Yasutaka Tsutsui

Yasutaka Tsutsui (筒井康隆) may not be a familiar name to western audiences, but what if I said Paprika (パプリカ)? Or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかけた少女)? That would certainly draw a lot more recognition. Born in 1934, Yasutaka Tsutsui is a multi award winning author, and one of the major voices of Japanese science fiction.

The Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction has a very thorough run down on his work. Including the fact that such a prolific and significant author has received relatively little attention by western audiences. (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/tsutsui_yasutaka)

Relatively few of his works have been translated into English. His most well known work to western audiences, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, originally published in the 1960s was translated by David Karashima in 2011. Andrew Driver translated Paprika in 2009, and a collection of short stories in 2008 titled Salmonella Men on Planet Porno. His most recent work to be translated in 2007 by Evan Emswiler was his 2003 novel Hell.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has seen numerous movie adaptations, the 1983 version being my favourite, which launched the career of idol Tomoyo Harada (原田知世).

Also, the 2006 Japanese Academy Award winning anime version, directed by Mamoru Hosoda (細田守), showed that Ghibli have some stiff competition for the crown of leaders in Japanese animation.

And Satoshi Kon's (今敏) 2006 masterful adaptation of Paprika, is a seminal piece of Japanese film history.

But Tsutsui's work is not all high concept, award winning adaptations. Here is a 2006 adaptation of The World Sinks Except Japan (日本以外全部沈没). It is a black comedy, and a parody, criticizing the ideas of racism and nationalism. It is directed by Minoru Kawasaki (河崎実) who is known for his absurdist comedies. Check out Executive Koala (コアラ課長) if you've never seen it. Here is The World Sinks Except Japan.

Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/tsutsui_yasutaka
J'Lit: http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/item/928-yasutaka-tsutsui

World Order - Last Dance

I promise this is my last music post for tonight. From the noise punk rock of Melt Banana to the happy jams of Cero, and finally on to a band known more for their dancing than their music, World Order. Since their debut in 2010 they have really captured the attention of the Japanese public, with numerous appearances on a menagerie of variety programs. This is not a style of music that I'd usually be interested in, but the quality of their unique dance style is simply amazing. Check out their latest single, Last Dance.

They'll  be travelling around Japan in late Jan, early Feb if you want to check them out, but you'll need to get in quick for tix.

World Order website: http://worldorder.jp/

Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldOrder_News

Cero - Yellow Magus

My second music post tonight comes from Cero (Contemporary Erotic Rock Orchestra) who released their new single this week. Their first studio album World Record was released in early 2011, and followed up with My Lost City in 2012. Their latest single comes with a Live DVD from the My Lost City Tour in Jan/Feb 2013. They are hard to classify into a specific genre, maybe if Sean Lennon joined Special Others? Very infectious vibrant pop with some great jams.

Check out the clip for Yellow Magus here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyIaweKZvcM
Which I can't embed, so here is their track Mountain Mountain from the My Lost City album.

Their current tour which is in Sendai tonight, has already sold out next month in Tokyo and Osaka.
Official website: http://www.geocities.jp/cerofan/
Kakuba Rhythm site for Yellow Magus: http://www.kakubarhythm.com/special/yellowmagus/

I found cero earlier this week while tumbling through 10000 professional tracks. A good place to check out new indie Japanese music.

Melt Banana - Fetch

While I've been busy over the past few weeks, I've missed a few things that I've wanted to blog about. The first is the new Melt Banana album, Fetch, that was released way back in October. The have a psychedelic clip for the second track, The Hive, up on YouTube.

The album is being released on A-Zap in Japan, Revolver USA in the US of A, and Forte in the UK. So you should be able to find it in stores if not online.

Melt Banana webpage: http://www.geocities.jp/azaplink/mb/mxbx.html

You can like them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Melt-Banana/192954987398661

Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/melt_banana/

Books from Japan

I've just stumbled across a new site that's great if you wanna keep in touch with what is happening in Japanese literature, Books from Japan. They provide news, commentary, and profiles on current Japanese authors, their works, and information on books that have won major literary awards since 2000, including the Akutagawa Prize, and Naoki Prize. There are also links to various translations where available.

Books from Japan: http://www.booksfromjapan.jp

Ghost In The Shell: Arise

I was in high school when Mamoru Oshii's (押井守) original Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) anime was released in 1995. It was about the same time I read Ray Kurzweil's The Age of Intelligent Machines. I'm not sure if Kurzweil's idea of the singularity had hit mainstream conciseness at the time, but they were ideas that lead me towards studying Computer Engineering. It was the philosophical side to Ghost in the Shell that attracted me as a teenager. The blurring of man and machine.

The Internet was just in it's early stages but it allowed me to track down an import of the soundtrack by Kenji Kawai (川井憲次). Kawaii wrote a lot of the soundtracks for Mamoru Oshii's animes, and also for the films of Hideo Nakata (中田秀夫) including Ring, Ring 2, and Dark Water. He is certainly one of my favourite Japanese film composers. Here are live versions of the main themes from Ghost in the Shell, and Ring.

I haven't kept up the Ghost in the Shell Series, Innocence, Stand Alone Complex, or the latest reworking, Arise. But something that drew my interest back to the new series was the soundtrack, since the original film's soundtrack was so memorable, I noticed that the new series' soundtrack was being produced by Cornelius the muti-facited mutli-instrumental musician who achieved fame in the late 90s on Matador Records. I'm not sure how Cornelius' eclectic style will match with Ghost in the Shell, he hasn't released a studio album since 2006s Sensuous, but has composer for TV commercials, and films. But you can check what he is doing for Ghost in the Shell Arise here:

Ghost in the Shell Arise 2 is in limited cinema release this week in Japan, and will be available later in the month on DVD.

Ghost in the Shell Arise website: http://www.kokaku-a.jp/index.php

Billy Bat #13

It's been a busy weekend for new releases. Billy Bat (ビリーバット) jumps between many time lines, many characters, conspiracy theories, and mysteries. Volume 13 focuses on Michael Jackson look-a-like 1980's Kevin Goodman, not to be confused with the original protagonist Kevin Yamagata. Although they are both key successors (or 後継者) to the Billy Bat saga.

There is also flashbacks to a conversation between Hilter and Einstein, fake moon landings, and the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake (which also appeared recently in Ghibli's Kaze Tachinu).

I always enjoy the suspense and mystery the Naoki Urasawa (浦沢直樹) weaves through his stories, so equal credit needs to be given to Takashi Nagasaki (長崎尚志) who has worked closely with Urasawa for many of my favourite series including Monster (モンスター), 20th Century Boys (20世紀少年), and Pluto (プルートウ).

Billy Bat: http://morning.moae.jp/lineup/55