Results tagged “japan”

As the sun sets and dusk prevails over the city tomorrow night, Nissan will be unveiling their new fully electric car (not a hybrid) in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities. It won't be an event, but rather something more guerilla as a team crosses town from Santa Monica to West Hollywood, Hollywood to downtown with a projector strong enough to show images for fifteen minutes on the sides of buildings (think temporary billboards of sorts, which could be illegal, too, with our current signage controversy).

For the most part, eco-documentaries follow a pretty narrow pattern; either they’re well funded and a little boring or guerrilla style and probably a bit nauseating, but either way you’re supposed to be so outraged you get out of your seat and punch the richest asshole you can find. That’s the gist. But there’s often a disconnect between the images of the film and the actions of the audience because, ecologically, problems tend to be so big any given person feels powerless.

The Nobu chain of sushi eateries is global in its reach, and undeniable in its popularity, particularly among trendy Hollywood-types. But what's also trendy is eating what isn't on the verge of extinction, which is what is prompting some celebs to put the screws to Nobu to stop slicing up bluefin tuna.

Here's a 45-second video of a flying fish gliding across the water off the coast of Japan. It's no quarter-mile, as debated in the comments section of an LAist post about this weekend's Flying Fish Festival, but it's still pretty cool.

            

Before a recent trip to Tokyo, the LA Times published Steve Lopez's column entitled "L.A. could learn some lessons from Tokyo". In his piece he praises Tokyo for its clean taxis, beautiful parks, and bike commuters.

Japan defeats South Korea 5-3 (10). This was one of the most thrilling games I've seen in quite some time. On the back of Ichiro Suzuki's four-hit night, the last one a game winning double in the top of the 10th inning, Japan managed to salvage some dignity after not winning gold in Beijing. While both teams had defeated each other twice during pool play in the Classic Japan won it when it counted. Being Korean it was hard to watch the end of the game, but I'm content in knowing that we're reigning Olympic gold medalists.

Kazuyoshi Miura, who was extradited October 10 from Saipan to Los Angeles into LAPD's custody to stand trial for the 1981 murder of his wife, was found dead in jail cell later that night. Police said it was suicide--they said they found Miurua dead after he used his shirt to hang himself-- but today his lawyer, the well known Mark Geragos, is saying it was murder.

61-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura, a suspect in the 1981 murder of his wife, apparently hanged himself while in police custody. The news came via his attorney, Mark Geragos, who, according to abc7.com, "was notified early Saturday by prosecutors in the case about his client's death."

The 48-year-old Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito is visiting Los Angeles starting today for a 2-day trip in town which includes a visit to the Japanese American National Museum downtown tomorrow. No word yet if he'll check out the first American Japanese "Maid Cafe," Royal/T, in Culver City. Then again, anyone who goes there could get treated like royalty: "Welcome home, Master."

                

Bettina Korek and her For Your Art crew did it again -- another fantastic art opening slammed with people. Actually, they have been sizzlin' hot all weekend with the first LA Art Weekend (with more events today), which has highlighted some of the city's newest gallery spaces including last night's opening of Royal/T, the nation's first Japanese "Maid Cafe," and the pop up Storefront for Architecture and Art on Friday. Royal/T is a shop, an art space and a cafe all in one. Tea service will begin sometime soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the photos below.

• A steady stream of Koreans moving into the northwest San Fernando Valley suburbs is giving the traditional K-Town in LA City a run for its money. Now you Valley-ists might not have to travel over the hill for karaoke bars.
• Japanese and Los Angeles police detectives solved a 26-year-old case of a Japanese business man who allegedly shot his wife while the two were on vacation here. Apparently, the long arm of the law uses chopsticks.
• Following Steven Spielberg's diss to the Chinese government when he refused to work with them in the run up to the Beijing Olympics, the state-run media there is returning the favor.
• So much pork was secured by California state legislators last year you would be remiss if you thought Sacramento was a meat packing town. More than $1 billion in pork barrel spending was set aside for pet projects by California lawmakers last year who funneled money to their district. Thirty-five Democrats collectively secured about twice as much money as California's 19 Republicans, but many of the state's individual GOP lawmakers received more money than their counterparts in the majority.
• A man fired a gun into his neighbors home in North Hollywood today, killing him. While the gunman was subdued, a witness stabbed him. How's that for poetic justice?
• Is Hillary Clinton losing it? At a rally today in Ohio, a "visibly angry" Clinton chided Obama for putting out materials she said he knows are "blatantly false." She also derided Obama for having "speeches and the big rallies." "Hillary knows it's over," LA Daily Blog said. The polls are very close in Texas while Clinton maintains a larger lead in Ohio, where both states will vote March 4, which Bill Schneider of CNN called "an end-game" for Clinton.
• Tonight SNL's newest cast member, Casey Wilson, who honed her skills at the Los Angeles Upright Citizen's Brigade, will make her debut, and just in time to play Hillary Clinton. Good Luck Casey!

Lakers 130, Suns 124 - So I'm like "OMG!" and then she's like "fer reelllllz!" And then I'm like "NO.WAY." and the she's like "totally."

Just in time for the release one of the most anticipated titles for the Wii this year, the folks over at Nintendo are staging a regional tournament for fans of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, the game that just recently shattered Wii sales records in Japan. According to our sources, the first 256 people who show up at the Orpheum theater downtown will have a chance to fight to the finish in an attempt to claim the regional championship title. All regional winners will face off in a championship tournament in New York wherein the finalists will battle for a crystal-coated Wii and a home theater system from Best Buy. So if you've ever wanted to chance to see Pikachu kick the simultaneous asses of Mario and Luigi, head downtown this Saturday. Doors open at 3pm.

If you see folks walking around with some dirt on their foreheads today, they proabably did it on purpose. It is Ash Wednesday, where Christians are supposed to fast, pray, repent after the debauchery of Mardi Gras and (Super Tuesday). So here' are a few debauch-free events for tonight:

When I lived in Japan, I often ate a communal stew called nabe in the wintertime. One of the staple ingredients within the myriad of possibilities of a nabe is konnyaku. Konnyaku is a firm translucent gelatin with black spots that is completely flavorless. After a few months, I felt comfortable enough to ask a close friend why Japanese people eat the flavorless konnyaku. The answer surprised me. It's the texture of the konnyaku that makes it important in the mix. It turns out the nabe is something to be savored in every part of your mouth. One should contemplate each ingredient’s distinct flavor, sensation, and texture within each mouthful. Even the simple act of eating of a stew in Japan can have a Zen-like importance.

WORDS

As you might have guessed, we're pretty big into gaming over at my house -- our console set-up includes the both generations of the Xbox, not one but TWO PS2's (one for the living room, one for the bedroom), a Dell XPS with a wide-screen monitor (for PC gaming), a Nintendo Gamecube, a Nintendo 64, an SNES, and a Gameboy -- oh, and possibly a Sony PSP floating around somewhere. Our 50" big-screen is optimized for the best gaming experience, with surround-sound Bose speakers and wireless networking.

It was almost a year ago that LAist was blown away by the US Sumo Open at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The day of amateur sumo wrestling action, yakisoba noodles and free sake made us understand why the sport is followed so religiously in Japan. With the lousy weather keeping us homebound this weekend, it seemed like a good time to start researching the 2008 event, as we’re anxious to see the return of flamboyant Norwegian champ Hans Borg, root against those seemingly villainous Bulgarians, marvel at the skills of the Mongolians and root for (while trying not to drool over) bodacious ladies sumo vixen Florence Bannout.

After the holidays, some offices are feverishly trying to catch up on missed work, while others are still lounging in the holiday lull, trying to look busy.

Gallery W13's Rebirth of Green/Pre-New Year’s Eve Art Party "will be a celebration of healthy living with nature and a tribute to the resurgence of all things organic. The focus of the evening will be all things creative -- art, film, furniture, music and food -- presented with organic and green flair." The night includes a film screening of Black Gold, a live Latin Jazz/World Beat DJ, and featured artists include Nurha De Souza, Brant Ritter, Courtney Reid, Mark Hix, Takako Osakada, Cjkang, Jovin Montenero, Don Baker, David Walker, and Antonie Deerborn.

Holidays have you indulging a little more than usual? Just in time for those New Year resolutions and post-holiday diets, the Wii Fit is expected to be released in North America in January. Released earlier this month in Japan, Wii Fit sold over a quarter million units in the first week. The game was designed for families to exercise with activities like stretching, yoga, step aerobics, push ups, jogging and much more. The additional system to the Wii console uses a pressure-sensitive platform called the Balance Board which players stand on, hop or press against. The platform can measure an individual's weight, body mass index and tracks the information to show your results over time. The Nintendo site states that activities focus more towards working out the "core," emphasizing slower, controlled motions.

MUSIC: CalTech isn’t just about nerdy rocket scientists. They have glee clubs, too! All kidding aside, tonight's concert will feature traditional holiday favorites as well as the Women's Club taking on Porpora’s Magnificat, written in the 1730s. 8 pm // Dabney Lounge at California Institute of Technology // 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena // Free. DANCE: From CalTech, we’ll head over to CalArts in Valencia. The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance is holding its...

Its no wonder that Puffy AmiYumi are the huge international superstars that they are because even though they sing in a language you don't understand, they are irresistibly charming and their songs will be stuck in your head for days. I guess it was an all ages show. I was standing next to the most angsty 12-year-old girl i have ever seen, but her along with everyone else had their fist pumping perpetually through...

But first - Kobe vetoed a trade! Baseball in the Coliseum - Just after it was announced that the Red Sox will open the exhibition season against Oakland in Japan, the Dodgers confirmed that the defending World Champs would play three games against the Blue Crew. The cool part? One of the games will be in the Coliseum as part of the Dodger's 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. Yes, it can be configured that way...

This Thursday and Friday, Los Angeles will see the first return in 30 years of one of its more singular musical forces: Ya Ho Wa 13.

After the successful release of their new album "Honeycreeper", international pop duo superstars Puffy AmiYumi are touring some West coast cities inlcuding the Key Club in Los Angeles November 16th, and the House of Blues in Anaheim November 18th. Puffy AmiYumi epitomize the phrase "I'm huge in Japan", but they don't just stop there. They're huge everywhere. It's as if the Beatles were two Japanese chicks, and started mashing out records in the mid-90s. They're...

A brief overview of the new Takashi Murakami exhibit at the MOCA.