Danny Choo

For 130 yen you can have the next best thing to having a taste of the K-ON! girls - Yakisoba Pan (its like a hot dog with fried noodles instead) "as seen in the anime."
An in depth review of the product below.

Was on Channel NewsAsia - a Singapore national TV morning show. Went on with The Executive Director of SOZO Shawn Chin and Veteran butler Hellven Chua to speak about the anime industry and monetary aspects.

With the presenters of Primetime Morning Suzanne Jung and Steven Chia.

And the rest of the photos are a gander around the MediaCorp offices.

Looks like the Milky Holmes girls have also taken a liking to our Saber. Here we have from the left is Mikoi Sasaki [佐々木未来] (green), Sora Tokui [徳井青空] (yellow) and the very funny Izumi Kitta [橘田 いずみ] (blue) who keeps trying to kidnap Saber. Suzuko Mimori [三森 すずこ] (pink) ran off to a signing session.
Check out their bubbly tune "Ame Agari no Mirai" below.

Izumi-san calls Saber "My Honey" ^^; You can see this photo she took on her burogu and she just tweeted "Give her back!"

More AFAX related goodies in the posts listed below.

Our Mirai Itasha was cloned in a different shape and color by Gen Concept and the folks at Sozo - they did an incredible job! Thanks to Maurice for handling the project.
A few other Itasha were also on display at the AFAX including an AFA-kun and Gundam.
Video below shows how the Mirai Itasha was created.

Coverage of the Anime Festival Asia 2010 day 1 which was held at the Suntec Convention Center in Singapore on the 13th November.
This event is truly turning out to be one of the worlds biggest anime events in terms of the variety of booths, events and guests from Japan. The estimated attendance over the 3 days is 71,000.

Our Mirai-chan figma was on display at the Good Smile Company booth - was the first time for me to see the Mirai-chan doll ^o^. AFAX was attended by a lot more dolls than last year and there was even a space dedicated to them.
Didn't take as many photos as last year as I was on stage/rehearsing - need to hire a cameraman for next year - anybody interested? ^^;

The other stage events can be seen in the AFAX Stage post and the other AFAX coverage is listed below. Photo annotate yourself if you are hidden in any of these photos ^o^

And here is the stage where we saw all the guests.

Takaaki Kidani-san who is the CEO of Bushiroad, founder of Broccoli and producer of Milky Holmes has taken a liking to our Saber-chan. Wonder what Saber thinks about all this.

Some photos of the stage events that I hosted at the Anime Festival Asia 2010 (AFAX). Photos include my short talks at the Cool Japan Forum and at the beginning of the special Culture Japan screening.
The first batch of photos are of the Kana Hanazawa session which was just awesome - shes such a cutie!

At the press preview with Ichirou Mizuki, May'n and SCANDAL.

With the CEO of Bushiroad Takaaki Kidani.

Introducing the Milky Holmes girls.

Then its my turn to talk about Culture Japan.

Was the MC and a speaker at the Cool Japan Forum which included speakers like Yasushi Akimoto who is the producer of AKB48.

All AFAX coverage so far listed below.

After spending an incredible few days being a part of AFAX in Singapore, I'm now back in Tokyo. Thank you Singapore for your hospitality - I love you all ^o^ Was truly awesome to meet so many comrades.
I owe you a ton of AFAX coverage which I will be posting over the next few days in between filming and editing Culture Japan ^^;;;;;;;
If you posted photos of AFAX or Singapore CGM Night then do share your links and wot not in the comments.

These photos taken since the morning trip from the hotel in Singapore to our arrival back in Tokyo. Dropped everything when we arrived at home, put on a warm coat (very cold) and headed out for some warm ramen and yakitori.

Looks like this will be a series - the last Tokyo Arrival lives here.

Today we are doing some filming for Culture Japan with the Sega Sammy Group at a Pachinko parlor in Ikebukuro.
I have with me (from left to right) the lovely Minori Kawahara [河原実乃梨], Mao Kozuka [小塚 麻央] and Arisa Matsui [松井ありさ]. The 3 of them together are also known as the Amusement Girls.

Have always been fascinated by Pachinko and wanted to cover this Japanese culture - everything from the history to the anime licensed pachinko titles.
See the girls in action in a future episode of Culture Japan.

To my right is the most sweetsome anime voice actress Kana Hanazawa [花澤 香菜] who I was MC'ing for on stage. Good Smile Company boss (on the far left of the photo) Aki Takanori then joins us both on stage after for some shenanigans.
To Aki-sans left is Nitroplus boss Kosaka-san who I'm currently working with on their up n coming Sonicomi game.

Hanazawa-san is such a nice person that you will melt if you met her. More coverage from the awesome Anime Festival Asia X soon.

With the other MC's Yoshimi-chan and Daisuke-kun.
Other AFAX related posts below.

Update - we got 140 signups for the meetup tomorrow (Monday 15th) at Lau Pa Sat from 5pm.

Met a really nice chap while filming last year in Singapore at Lau Pa Sat. He told me something very odd and I wasn't too sure what he was talking about until recently. He said:-
This time next year you will hold an event called Singapore CGM Night here in Lau Pa Sat.
Many comrades will come to the event and you must make sure that they go home with new like minded comrades.
New comrades are easy to make when one starts to share their passion which enriches our lives and brings happiness and bodaciousness all round.
None of the above rhymes but that does not matter.

I'll be in Singapore next week to speak at the Cool Japan Forum (12th November) which focuses on the Japanese governments Cool Japan Movement to further disseminate and monetize from Japanese Culture around the world.

There will be top profile speakers such as Tetsuya Watanabe (Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), Yasushi Akimoto (creator of AKB48), Fumitaro Ohama (Tokyo Girls Collection), Go Nakanishi (King Record) and Kotaro Sugiyama (Dentsu). AKB48 will also be performing at the end of the day > details n tickets.

I'll also be the MC for a few of the stage segments at AFAX (13th, 14th November). I'm also bringing along Good Smile Company and Nitroplus.

Following on from what the nice chap said, I'll like to have a meetup (Singapore CGM Night) on the 15th of November (Monday) from about 5PM at Lau Pa Sat where all these photos were taken at.
You don't need to come precisely at 5 but feel free to drop by after work or school. I'll probably be there until 10PM or so-ish.
If you can make it then fill in this painless form just so that I can get an idea of numbers and contact you directly if there should be any changes.

Saber should be with me so bring your daughters or figures to play with. Does not cost anything to join in on the shenanigans but folks who want to om nom nom should pay for their own grub (sorry ToT)
If any of my industry comrades or guests are still in Singapore, I'll ask em to come over too for you to network with. I do recommend you bring a name card to exchange with new comrades. If you don't have anything then that's fine as the most important thing to bring is yourself.

Registration form: http://ow.ly/35E90
Address: Robinson Road, Corner of Boon Tat Street, SG 048582
[gmap=1.280664, 103.850409]

Every time I go to Lau Pa Sat there always seems to be a load of space so guessing we should be OK ^^;
Some of the previous meetups we've done around the globe listed below.

See you soon! Will be arriving in Singapore on the NH111 at 17:20 on the 11th and flying over with some of the other performers.

This was my Anime Festival Asia Day 0 where I was the MC (and spoke at) the Cool Japan Forum. Also MC'd with Yoshimi and Daisuke for the press preview too. There were a load of rehearsals as part of the schedule and I just got back to the hotel where I need to wake up in a couple O hours - will be on the main stage at 10:30 showing a special digest edition of Culture Japan.

The AFA staff, the lovely girls at the School Days Cafe, the lovely lads at the Atelier Royale and I will be waiting for you at the AFA in a few hours. See you soon. Its going to be awesome.

AKB48 performing at the Anime Festival Asia Day 0. They are even more cuter close up! Was awesome and there is going to be more awesomeness tomorrow. See you on stage at 10.30.

One of them gave me this ^^;

Arrived in Singapore earlier today. Checked in and was taken to have dindins with the rest of the guests which include Mizuki Ichirou, May'n, Scandal, Jam Project, Angela and the lovely Alodia.
Back at hotel preparing my talk at the Cool Japan Forum which starts in a few hours - looks like me not going to get much sleep tonight either ToT.

Mail box flooded with a few hundred mails over the course of a few hours so if you expecting a reply then expect it after the AFA ^^; Going to try to cram in a couple O hours sleep. See you all at AFAX.

BTW, Singapore CGM Night has just over 100 signups now.

Our mascot character Mirai Suenaga has been figmatized for a while but now she finally gets cloned a few thousand times over - pre-orders for the figma Mirai will start end of this month. Mirai-chan will be packaged with a crying face, handkerchief and a Mirai-chan doll too ^^

The decoration master of Mirai-chan and her new bits n bobs will be displayed for the first time at AFAX inside the Good Smile Company booth this weekend.
Release will probably be in March. Will let you know the price and when its actually up for pre-order in a couple of weeks. Will be available though the usual channels to folks worldwide. Me looking forward to sticking Mirai-chans head on a load of different figma and also reviving the figma theater ^^;

Thanks GSC boss Aki Takanori and to everybody involved in this project - especially Ionized who came up with a 3D model which then lead to an April Fools. The April Fools turned out to be popular so Good Smile then went ahead and sculpted a new one from scratch which was displayed at the Tokyo Figure Show in Summer 2009. As you can imagine I'm over the moon ^o^
Most importantly however, thanks to you the reader and comrade for your continued support. Love you all.

Hello everybody! My name is Yuri Takeda [竹田有里]. I'm a reporter for Tokyo MX TV and also help out the Culture Japan staff by cheering them on.
While Danny is away in Singapore, I'll be in the office working with the team on this weeks Culture Japan which will be an uncut version of the pilot episode featuring life at Fujiswa high school which includes some live K-ON! You can see the pilot episode below.

Unfortunately, Danny forgot to do the shopping before he left so the fridge is empty! But luckily there seems to be some shoes lying around - I love shoes!

Om nom nom.

I'd better get back to work. In the meantime, you can see all Culture Japan related posts below.

The latest edition of Volks News featured the gorgeous Saber Lily. Yours if...
1. You attend Dollpa 24
2. You are willing to part with 99,750 yen.
3. God is on your side.

There is a poll embedded in this article.
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Vader is actually alive and healthy living in Japan. He's got a part time job advertising the Galaxy S mobile - saw this CM on TV for the first time today.

Filming for Culture Japan at Yashio High School to cover their Kyudo (Japanese archery) after school activities.
One of the things I admire about Japanese students is the way they spend time after school hours. Many of them practice the Bukatsu [部活] (after school activities) and then some of them head off to Juku [塾] (cram school) and/or go to Arubaito [アルバイト] (part time job) after.

When I was a student back in the UK I had various part time jobs (mainly restaurant work) and thoroughly recommend all students to gain life experience through work outside of studies. One may think they are too busy with studies to have a part time job but that's the point - learning how to tackle a busy schedule while trying to make some moolah at the same time. Its best to get this experience while young rather than later on in life.

Studying while trying to make money on the side will teach you how difficult it can me to make a living when you leave school - its not easy! But with your learnings, you will already be a step ahead of your peers and armed with the experience, you should easily be able to deal with the ups n downs of making a living in society.
Relying on somebody for steady income maybe the easy way out now but it will be tough in the future. The only person you should rely on for money is yourself.

But as for after school activities - we didn't have them back in the UK and most students just went home to watch TV or go to the arcades to play games like Sidearms - but for me it was more like "watch other people play Sidearms" as the bullies would always take any money I had.

Kyudo [弓道] is the Japanese art of archery and is literally translated as "the way of the bow." Kyudo is one of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese martial art and is about spirit, purity and concentration.

Yashio High has a fair share of boys n girls who take Kyudo activity. For the first few months, they practice the strides used to enter the Kyudo hall (dojo) and also use this item you see here to practice the poses needed to shoot the arrow and also strengthen their muscles.
For this reason, many Kyudo students drop out of the activity as they don't get to shoot any arrows until they complete what may seem like mundane training.

After the many months of training however, students then get to shoot arrows. Here they line up at the back of the small dojo and take turns to shoot the targets.

In the dojo there are two sensei and senior students helping the other students.

The expression and actions of the students change when its their turn to shoot. They stride and position themselves on the shooting spot while continuing to look at their target. Their movements are slow and graceful. They usually carry two arrows as you can see this lady doing.
The ladies wear a black Muneate [胸当て] which protects their oppai from being struck by the bowstring.

Then its my turn ^^; Sensei helps me get geared up into my Kyudo-gi [弓道着].

The black bottoms are called Hakama [袴]. I love the design especially the V-openings on the side.

My Ninja attire also has a similar design with the V-openings on the side too.

And now its time for footwear. Shoes are not allowed in the dojo and instead "Tabi" [足袋] is worn. It feels like a hard cloth shoe. Ninja footwear is also Tabi but the soles are made of rubber.

The name of the school and student is embroidered into the sleeve and hakama. This form of embroidery is called Shishu [刺繍]. Today my name is Yamashita [山下] ^^;

Folks who are interested in picking up their own Kyudo gear can get along to Hasegawa Kyuguten [長谷川弓具店]. Nearest station is Shirokane Takanawa [白金高輪]
Address and phone number below.
東京都港区三田4-8-34
03-3451-7440

Rough cost below:-
Top, hakama, belt and tabi :15,000 yen
Kake (glove) : 23,000 yen
Arrow : 15,000 yen
Bow : 30,000 yen - 40,000 yen

Next up is the glove - without it there would be a lot of severed fingers all over the place.

The glove is called Kake [かけ] and is made of leather. I was given a brand new one which was really stiff.

Sensei gives me a crash course in how to hold the arrow.

Kake is the word for the glove but Mitsugake is used to describe a 3 fingered archery glove. Yotsugake would be a four fingered archery glove.

Tsuru [弦] are bowstrings and these are spare ones wrapped up in a Tsurumaki [弦巻き].

Kake are stored on these shelves. You can see which ones belong to the ladies as you can see the Muneate - the black breast plate.
I really like the design of the muneate but only the ladies wear them - would be very odd for a bloke to use one ^^;

A large percentage of students injure themselves when they shoot off their first arrow - either the arrow clips their cheek or the bow string slaps their face or arm. The medical boxes here are used when such injuries happen.

Right, I'm all geared up and ready to receive some training. My sensei for the day is the lovely Mayumi-san who you can see here.

First up, Mayumi-san shows us how its done. She peacefully takes 3 strides over to the shooting spot and positions herself in place. All her movements are graceful and even though there is chit chat going on in the background, you can feel a aura of silence and serenity surrounding her.

Now we've seen how its done, its my turn. First I need a bow and some arrows. Bows are of different length depending on the height of the archer.

Arrows come in different lengths and weights too depending on the style of shooting and distance to the target.

Mayumi gives us a some chalk which makes it easier to handle the bow and arrow.

Next up Mayumi gives us a crash course in holding the bow, loading the arrow, aiming and positioning myself into place at the shooting spot. The place where one stands to shoot arrows is called Sha-i [射位].

Now its time to try it on my own. As with many things, it looks easy - until one tries it out for themselves ^^;

No beginners luck this time round - the only time I managed to hit the target was when the arrow bounced off the grass and hit a different target ^^;

When I was just about to fire off the arrow, I could feel my heart pumping and hear a piercing silence around me. Kyudo is also known as the Ritsuzen [立禅] or the "Standing Zen" which encompasses everything from the control of breathing, listening, sight and movement.

Some guidelines on shooting. I really enjoyed Kyudo and would love to find time to learn it. There are not many schools which teach Kyudo as an after school activitiy due to the space that's needed to hold a dojo and shooting range. Many students choose Yashio High School because they have the Kyudo facilities.

Going to have a look at some more of the students practicing.

Whenever the arrow hits the target, all the students would shout "Sha!" together. Sha meaning "Shoot" [射].

After a while the area around the targets become filled with arrows. The students would then shout "Onegaishimasu" which means its safe to go out and retrieve the arrows.

The Kyudo activity went on until about 19:00 where many of the students then took off to the part time jobs that they had.

Yashio High School has brought up a load of Kyudo students who have won many tournaments across Japan.

Then its time to gather for the group photo.

"Sha!"

Sensei looks up some narration that we need for the show.

Narration is read by our lovely Mayumi-san.

Kyudo wear is folded up neat n tidy at the end of the day.

The targets are removed and the earth mound is then flattened out for the next day - this is also the responsibility of the students. Students in Japan also clean and sweep the classrooms too which I think is a great way to teach responsibility and ownership.

The targets take a rest until the next day ready to be shot at.

Snap with Mayumi-san at the front of the dojo.

Back in my days at high school there were no sporting activities at all but we did do some rounders in secondary school. I was also lousy at football - I would always be the last one that each team picked and had the pleasure of the other students constantly aiming the ball at my face to break my glasses - as you can see I had a "fun" time during my younger school days.

Anyway, what sporting activities does/did your school offer? If they don't, do you do any sports in your own time?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Playing around with the AR Drone at the end of the day. You can see what photos it took in this post.

Thanks to the headmaster and everybody at Yashio High School - see you again soon!
Other Japanese high school related coverage below with more to come.

Hmmmm. I wonder what Saber is doing this evening while relaxing upstairs in the lounge.
Danny: Hey Saber, what you up to?

Saber: I'm checking out the doll blog aggregator Doll.fm which was launched recently on Mirai Gaia.
Danny: .....Er OK, and whats so special about it?

Saber: Doll.fm goes around the Internets pulling in doll related content. The top page shows the latest posts from the dollsphere with thumbnails and an excerpt. It enables me to keep up with any potential brothers or sisters that I may have in the future.

There are also a load of posts about the latest doll fashion and accessories too.
At the moment there are about 120 doll related blogs registered on Doll.fm and more are being added as more doll blogs are discovered.

There is a note to say that if folks want their doll blog registered to just tweet and it will be added.

Danny: Hmmm, that does sound interesting. Does Doll.fm accept registrations from any type of doll blog?
Saber: Yes - Azone, Obitsu, Dollfie, Mamachapp, Blythe, Mocochan and more. The majority is Dollfie at the moment though.
Danny: Sounds good to me. Whats with the Twitter accounts on the top page?
Saber: Doll parents can have their Twitter account registered in the side column by just leaving their twitter account in the comments for this post.

Saber: There are so many brothers and sisters out there who I would love to meet! I've already met a few in Japan, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and am looking forward to meeting more in Singapore next week ^o^

Saber: Doll.fm has only been up for a few weeks but has already aggregated over 1790 doll related posts which you can see here.

Saber: There is also a mobile version too which is rather useful.

Saber: There is also an RSS feed and Email subscription service for folks who are too busy to come to the site.
Now if you excuse me I need to get back to lazing around.

Saber: .......

Saber: .......