City Hunter – シティーハンター – سيتي هنتر

ch

ch

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.
 

City Hunter (シティーハンター), the 80’s shonen jump manga and the anime. I’ve always wanted to watch it but for some reason didn’t like the art. But now after giving up on whatever anime/manga is being produced, since early 20s ’til  now, I’m going back on anime archives to see if I can watch something that I’ve left behind. So yes, now I’m more interested in City Hunter!

Excuse me fans for saying this, but I’m gonna watch it for two reasons, first, I liked the live action movie City Hunter (Jackie Chan) and the other reason is that I liked the generation that City Hunter was produced in… and yeah, its OSTs are good too! No offense…at least ’til I watch it!!

Japanese Students Organization – الإتحاد الياباني للطلبة

No, I’m neither Japanese nor majoring in Japanese language, but yes, I’m a member! I liked how this organization is related to the school in which I study, so their events are scheduled and organized according to the academic year. Conveniently it’s filling our spare time. Since I’ve joined them in late September nothing really special happened but I can tell they are active and for most of the Japanese major students at OSU, Japan is beyond the classroom and this surprised me. For those who are interested, you can register/follow JSO on

http://jso.org.ohio-state.edu/

Now, my second step is to attend the main Japanese events in Athens in Ohio which is around a couple of hours away from where I live, Gnbaremasu…..!

ASIMO – アシモ – أسيمو

        

                    ”ASIMO (アシモ) (Advanced Step in Innovative MObility) is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Standing at 130 centimeters (4 feet 3 inches) and weighing 54 kilograms (114 pounds), the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6 km/h (4.3 mph), matching EMIEW. ASIMO was created at Honda’s Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan. It is the current model in a line of eleven that began in 1986 with E0.” (Wikipedia)

Now, some would ask WHY ASIMO?! many other labs developed more useful robots, and if not better than ASIMO mayabe something equivalent in terms of functionalities, like dancing, walking or even playing soccer! Yeah, Toyota, Hitachi, SONY, TOSHIBA and many other leading electronics electronish companies have developed such robots. However, ASIMO still represents for me and for many others the ideal appearance, color, size, movement and functions of a ROBOT, the robot that we all have dreamed of in childhood! now there are around 100 ASIMOs, each costs around $1 million! 

Talking about the automobile co. HONDA, I’m usually impressed of whatever it manufactures from Robots to Motorcycles and anything in between! Always efficient, economic, environment-friendly, quiet, new, nice and powerful. Although this is valid for most of the Japanese companies, but HONDA got it all. Here in Ohio there is a HONDA Automobile factory where Japanese-HONDA powered vehicles are made! I shall visit and see the genuine assembly line of HONDA…

Wallet Mobile – おサイフケータイ- Osaifu Keitai – الهاتف المحفظة

I will take a bottom-up approach in this post ‘cos I’m more interested in Electronic Electronish things!

“FeliCa is a technology developed by Sony in which a microchip, embedded in a card or electronic device, combines processing, storage, and communications functions. The name derives from the word “felicity,” suggesting convenience. The data on the chip is nonvolatile and can be overwritten indefinitely. The FeliCa chip can be used in portable digital devices such as cell phone sets.” (techtarget.com)

Now, what’s about the title?!

Wallet Mobile – おサイフケータイ- الهاتف المحفظة, is a technology that was introduced in Japan since 2004 by NTT DoCoMo, in which mobiles are equipped with FeliCa chip that enables users to make payments as if they’re using credit cards and even faster, all what you need is to scan your mobile, and yeah you can recharge it with the exact amount that you would like to limit your payments with, security issues. Moreover, with this technology, mobile handsets in Japan can also be used as a train-pass (Suica), can’t you see how convenient is this?  When I was in Japan I felt shy to use my piece of junk (mobile) within that sophisticated market of mobile. Now this sounds pathetic but 6 years later and still no significant approach in the middle east to improve the hardware infrastructure of mobiles telecommunication industry/market, all what they are doing now is expanding the speed and consequently the cost, and we blindly compliment on how good our telecommunication companies are (Z and W) while NTT DoCoMo is generations leaping ahead, hmm!                                                                                                                                                                         Check this out:

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

Even Taxis…!

Igano Kabamaru – 伊賀野カバ丸 – كابامارو

221kabamaru2yo12428076976303

“Igano Kabamaru (伊賀野カバ丸, Igano Kabamaru) is a Japanese manga created by Yu Azuki. The eponymous protagonist is a naive young ninja from the Iga province called Kagemaro (absolute shadow), nicknamed Kabamaru (hippo’s mouth) for his insatiable appetite. After the death of his strict grandfather and ninja sensei, Kabamaru moves to Tokyo with one of his grandfather’s acquaintances. The plot deals mainly with Kabamaru adjusting to an urban lifestyle after spending a childhood in the mountains and how he finds himself caught up in the rivalry between two private schools.” (Wikipedia)

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

Kabamaru or نينجا المغامر   as how it’s titled in arabic, is one of the big anime hits in the 80s in the middle east, it was dubbed into Arabic by a Lebanese dubbing Inc. شريف وحيد, where وحيد جلال then وليم عتيق as Kabamaru and الفيرا يونس as Mai.

In 2003 , I’ve ,by chance, found that there is a new manga series of the story which I didn’t really like in terms of art and the very extended story of it, but it’s good to continue watching/reading it though. Furthermore, there is a movie (life action) titled ” The Ninja Boy Igano Kabamaru” and it is based on the original manga! I guess they’ve done a great casting on that as shown in the preview (opening credit). Now, Igano Kabamaru, the movie, has been already added on my to-watch list!!

Sumida River – 隅田川 – Sumida-gawa – نهر سوميدا

sr

” The Sumida River (隅田川, Sumida-gawa) is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers. What is now known as the “Sumida River” was previously the path of the Arakawa, however towards the end of the Meiji era work was carried out to divert the main flow of the Arakawa to prevent flooding. It passes through Kita, Adachi, Arakawa, Sumida, Taito, Koto and Chuo” (Wikipedia).

When some friends of mine and I first visited Tokyo in 2003,  I’ve tried to convince them to visit the Sumida River as it’s one of the land marks in Tokyo, they were partially convinced about it. Then, the next day, we’ve arrived in Asakusa train station which is just next to Sumida River, I didn’t know how far it’s located away from the train station, so once we went out the station we kept walking ‘n’ walking for ages! Nothing appeared on the horizon yet, as I’ve mentioned earlier, they were just partially convinced about visiting it, so suddenly we’ve they’ve decided to forget about it and go back to whatever is left to visit/see in Tokyo. FOUR years later, in 2007, a friend of mine and I, have made it at the Sumida River at the right time and the right place, the station this time was just a couple of minutes away from the river, and the timing was just perfect for it, it was late March, you know what I mean! Cherry blossom, Sakura trees, were covering the streets of Sumida. It was crowded with public enjoying the weather, the scenery and the river at that delightful moment. What’s so special about Sumida River in addition to the Sakura trees, the bridges, it has many bridges passing over it and some are dedicated for trains, it’s wide and relaxing for sight. I remember how people there were so happy and joyful! Sumia River now means a beautiful moment for me!

ZARD – ザード – زارد

z

“ZARD (ザード) was a Japanese pop group. Originally a group of five members, with lead vocalist Izumi Sakai as group leader. However, Sakai was the only member who stayed on the group while others joined and left regularly. As such, Zard and Sakai may be referred interchangeably. Zard’s work was sold under record label B-Gram Records Inc. Sakai was also a very prolific lyricist. She wrote 150 songs during her 17-year career (numerous songs for other artists as well as all of the Zard songs except for two, Koionna no Yūutsu (恋女の憂鬱) and Onna de Itai (女でいたい) from their first album, Good-bye My Loneliness, which was written by Dariya Kawashima) and released several books of poetry as well.”(Wikipedia).

Nostalgia

Nostalgia

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

ZARD, Izumi Sakai, is one of my favorite singers. I’ve first knew her in 1998 when I got her first album from Asahi Bookstore in Colindale, London. Her voice and performance is very different comparing with the same generation of Japanese singers, when I listen to her songs I almost don’t skip any track! My favorites of her are Nostalgia, Good-bye My Loneliness, Believe In Love, and What a Beautiful Memory.  Izumi Sakai had cervical cancer so she was admitted to the Keio University Hospital where she accidentally fell down the stairs and died in 2008 at age of 40. Zard fans will no more listen to any new of her, but her past will never always playback!

P.S.: Posted song is “Nostalgia”.

TOUGH BOY by TOM★CAT!

tough

Tough Boy is the opening song of the anime ‘Fist of the Big Dipper 2′ (北斗の拳,2 Hokuto no Ken2), or some might call it Fist of the North Star2 or Ken, the big dipper fist2! It’s the conflict in translating many Japanese titles into english. Anyhow, Hokuto no Ken is an action anime was first released in the 80s. Although I’m not a big fan of Hokuto no Ken but I really like its opening and ending songs. Tough Boy was performed by TOM★CAT, I liked how a girl has performed in such a tough way, amazed!

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

Hokuto no Ken is based on manga of which several videogames were released on Nintendo (Famicom), Sega Saturn and some other consoles… Tough Boy Tough Boy Tough Boy!!


Fūun! Takeshi-jō – Takeshi Castle – 風雲！たけし城 – الحصن

takeshi castle

” Takeshi’s Castle (الحصن) was a Japanese game show that aired from 1986 to 1989 on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It featured the Japanese actor Takeshi’s Kitano (also known as Beat Takeshi) as a count who owns a castle and sets up impossible challenges from players to get to him. The show became a cult television hit around the world” From Wikipedia.

takeshi 16

Fortunately, the show was dubbed into Arabic by (رياض شرارة) and later on by (جمال ريان). The show is one of my all time favourite tv shows/programs/games! I have always wanted to participate in this game since the 80s. It triggered the curiosity in me to discover and explore more about Japan, as it was my first time to see Japan in a live action show rather than in whatever products they manufacture/produce, e.g., anime, video games, electronic devices or manga!  A couple of decades later, in the 2005 I’ve tried to locate where the Takeshi’s Castle was filmed, so I might be able to at least visit the studio. Therefore, I’ve searched the web ’til I’ve found a google-earth photo of the exact location where the show was filmed. It was filmed in Midoriyama Studios in Yokohama, Japan. The broadcasting Inc. is Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc.(TBS), it’s one of the biggest broadcasting Television Incs. in Japan, then I’ve tried to call ‘em, ’til someone answered and I’ve asked if it’s possible for fans to visit the studio, the lady who picked the phone answered, ‘NO’ the program was ended long time ago and it’s not allowed for public to enter the studio!!

takeshi game

Few years later I’ve found that there are three volumes of Takeshi’s Castle Game on Nintendo (Famicom)! I’ve already downloaded the game from the web and it’s really a good one, especially the one produced in 1987 by TBS and BANDAI, there is also a pad/mat/platform where you can play the game without joysticks, just as if you’re playing it for real. Due to copyrights issues, I won’t be posting the address where this game can be downloaded, but it’s really easy to be found though ;P  So good luck and I wish you a pleasant time playing Takeshi’s Castle (الحصن), GANBAREMASU! ;)

TOSHIBA Cell Chip TV

cellchip                 

                  After four years of researches and studies, the leading electronics company TOSHIBA has announced of marketing  the first TV based on the Cell multimedia processor soon, this Cell Chip was also developed by IBM and SONY besides TOSHIBA, it’s basically the same Cell Chip used in Playstation3. However, TOSHIBA is the only electronics co. that has announced about releasing the Cell Chip Television. In addition to its advanced Video/Audio features, the Cell Chip TV has the feature of simultaneously record eight HD channels! It will be available in market sometimes around late December in Japan and early 2010 in the USA. It will roughly cost  US$11k for the 55-inch TV!