4 banners. 84 different poses. 14 meters in length. 2 meters in height. Namie Amuro is the new face of Vidal Sassoon in Japan and the subways are covered in her ginormous ad banners. Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

via

Watch the official PV of Heart Station and listen to an HQ radio rip of Stay Gold. Heart Station/Stay Gold is Hikki’s new single to be released on February 19. Her newest Japanese studio album, Heart Station, is also coming out on March!

Although this week had a lot of releases, compared to the sheer awesome that was last week I was a bit disappointed in the pickings. Most of the awesome stuff comes out on the 20th this month, so instead of doing my usual recommendations, I thought I’d try something different! Lately a lot of fun PV’s (Promotional Videos, i.e. Music Videos) have been released for upcoming songs/singles, and I’ll go through a few of my favorites here. These are mostly youtube links and the like, so they are under the “cut” so to speak.

Bennie K - Monochrome
2008.02.20 Release - Single “Monochrome”
Youtube link
I LOVE Yuki’s voice, and in this particular song, Cico’s part doesn’t bother me as much as it sometimes can. The two have a great blend, I will admit, and this PV really shows off their style and individual voices. I also like how everyone in the video is ignoring them, yet lip-synching along, and the (lack of) colors are beautiful!

Kato Miliyah - 19 Memories
2008.02.27 Release - Single “19 Memories”
Youtube link
The story-line of this PV, coupled with Miliyah’s amazing voice and heartfelt lyrics, is a really good combination and quite possibly a tear-jerker for some. The separate stories of the three girls, the awesome song, and the happy ending make this my favorite PV so far for this month, and make me really look forward to this single!

Utada Hikaru - Heart Station
2008.02.20 Release - Single “Heart Station / Stay Gold”
Youtube link
I really adore Utada’s voice, though I think this song is a little boring. Nevertheless, I’m really happy she’s releasing something! Maybe we’ll see a single by the end of the year…? One can hope, anyways!

YUI - Namidairo
2008.02.27 Release - Single “Namidairo”
Youtube link
Although a bunch of us YUI fans were really hoping for another release in the same vein as “Rolling star”, I still really like this PV and song. As you can maybe guess from the title, the song is a slow one, but the lyrics and melody are really pretty, and so I’m looking forward to the single! Also, looks like we’re getting an album in April! WOO!

You may have heard the word “aidoru” or “idol” a few times when you watch Japanese dramas or variety shows. Normally, an idol would mean someone who ’sets an example to the public’ or someone who ‘is highly adored’. In the Japanese industry though, what is exactly an idol?

An idol is (mostly) a female personality who is in her teens or twenties. Some males,

especially those in Johnny’s Jimusho, are referred to as idols, too, but the term is more accurately referring to females. Anyway, it is said that anyone can be an idol as long as she has the cute and feminine look, a nice body, proper dancing skills (enough to sway in correct rhythm to the music) and proper singing voice (enough to carry a simple tune). As an idol, a girl can do a wide range of projects: CDs, idol DVDs, dramas, small parts in movies, advertisements and magazines, and photobooks. Their agency profiles usually contains their age, blood type, body measurements and hobbies.

Before, the term idol refers to just any cute female celebrity. However, as time goes by, the term just becomes associated with teenage girls and their list of projects becomes more specific to the group. Because of the number of things an idol can do, a lot of categories for idols are developed depending on these things. An idol can specifically do just one of those categories or she can be an all-around idol. Here are some idol categories. Some because I don’t think I can name them all.

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Really, this week was AWESOME in terms of releases; so many good ones! My favorites:

Ikimonogakari - Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi [Single]
Info: Official // wiki.theppn
Support: Global Yesasia // US Yesasia

01. 花は桜君は美し (Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi) 02. 最後の放課後 (Saigo no Houkago) 03. 花は桜君は美し (Hana wa Sakura Kimi wa Utsukushi) -Instrumental-

WOW, this is such a good song! I normally can’t handle too much Ikimonogakari in one sitting, but this song I’ve had on repeat since I first heard it! Such a pretty song, and as we’re in the home-stretch of winter, even more appropriate! Have the translation, kanji, and romaji if you’re interested!

mihimaru GT - diverge [Single]
Info: Official // wiki.theppn
Support: Global Yesasia // US Yesasia

01. diverge 02. ええがな (Eegana) 03. diverge (Instrumental) 04. ええがな (Eegana) (Instrumental)

I liked diverge when I listened to the PV, but I wouldn’t have guessed it would become such a favorite so quickly from that. I love the piano, and the melody, and really everything about the song. And of course, Eegana is quite good to as a b-side, though diverge is definitely awesome. I haven’t loved one of their songs so much since PUNKISH!

Tsuchiya Anna - cocoon [Single]
Info: Official // wiki.theppn
Support: Global Yesasia // US Yesasia

01. cocoon 02. u 03. Guys (Cd Only)

Ahhh, the way they layer her voice in cocoon gives me the goosebumps in that “whoa…” kinda way. I LOVE the chorus, and I’m really happy with this single, since I didn’t like Bubble Trip at all.

I’d love to go through all of the stuff this week that was awesome, but I’ll just mention the rest briefly:
CHEMISTRY - Face to Face [Album]: CHEMISTRY can be a little repetitive sometimes, but honestly this is just a really solid album. And hey, my favorite song Yakusoku no Basho is on there! WOO!
Koda Kumi - Kingdom [Album]: Yeah, yeah, everyone and their dog is writing about this one. I like the album, and it should come to my hot little hands in about 2 weeks. ‘Nuff said.
Stephanie - Friends [Single]: I didn’t really like her winter single, but in this one she really shows off the strength of her voice. Nice!
the pillows - Tokyo Bambi [Single]: although I like Ladybird girl better, this is still a great song, and fun too!

SHOWTA. - Haru na no ni
Info: Official // wiki.theppn
Support: Global Yesasia // US Yesasia

01. Haru na no ni 02. Samidare no Uta 03. Haru na no ni (Instrumental)

Awww, I like SHOWTA. That’s a guy, btw. He has a very high, clear voice (think Keita of w-inds. before he hit puberty), and these songs are gentle and wintery feeling. Very nice single! We should be seeing an album from his shortly…

Heart’s Grow - Kasanaru Kage
Info: Official // wiki.theppn
Support: Global Yesasia // US Yesasia

01.Kasanaru Kage 02. SORA IRO 03. YELL 04. Kasanaru Kage (Instrumental)

Fun single, very upbeat and happy! I think SORA IRO is a bit repetitous, but YELL is a cool song. Pretty strong single, overall!

Kalafina - obvious
Info: Official
Support: YesAsia US // YesAsia Global

01. oblivious 02. Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaeteiku 03. Kizuato

WHOA. New project of Kajiura Yuki, who brought us the nifty sounding songs of various animes such as .hack//SIGN, plus the composition-collab FictionJunction series. This single is AWESOME. She has such a beautiful tone of voice, and has so much control over it as well, and couple that with the haunting melody of obvious plus two very solid extra songs makes this single the next on my “buy” list! Looking forward to future releases from her, as well!

Those three singles were my favorites, but other notables include ZARD’s fan-picked best album, Amano Tsukiko’s new indies-release HEAVEN’S GATE, and THE BACK HORN’s new BEST album. Fun week! Next week, the crowning jewel seems to be Koda’s new album, and her single this week was solid, but I guess we shall see. Till next time!

Which releases did you guys like this week? Looking forward to anything for next?

Japan has always been an earthquake-prone country (1995 Kobe earthquake, remember?). This is due to the fact that Japan is located dab smack in the middle of where some oceanic and continental plates meet. In an effort to prevent the massive death toll during the Kobe earthquake (5,500 people were killed), the government is developing an earthquake warning signal sent to the people via SMS. The technology will be operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The system measures the primary waves, the preliminary weak yet fast moving waves of an impending quake and predicts the route and strength of the S-waves, the secondary slower yet more destructive waves. The location and strength of the S-waves will then be sent to people via the joint efforts of Japan’s three largest mobile phone networks. As of current, the developers project that those nearer the epicenter might not receive an SMS at all due to the nature of the current algorithm. But according to sources, “researchers agree that the possibility of any warning is better than none.”

UPDATE: Everyone who’s interested in joining us, please send me a sample writing along with your email. A link to your blog, to your FFN profile, fan fics, stories, whatever would do.

Hi Everyone!

As you may have noticed, Nihon Watch has currently been a bit inactive. Unfortunately, many of the bloggers are currently beleaguered with real life issues (including yours truly) and have to take an indefinite hiatus. As such, we are looking for people to join our team. We’re looking for bloggers on the following topics:
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Title : Romeo x Juliet
Genre : drama, fantasy, romance
Production : Studio GONZO
Episodes : 24
Vintage : 2007

‘Romeo and Juliet’ is my favorite from all the Shakespearean stories. I was surprised to see that it was created into an anime and had my doubts whether it would be good or not. I must admit that I was amazed by the series, although everything happens in an alternative universe, everything is done extremely well, from graphics to music and voice characters.

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Good week of releases this week! I’ve already mentioned Ito Yuna and Celine Dion’s amazing collaboration, so I’d like to mention a few other releases that I enjoyed:

01. Yume no Kajitsu 02. Kokoro no Kagi 03. Okubyou na Lion 04. TELL ME THE TRUTH 05. Futashika na Mono 06. Moshimo Hitotsu dake Negai ga Kanau Kara 07. Uzu 08. Darling 09. Tenohira 10. Yasashii Uta 11. Hoshi ni Negai wo

Yorico’s third album, Negau, is a mellow, relaxing album typical of her style and highlighting her beautiful vocals. Many of these songs, including Kokoro no Kagi, were released as digital singles earlier, so we have heard pieces of this album. But I have to say, I enjoyed these songs within the context of the album as a whole a lot more than I did as individual singles. The songs were a bit boring by themselves, but they don’t make a boring album; indeed, they all add into a mellowing, calming experience together.

01. Fuyu no Maboroshi 02. Koi Ichiya

Acid Black Chery, vocalist of which is from Janne Da Arc, has released their awesome 4th single as a prelude to their album coming on in February (whose exited for that? I am! Yes!) Fuyu no Maboroshi… I can’t really pinpoint what I like about it. The sound effects are cool, instruments solid, lyrics really good, and the PV trippy. What’s not the like? XD;

People may be expecting a review of UVERworld’s new album, but I’ll have to disappoint. I didn’t like it at first listen (I never seem to like their albums, only singles…), but I’m going to listen a few more times and give it a chance. It doesn’t hit the disappointment that was Timeless, but we’ll see if it is even at BUGRIGHT’s level.

Feel free to add your 2 cents. What releases did you particularly like this week?