Jean Snow [.net]

Month: September 2003

  • Purikura in the Nude

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    From Japan Today: ‘Purikura’ allows them to enjoy themselves by feeling like they’re sexy models, in the same way that karaoke makes people feel like they’re famous singers. – Author Ira Ishida, on the latest trend among teenage girls and young women of having their photos taken in arcade booths in the nude or nearly…

  • Cable Car

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    Part of our mountain trekking package was that after the hiking we had tickets to visit other sections of the mountain range, and had to get to the different areas by trolley bus, rope way, and cable car. Here we see the cable car that took us down, way down.

  • Dead or Alive 2

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    The movies they just keep on coming, and last night was time for Takashi Miike’s DEAD OR ALIVE 2. This is a weird one, and not what I was expecting from a DOA film. Sure, it’s got some action, but surprisingly little of it. In fact, most of the time this feels like a “journey…

  • Tateyama

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    As I blogged in Tokyo Boy this past weekend, we were out in Nagano prefecture trekking on Tateyama, and drenched by rain the whole time. We ended up hiking a good 4 hours, and we were completely soaked, right down to our underwear. The most disapointing aspect of the trip was that you couldn’t see…

  • Wonderful Days

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    So last night I finally watched the Korean animated film WONDERFUL DAYS and, well, wow. The animation in this film is truly amazing stuff, a simply beautiful mix of traditional hand-drawn animation with CG backgrounds and vehicles. This mix doesn’t always work, but here they’ve managed to create an environment that visually works. There’s nothing…

  • 1 Year

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    I forgot to mention it, but September 4 marked the one year anniversary of the site. Things here have evolved over the year, including the look of the site, and the appearance a few months ago of the Tokyo Boy moblog, and hopefully they’ll keep on changing in the year to come. I thank you…

  • Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl

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    You’ve probably noticed that I’m getting heavily into Asian movies again (I sort of took a break for most of the year, catching up on things I had missed out on the world scene), and last night I watched another two movies, starting with SHARK SKIN MAN AND PEACH HIP GIRL. Directed by Katsuhito Ishii…

  • Prizes for Kitano and Asano

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    The Japanese did very well as this year’s Venice film festival by winning two top prizes. Kitano won the best directing award for ZATOICHI, and Tadanobu Asano, who co-stars in the same film, won a best acting award for his role in the Thai film LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE. I’m glad for both of…

  • Juon 2

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    Even the giant signs are scary. This is painted, which is what they do at most theatres. Update (16/08/13): The photo is unfortunately no longer available. I’m sure it was pretty scary.

  • More on Tokyo Godfathers

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    Follow this link for great reviews of Satoshi Kon’s animated films TOKYO GODFATHERS and MILLENNIUM ACTRESS. I have MILLENNIUM ACTRESS waiting to be watched, and really need to get to it. From this review, TOKYO GODFATHERS seems even more interesting that what I was expecting. And while on the subject of animation, I’ve just gotten…