contrast to that of his father, Hirohito, who is posthumously known as Emperor Showa and whose reign straddled World War II and saw an end to the emperor being formally revered as a living god.
Naruhito is expected to seek to be “close to the people”, following in his father’s footsteps and travelling across the country, particularly in the wake of the natural disasters which are such a common occurrence in Japan, and the “abide by the Constitution”, possibly a more tricky proposition considering efforts in recent years by the current ruling party to amend certain elements of the constitution.
Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate on April 30 and his son Naruhito will ascend to the throne on May 1, which will become a new national holiday. Combined with weekends and the existing series of national holidays in April and early May, this year’s Golden Week will extend to an unprecedented 10 days, a phenomenally long holiday by Japanese standards.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko plan where they’re going to spend their retirement!
Who doesn’t love a long holiday, right? Well, one worry about this long break is how it will affect businesses and hurt sales. Here at Japan Store, we will be unable to get stock from manufacturers or suppliers, so many orders placed during this time are likely to be delayed. But rest assured that we will do everything in our power to get all orders shipped as soon as we possibly can.
If you have an urgent delivery deadline, make sure to let us know. We will “upgrade” the shipping on urgent orders where possible and ensure that they are prioritized.
As you may have seen in the news, torrential rain has caused massive flooding in parts of western Japan, leading to the loss of more than 100 lives, with many thousands more devastated, and evacuation orders for some 2 million people.
We deal with several manufacturers in the region. One of them, Marugo, is based in Okayama, among the hardest-hit areas. They have informed us that their factory is safe, but that we should expect delivery delays.
This will affect some of our customers, and we will keep you updated of any delays to individual orders. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we hope you will join us in keeping the people of western Japan in our thoughts.
Tatsuya Yamaguchi (46), a member of the veteran “boy band” Tokio, was recently in tears as he announced that he was quitting in the wake of a sexual assault scandal. After a meeting with Johnny Kitagawa, the ageing head of the hugely powerful and influential Johnny’s Jimusho (Johnny & Associates) talent agency, the other four Tokio members held a press conference on Wednesday to formally apologize to the victim and her family. Group leader Shigeru Joshima (47) said that the members met on Monday night. While Yamaguchi presented a letter of resignation and said he would leave the group immediately, no formal decision was made at the time.
Yamaguchi was referred to prosecutors in April on suspicion of forcibly kissing a 16-year-old high school girl, who he had met through work, at his Tokyo home in February. But after the girl reportedly agreed to a settlement, she withdrew her complaint and the indictment was dropped. According to his lawyer, the star was drinking alone on the day of the incident and invited the girl to his home in the evening.
Remaining Tokio members hold press conference
Johnny’s Jimusho has had plenty of practice dealing with scandals over the years, and moved swiftly. All mention of Yamaguchi, who was the band’s bassist, has been removed from the agency’s website and the Tokio profile photo now includes only the four remaining members. Although ostensibly a band, the members have been regulars on TV variety shows since they debuted 25 years ago. They are due to release a 25th anniversary album later this year.
Interestingly, the case has been variously described as one of sexual harrassment, “indecent assault” (Japan News), “forced indecency” (Arama Japan), “sexual misconduct” (Washington Post), and the somehow trivial-sounding “kissing scandal” (Japan Times).
Yamaguchi divorced his wife and mother of their two sons, a former model, in 2016. He has reportedly had a worsening problem with alcohol, and is said to have been working from a hospital for the last few months, to “give his liver a rest.”
We’d like to wish all visitors to Japan Zone a very Happy New Year of the Dog in 2018!
2017 was an up and down year for us at Japan Zone but we’re really looking forward to the year ahead. 2018 is a year of the Dog in the 12-year Chinese zodiac, and specifically a “Brown Earth Dog”, which means it should be a good year in all respects, but it will also be an exhausting year.
You can read more about the Chinese zodiac (also very popular in Japan) here.
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He was most influential during the 1970s and 1980s, and is particularly remembered for the flamboyant stage costumes he designed for Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane touring years in the early 70s. The photo shows a Yamamoto design from an exhibition of Bowie’s costumes first staged at the V&A in London in 2013.
