| As we all know, Japan is filled with an infinite amount of
VERY cool stuff! But here are the things that aren't known in the USA, that I
thought were things you should know about... |
| DISCLAIMER - Japan is overwhelming, so even if you live
there, you don't have enough time to see all the great stuff that's available. So
this report is just about the things that I happened to see while I was in Japan for less
than 2 weeks. I'm sure there are many other very interesting things that I missed...
|
| Cammy! |
| Venus & Braves |
 Japan has tons and tons of RPGs that never
make it to the USA. This one was made by Namco, so I'm thinking that there's a good
chance we'll see it... however, I haven't heard anything about it yet, and neither has
anybody I've talked to. It was released in Japan on February 13, 2003, so I'm
thinking that we should hear something about it soon! Anyhow, I don't know much
about the storyline, but the art and animation is the best I've ever seen, and that
alone is enough to make me wanna play! I don't know a whole lot about the gameplay
either, but from the demos I've seen, it looks interesting. There are many different
job classes, so that aspect reminds me of Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics (two of
my all-time favorite games!). There's nothing at all on the English Namco site, but
there's a special section on the Japanese site that you can check out at www.Namco.co.jp, and it's also got it's very own
website at www.venus-web.net. Even if you
don't understand any Japanese at all, you should have no problem navigating these two
sites and finding lots and lots of cool stuff. Help me pray that this game gets
translated into English!! |
| Cammy! |
| Azumi the movie |
 This movie was released 2 days after I left Japan, but there was quite a
bit of hype leading up to it. At first, I didn't pay any attention to it, but then
one day I caught the trailer for the movie on one of those giant building-side televisions
in Shinjuku, and that's when I got hooked! I thought it looked awesome. The
movie is based on the comic "Azumi", but I've never read it. It's about a
kunoichi (female ninja) named Azumi, and it takes place in feudal Japan (16th/17th
century). It reminds me a lot of Ruroni Kenshin, Samurai Spirits, and a lot of my
other favorite series. I checked the reviews after the movie's first day, and they
weren't very good... only 2.5 out of 5 stars (39 reviews). But I'm still excited to
see in someday. If you wanna learn more, check out www.azumi-movie.jp.
Be sure to check out the trailer!! If you've got a high-speed connection, click on
the first link under either the Quicktime or WindowsMedia sections (you'll probably see
the world LARGE), and that'll show you an amazing 3 minute promo video. For slower
connections, click on the links underneath that. After seeing that, I can't imagine
that this isn't a great movie. Any chance it'll come to the USA? Probably
not... >_< |
| Cammy! |
| Chax - Gloomy the
Bear |
 I was in a store on day looking at some stuff
and then I noticed a poster of a cute bear killing some kid! I went over, and to
check it out, and that's when I discovered Gloomy the Bear... one of the strangest things
I've ever seen. I've looked into it a little more, and the crazy man behind is is
named Mori Chack. It's gotten so big that there's even an entire Chax Colony store
in Osaka! There are tons of strange websites dedicated to this cute & violent
teddy bear, but probably the best place to go is the creator's homepage at www.chax.net.
Click on the 3rd link on the left frame, and that'll take you to a page with a whole
buncha pictures. Keep clicking on links, and you'll find all sorts of strange but
interesting stuff. Enjoy the carnage! |
| Cammy |
| Curry House CoCo
Ichibanya |
 Japan is famous for sushi, steak, okonomi yaki, soba noodles, and many
other good foods. And it's infamous for some very bad foods like nato, umeboshi, and
shirauo. I think Japan should be most famous for its curry rice (never met anybody
who didn't like it). It's my favorite food in the world, and my favorite place to
eat it is a chain called Curry House CoCo Ichibanya! There's a picture of the
location in Matsudo where I've literally eaten hundreds of delicious meals ^_^ If
you're in Japan, you've gotta go. And better yet, all the locations have English
menus, so if you can't read Japanese, you'll have no problem at enjoying a great Japanese
meal at CoCo Ichi! BTW, there are 5 locations in Hawaii, so you can check it out
there too. Unfortunately, the website doesn't have an English section, but if you wanna
check it out anyways, go to www.ichibanya.co.jp. |
| What is Japanese curry rice? It's basically steamed
rice (you can pick as much as you like) with a curry gravy. They can make the curry
sweet, spicy, or VERY hot... however you like. And there's an almost infinite amount
of topping combinations that you can add: apple, hotdog, omelet, breaded cutlets, quail
eggs, different vegetables, fried chicken, hamburger, cheese, shrimp, squid, etc.
It's totally customizable, so you can have whatever you like. If you wanna eat there
every day like me, you can have something different every day! My favorite meal is
500 grams of rice, level 3 spicy curry, chicken cutlet, cheese, and spinach. That
comes out to about $10, but a normal meal without all the extras is only about $7.
Best meal in the world! ^_^ |
This movie was released 2 days after I left Japan, but there was quite a
bit of hype leading up to it. At first, I didn't pay any attention to it, but then
one day I caught the trailer for the movie on one of those giant building-side televisions
in Shinjuku, and that's when I got hooked! I thought it looked awesome. The
movie is based on the comic "Azumi", but I've never read it. It's about a
kunoichi (female ninja) named Azumi, and it takes place in feudal Japan (16th/17th
century). It reminds me a lot of Ruroni Kenshin, Samurai Spirits, and a lot of my
other favorite series. I checked the reviews after the movie's first day, and they
weren't very good... only 2.5 out of 5 stars (39 reviews). But I'm still excited to
see in someday. If you wanna learn more, check out www.azumi-movie.jp.
Be sure to check out the trailer!! If you've got a high-speed connection, click on
the first link under either the Quicktime or WindowsMedia sections (you'll probably see
the world LARGE), and that'll show you an amazing 3 minute promo video. For slower
connections, click on the links underneath that. After seeing that, I can't imagine
that this isn't a great movie. Any chance it'll come to the USA? Probably
not... >_<
Japan is famous for sushi, steak, okonomi yaki, soba noodles, and many
other good foods. And it's infamous for some very bad foods like nato, umeboshi, and
shirauo. I think Japan should be most famous for its curry rice (never met anybody
who didn't like it). It's my favorite food in the world, and my favorite place to
eat it is a chain called Curry House CoCo Ichibanya! There's a picture of the
location in Matsudo where I've literally eaten hundreds of delicious meals ^_^ If
you're in Japan, you've gotta go. And better yet, all the locations have English
menus, so if you can't read Japanese, you'll have no problem at enjoying a great Japanese
meal at CoCo Ichi! BTW, there are 5 locations in Hawaii, so you can check it out
there too. Unfortunately, the website doesn't have an English section, but if you wanna
check it out anyways, go to www.ichibanya.co.jp.