Utada Hikaru – Come Back To Me

Allow me to break my silence up to now with this long awaited “Come Back To Me” video premiere from Utada Hikaru’s upcoming album “This Is The One”. The video is directed by Anthony Mandler and was shot in Los Angeles. I have to say that her brand new song “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI” is also simply fabulous and she’s definitely serious this time in re-invading the world. Just can’t wait for the day when they start putting her albums on the Tower Record racks and getting my hands on one of them. Utada, great works as always ! Thanks for the posters sent in to me the other day ! Can’t wait to go to your next concert in the future !

Work That !

Teriyaki Boyz Feat. Pharrel & Chris Brown

Another funky tune by the Teriyaki Boyz, collaborating with Pharrel once again after Zock On.
Their new album “SERIOUS JAPANESE” will be out on 28th January !

(HOOK)
Let me see ya work that Let me see ya work that
Let me see ya work that Let me see ya work that
Work That! Work That! Work That!
Work That! Work That! Work That!
Work That! Work That! Work That!
Work That! Work That! Work That!

(VERBAL)
GIRL in a PURPLE, said she THIRSTY PASS that GRAPPA,
swig that girlfriend…
So heated this WEEKEND Best-looking EARTHLING yet to surface
“She’s taken… what’s the purpose?”
“Just looking… CAN I DO THAT?”
Wanna DO that, chauffeur that THING back home,
just watch her WORK that…
Her shirt be BURSTIN When she twist & twirk that skirt get
Lifeted HIGH, so SCI-FI said she SHY? YEAH RIGHT!
もう相当　末期症状　ポッケにROCKET、どうしよう?どうしよう!
東京妄想　BOYZが爆走　高度上昇　We in MOTION

(RYO-Z)
He say She say TB　リクエスト　まんまのシーケンスで深いGroove
P先輩　say line for the bathroom　どんなサイズも一目で採寸
TOPからアンダー ウェスト　ヒップ
HOTなナンバーがかかればZOCK ON!
みんなでWillie Bounce　あの娘とDirty Wine
とっくのとうに忘れてるぜ恥じらい
まるで真夜中のまじない　フロア中揺らすBasslineに感じない?
どこまでも照らすSearchlight　逃げられやしない　しなるBodyline
Let me see ya work that　呑み過ぎKnockdown
どころか頭はますますClock up
なんとか立ってられるくらいフラフラ
もう一回ドアタマ戻してPull up

(WISE)
Uh〜 She got crazy charisma, body like a magnet　引き起こす asthma
引き寄せる手綱　アッて間に乗りこなすじゃじゃ馬
Oooh I’ve seen that on video,
tame her like a mustang ride like in a rodeo
Oh That’s what I mean move it slow,
work that thing like you wanna be a pro
Uh, Straight from TOKIO　眠らない街へようこそ
Neon lights shinin’bright　彼女が履くJeans みたくTight
街はGlamorous　夜はScandalous Can you really hang with us?
味は格別　テリヤキ　マジです　Yo, Can you handle this?

(ILMARI)
TokyoのネオンみたいにShining　フロアで悩殺されちゃヤバい
タイトなサイジング(oh-)そのバディー
フレッシュでライカ酸味の効くパイン
オーラ迸る凸凹ライン　僕の手を握る
なんならどっか　いっちゃいそうさ
アゲアゲオズマみたいにパーティー　今夜も超HOT(超HOT)
Turn It Upで超ハイ　HOW HIGHどんぐらい?
腰揺らす超満員　頂上までgroovin
Turn It Upで超ハイ　HOW HIGHどんぐらい?
腰揺らす超満員　頂上までgroovin

(PHARRELL)
Girl, work that body Girl, work that body
Girl, work that body Girl, move your body
Work That! Work That! Work That!
Work That! Work That! Work That!
Work That! Work That! Work That!
Work That! Work That! Work That!

(Chorus)
Let me see ya work that Let me see ya work that
Let me see ya work that Let me see ya work that
You can work it out but you gotta get started now
You can work it out but you gotta get started now

Utada’s new single “Come Back To Me”

Her new single and a new English album to be out soon !

When I checked my Hotmail account a while ago, I was thrilled to find out that an e-mail from the Utada mailing list that I’m subscribing to had arrived informing the new single by Utada and am real excited for the release of her coming new English album. Anyway, you can listen to her new single “Come Back To Me” at her official website. Also available at her MySpace. So check it out ! Been a bit busy lately to blog. Will start re-blogging properly once I get settled with current higher priority matters. Peace.

***

Come Back To Me

The rain falls on my windows
And the coldness runs through my soul
And the rain falls, oh, the rain falls
I don’t want to be alone

I wish that I could photoshop on
Our bad memories
Because the flashbacks, oh the flashbacks
Won’t leave me alone

If you come back to me
I’ll be all that you need
Baby, come back to me
Let me make up for what happened in the past

(Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
Boy, you’re one in a million (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
You’re one in a million
(You’re one in a million)

Memories I have of Manhattan
She goes shopping for new clothes
And she buys this, and she buys that
Just leave her alone
I wish that he would listen to her
Side of the story
It isn’t that bad, it isn’t that bad
And she’s wiser for it now

I admit I cheated (admit I cheated )
Don’t know why I did it (why I did it)
But I do regret it (do regret it)
Nothing I can do or say can change the past

(Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
Boy, you’re one in a million (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
You’re one in a million
(You’re one in a million)

Everything I ever did
Heaven knows I’m sorry but
I was too young to see
You were always there for me
And my curiosity
Got the better half of me
Baby take it easy on me
Anything from A to Z
Tell me what you want to be
I open my heart to be
You are my priority
Can’t you see you’ve punished me
More than enough already
Baby take it easy on me

Baby take it easy on me
Baby come back to me
Baby come back to me

(Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
Boy you’re one in a million (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
You’re one in a million
(You’re one in a million)

(Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
Boy, you’re one in a million (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
I’ll be everything you need (Come back)
Baby come back to me (Come back)
You’re one in a million
(One in a million)

La la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la

Kanji of the Year

Kanji for the year 2008 : 『変』

For further informaton, check the Wikipedia.

In Japan, they started using a 漢字, 【Kanji】 (which means Chinese character)

to represent the whole year from 1995.

For this year, the keyword is “change” as in the frequent changing of the Japanese Prime Ministers (Abe to Fukuda to Aso), Mr. Obama winning the American Presidency elections spreading the word ‘change’ globally and also the obvious and serious economical and ecological changes around the world. The word “変” is read as “hen” (for the Chinese reading 音読み) and “kawari” (for the Japanese reading 訓読み). It mainly means change but it also means weird. There were many changes in this year and of course, a very weird year indeed as well. Anyway, we all are hoping for better changes in the world, no matter where we are. What will year 2009 have in store for us ? Let’s get surprised. Hopefully, surprised in a good way.

Flumpool: 花になれ

Visit their official website here.

This song is their debut song and was also used in the au LISMO TV commercial

Simply love the melody and the violin in the song

息も絶える環状線沿いで
色褪せた星と　闇空の下
いつのまに僕は　自分らしさと
生き方のレシピ　探しているんだろう?

素晴らしさという忘れ物
取り戻しに行こう　くたびれた夢
幼少の頃　砂に埋めた様に
十年後僕に　この歌を捧げよう

笑って泣いて歌って　花になれ
咲き誇れ　いつか　光溢れ
歯痒くても　きっと　受け止めるよ
未来は気にせずに

数えきれないほど　何度も
君の名を呼んだ
何処かで微笑んでるかな
夜空に放った　僕らの
声は喧噪の中　消えて
優しく僕らを包んでゆく

繰り返しの日々が嫌んなって
いっそ可憐に　輝いてみようか
永遠に咲くドライフラワーよりも僕らは
散りゆくとも　一心不乱な桜になろう

笑って泣いて歌って　花になれ
咲き誇れ　いつか　光溢れ
歯痒くても　きっと　受け止めるよ
未来は気にせずに

数えきれないほど　何度も
君の名を呼んだ
手のひらに残る温もり
あの時　誓った　僕らの
声は喧噪の中　消えて
君といた街に　立ちすくむよ

いつのまにか　傷つく事が怖くなって
まだ蕾(つぼみ)のまま
光の射す場所を　ずっと探してる
明日もきっと

何処まで行けば　笑いあえるの?
自由や希望や夢は　僕が思うほど
素晴らしいかな?輝いているのかな?
未来をこの胸に

数えきれないほど　何度も
君の名を呼んだ
何処かで微笑んでるかな
夜空に放った　僕らの
声は喧噪の中　消えて
優しく僕らを包んでゆく

Octoberians Birthday Bash + Halloween Party 2008

Fun, fun and more fun

Random friends meeting up together to have simple fun.

Check the following album for the rest of the pictures:

URL: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41371&l=268f1&id=695687901

Happy November !

A quick update !

Had a wonderful time being a clown and danced all night at the Ageha Halloween Party 2008 !

It was Ben’s birthday as well, Happy Birthday Ben !

***

A Birthday Wish to Shu Li !

Here’s your card dear ! Have a blast today and have a great year ahead !

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri everyone !

Raya greetings from Japan

Wishing you a very Happy Raya from all of us in Chiba University !

Visit the following link for pictures taken during our Raya party.

URL: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36435&l=d3fb4&id=695687901

A message from Naotaro Moriyama

『生きてることが辛いなら』

“When life’s too painful to live on” by Naotaro Moriyama

生きてることが辛いなら
いっそ小さく死ねばいい
恋人と親は悲しむが
三日と経てば元通り
気が付きゃみんな年取って
同じとこに行くのだから

生きてることが辛いなら
わめき散らして泣けばいい
その内夜は明けちゃって
疲れて眠りに就くだろう
夜に泣くのは赤ん坊
だけって決まりはないんだし

生きてることが辛いなら
悲しみをとくと見るがいい
悲しみはいつか一片の
お花みたいに咲くという
そっと伸ばして両の手で
摘み取るんじゃなく守るといい

何もないとこから
何もないとこへと
何もなかったかのように
巡る生命だから

生きてることが辛いなら
嫌になるまで生きるがいい
歴史は小さなブランコで
宇宙は小さな水飲み場
生きてることが辛いなら
くたばる喜びとっておけ
生きてることが辛いなら

***

A song dedicated to my juniors in Japan

You maybe going through tough times now
and may think that living life itself is too painful
but just simply remember to never give up
for a beautiful future will definitely awaits
if you keep your heart strong …

So, simply move on & listen to every single words in this song.
Found them real meaningful & simply wanted to share.
Seniors do go through ups and downs
so we understand that juniors go through them as well.
We’ll give our full support, when you need it, just simply let us know.

Japan’s without a head on 1st September 2008

Who’s next ? Is it going to be Taro ?

Fukuda quits as leader of Japan after 11 months

From International Herald Tribune

Yasuo Fukuda resigned as the prime minister of Japan on Monday,
after less than a year in office marked by political gridlock, plunging
approval ratings and disarray within the governing Liberal Democratic Party.

“I feel it’s best to hand over the reins of power to a new leader,” Fukuda said
in Tokyo on Monday evening. His 11-month tenure was the shortest for
a Japanese leader since 1994.

Fukuda is the second prime minister to resign since the Liberal Democratic Party,
or LDP, lost control of the upper house of Parliament in July 2007 to the Democratic
Party of Japan. Fukuda’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, also resigned suddenly after just
12 months in the job. The governing party’s inability to work with the opposition – or
win popular support for road taxes and higher health care premiums for the elderly – suggests
that it will have to struggle to maintain its decades-long grip on power.

Recent political gridlock led to the first leadership vacancy at the
Bank of Japan in more than eight decades and helped drive the country’s
benchmark stock index, the Nikkei 225 stock average, down about 20 percent
since Junichiro Koizumi, Abe’s predecessor, left office.

“The 53-year-old LDP is reaching the end of its political shelf life,” said
Masayuki Fukuoka, a professor of political science at Hakuoh University north of Tokyo.

The party is required to hold lower-house elections by September 2009.
It has held power through coalitions for all but about a year since it was formed in 1955.

The coalition had to use its two-thirds majority to override upper-house
vetoes on legislation to renew refueling missions in the Indian Ocean for
the U.S. military and taxes earmarked for road construction. It was the first
time that the lower house had used the maneuver since 1951.

Fukuda’s approval rating has fallen by almost half since he took office
last September. Public support for his cabinet fell to 29 percent, down
9 percentage points from early August, the newspaper The Nikkei reported
Monday, citing its own telephone survey. Fukuda’s disapproval rating rose
14 points, to 63 percent. The Nikkei said it contacted 1,549 households and
obtained 866 valid responses.

Fukuda replaced Abe, who cited his inability “to gain the trust of the people”
when he stepped down. Abe resigned after his approval rating fell below 30 percent.

Fukuda, the first prime minister whose father also held the position,
beat former Foreign Minister Taro Aso in the LDP’s party vote for the leadership.
He had served as cabinet chief for former prime ministers Koizumi and Yoshiro Mori.

When he assembled his first cabinet in September, Fukuda said he wanted
to “revive” the LDP by transforming it into a political party that “firmly implements policies.”

Aso will handle the selection of a new party leader, Fukuda said. Analysts
said that Aso, who is the LDP’s secretary general and an outspoken,
right-leaning politician, was the front-runner to succeed Fukuda.

Speculation had been simmering that the unpopular prime minister might
be replaced before a general election that must be held by September 2009.
Fukuda’s resignation does not automatically mean an election. His party
must pick a new leader and win the confidence of the lower house if it
wants to carry on leading Japan’s coalition government.

“The LDP has had no leadership, and is in the process of disintegrating,” Gerald Curtis,
a political science professor at Columbia University, said before Fukuda’s
resignation Monday. “Japan is a political basket case.”

The brief terms of Abe and Fukuda contrasted with that of Koizumi, who left
office after five-and-half years. When he was elected, Japan faced economic
deflation and recession. Koizumi cut spending and urged banks to write off bad loans.

***

First, it started off with Abe when he got bullied and his resignation created history, quite a bitter one for this developed country. Next, the person who took his baton was Fukuda and only after 11 months, he quited just today on the 1st September 2008, creating another so-called surprising bitter history for Japan. Fukuda wasn’t functioning as he should. The numbers weren’t supporting him at all from the very beginning and the atmosphere of him quiting (after his big failure to change things around during his recent cabinet reshuffling that was just done a few months ago) had been looming around. Now, the question arises, “Who’s next?” but it has always been obvious in this country. They always prepare for its nation of whom they should choose. Japan’s needs a charismatic character which can lead the country and at the same time keep the heat going. Will Taro be the one ? We’ll see but many of us are quite sure who it will be when the news is out about the birth of a new cabinet in the near future.

Endoru’s final lab summer camp at Shirakaba Lake, Nagano

Endoru’s first experience making wine

First, we have to pick the grapes. They were yummy !

As how the title of this post say, this year’s summer camp is the last one for both us final year students as well as for Professor Miyake who is going to retire next year. Since Professor Miyake’s hometown is in Nagano, the lab thought that it would be perfect that we have it at his hometown and we decided to have our final summer camp at the Shirakaba Lake, Nagano. I, personally crossed 4 prefectures and 1 metropolis during this whole trip. From Chiba to Tokyo and then to Yamanashi before reaching Nagano and then a bit of Toyama (when we went to the Kurobe Dam). I had an enjoyable time, rediscovering why I liked Japan. So, please enjoy the many photos I’ve taken throughout this whole trip. There’s too much to comment about this trip but I will just let my photos tell you the whole story. *hehe*

Miyake Lab Summer Camp 2008 【Day 1: 20th August 2008】

Album 1 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31023&l=f74be&id=695687901
Album 2 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31024&l=95f3e&id=695687901
Album 3 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31025&l=2f801&id=695687901

Miyake Lab Summer Camp 2008 【Day 2: 21st August 2008】

Album 1 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31026&l=286ea&id=695687901
Album 2 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31027&l=1ad22&id=695687901
Album 3 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31028&l=6f440&id=695687901
Album 4 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31029&l=b6c98&id=695687901

Miyake Lab Summer Camp 2008 【Day 3: 22nd August 2008】

Album 1 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31031&l=9d2d7&id=695687901
Album 2 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31033&l=a1ae8&id=695687901
Album 3 : http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31035&l=6f8f1&id=695687901

Yachting experience. A taste of the rich man’s world.

Captain Endoru experiencing his first cruising

It’s definitely a rich man’s world to own such a beautiful yacht

Yachting. When you hear about yachting, what do you imagine? To me, a person who owns a yacht must be real rich as the first condition and indeed not something for me to experience at this age but my dear friend Mya and I were really privileged that a mutual rich acquaintance of ours (our captain wants to keep a low profile so sorry, no pictures of him *hehe*) who was kind enough to invite us onto his yacht beautifully named “Scheherazade”, after the name of the queen in the story of the Arabian nights. It was definitely an enjoyable experience to go cruising around the Tokyo bay and let the wind guide the sails throughout the whole expedition. Definitely looking forward to the next invitation ! Thanks, Captain !

Here are some albums of pictures of the trip for you to see. Enjoy !

Album 1 : 　http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29340&l=47ec9&id=695687901
Album 2 :　http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29345&l=72e89&id=695687901
Album 3 :　http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29348&l=893e1&id=695687901

Sheena Ringo, congratulations !

10th Anniversary. Congratulations, Sheena Ringo !

One of my all time favorite singer, the one and only Sheena Ringo.

New album 2CD compilation : “私と放電”

To commemorate her 10th year anniversary as an song writer singer artiste, she will be releasing a 2 CDs compilation album of her songs up to now, namely “私と放電” and also a PV compilation DVD “私の発電” of her main singles in the past 10 years. Both the album and the DVD will be released on the 2nd July 2008. There is also a special website for her 10th anniversary so fans out there, be sure to check it out.

How well do you know Uniqlo ?

Have you heard of Uniqlo ?

Asano modeling with Chloe Sevigny for Uniqlo

UNIQLO CELEBRATES THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING WITH A NEW UT COLLECTION AND ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FEATURING CHLOE SEVIGNY

March 5, 2008 (New York, NY)– This spring, UNIQLO’s creative wheels are turning once again with the return of the UT Project (UT stands for UNIQLO t-shirt), a limited edition collection of t-shirts designed by renowned artists, designers, photographers, etc. Arriving in stores on March 17th, with deliveries throughout the season, this collection features t-shirts from famed artists Keith Harring and Basquiat, among other designers and artists. Reasonably priced from around $15.50 and offering styles for men, women and children, there is sure to be a style for everyone. These t-shirts will be available in UNIQLO stores worldwide.

To complement this truly innovative idea, UNIQLO is rolling out an advertising campaign featuring Chloe Sevigny and Tadanobu Asano, a Japanese actor, shot by photographer Dan Jackson. This campaign will be featured in wildpostings, a type of viral guerilla-style image campaign, as well as full pages in Time Out New York, AM New York and the New York Post, commencing on April 10th.

“”UT is about self expression, so we took this as our starting point for the campaign. With Tadanobu Asano and Chloe Sevigny, we had them express various characters and emotions that they found in the t-shirt designs. We wanted them to bring the designs to life,” said Markus Kiersztan, owner of MP Creative and consulting creative director for UNIQLO.

The UT Project will continue to be an important initiative for UNIQLO in the future as illustrated by the launch of the interactive UT Grand Prix Program, which enables artists from all over the world to submit a t-shirt design to possibly be sold as a t-shirt at UNIQLO. The UT Grand Prix is certain to make design more fun and adds another interesting layer to the UT Project. This project commences on April 16th and will be carried out over the months following.

About UNIQLO

Clothing says a lot, but you can say it better. UNIQLO designs, manufactures, markets and sells casual wear that can be worn by anyone, any day. Rather than dictate a look, UNIQLO provides people everywhere with the piece they need to create their own style. And style comes from within, which is why the UNIQLO logo is nearly invisible, tucked away inside the garment.

This concept, along with an unwavering focus on quality and value, has guided UNIQLO’s actions since the establishment of its first store in 1984 Hiroshima, Japan. Today UNIQLO has grown to over 760 UNIQLO stores worldwide and is household name in Japan.

From t-shirts and sweaters to denim, outerwear and trend items, all of our clothes are made according to exacting Japanese standards for quality and come in an astonishing variety of colors and styles. UNIQLO is committed to providing customers with true excellence and innovation in casual wear, from the design and functionality to the fit and color choices. As a company, UNIQLO controls every stage of the creation of its products—from the fabric used to the stringent production control program at the factory and finally to the display at the store. We use the world’s best resources to give customers something better every time.

UNIQLO is a brand of FAST RETAILING and among the top 10 specialty apparel retailers in the world. Other group companies include Theory in the U.S., COMPTOIR DES COTONNIERS and Princesse tam.tam in France, and g.u., CABIN, ONE ZONE, FOOT PARK, VIEW COMPANY and ASPESI in Japan. For more information, visit www.uniqlo.com or www.fastretailing.com.

***

For those of us who came to Japan about 8 years ago, when you hear this brand, it was like cheap and good quality products for foreign students like us. We could get clothings, ranging from spring to winter, at very reasonable prices and it has long to be known in Japan as “cheap stuffs brand”. Well, Uniqlo, now, not that cheap anymore, after they have rebuilt their brand power overseas, trying to gain a status in the international market by empowering themselves through new designs and collaborative ideas with designers, artists and even photographers. I’ve heard from my friend who used to stay in London saying that it is rather a popular Japanese brand and it is not that cheap there. I love the designs of the UT Project this time (1500 yen per T-shirt) and planning to get myself a few once money gets in. The shore at Harajuku is pretty cool so if you haven’t check it out, please do. The YouTube video below will give you a rough preview on how it really looks like. Enjoy.

Introducing Japan’s rush hour train

Human tuna can

This is exactly how it looks like. Yes, they do “push”. *hehe* I guess I will face that more next year onwards when I do really start working. I was never into the idea of owning a car but perhaps, when I do get myself enough money and tired of being squashed into a moving public transport like this, I may consider owning one.