Here's a very nice short video from The Perennial Plate, a blog about sustainable food, that introduces us to Tetsuo Shimizu, a Japanese farmer and restaurateur. He makes his own udon noodles from wheat he grows, and serves it up in Shogotei Restaurant he opened to supplement the meager income he makes as a farmer. It's an inspiration glimpse of...
Over the years, I've been surprised that many Japanese Americans aren't interested in Japan or even visiting Japan, mostly because they’re embarrassed that they don’t speak Japanese, or they feel entirely American. I think it's more important than ever for Japanese Americans to follow events in Japan. The fact is, Japan is on the precipice of some potentially treacherous political turmoil. Most...
It was the right song for the occasion: Duo Sokyo ended a brief concert marking the 100th anniversary of Japan's gift of more than 3,000 cherry trees to the United States as a symbol of friendship, with the traditional Japanese folksong that is probably best-known in the west, "Sakura," or "Cherry Blossom." Duo Sokyo, Yoko Hiraoka playing the koto, a traditional...
During a recent trip to Los Angeles, Erin and I took the time to visit Universal Studios and play the part of tourists. The highlight -- hands down -- was "Transformers The Ride-3D," an immersive thrill ride that took our breath away with its realism and extreme excitement. The ride takes the characters from the hit series of sci-fi action films...
Scooter Braun, the management guru behind Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen, today announced he's signed Korean rap artist Park Jae-Sang, better-known as PSY, the dude with the huge viral video hit, "Gangnam Style" (see above). The goofy, annoying techno-dance thumper with the horsey-straddling giddyup choreography is unavoidable -- with more than 107 million views as of this writing, it's become...
Unbelievable. Again and again, I'm reminded how some Americans have a stubborn racist streak that's covered up by a veneer of political correctness, but comes out with just a little bit of provocation. Last year, people expressed ignorant racist hatred against Japanese ...
IN 2001, New York filmmaker Linda Hattendorf began documenting the life of a homeless artist whose work caught her attention. The elderly man, who set up his "shop" outside a corner grocery in SoHo, not far from the Wall Street district, wouldn't take money from passersby, unless it was in payment for one of his drawings or paintings, many of...
This jaw-dropping shamisen throwdown took place during a free performance sponsored by the Consul General of Japan at Denver, of ABEYA Tsugaru Shamisen Performance Ensemble. It's an incredible eight-piece group that performs traditional folksongs (and original material) on the shamisen, a three-stringed lute with a tone similar to a western banjo, that's plucked with a tool that looks like a...
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