Perfume - ⊿ (トライアングル / "Triangle")

Dear readers, before getting started, I should apologise for taking so long to post my review of this great music since I feel it deserves more recognition that this!

On 07-Aug-09 Perfume released their latest full-length CD called ⊿ (トライアングル / "Triangle"). What we have here is another collection of skillfully-produced dance-trance-talkbox-pop tracks that is sure to please fans and new-comers alike. Perfume has already made a huge impact on the music scene has once again has proven their ability to keep it going with their latest offering.

Listening to this CD straight through, from start to finish, I wouldn't necessarily claim that this is their best full-length, but it certainly does NOT disappoint. ⊿ has some absolute gems on it that provide evidence of Perfume's ability to grow and evolve despite their dedication to a music genre that's become over-saturated and watered-down over most of the past 2 decades. While I have been a fan of the group for several years now, I am still impressed by their ability to maintain a consistent and comfortingly-reliable sound while still managing to incorporate freshness into their productions. のっち (Nocchi), かしゆか (Kashiyuka) and あ〜ちゃん (A~chan) have continued to mature as singers and artists, and it shows!

⊿ contains a dozen tracks including the title track from Perfume's recent hit single, "Love the World," and a "⊿-mix" of the track "edge" from the same single. The mega-hit single, 「ワンルーム・ディスコ」 ("One-room Disco") is also on this release. Some of the new songs on the disc such as "NIGHT FLIGHT" and "I still love U" have a distinctly retro sound which definitely adds some charm to this release. Others are more akin to Perfume's classic style and they just make you feel good! The CD comes to a close with an "Album Mix" of the lovely ballad, 「願い」 (Negai / "Wish").

If you're skilled music hunter, there may still be a few of the limited edition CD+DVD sets available somewhere. The DVD contains some great material including Live performances of tracks from ⊿ and some of their musical appearances on TV. Great stuff! The headline photo of this post shows the cover art from the limited edition, while the other pic is the cover of the CD-only release. The limited edition contains both versions of the cover art, so if you prefer looking at the cute group-members, you can always flip it over.

All in all, ⊿ is another great success for this Jpop trio from Hiroshima. It's hard to go wrong with Perfume, and if you like this kind of music and enjoy their sound, you will be very happy with it! If you haven't yet discovered Perfume, however, I think I would honestly recommend "Game" as an ideal introduction to their sound. Please don't interpret this to mean that I dislike ⊿ in any way because that certainly would not be the case, but I do feel that overall, "Game" is better as a complete package. Enjoy!

Shiina Ringo - Sanmon Gossip

Hello Monologues of an Otaku readers! I hope you'll forgive my recent silence. I've been incredibly busy with so many different things, especially my recently-intensified study of Japanese language. As a result, I'm pretty far behind on all the posts I've been wanting to write for you.

It would be a shame to put this one off much longer-- my review of the new full length from 椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo) called 「三文ゴシップ」 (Sanmon Gossip). First let's talk about the title. 「三」means "three" of course, and 「文」is an old skool unit of Japanese currency equal to 1/1000 of a 貫 ("kan"). This comes from a historical period when money was measured in weight, which makes sense since "kan" also refers to an old unit of weight measurement equal to about 3.75 grams. You can see some money like this in old Samurai movies and on images of 招き猫 (Maneki Neko / "Lucky Cat"). SO, "Sanmon Gossip," loosely-translated into English, might be "3-penny Gossip."

Moving on to the topic I really want to discuss, the music! What can I say? This CD is SO AWESOME! Shiina Ringo seems to have an endless well of creativity, skill and musicianship within that mind of hers and once again I am really impressed. With no recent offerings from her other well-known project, 東京事変 (Tokyo Jihen / "The Tokyo Incidents"), Ringo-chan seems to have combined the two projects into a single effort instead, focusing the best of both into a fantastic solo project. This, combined with her standard, extremely-high production value, makes this an incredible CD! All this, and I haven't even mentioned Shiina Ringo's trademark style of Japanese word-play-creation that makes all of her song titles so kool and interesting!

In Shiina Ringo's 三文ゴシップ (Sanmon Gossip), she starts off by giving us a healthy dose of Tokyo Jihen-style J-Rock as well as a bit more of the sweet-sophistication J-Pop that she delivered to us in her previous full-length release, 「私と放電」(Watashi to Hoden / "Me and electric discharge"). From there she continues to explore her exemplary talent as a Jazz musician, once again combining her exciting and unique J-Rock style with the sounds of Rat-Pack-style Big Band, Swing and this time even Cha-Cha in the song, 「二人ぼっち時間」(Futari Bocchi Jikan / "Time for Two People Alone")! It's an endeavour that seemingly only Ringo-chan is able to accomplish with success while accurately capturing each of these different styles of jazz and at the same time managing to both stay true to her own distinctive style and maintain accessibility by a wide range of music-lovers.

Just when listeners start to think that this release has come to be strictly about Jazz, however, Shiina Ringo takes us in a new direction about 2/3 of the way through the disc! The track 「尖った手口」 (Togatta Teguchi / "Sharp Trick") can best be described as "industrial pop" which as far as I know has not yet been identified as a music genre. This is just further testament to her skill as an innovator.

Perhaps this sounds like it might be a bit of a shock for those of us who enjoy listening to her full-length releases all the way through from start to finish? Surprisingly, No! In fact, I think she planned this little diversion perfectly, doing her best to (quite successfully) make this CD really compelling. In the next couple of tracks, 「色恋沙汰」(Irokoizata / "Love Affair") and「凡才肌」(Bonsai Hada / "Mediocre-like"), Ringo-chan takes us on yet another diversion in which she explores music that starts to enter the territory of the broadway musical, incorporating many unique band instruments and even an accordion.

To finish the release Shiina Ringo, returns to her roots, filling our ears with the J-Rock/Pop sounds that caused all of us to fall in love with her in the first place. The final track, in fact, has all the feeling of that last encore that musicians play at their concerts, coming back out onto the stage one last time just to make the fans happy. For this "encore" she chose to do a totally KOOL vocally-harmonised A cappella version of her all-time favourite, 「丸の内サディスティック」 (Marunouchi Sadistic) that she calls the "EXPO Version."

三文ゴシップ (Sanmon Gossip) is a welcomed addition my CD collection which is sure to get lots and lots of play-time because of its variety and ingenuity. If you haven't yet gotten into Ringo-chan's music, do yourself a favour and treat yourself to this great music. You really won't be sorry; I promise! ^^

Midwest Bonsai Society Exhibition

On Saturday, 15-Aug, I spent a lovely day with my wife and friends at the Chicago Botanic Gardens where the Midwest Bonsai Society was having their 33rd annual exhibition. On display were well over 100 bonsai trees that were grown and nurtured by this year's competitors as well as nearly 50 world-class bonsai. This was my first time to see the exhibition and so I was a bit overwhelmed by the vast display of all the different species of tree and numerous different bonsai styles. Many of the bonsai on display had contest ribbons on them, but not being a hobbyist myself (yet) it was nearly impossible for me to differentiate between those that placed in the competition and those that didn't, let alone to see the differences between the first, second and third place winners. All of them looked quite beautiful from my perspective.

While I was viewing some of the award-winning bonsai, I noticed that many of the top award-winners all had the same name on them; I was thinking that the owner must be one of the top experts in this area. A few minutes later a group of people came over and started talking about one of the trees and it wasn't too long before one of the men in this group started to pick up and turn one of them around, under the supervision of a tall, white-haired man. The older man, as it turned out, was the man who grew the award-winning bonsai. I was able to stand nearby and listen while he discussed some of the characteristics of the tree that won its first-place award. Symmetry, and something he kept referring to as "line" seemed very important. I also learned that with most bonsai styles, there is meant to be one "viewing" side, even though I still have fun looking at them from multiple angles.

The highlight of the show was a 90-minute demonstration by bonsai master 山地宏美 (Yamaji Hiroyoshi [English]) of 山松園 (Yamaji Sanshoen) in 高松市 (Takamatsu City), 香川県 (Kagawa Prefecture). Yamaji-san's specialty is working on pine trees, which is quite fitting since the name of his home city, Takamatsu, means "tall pine trees." In his demonstration, Yamaji-san took a lop-sided, mis-shapen pine tree and from it created a beautifully-shaped bonsai, guiding his audience through some of his various techniques as well as a few tools of the trade. Surprisingly, in order to complete the transformation, the tree had to endure quite a few "intrusive" procedures that included splitting and twisting the trunk, sawing, wedging and pruning. Once finished with the reconstruction work, there was a considerable amount of shaping, taping and bandaging to do, but the overall effect and future beauty could still be seen in its form. It was truly amazing and sometimes even shocking to see the amount of effort put into changing the tree into a bonsai. By the end of the 90-minute demonstration, the bonsai master was exhausted and soaked with sweat. Throughout the transformation, Yamaji-san repeatedly told his audience, "I don't do this in Japan;" he explained that the trees are typically trained into bonsai from the time that they're just saplings. I believe, therefore, that the presentation was primarily for the purpose of demonstrating technique and showing what's within the realm of possibility, rather than to complete a project in a way that is normal for bonsai hobbyists. In fact, Yamaji-san told us that this tree will be a show piece-- about 30 years from now!

The whole day was very enjoyable, not only because of the fantastic bonsai exhibition, but also because of the wonderful surroundings of the permanent gardens at the Botanic Gardens and the gorgeous weather in Chicago that day. I am very pleased that I was able to see this wonderful show. To make the experience complete, I purchased a bonsai of my own to bring home and raise myself. This is my Serissa Foetida, commonly known as Japanese Boxthorn, or Snowrose. Suzumiya Haruhu is there to cheer me on, too! Hopefully it will grow small white flowers in the late autumn months. I could see myself getting into this!

U.S. Immigration - Green Card

In most of my posts I discuss going to Japan but this time I want to discuss the opposite-- getting into the U.S., via Immigration and Naturalisation Services, otherwise known as INS. During the past few months my wife and I have been in the process of applying for a green card so that she can obtain permanent, legal residency in America. Let me just say that it's been nothing like the land-of-opportunity story of hopes and dreams that's been so highly romanticised during this country's short, 230-year-old history. Instead, it's been a time-consuming, frustrating and somewhat stressful process. In order to explain what I mean, let me describe the parts of the process, which involves many different chores, tasks and fees some of which are fully expected and some of which are a bit surprising.

First comes the completion of several stacks of forms and paperwork under the supervision of an over-priced immigration lawyer. Many of the forms demand that both the applicant (my wife) and the petitioner (me) provide private and personal information such as in-depth facts about family history, employment and educational history, as well as full disclosure of financial information including income, assets, liabilities and taxes. In addition to this, a hefty application fee is collected.

Second is the gathering of documentation. In order to complete the process, INS needs birth certificates, a marriage certificate, passports, IDs, tax returns, paycheck stubs, bank and credit account statements, loan statements and proof of employment in the form of letters written by employers (written according to specific guidelines and containing all required information). Additionally, profiling and finger-printing of the applicant is required during this step.

Third, new forms are created by INS and the immigration lawyer, based on the gathered information. These documents need to be signed and dated and then returned to INS before a specified deadline. Although this step doesn't sound too hard, it's important to understand that you may or may not actually receive the documents in a timely manner. In our case, one of the documents was supposedly mailed to us, but it never arrived so we had to visit the immigration lawyer in person to obtain an original copy that we could use as a replacement. I can't even imagine what would have happened if we were unable to take time off from work to meet with the lawyer, or unable to travel there before the office's *EARLY* closing time. Thankfully for us, having full-time salaried jobs and owning a car made it possible.

Mixed into the whole process, after each of the above steps is quite a lot of waiting and wondering. Another such period of time occurs at this fourth stage, which is finally nearing the end of the process. During this time the applicant and petitioner wait for INS to schedule an appointment for both to meet with an immigration officer in person. Once your appointment date has been set, there is still some more paperwork to be assembled, such as new paycheck stubs, new proof-of-employment letters and copies of bills, insurance documents, photographs and anything that can serve as proof of marriage. If your immigration lawyer is a good one (which my wife's is not), s/he might pro-actively contact you to let you know what's needed.

This final interview appointment is what my wife and I did today, and is the reason why both of us took the day off work. Upon arrival at the INS facility downtown, the typical government-building experience awaited us, complete with sterile-looking walls and floors, security guards, police and metal detectors. In addition to this, the security guards have extremely well-honed skills that help them to speak to everyone entering the facility in a way that makes us feel like criminals with little more than a fifth-grade education.

Once my wife and finally I arrived at our destination, we were handed a pager similar to the ones that restaurants use to communicate that a customer's table is ready. We entered a large room and waited to be paged while we sat nervously and watched the scores of snobby lawyers, angry mothers who didn't complete all of their tasks correctly, and married couples consisting of aging, dis-sheveled white guys with their mail-order-brides. Thankfully, once our pager summoned us to the back-offices, the experience was a good one! A gentleman named Officer Whelan was assigned to our case, and although he was required to ask a lot of questions about our relationship, socioeconomic status and personal lives, he was kind and professional and treated us with respect and dignity. At the end of the interview he informed us that our application would indeed be recommended for approval and that we definitely had "no reason to lose any sleep." We left with smiles on our faces and huge feelings of relief in our hearts. My wife should have her green card within the next 60 to 90 days. Thanks Officer Whelan! To my wife's lawyer-- thanks a lot for nothing AND for charging a premium for it.

Nintendo and the Yakuza

Recently I've taken a bit of an interest in Yakuza culture and have found myself reading articles here and there with great interest. Today I discovered something that truly amazed me-- that the world's beloved Nintendo video game company has connections to Japan's organised crime syndicates!

In order to explain this rather obscure and fascinating connection, I must first explain the origin of the word, やくざ ("yakuza"). This word comes from a combination of three very old Japanese words from a regional dialect: 八つ ("Yattsu" / Eight)　九 ("Kabu" / Nine) and　ざ ("Za" / slang word for 三 or "San" / Three). Yattsu-Kabu-Za ; 8-9-3. Take the abbreviated form of these three words and you get Ya-Ku-Za. Okay, so now that we've established that-- why "8-9-3?"

8-9-3 goes back to a very old Japanese card game called おいちょかぶ (Oicho-Kabu), which has some slight similarities to Blackjack. The game is not played with western-style playing cards, but with a Japanese 40-card deck called 株札 (Kabufuda). Oicho-Kabu was an integral part of Yakuza illegal gambling rings and became very popular for this reason. In Oicho-Kabu, 8-9-3 is the worst possible hand, and results in a score of Zero (yes, 20 = 0 in this game). Zero, being a losing hand is considered useless, and 8-9-3 or "Ya"-"Ku"-"Za," therefore, was used by regular folks to describe the "useless hands" of society. (Is that amazingly interesting or what!?)

Now that we've completed our history lesson, on to my main point-- Nintendo! What seems like it must be common knowledge to many folks was completely new and fascinating to me as I only found out about it this past weekend. When Nintendo was first founded in Kyoto back in 1889, owner 山内 房治郎 (Yamauchi Fusajiro)'s business was the production and sale of Kabufuda (and also 花札 (Hanafuda)) playing card decks! In fact, each deck of cards was hand-made by Yamauchi-san himself! When he could no longer keep up with the huge demand, he hired some employees to help him and that's how the company grew**. The obvious conclusion, therefore, is that a large percentage of Nintendo's first customers were Yakuza!

I would like to state, at this point, that I was not able to find any specific sources of information stating that Nintendo's first customers were, indeed, Yakuza. Based on the time period, and the two groups' respective line of work, however, it seems like a fairly obvious conclusion. Please feel free to leave a comment for me if you have any evidence or information that illustrates the opposite.

**Nintendo still makes Hanafuda (flower-card) decks. One of their modern versions has drawings of all the Mario characters on them.