Kansai Scene #145 June 2012

ISSUE 145 • JUN 2012

FEATURE

BIRTH OF BOY BANDS

HEALTH

MEDICAL TOURISM

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GETAWAY

SAND, SEA AND SAND

COOKING

JAPAN’S SWEET SIDE

DRINK

HIGH ON HIGHBALLS

WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO — LISTINGS • INFO • MAPS • THE BUZZ

CONTENTS 3

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

STORIES

Reader’s photo

FEATURE

6

UPDATE

8

COOKING

10

TECH

13

HEALTH

14

TRAVEL

16

GETAWAY

19

PARTY

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FILM+

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The father of boy bands Park full of fish

A sweet tooth in Japan 4G or not 4G

Ulysse Savane

We’re all going on a medical holiday

Seoul in a weekend

Japan’s desert by the sea That KS party in full Rapped up

NEWS Kansai news roundup 05 LINGO Wedding without a hitch 30 DRINK Dram in a can 46

Want to see your photograph here? KS is accepting submissions on the theme of ‘Kansai’ to display here (75mm x 100mm/300dpi). Please send all your entries in digital format to: photo@kansaiscene.com

Published by Kansai Scene KK • www.kansaiscene.com Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

Christian Page Director

Event & Festival: Yuki Uchibori FLEA MARKET & CINEMA: Yoko S. Tokyo: Patrick St. Michel Film: Donna Sheffield Classical: Michael Vezzuto Live: Phillip Jackson Club: Terumi Tsuji News: Christian Page

Eiko Page Creative director

LISTINGS

Jatin Banker

Production Manager

Shuka Kitani

ART Exhibitions and listing EVENT Events and listing FESTIVAL Festivals and listing FLEA MARKET Bargain fun TOKYO Tokyo roundup FILM New film releases DVD New DVD releases CLASSICAL Classical musings LIVE Gigs and listing CLUB Nightclubbing FOOD Kokopelli, Namba, Osaka

20 22 25 26 27 34 36 38 40 42 44

CLASSIFIEDS Join the community

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SECTION EDITORS Art: Tomoko Ishii

Assistant editor

Donna Sheffield Copy editor

Brendan Wong Enquiries (preferred by email):

General: mailbox@kansaiscene.com

Advertising: sales@kansaiscene.com Tel: 06-6539-1717 (9am–6pm, Mon–Fri) • Fax: 06-6539-1718 Address 550-0013 Osaka, Nishi-ku, Shinmachi 3-5-7, Eiko Bldg. 2F 〒550-0013 大阪市西区新町3-5-7 永光ビル2F

Kansai Scene

@kansaiscene

Kansai Scene

• Produced by PrintMark • Printed by King Printers DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher. We take no responsibility for the quality or content of advertisements. Public and private parties appproached by those claiming to work for or on behalf of Kansai Scene should call this office to confirm the truth of any such claim, especially where money may be involved.

NEWS

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

Investment seminar

All change for residency rules There are seismic changes in the visa and residence procedures for non-Japanese residents in Japan.

Japan’s Ministry of Justice is not exactly throwing away immigration controls but it is certainly giving them a good nuts-andbolts overhaul, which take effect on July 9, 2012.

The highlights: out with the old alien registration card, in with, er, a different card: the resident card.

Out with the three-year visa limit, in with a five-year limit.

Out with the re-entry permit — yes, I really did write that, the re-entry permit is gone — in with a time limit on your absence from Japan.

Out with the alien registration system, in with the new residency management system.

Is this going to make a real difference to anyone? Well, looks like a ‘yes’ to that question. Or ‘yes, kind of’.

Instead of your local authority issuing your alien registration ID card, your ‘gaijin card’ on behalf of the MOJ, the residence card will be issued by the immigration authorities themselves.

You’ll still need an embarrassing photo, though.

The MOJ claim that the new system will be so much easier to manage than the old, they can afford to up the period of stay (subject to conditions, naturally) to five years, reducing tiresome treks to the immigration office.

Ditto the visits to the immigration office for the re-entry permit if you are returning, according to their online blurb, “within 1 year … to continue [your] activities in Japan”. This policy is prefixed with the ominous term “in principle”, which means that the authorities may wish to make exceptions. It is not likely the non-exempted majority are going to be kicking up a fuss about not having to go to immigration to pay to be let back in the country after their holiday.

Do you need to rush pell-mell for the immigration office to register for the new system before The Man at MOJ changes his mind? That depends whether you think three years is a cause for pell-mell. You can apparently go to the immigration office to get the change made right away or you can wait for your next scheduled visit, say, to renew a visa and do it then. If you have permanent residency you have until July 8, 2015.

As ever, in legal matters, do not take KS’s word for anything.

If you have visa issues, you may wish to engage an immigration lawyer. You can — and should — check out the changes yourself at the URL below.

The Blarney Stone’s Martin Benfield will be hosting a seminar on buying foreclosures. The seminar is appropriately named A Practical Guide to Buying Foreclosures and among the topics discussed will be the pros and cons of buying, what to do with your investment, what’s available, and how to go about the purchase. Martin has extensive experience in this field and is involved in a variety of businesses. This seems to be a chance to get together and talk investment over a drink.

• When: Jul 1, 5pm–7pm • Admission: ¥1,800 with one drink • Where: The Blarney Stone, Shinsaibashi • Access: See KS Shinsaibashi map C2 • Tel: 090-7885-8311 • Email: martin@i-tel.com • www.i-tel.com/re/

www.immi-moj.go.jp/newimmiact_1/en

Be seen in Kansai Scene

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ANNOUNCEMENT

Change of Scene Kansai Scene will be making some small changes over the coming months, both online and offline, as we’ll be handing over the publication reigns to our friends at Mojoprint.

With their central Osaka location, strong ties with the English-speaking community and a solid design pedigree, Mojoprint, who have provided print services to the non-Japanese community since 2007, are uniquely placed to expand upon KS’s 12-year heritage and ensure its continued success.

The editorial team will remain the same and is looking forward to providing an even better service to our readers and advertisers.

Please note the change of phone numbers on the contents page, and in the ‘How to advertise’ box at the foot of this page.

広告募集

Kansai Sceneは関西唯一の英文フリーマガジンです。読者層は、関西に住ん Kansai Scene is Kansai’s only English-language print magazine. Advertise in both the print edition and online and でいる外国人を始め、英語を学ぶ日本人、世界各国からの観光客など。配布場 benefit from the combined power of two media. To find out 所は、大型書店洋書コーナー、大学、空港、観光センター、PUBやレストランな ど500カ所以上にも及びます。なお、広告の掲載は、雑誌面及びWebサイトでも more about advertising with us, go to www.kansaiscene. com and look for the link labelled Advertising on the menu 受け付けています。詳しくは、www.kansaiscene.com > Advertising bar below the KS logo or email to sales@kansaiscene.com をご覧下さい。＊日本語の案内もあります。広告に関するお問い合わせ Email: sales@kansaiscene.com or call 06-6539-1717 or call 06-6539-1717.

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FEATURE

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

The father of boy bands Fifty years ago, bilingual nikkeijin Johnny Kitagawa came up with an unlikely idea that went on to redefine Japanese show business and make his agency a byword of boy band pop.

Text: Michael Furmanovsky • Images: KS

O

n the 50th anniversary of his all-powerful talent agency, ‘Janizu’ or Johnny’s & Associates (J&A), 81-year old Johnny (Hiromu) Kitagawa, the mysterious and reclusive boss of the most successful idol-producing agency in pop music history, can afford a smile from his $10m Shibuya mansion. In May 1962 when, this first generation Japanese-American first came up with the idea of forming a boys teenage pop group whose dance moves rather than vocal or musical talent would be their sales point, his contemporaries must have thought it the delusional notion of a rank outsider. Fifty years on, the dance idol model he created with his first boys group, The Johnnies, has not only become established across much of Asia, it is the only form that matters for a great many young fans. Indeed for much of young Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese youth today, the very idea of a pop group who cannot dance or act is a quaint one.

What then, did Johnny Kitagawa know or understand in 1962 that would allow him, two decades later, to build the most the most successful production and talent agency in popular music history, a fact acknowledged just two years ago by the Guinness Book of Records? The story of Johnny Kitagawa’s unique and controversial show business career begins in 1950 in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. Kitagawa’s father had been sent by a Buddhist sect to administer to the LA Japanese community there and had married a first generation Japanese-American. In May 1950, his 18 year-old son Hiromu (Johnny), already a musical fan, was given the job of interpreting for 13 year-old Japanese kayokyoku (a J-pop sub-genre) singer Hibari Misori when she performed at the Hongwanji-affiliated Koyasan Hall on her California tour. This experience inspired him to join the US military as an interpreter and with the Korean war at its height, he soon obtained a position with the American embassy in Tokyo.

According to legend, some time in 1958, while working for the US embassy, Kitagawa began to spend time with teenage boys playing baseball in Yoyogi Park and formed an informal club named after him. The story then jumps to January 1962, when after taking some of the team to see a production of West Side Story, he first pondered the idea of a boys dancing group. This was in fact a pretty daring idea given that it was then considered quite unmanly

FEATURE

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

for Japanese men to lift their legs while dancing. The four-member group The Johnnies, did achieve some success. By the mid-1960s, however, the Beatles and Ventures-inspired Group Sounds (Beatles-inspired J-pop genre) era had begun and college age boys playing their own electric guitars seemed poised to challenge the idol-singer template that had prevailed in Japan in the early 1960s.

Undiscouraged, Kitagawa now turned to a business model developed in the US by pop music entrepreneur, Don Kirshner, the man behind The Monkees. The latter’s TV show aimed at the low teen female demographic had achieved enormous success as an entertainment product built around mass marketing and advertising.

Convinced that an idol-type group made up of dancing boys could achieve a similar kind of success, Kitagawa began promoting a new boys group called the Four Leaves. The group had several hits but failed to match the impact of The Monkees in the US or indeed that of female idols such as Momoe Yamaguchi and Pink Lady who dominated the Japanese music industry in the mid-1970s. J&E remained a relatively minor player in Japanese show business well into the late 1970s.

Given this relative failure, what made Kitagawa stick so unshakably to his belief that unthreatening adolescent dancing boys performing musical style numbers could attract a truly mass female audience? Some might suggest that his gay sensibility gave him an insight into the latent possibilities of the ‘boys love’ homoerotic phenomenon that was then emerging through shojo manga. Others have hinted that his motivation and drive were a product of his need to be surrounded by, and in total control of, easily replaceable pubescent boys who would do his every bidding. This theory has at least some credibility given later accusations — largely substantiated by a Tokyo Court in 2003 — of improper sexual relations with his charges. These explanations are certainly plausible but are they the whole story? It is equally plausible that Kitagawa had acquired an unusually insightful understanding of the dynamics and emotional subtext of Japanese school-based teen life. Is it

possible that Kitagawa’s experience working with young teenage boys gave him insight into the powerful emotions that are unleashed in the bonding experiences of adolescents as part of the Japanese junior and senior high school experience? Did he recognize the importance of the human attachments and emotional ups and downs that are generated through club activities, with their calibrated sempai-kohai relationships?

Perhaps it was this understanding that gave him the idea in the early 1970s of the so-called ‘Johnny’s Juniors’ system. Under this arrangement, J&E

recruited boys into a talent pool, housed them in a dormitory and trained them over a period of years.

The schools involve a formalized hierarchy among boys, so Johnny’s Juniors were, and still are, expected to interact with older boys (their sempai) and patiently persevere with their singing, dancing and acting skills before making their debut as backup dancers for the older members. Some might draw parallels with the sumo stable system and the Japanese apprenticeship tradition. Either way it seems likely that Kitagawa’s insights into the Japanese teenage psyche helped J&E to achieve unprecedented commercial success in the following decade.

As any older J-pop fan knows, it was Hikaru Genji, J&E’s roller-skating flagship group that would launch ‘Janizu’, as it was now called by its fans, into the upper realms of show business during the 1980s. By the time

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the group made its debut in 1987, J&E had also begun to use his increasing clout to place members of his groups into TV dramas and comedies. While such a concept seems unremarkable in today’s Japan, the idea that pop stars could routinely function as credible actors or comedic hosts of variety TV programs, is one that was (and still is) quite unimaginable in any western entertainment market where acting talent is seen as a entirely unrelated to musical proficiency.

The story of J&E after Hikaru Genji has been told many times and hardly needs retelling. It includes the extraordinary success of SMAP, the ultimate entertainers; Arashi, the definitive allround boys group and TOKIO, the ‘rocker’ older brother outfit. More recent groups include Kat-Tun and this year’s updated Hikaru Genji.

Many of these accounts have focused on the aforementioned sex scandals as well as the agency’s ruthless tactics dealing with TV outlets that do not give priority to J&E stars when choosing performers for their teenoriented features. Yet whatever one’s opinion of his highly profitable, tightlyrun empire in which catering to the teen demographic is the first priority, no one can question the extraordinarily high level of sheer professionalism and endurance that Kitagawa’s protégés display. On a daily basis, these idols not only follow a rigorous practice schedule but assume multiple and ever changing roles and functions across the entire spectrum of the entertainment world. If there are doubts about the work ethic of today’s young Japanese, they need only look at the daily routine that J&E’s highly disciplined and multi-talented units follow in order to cater to their adoring fans, often at great personal cost.

Marriage for example has until recently, been highly discouraged. Moreover, Janizu groups were among the most frequent visitors to the Tohoku area after the 2011 tsunami. Whatever one might think of the musical and cultural legacy of Johnny Kitagawa, if enriching the lives of millions of otherwise bored junior high school girls across three generations is one of the legacies of his fifty years, then the reclusive 81 year-old workaholic surely deserves a day or two off.

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FEATURE UPDATE

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Park full of fish

It has brought controversy, anger, and division — and it has brought underwater life into one of Kyoto’s parks for all to see.

Text: Carla Avolio • Photos: Alex Jordan

I

t has pimply skin, piggy eyes and bears an unfortunate resemblance to something one might flush down the toilet, but I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

I watch as the world’s second largest amphibian paddles slowly through the cold mountain water. For 10 years I’ve waited to see this fabled creature, which has remained roughly unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. At 60cm, this fellow is only half grown, but it’s more than capable of excreting the smelly substance for which the species is given the name osanshouo — giant pepper fish.

The Japanese giant salamander is just one of many delights at the Kyoto Aquarium, a brand new development described as Japan’s first large-scale inland aquarium. More than 400,000 visitors have flooded into the three-story facility in the two months since it opened, and authorities hope it will be a major attraction drawing even more tourists to the famous area.

In the aquarium, visitors travel through nine aquatic zones designed to “recreate the connection of life from the source of Kyoto’s rivers to the sea,” according to the official website.

Deep in the river zone, metre-long silver carp generate gasps from visitors, while out in the ocean, a giant Pacific

octopus presses itself millimetres from the faces of children blinking in disbelief.

The decision to build an aquarium in Kyoto, an inland city internationally renowned for its cultural riches, has been controversial. A number of local groups have strongly protested against the facility, which they say is environmentally unsound, not in keeping with Kyoto’s image as a cultural capital, and destroying a large piece of their beloved Umekoji Park (the site of the aquarium).

However, authorities counter that the aquarium plays an important role in educating people about the numerous rivers that flow through Kyoto, and their significance in the city’s culture, as well as doing their part for conservation via breeding programs and education.

In many ways, Kyoto Aquarium fulfils its promise.

We learn about Kyoto culinary traditions through displays of live queen crabs, porcupine fish and aucha perch; get ‘hands-on’ with starfish and sea hares in the touch pool; and are taught, albeit in Japanese only, about Kyoto’s rare and endangered species at the excellent conservation zone.

For my party — a couple of fish biologists and myself — our favourite exhibit is the opening one, housing the Kyoto River zone, which replicates the Kamo and Yura

FEATURE UPDATE

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

rivers running through the northern Kyoto prefecture.

It’s a glorious mountain scene, with fog and water tumbling down a mosscovered cliff into a pool where four salamanders sleep. Local river fish of various sizes and shades of grey swim about in the crystal clear water. The glass in this new establishment is so clear that the salamanders look like they could be sunning themselves on land.

For those needing something warm blooded to set their hearts racing, the next zone features seals in an openair setting. Kids will love the chimney into which the spotted seals dramatically launch, and the cubby house set into the pool where they can feel as though they are swimming with the fur seals.

In the dolphin stadium, the other mammalian stars can be seen every 1.5 hours spinning tricks at the dolphin shows, which last for 20 minutes and are conducted in Japanese. Our party doesn’t much enjoy seeing these intelligent animals being directed by trainers to somersault or wave at the audience. Regardless, the show is captivating for the kids and the dolphins seem to be enjoying their work, although it’s difficult to tell their real feelings behind those sculptured smiles.

An antidote to the frenzied pace of the dolphin show is the Main Pool — a 500-tonne tank housing a menagerie of marine life swimming among sheer rocky cliffs and boulders.

Walking through dark passages, you feel in a dream as animals float by like constellations through liquid space.

There are seven viewing areas, includ-

ing the two-storey, floor-to-ceiling window that gives the feeling you are standing on the ocean floor. Another spot, the cave, is a dark cubbyhole where you can sit on the carpet, watching sleeping sharks and rays curled up together like babies. Seeing their gentle breathing is a thing of beauty, at least for fish tragics like us.

Leaving the Main Pool and wandering towards the next zone, my moving meditation is broken by a noise at once familiar yet unexpected.

“Kawaiiiiiiiii!” We’ve reached the penguins.

Pressed up against the glass surrounding the outdoor enclosure, a group of people are squealing and holding up cameras, phones, or Nintendo DSs (for under 15s), excitedly snapping away at the photogenic birds.

Although they come from South Africa, these Cape penguins seem at home on the rocky terrain of this enclosure. Luckily, just when we arrive, a keeper enters with a bucket of silver fish strapped to his belt. Feeding time.

The sight of the keeper throwing plump fish into the pool sends both penguins and visitors into a tizz.

We watch as the penguins, previously waddling awkwardly on land, become torpedoes in the water, zooming around to catch their prey.

More crowd-pleasing specimens can be found further along in the Ocean Zone, which has an impressive display of twelve types of fluorescent goby and a large tank devoted (almost) entirely to Nemo and his kin, several varieties of clown fish. People also seem enamoured by something going

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on in the Event Hall, where our English pamphlets tell us we can take part in workshops and events. A crowd surrounds a staff member who is yelling and ringing a bell, and although it doesn’t look like a workshop, I can’t say for sure that it isn’t educational.

For a real educational fix, the conservation (Beauty of Nature) zone is like the classroom you always wanted as a child. Sadly, the wisdom is lost on us as the interpretive displays are only in Japanese. After looking at the endangered animals, including the world’s largest bug, we wander into the open-air Countryside Zone — a bucolic paradise of terraced rice paddies where children splash through irrigated fields chasing catfish and water striders.

It’s extremely peaceful and the display blends beautifully with the surrounding greenery of Umekoji Park. But it’s not long before we’re funnelled into the hectic gift shop, where, despite my best intentions, I buy a stuffed salamander before heading home.

Kyoto Aquarium

• Admission: ¥2,000; concessions • Open: 9am–5pm, 365 days a year • Access: JR Kyoto stn, 15min walk or take a bus; JR Tambaguchi stn, 15min walk or take a bus • www.kyoto-aquarium.com/en

Dolphin show schedule • Weekdays: till Jul 13, 10:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3pm • Weekends: till July 13, 10am, 11:30am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm

10 COOKING FEATURE

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

A sweet tooth in Japan Japanese sweets, colourful, exotic and tasty, are an endless source of fascination for visitors to this country. But how about making them yourself? Here’s how to get started.

Text & photos: Lauren Hill

A

s we sit at the table pouring hojicha into our cups of ice, Emi efficiently hops around the kitchen, murmuring to herself, half in Japanese, and half in English for our benefit. Already a big pan of water bubbles on the stove as she collects ingredients from cupboards around the room. Emi tells the two of us what we’ll be doing while tying an apron around her waist.

The first time I came to live in Japan, I fell for the traditional sweet mochi: cakes of pounded rice, filled with sugary azuki bean jam. Ten years later I’m back in Japan, and after a long, fruitless search for satisfactory mochi in the UK, I can only say that my appreciation for Japanese sweets has grown ten-fold.

These sweet treats originate from ancient Japan when confectionery was made using natural ingredients, to accompany tea. Now they are an array of vivid colours; blues, pinks, greens and yellows. Some sweets contain clear jelly that looks like glass, rice that’s pounded and stretched, some are almost like pastry and filled with

sweet beans, whole strawberries, persimmon, pear and even sweet potato. Some are flavoured with fragrant powdered green tea, sakura or sour plum, while others have a coating of nutty soybean powder, coconut or sweet sticky syrup. Seasonal blossoms or leaves give the sweet delicacies their finishing touch. Of all of these, my favourite always remains the simple daifuku; soft white pounded rice dumplings, filled with sweet, sticky azuki bean paste.

I decided that I needed to know how to make these sweets myself, so I found a cooking teacher in Kyoto and brought my boyfriend along for the experience.

Earlier in the morning Emi had met Billy and I in our pre-arranged spot, before leading the way to her place.

Together we weaved through the maze of old streets, until arriving at her home, where we stepped through the sliding doors, slipped off our shoes and followed her through to the kitchen. Emi’s kitchen is large and warm, filled with cookbooks, stacks of pots and pans, and cabinets brimming with ornate ceramic plates and teacups.

COOKING FEATURE 11

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

At the kitchen table, Emi spoons rice flour into the bowls in front of us. “Brown is good for health, but for a more beautiful colour, confectionery shops use a whiter flour,” she explains while adding a small amount of sugar. “Little by little, add water and kneed until it has the texture of playdough ... oh Billy, I’m so sorry … everyone gets messy when they make the dough. First spatula, then kneading.” Billy laughs as Emi tries to transfer the sticky rice dough from her student’s hands to the now almost empty bowl.

The mixture begins as a sticky paste, hence the need for a wooden spatula, but with a little patience the rice flour, sugar and water combine into a thick sticky dough.

This dough is then separated into small balls and steamed in a tea towel over a pan of water, until they have expanded into glutinous white dumplings.

Emi swiftly pulls out the steaming hot cloth of rice cakes and places the parcel in a bowl before using a wooden stick to pound the dough again.

Luminous, scented yuzu zest is then kneaded into the rice dough, before separating the mixture into balls, and flattening them ready for the sweet bean paste (anko) filling. Finally the dough is stretched around a teaspoonful of anko, forming small round parcels.

As we finish making our parcels, Emi lays out a row of tiny decorative plates — “You can choose your favourite to make the daifuku look beautiful.” — Then we sit and eat our fresh, fragrant and zesty, sweet bean rice cakes, complemented by mellow Japanese tea.

“Anyway,” she says as we voice our appreciation, “a good point is: Japanese sweets — no fat, no heavy cream.” Between mouthfuls, we talk about food, drink, Japan and her hometown, Kyoto. When asked to name her favourite place in Japan, she giggles almost shamefully.

We already know the answer. “Of course Kyoto. People from here are very proud of their city with its culture and its past.”

There’s too much to eat so Emi carefully wraps our daifuku for us to take away.

The following morning as we sit on a train leaving Kyoto, our handmade daifuku serve as an impromptu breakfast. They taste even better a day later, and as I take the last bite, I know that I now have the knowledge to satisfy my sweet daifuku craving at anytime.

Recipe • 1 cup Mochiko rice flour • ¼ cup sugar • ½ cup water • 50g to 80g red bean paste • Yuzu zest • Combine the rice flour and sugar in a bowl. Then gradually add the water while mixing with a wooden spatula. Once it resembles a dough, start to kneed with your hands until it is a smooth consistency.

• Separate the dough into small balls and steam for 8–10 minutes.

• While the dumplings are still hot, pound them with a wooden stick (such as a rolling pin). Dust your hands and the work surface with potato starch, then kneed the dough again.

• Add Yuzu zest to the dough and kneed until it is equally distributed.

• Take a small ball of the dough, flatten it and put a teaspoon of red bean paste onto the flattened dough.

• Anko is often bought but can be made by cooking azuki beans with water and sugar (to taste), until eventually reducing the mixture to a deliciously thick and sticky sweet bean jam.

• Stretch the dough around the bean paste to make a parcel, using potato starch flour to take away any stickiness.

Tip

Daifuku is also popular toasted, which makes a comforting warm snack on colder days.

Take a class yourself

Uzuki Japanese cooking with Emi Hirayama • Two-hour sweet making class: ¥2,500 • Two kinds of Japanese sweets are made in class • Classes are for two to four people • Emi also offers Japanese cuisine classes which are ¥4,000 for a three-hour class, in which you can cook three or four dishes. www.kyotouzuki.com

FEATURE TECH

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

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... or not 4G? Is now the time to answer that question with the purchase of a new cellphone, or an iPad?

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Text : Alan Wiren • Image: KS

G is one of the latest acronyms littering the cyberscape that surrounds mobile devices such as cell phones, laptops, and tablet computers. It has also become a center of controversy. The 4G mark is now beginning to appear in electronics stores around Japan and nowadays it behooves one to know just what the available wireless data systems can offer. Fortunately, you do not have to memorize too many acronyms to understand what 4G means for you.

G is for Generation. We need only look back to the 1980s to find the first generation, or 1G, devices: analog cellular telephones. Beginning in 1991, digital encryption of cellphone signals rang in the second generation.

The next waymark was the creation of standards aimed at making telecommunications a global service. These standards were issued by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which is part of the United Nations.

The standards are entitled, International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000). The Japanese company, Docomo, was the first to launch a commercial, 3G network in 2001.

For most of us the important specification in IMT-2000 is the minimum speed of data transmission. The speed required for a 3G network has made practical services such as mobile TV, video on demand, location-based services that determine where a mobile device is and tailor services accordingly, and telemedicine allowing health-care professionals to interact with patients in remote locations and receive up-to-the-moment medical data from them. Many countries have adopted IMT-2000 which means these kinds of services have become commonplace, and the need to rent a different cellphone at the airport has become a rarity.

Now we are on the cusp of the fourth generation.

Similar to a 3G system, 4G was defined as compliance with the latest set of standards from the ITU, International

Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced).

This time the minimum rate of data transmission is high enough to allow reliable broadband access from a moving vehicle. It remains to be seen what new services might be created to take advantage of the greater bandwidth.

Does that mean it is time for an upgrade? Here is where the issue becomes a bit complicated. Keep in mind that the IMT standards define a minimum speed for data transmission, but not a maximum. Many 3G devices exceed that minimum and some (commonly referred to as 3.9G) come very close to the 4G standard. On the other hand, no IMT-Advanced compliant network has yet been deployed anywhere. They are not expected until next year at the earliest. Notice the contradiction here? How can 4G devices be on sale if a 4G system doesn’t even exist?

Since 2010 the ITU has allowed manufacturers to use the 4G label for devices that are different enough from 3G technology to be considered forerunners to IMTAdvanced compliant devices. This situation might bring to mind the acronym, “Wtf!?”

Well, it is not a perfect world, but the ITU is trying to take a step in that direction. Their mission is to make broadband access and all its benefits available worldwide, in as seamless a network as possible. One significant way of doing that is to encourage manufacturers to build bigger, better, faster, cheaper networks and devices that can access them. If the 4G mark sells devices, that keeps the wheel turning.

For consumers 4G does not mean big changes. At least, not right away. 4G is not backward compatible with 3G, but 3G services are not likely to disappear overnight. It will mean being up to date. Eventually, 4G will probably become as integral as 3G is today, or even more so, but rest assured, there are already folks hard at work on 5G.

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FEATURE HEALTH

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

We’re all going on a medical holiday Foreign travel is a way to recuperate from our workaday lives, but now it’s also a way to heal.

Text & photos: Chris Rowthorn

T

he level of medical and dental treatment in Japan is uneven at best. While there are some worldclass doctors and dentists here, there are some physicians who probably shouldn’t be practicing at all. This is because Japan lacks many of the safeguards that exist in other first-world countries to keep incompetent physicians out of the system. First and foremost among these is the difficulty of suing doctors or hospitals for malpractice, due to the nature of the country’s court system.

In addition to this, many foreign residents of Japan are reluctant to seek medical care because of language issues: their Japanese skills may be lacking and not all doctors and few nurses in Japan speak enough English to explain what’s going on. Other foreign residents are put off by the depressing conditions at many hospitals in Japan, which often resemble Soviet-era asylums. Finally, there is the issue of cost: for those not enrolled in one of Japan’s health insurance schemes, it can be expensive to receive medical treatment in Japan.

One solution that many foreign residents of Japan have found is to seek medical care abroad, particularly in Thailand, which has become the world center of ‘medical tourism’.

Thailand is a natural destination for this: costs are low, the level of care is generally very high, most doctors speak good English, and just a few hours from the city there are dozens of beautiful tropical islands to chill out on after receiving care. Many foreign residents of Japan have been going to Thailand for years, stopping off en-route to the islands for a regular physical or tooth cleaning.

I’ve had a lot of experience with hospitals in Bangkok: I’ve received check-ups and minor treatment at several of them, my daughter was born at one of them, and both of my children have received pediatric care in Bangkok. In addition, I’ve been researching hospitals and doctors in Bangkok for several years in order to write an online guidebook to medical care in the Asia-Pacific region (see URL at end). Presented here is my introduction to the best foreignerfriendly medical and dental institutions in Bangkok.

Bumrungrad International Hospital

Bumrungrad is one of the world’s most popular international hospitals and it’s especially popular with patients from the Gulf States. Centrally located in Bangkok, a 10-minute walk from the Nana BTS (Skytrain) Station, Bumrungrad has undergone several

upgrades in recent years.

The international patient registration area now feels like the reception area of a plush five-star hotel. This is intentional: the management of Bumrungrad employs a hospitality/service ethic at the hospital.

After registering with one of the English-speaking attendants, you’ll be directed to a specialty center, where you’ll wait to see a doctor (waits average about 30 minutes and can be minimized by making an appointment in advance).

Most of the doctors at Bumrungrad have done all or part of their medical study abroad, often in the United States or Australia, and they all speak good-to-fluent English.

Their level of competence is usually quite high. Likewise, most nurses can speak enough English to make themselves understood.

Of course, all of this luxury comes at a price, and Bumrungrad is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be.

While medical care here doesn’t cost anything similar to care in places like the United States, it’s not that much cheaper than Japan. For this reason, if your main reason for seeking care in Thailand is saving money, you should consider a hospital like Saint Louis Hospital (see later in this article).

FEATURE HEALTH

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

Samitivej Hospital

Samitivej Hospital is the hospital of choice for Bangkok’s huge Japanese population and all the signage at the hospital is in Thai, Japanese and English.

There is even a dedicated Japanese registration area. Note that Samitivej (pronounced “sammy-t-way”) has two branches in Bangkok; the one I’m talking about is on Sukhumvit Soi 49, in the heart of the Japanese ‘ghetto’ (actually, one of the swankest areas in town). It’s a 10-minute taxi ride from Phrom Phong or Thong Lo BTS stations.

The hospital is also popular with western ex-pats in the city, who prefer it over Bumrungrad due to its smaller, more intimate scale. Like Bumrungrad, Samitivej is informed by hospitality/service industry practices and the place is bright, comfortable and pleasant, with several on-site restaurants and coffee shops.

Because it’s smaller than Bumrungrad, service and treatment here tends to be faster and more personal. The obstetrics department is particularly well regarded and many ex-pats in Asia come here to deliver children. My wife delivered our daughter here and we were very impressed with all aspects of the process.

The doctors here tend to speak good English and have overseas medical training. Prices here are on the high side, but most find it to be somewhat cheaper than Bumrungrad.

Saint Louis Hospital

Saint Louis Hospital, a five-minute walk from BTS Surasak Station, is a great choice for those who want excellent medical care at rockbottom prices. This private Catholic Hospital doesn’t have any of the resort/hotel pretensions of Bumrungrad or Samitivej, but it’s perfectly clean and comfortable and the doctors are excellent.

While most of the patients here are middle-class Thais, they welcome foreigners here and there is always an English speaker at the registration desk. The doctors here, many of whom have studied abroad, all speak English, but you may find that the nurses and other staff have limited English.

Depending upon what sort of treatment you need, Saint Louis can be extremely efficient and costs are about a quarter of what they would be at Bumrungrad or Samitivej. I once had a suspected broken toe x-rayed and diagnosed here for a mere 700 baht (¥1,800) and the elapsed time from entering the hospital to leaving was 40 minutes. Considering the fact that this would have cost about ¥80,000 (US$1,000)

15

and taken several hours back home in the States, this struck me as miraculous. Unlike Bumrungrad and Samitivej, it’s pretty pointless to call or email Saint Louis in advance — they’re not trying to be a medical tourism destination and they don’t have dedicated staff to handle Englishlanguage phone calls and emails.

Dental Hospital

This prosaically named dental clinic is a very pleasant place to receive dental care. A short walk from Samitivej Hospital on Sukhumvit Soi 49, this bright, airy building is surrounded by a lush tropical garden and there’s even a coffee shop in the atrium where you can sip a cappuccino while waiting for your appointment. The dentists here speak good English and all seem to have studied abroad.

While there’s no avoiding the dreaded hook and suction tube in the mouth, they are good at minimizing your suffering. In addition to basic cleaning, they offer the full range of dental services like fillings, caps, crowns and root canals.

In closing

There are a few things to keep in mind when receiving medical care abroad. First, for anything major, educate yourself online before seeking care and always seek a second or even third opinion before committing to a physician and a treatment. Also, be sure to ask what things will cost up front. Both Bumrungrad and Samitivej occasionally charge more than advertised for certain treatments, so make sure you clarify total costs before receiving treatment.

Bumrungrad International Hospital • 33 Sukhumvit 3 (Soi Nana Nua), Wattana, Bangkok • Call: +662-667-1000 • www.bumrungrad.com

Samitivej Hospital

• 133 Sukhumvit 49, Klongtan Nua, Vadhana, Bangkok • Call: +662-711-8181 • www.samitivejhospitals.com

Saint Louis Hospital

• 27 South Sathorn Road, Bangkok • Call: +662-210-9999 • www.saintlouis.or.th

Dental Hospital

• 88/88 Sukhumvit 49, Sukhumvit Road, Wattana, Bangkok • Call: +662-260-5000 • www.dentalhospitalbangkok.com For more information, visit the online guidebook to medical care in the Asia-Pacific region: www.medtrav.com

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FEATURE TRAVEL

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Seoul in a weekend

For a big-city weekend break you can hop on a Shinkansen to Tokyo — or for the same price get on a plane bound for Seoul.

Text: Helen Marvell • Photos: Peter Casey

K

orea’s popular culture is conspicuous in Japan through the popularity of K-pop and the national cuisine. Given the proximity of Japan’s dynamic neighbour, it is a shame not to drop in to see the place for yourself.

Seoul is a vibrant, fast-paced, modern, party city that is also full of historical and cultural sites; from the multicultural clubs and restaurants, and endless shopping streets, to the palaces and temples.

A flight of less than two hours from Kansai Airport will land you at either Incheon International Airport or Gimpo International Airport. Taxis can be expensive and the drivers rarely speak English, but both airports have simple bus and train connections into the city. Once in the city, you will find the subway relatively easy to figure out.

The amount of won you get for your yen will make you feel like a millionaire, plus everything is cheaper in South Korea — food, drink, clothes, accommodation etc. South Korea is also well known to Japanese women for skincare products and treatments, something you might want to look into for your visit.

Visiting Korea after such a long stretch in Japan can be a bit of a culture shock. The streets appear dirtier and the toilets less pristine, plus the customer service may seem rude and practically non-existent. But to me it felt more like home (Home is London, England), or maybe a bridge somewhere in between home and Japan. You may find there are fewer stares in the streets and children are less likely to gawp than in Japan, one of the features of this country that people can find quite wearing.

Many Koreans can speak some basic English as they learn it in school and they are quite confident with it.

However, being immersed in a whole new language and alphabet is still confusing — so it’s worth learning some of the basics before you visit. If you have a smartphone or tablet, it’s also useful to download a simple language app and an offline map before leaving.

As with visiting any foreign country it is recommended to carry the hotel name and address in Korean in your wallet.

It’s also worth noting that Korea has four distinct seasons not unlike Japan. Winter can be bitterly cold, and vice versa in summer. Prepare for your trip accordingly.

Seoul is close enough to Kansai to visit for just a long weekend or a short week. Here are some recommended places to visit to make sure you fit a little bit of everything in that Seoul has to offer:

Accommodation

There are many hostels, guesthouses, love hotels and business hotels in Seoul so you will easily find one that fits your budget.

For people that want to party, the Hongik University/ Hongdae area is strongly recommended. Another great place to base yourself is around the downtown area of Seoul which has good access to the subway that can take you all over the city as well as many shops and restaurants.

Eating & Drinking

The area of Hongdae is a great place for restaurants, both upmarket and cheap, including Korean (Korean BBQs

FEATURE TRAVEL

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

17

Other

DMZ TOUR

where you cook your own meat on a hot plate), Japanese (izakaya and sushi restaurants) and western (TGI Friday, Taco Bell). As it’s close to Hongik University it’s very much a student area with lots of bars selling stupidly cheap drinks (think Tequila for around ¥100) and clubs where there is usually a cover fee but that often includes a drink ticket. Every night of the week, young, stylish university students flock to the area, as well as young English teachers.

Other areas worth checking out include Gangnam, which is a modern international business district just south of the river, that is lively at both weekends and weekdays, and the streets around Myeong-dong are also full of restaurants to suit all styles and tastes.

A recommended trip is a bus tour to the north-south border. On the way to the border in a luxury coach you learn about the history between South and North Korea (although with a slight bias to South Korea). Just a couple of miles away from buzzing Seoul there is an intense place dominated by politics and the threat of war. The current atmosphere is especially charged at this time of change within the North Korean government.

The tour takes you to the Dora Observatory where you can see across into North Korea, and on a good day you can see as far as the infamous propaganda village. The tour also allows you to enter the third infiltration tunnel and there is a stop at Dorasan Station, the train station that once connected North and South Korea but which is now a ghost station.

Different tours are available, both half and full days, and pick up is from most big hotels.

SONG BIBLE PARK (SONGDO CENTRAL PARK) Something a little different: in the middle of Songdo Central Park there are ruins of a Bible-themed amusement park that was destroyed by typhoon Kompasu in August 2010, but you can still walk among the wrecked and abandoned depictions of Bible stories. It must have been equally surreal before it was destroyed in that natural event of, er, Biblical proportions.

Access: Songdo Central Park Station.

Shopping

MYEONG-DONG There is an array of malls and markets in Seoul, but one of the best ways to spend an afternoon shopping is at this huge entertainment area in downtown Seoul. The outdoor market stalls sell everything from watches and pants to iPhone covers and hair accessories. There are streets and streets of stalls lined up for big brand shops such as H&M, Forever 21 and Zara.

Access: Myeong-dong Station TIMES SQUARE MALL From one end of the scale to another, Times Square Mall caters to the customers of Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Emporio Armani. The architecture of the mall itself and the outdoor area are also very interesting.

Access: Yeongdeungpo Station

Culture

OPEN BUS TOUR This relatively cheap half-day activity is a great way to see all the monumental sights that Seoul has to offer in a short time including Geongbokgung Palace, Namsan Seoul Tower and the National History of Korea Museum.

If you buy a full day pass for W10,000 (¥670) you can also get off the bus at any stop to have a closer look at anything that really catches your eye.

Ways & means

• Regular direct flights run daily from Kansai International Airport. Return flights start from ¥25,000 with Peach Airlines, Korean Air or All Nippon Airways • For more information on the DMZ tour visit www.seoulcitytour.com • Open Bus Tour: You can jump on the bus and buy a ticket at any of the stops across the city but Gwanghwamun Station is where all buses originally depart. Tours do not run on Mondays unless it’s a public holiday.

GETAWAY FEATURE 19

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

Japan’s desert by the sea It’s dramatic, it’s sparsely populated, it has a desert and it’s only a short ride from Kansai. Yes it’s Tottori.

Text: Daniel Olsson • Photos: Deyi Jang

A

s anyone who has lived in Kansai during the summer months will know only too well, the humidity of a Japanese summer hits this region’s cities like a big wet blanket. Our weekends are worth their weight in gold as we seek refuge somewhere with a slight breeze or a little water to dip our feet into. Tottori-ken on the Sea of Japan coast certainly offers a little of both and in fact the combined efforts of water and wind have created, over millennia, one of Japan’s most spectacular, if unexpected, natural sights.

Of Japan’s 47 prefectures, Tottori boasts the fewest people. Of course, it is nowhere near as expansive as Hokkaido or many of the more northern prefectures but its stunning coastal scenery has prevailed when many other parts of this country have lost out to the ever demanding population. While jagged rock formations and one of Japan’s most dramatic mountains (Daisen which rises a rapid 1,729m straight from sea level) grace a short stretch known as the San-in Coast National Park, the highlight is undoubtedly Tottori-Sakyuu; The Dunes.

These sand dunes are impressive by any standard.

Stretching for over 10 kilometers along the coast and at some points over 2 kilometers wide it’s not like a regular trip to the beach. Arriving by rental car, we followed our satnav up a narrow road that seemed to lead to the great expanse next to the sea, and after parking the car at the edge of the sand we began our search for the waves. It’s not often that you go to the beach and struggle to locate the water. “It’ll be just over the next dune,” we panted to each other as we went to stand beside a man strapped to a hand-glider. Following his running start along the sandy mountain ridge we were eventually greeted by an ocean view to rival many a more famous location. However, as we later discovered, you need not hike the grueling dunes

to enjoy the view. Had we driven a little further we would have reached the Sand Pal Tottori Information Center and had a much shorter walk to the sea.

The information center is handily located at the nearest access point to the main sand dune and can be accessed by a bus running from Tottori station every 20 minutes.

They offer a strange, considering the terrain, bike rental service as well as a more suitable camel back journey to the top of the dune. Yes, that’s right. Camels. In Japan.

Although undoubtedly imported, the camels seem at home in this desert-like landscape and make for a somewhat less-than-common Japan photo opportunity. So whether on a camel or by your own steam your goal is to stand atop the highest dune in Japan and it is a unique experience.

Not only do the views rival any dramatic cliff-top scene but you then have the option (which you do not when on a cliff) to lose total control and hurl yourself off the top.

It really is an exhilarating experience as you fly down the sandy mountain with your arms windmilling uncontrollably and a dust cloud trailing behind you like the Roadrunner (beep! beep!). The climb back up the seemingly vertical wall of sand puts you off doing it a second time but I’d certainly recommend doing it once.

As well as the dunes this coast offers some more regular beaches, which are perfect for unwinding, cooling off in calm waters and topping up the tan. A day exploring the dunes and the dramatic San-in Coast National Park followed by a day on the beach soaking up the rays makes for the perfect weekend getaway. And I can guarantee a cool breeze.

Getting There

• Highway bus: From Namba OCAT (¥3,300, 2hrs 30min); From Kyoto JR Station (¥3,850, 3hrs) • Train: To Okayama JR Station (¥3,690, 2hrs)

© 2010 Cheburashka Movie Partner / Cheburashka Project

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ART

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

AOKI Takamasa: Photography Bloom Gallery, Osaka Until Jun 17 Jun 9–Jul 29

Cheburashka and Creators of Russian Animation The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga Cheburashka is a unique fictional creature that came to Russia one day, packed in an crate of oranges. He made his debut through Eduard Uspensky’s fairy tale in the 1960s, and was later introduced into the world of film by Roman Kachanov (created through stopmotion animation). Cheburashka is not a hard character to identify; with large ears, big curious eyes, and a naive personality, he has gained much popularity in Japan. The exhibition includes original sketches, maquettes, dolls, and illustrations from the original illustrated book.

• Open: 9:30am–5pm, closed on Mondays • Admission: Adults ¥950, Students ¥650, Under 15s ¥450 • Access: JR Seta stn, bus to Bunka Zone Mae • Tel: 077-543-2111 • www.shiga-kinbi.jp

*Please note that last admission for all museums is 30 min prior to closing, if not listed

Osaka Takeshi Sumi: Swimming in the Sky Port Gallery T Jun 18–23 Photography • Open: noon–7pm, (Until 5pm on the last day), closed on Mon • Admission: free • Access: Subway Higobashi stn • Tel: 06-6185-3412 Chihiro Yoshioka Exhibition: skannata ARTCOURT Gallery Jun 16–July 8 Paintings • Open: 11am–7pm (-5pm on Sat and July 8), closed on Sun and Mon (Open on July 8) • Admission: Free • Access: JR Sakuranomiya stn

Born in Osaka, artist AOKI Takamasa travelled to Paris and Berlin and came back to his hometown last year.

Through his work, Takamasa explores his interest towards natural and human occurrences. Not only does his artistic expression expand in the genre of photography, but he also has a core fan base through his music career. The opening party scheduled on June 3rd will include live music by DJs (including the artist himself), live Ustream and food catering. This opportunity to experience the mixture of photography and sound is not to be missed.

• Open: noon–7pm (Until 5pm on the last day), closed on Mon and Tue • Admission: free • Access: Hankyu Juso stn west exit, 8min walk • Tel: 06-7171-9849 • www.bloomgallery103.com

• Tel: 06-6354-5444

• Tel: 06-6447-7886

Naoko Igawa Exhibition SoHo Art Gallery Jun 5–10 Paintings, Ceramics • Open: noon–7pm (Until 5pm on Sun), closed on Mon • Admission: Free • Access: Subway Tanimachi 9-chome station

Minamisemba Photo Walk: A Photography Exhibition Leading to the Future NADAR/OSAKA Jun 12–17 Photography event with galleries in the Minami-Semba area: Acru, Photo Gallery Ittosha, Gallery Avi • Open: 11am–7pm • Admission: Free • Access: Nagahoribashi stn • http://photowalk2012.tumblr. com

Search Project vol. 1.5 — Study for the Search Project Art Area B1 Until Jun 24 Various Media • Open: noon–7pm, closed on Mon • Admission: Free • Access: Keihan Nakanoshima Naniwabashi stn • Tel: 06-6226-4006 Koji Narada Exhibition 2kw 58 Jun 11–23 Paintings • Open: noon–7pm (Until 5pm on Sat), closed on Sun • Admission: Free • Access: Higobashi stn

Tomohiro Kato: LIFe STEEL FULL! Tezukayama Gallery Until Jun 16 Sculpture • Open: 11am–7pm, closed on Sun & Mon • Admission: Free • Access: Subway Yotsubashi exit 6 • Tel: 06-6534-3993 Masanori Kaoku Exhibition Note Gallery

Until Jun 15

Sculpture • Open: 11am–5pm • Admission: Free • Access: Keihan Hirakata Koen stn • Tel: 072-396-0708

Grown-ups Book Show Machi-Omoi-Cho Creative Network Center Osaka, Mebic Ogimachi Until Jun 10 Various Media • Open 11am–9pm (Until 7pm on Sat and Sun) • Admission: Free • Access: Ogimachi stn exit 2 • Tel: 06-6316-8780 • www.mebic.com/machiomoi/ Phenomena: Amalgam Garden Galaxy Gallery Jun 10–19 Photography • Open: 4pm–11pm, closed on Wed • Admission: Free with one drink order • Access: Namba stn • www.galaxygallery.info

ART

IDA Shoichi “Conception” 1974, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

Shoichi Ida: Prints

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Until Jun 24

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Six years have passed since the death of Shoichi Ida, an internationallyknown printmaker based in Kyoto. In 2011, the National Museum of Modern Art received approximately 300 works by Ida from his surviving family. Ida’s works played a prominent role during the 1960s, when Japan developed a deeper acceptance towards contemporary printmaking; the Tokyo International Printmaking Biennale invited him to exhibit twice. However, after residing in France and New York, his works made a significant shift in style, and seem to question the conventional model of printmaking that was prevalent in Japan. The exhibition shows approximately 160 works by the artist.

• Open: 9:30am–5pm (Until 8pm on Fri), closed on Mondays • Admission: ¥850, Students ¥450 • Access: Tozai line Higashiyama stn, 10min walk • Tel: 075-761-4111 • www.momak.go.jp/English

Kyoto

Nao Tsuda: REBORN Tulkus’ Mountain (Scene 1) Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto Jun 8–Jul 14 Photography • Open: 11am–7pm, closed on Sun and Mon • Admission: Free • Access: Subway Gojo stn • Tel: 075-353-9807 Yu Kawakita: Particles Within Particles Within Scenes eN arts Jun 1–30 Mixed Media • Open: noon–6pm, closed Mon–Thu • Admission: Free • Access: Keihan Gion Shijo stn • Tel: 075-525-2355 Yodogawa Technique: Can’t Wait to be Trash ARTZONE Jun 16–July 8 Mixed Media • Open: 1pm–8pm (12:30–8pm on Sat and Sun) • Admission: Free • Access: Keihan Sanjo stn • Tel: 075-212-9676 Lisbeth Zwerger: The World of Imagination Art Museum “Eki” KYOTO Until Jun 17 Illustration • Open: 10am–8pm ( Until 5pm on last day) • Admission: ¥700, ¥500 Students, ¥300 JH Students and Below • Access: JR Kyoto stn • Tel: 075-352-1111 Koichi Ebizuka and Saki Kiritsuki Exhibition Artzone Kaguraoka

Jun 1–17

Sculpture and Prints • Open: 11am–7pm, closed on Wed and Thu • Admission: Free • Access: Ginkakuji-michi bus stop from Demachiyanagi stn • Tel: 075-754-0155

Kyoto Art & Antique 2012 Kyoto Kangyokaikan Miyako Messe Jun 23–24 Various Media • Open: 10am–6pm • Admission: Free • Access: Tozai line Higashiyama stn • Tel: :075-762-2630 untitled: NOBUTANI selected by Yoshiharu Yagi gallery incurve Kyoto Until Jun 30 Drawings • Open: noon–7pm only on Saturdays • Admission: Free • Access: Hankyu Saiin stn • Tel: 075-200-4797 Noriko Narahira Exhibition Gallery Gallery Jun 9–23 Textile • Open: noon–7pm, closed on Thu • Admission: Free • Access: Hankyu Kawaramachi stn • Tel: 075-341-1501

Hyogo

Yuki Tsukiyama: Solo Drawing Exhibition Kobe Art Village Center KAVC gallery Jun 16–July 1 Drawings • Open: 11am–8pm, closed on Tue • Admission: Free • Access: Kosoku Kobe Shinkaichi stn, east exit

• Tel: 078-512-5500

Artistic Interactions: Avant-garde Kansai Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City Jun 9–July 29 Various media • Open: 10am–5pm, closed on Wed • Admission: ¥300, ¥200 Students • Access: Hanshin Koroen stn • Tel: 0798-33-0164

Shiga

Hidden Forms and Dissolving Colors: Art Brut in Shiga Borderless Art Museum NO-MA, Ohmihachiman Municipal Kawara Museum Until July 22 Various Media • Open: 11am–5pm, closed on Mon • Admission: ¥500, Students ¥450 • Access: JR Omihachiman stn, Osugicho bus stop, 10min walk • Tel: 0748-36-5018 Ryuji Mitani Exhibition Toki no Kumo Jun 2–10 Woodwork • Open: 11am–6pm, closed on 11, 12, 19, 26 • Admission: Free • Access: JR Nagahama stn, 30min walk/5min drive • Tel: 0749-68-6072

Nara

Tomoo Seki: Real/Red Cherry Blossoms and Stars Gallery OUT of PLACE Until Jun 24 Paintings • Open: noon–7pm, closed Mon–Thu

• Admission: Free • Access: Kintetsu Nara stn • Tel: 0742-26-1001

Good Job! Able Art Company’s Works: Art and Design by People with Disabilities Tampopo-no-ye: Art Center HANA Until Jun 9 Various Media • Open: 11am–7pm, closed on Sun and Mon • Admission: Free • Access: Kintetsu Gakuenmae stn, Nishinokyo bus stop, 3mins walk • Tel: 0742-43-7055

Mie

Sharaku, Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige: Four Masters of Ukiyoe Exhibition from the Nakau Collection Paramita Museum Jun 2–Aug 26 (• Jun 2–Jul 11: Sharaku, Hokusai • Jul 14– Aug 26: Utamaro, Hiroshige) Ukiyoe Prints • Open: 9:30am–5:30pm • Admission: ¥1,000, ¥800 Students, ¥500 HS Students • Access: Kintetsu Obaneen stn via Kintetsu Yokkaichi stn • Tel: 059-391-1088 Machiko Ogawa Exhibition (From the Collection) Contemporary Art Museum, Ise Until Jul 1 Ceramics • Open: 10am–5pm, closed on Tue and Wed • Admission: ¥500, ¥400 Students • Access: Ise stn, 60mins by bus • Tel: 0599-66-1138

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EVENT

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Jun 12–19

Theatre Nohgaku Noh Costuming Workshop CHUSEI NIHON KENKYUJO & OTHERS, KYOTO & HIROSHIMA Theatre Nohgaku announces its first Noh Costuming Workshop travelling between Kyoto City and Fukuyama City. This seven-day course workshop will include lectures (in English) on costuming in noh, an invitation to watch a noh rehearsal, attendance of live performances, visits to a professional noh costume maker, a costume museum and other relevant sites. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to view, practice and participate in the tightly choreographed process of dressing and being dressed in noh costumes, guided by professional noh actors. The price will include lectures, performances, workshops and all related activities. Although travel, lodging and food costs are not included, assistance will be available for arranging accommodations and domestic travel. See www.theatrenohgaku.org/node/265 for further information.

• Admission: ¥85,000 • Access: Subway Karasuma line Kuramaguchi stn to Chusei Nihon Kenkyujo • Email: info@theatrenohgaku.org

Jun 13–17

Belgian Beer Weekend Osaka 2012 UMEDA SKY BUILDING, OSAKA

• Time: 4pm–10pm on the 13th, 11am–10pm on the 14th to 16th, 11am–8pm on the 17th • Admission: free • Access: JR Osaka stn/Hankyu/Hanshin Railway Umeda stn/Subway Midosuji line Umeda stn, 10min walk • Tel: 03-5829-6829 • Email: info@belgianbeerweekend.jp • http://belgianbeerweekend.jp/2012 Japanese Cut Glass Exhibition, Shiga Until Jun 26 The Kurokabe Museum is showing traditional Japanese glass hand crafts called kiriko. Do not miss this great collection of the essence of Japanese beauty, kiriko cut glass works.

• Time 10am–5pm • Admission: ¥600 adults, concessions • Where Kurokabe Museum • Access: JR Biwako line Nagahama stn, 5min walk • Tel: 0749-65-2330 • www. kurokabe.co.jp/museum/2012/04/ post_56 Fireflies at the Umeda Sky Building, Osaka Jun 1–10 Around 2,000 fireflies will be

released in a green oasis in Chusizen no Mori, located between Umeda Sky Building and Westin Hotel. Enjoy the fantastic beauty of these insects in the green oasis in the heart of the city.

• Time: From dusk to 10pm • Admission: free • Where: Umeda Sky Building • Access: JR Osaka stn/Hankyu/Hanshin Railway/Subway Midosuji line Umeda stn,10min walk • Tel: 06-6440-3899

Kala Mahotsav, Osaka Jun 1 The Consulate General of India invites you to an exotic Indian music evening. Modern and traditional musical performances will be on stage to celebrate the

Indulge yourself with an amazing different variety of Belgian beers at this yearly event. With a rich tradition of brewing and producing 800 different varieties of beer, the country is a beer paradise. Those who like traditional beers will enjoy this five-day beer event held at the Umeda Sky Building. Entrance is free and beer prices are very reasonable.

Also authentic Belgian cuisine will be prepared. Quality live music performances by professional artists from Belgium will accompany your beer tasting during the event. Please purchase a Belgian Beer Weekend glass and tokens for food and drink at the entrance before entering the venue.

60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Japan.

Please phone or email to make sure seating is available.

• Time: 6pm • Admission: free • Where: the Creo Osaka East • Access: JR Loop line Kyobashi stn, 7min walk • Tel: 06-62617299 • Email: kalautsavosaka@ gmail.com.

Heianjingu shrine Shinen Garden Special Open Day, Kyoto Jun 1 This shrine is well known to have a beautiful Japanese garden measuring 3.3 ha. On this day, the magnificent garden designed in typical Meiji period style will have free admission.

• Time: 8:30am–4:30pm

• Admission: free • Where: Heianjingu shrine • Access: Keihan Railway Sanjo stn, 15min walk/Subway Tozai line Higashiyama stn, 10min walk • Tel: 075-761-0221

Plane Shaving Carpentry Workshop, Hyogo Jun 2, 16 & 30 Experience using kana, a Japanese carpentry tool. You can shave away the surface of timber by using this plane. Learn the remarkable skills of Japanese carpentry for yourself.

• Time: 2pm–4pm • Admission: ¥300 adults, concession • Where: Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum • Access: JR/Hanshin Railway Motomachi stn, 10min walk/Subway Yamate line Kencho-mae stn • Tel: 078-242-0216

EVENT

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Jun 18

Midosuji Talkin’About vol. 1: Favorite Music OSAKA GAS BUILDING, OSAKA Midosuji Talkin’About is a salon where people with similar interests get together and talk. Duane Levi will talk in English about the theme of Favourite Music for this premiere Midosuji Talkin’ About event.

He established the Kansai Music Conference in 2009 and has focused on helping independent artists create a long-term fanbase in Japan. This time his presentation will be about his experience in the music business and then he’ll encourage attendees to talk about their favourite music. Each month, the theme will change. If you bring an idea you’d like to talk about, it can be the following month’s theme. Feel free to come, exchange information and expand your network.

• Time: 7pm • Admission: free • Access: Subway Midosuji line Yodoyabashi stn exit 13 • Tel: 06-6205-4545 (Osaka Gas Co Ltd/Mr Yamanoh) • Email: singles@do.ai

Balinese Dance Festival in Kansai, Osaka Jun 2 Come and see some bewitching Balinese dance. The top dancers in Kansai will offer their marvellous dance to the god of Kishiki shrine one after another. Also stalls selling Indonesian food, goods and music CDs will add extra fun to the festival.

• Time: 5pm • Admission: free • Where: Kishiki-jinja shrine • Access: Nankai Railway Takojizo stn, 5min walk • Tel: 072-422-0686 The 5th Kobe Festa Jun 3 Some remarkable restaurants, cafes and bakeries will sell their specialities for this one-off gala to invigorate the city. Some famous Kobe

shops will also have stalls there.

• Time: 10am–4pm • Admission: ¥500 • Where: Minatonomori Park • Access: Kobe Portliner, Boeki Centre stn • Tel: 078-252-5703

Candle Night at Osaka City 2012 Summer, Osaka Jun 6 (Chayamachi) & Jun 13 (Nishi-Umeda) This event started to call for energy saving and CO2 emissions. Shops and buildings will turn off the lights and burn candles in each area for two hours. Let’s join in and have some quiet quality time.

• Time: 6pm–10pm • Admission: free • Where: Chayamachi & Nishi-Umeda • Access: JR Osaka stn/Hanshin/Hankyu Railway Umeda stn • Tel: 06-6446-1726 • http://candle-night-osaka

Jun 24

Josei Bunka Daigaku THE NANIWA WARD COMMUNITY CENTER, OSAKA Do you enjoy looking closely at Japanese kimono?

Have you ever wanted to learn how to dress in kimono? Then this event is for you! The Cultural Foundation for Promoting the National Costume of Japan will present a dazzling kimono show at the hall of the Naniwa Ward Community Center. Female students from kimono dressing schools will demonstrate how to put on kimono in an elegant manner on stage. Many different types of kimono, ranging from costumes in the samurai period to today’s common ones will be flamboyantly displayed on the stage.

• Time: 1:30pm–3pm • Admission: free • Access: Subway Sennichi-mae line Sakuragawa stn exit 7, 5min walk • Tel: 0120-029276 • Email: info@wagokoro.com • www.wagokoro.com/kansai/news/20120424_news

Japan Athletics Championship 2012, Osaka Jun 8–10 Top athletes from all over Japan will compete fiercely to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics.

• Time: to be announced • Admission: depends on seat and date (minimum ¥1,000 adults) • Where: Nagai Stadium • Access: Subway Midosuji line Nagai stn • Tel: 03-3481-2300 (enquiry), 03-5974-1192 (tickets) Amada Duo — Cello & Piano, Nara Jun 9 The Amada Duo will offer their sweet harmony of cello and piano at a historic church with brilliant Japanese architecture. There will be a chance to meet and talk with

the musicians after the recital.

• Time: 1:30 pm • Admission: ¥2,000 including tea and dessert • Where: Nara Episcopal Church • Access: Kintetsu Railway Nara stn, 3min walk • Tel: 090-9613-8618 • www.amadaduo.com/form

Hotarubi no Chakai, Kyoto Jun 9 This is an annual gala tea ceremony held at Shimongama-jinja. There will be a court dance and a music performance following a demonstration on how to put on junihitoe (a twelve-layered kimono worn by ladies of the Imperial court) at 6pm.

Hundreds of fireflies will be released beside the Mitarashi River at 8pm.

Also famous food shops from Kyoto will open stalls in the afternoon on this day.

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EVENT

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Ongaku no Saijitsu 2012 in Minpaku

Jun 30 & Jul 1

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ETHNOLOGY, OSAKA

Shirahama Beach Soccer Festival SHIRAHAMA BEACH, WAKAYAMA Come and see the action-packed beach soccer competition, and applaud athletes for their dynamic play.

Beach soccer has always been very popular in many countries across the world. In Japan too, the game has dramatically gained in popularity. At the Shirahama Beach Soccer Festival, about 60 amateur teams will play in hotly contested games on the white and velvety sand. The winners of the champion cup in this event will qualify for the national championship of beach soccer. On the 1st of July there will be additional cups to be won including the Enjoy Cup, the Pretty Cup and the Kid’s Cup. Fun attractions where spectators can participate are being planned for the event.

Ongaku no Saijitsu is Kansai’s annual contribution to Fete de la Musique — World Music Day — held throughout the world around the day of the summer solstice. Art, academic and cultural organisations join together to provide a day of vibrant sounds from around the world. The National Museum of Ethnology, minpaku, will be one of the main featured venues again this year. With a large variety of free performances, it showcases traditional musical instruments from around the world. Last year, minpaku presented performances on stage including Japanese festival music, Irish percussion, Hawaiian dance and percussion, flutes from ethnic minorities in China, Balinese instruments and dance, and lots more.

• Time: 10:30am–4:30pm •Admission: free • Access: Osaka Monorail Koen-higashiguchi stn, 15min walk • Tel: 06-6878-8532 • www.minpaku.ac.jp Jul 1

• Time: 9am •Access: JR Kinokuni line Shirahama stn bus to Shirahama • Tel: 0739-43-1140 • www.shirahama-beachsoccer.com

• Time: afternoon • Admission: free • Where: Shimogamo-jinja shrine • Access: JR Kyoto/Subway Karasuma line Kitaoji stn bus to Shimogamo jinja-mae • Tel: 075-781-0010

Wadaiko Matsuri, Osaka Jun 10 Join the concert of taiko, Japanese drums, featuring amateur bands.

It will be held in an open-air hall located in a hilly park with a nice breeze.

• Time: 2pm • Admission: free • Where: Hattori Ryokuchi Park • Access: Subway Midosuji line Ryokuchi-Koen stn, 5min walk • Email: wadaikoyakko@yahoo. co.jp Toki no Week 2012, Hyogo

Jun 10

Time Day on 10th June is a Japanese anniversary established in 1920 to commemorate the installation of the first clock in the imperial court in the 7th century.

Join the celebration held in Akashi located at the meridian. Enjoy a performance with matchlock guns, a flea market, and live music.

• Time: 10am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Akashi Park • Access: JR Kobe line/Sanyo Railway Akashi stn, 3min walk • Tel: 090-3166-9440 • www.akashi-tokikando.com

Ocean Surf Challenge in Shirahama, Wakayama Jun 17 A lifesaving competition will take place to improve water safety,

water rescue, and lifesaving skills.

Vigorous lifeguards will compete against each other to win first prize, and demonstrate their water rescue skills. Please give them a big applause for their fine efforts.

• Time: 8am • Admission: free • Where: Shirahama Beach • Access: JR Kinokuni line, Shirahama stn bus to Shirahama • Tel: 0739-43-6588

The Ajisai Hydrangeas Concert, Shiga Jun 23 The Chomeiji temple located on the hillside overlooking the lake Biwa hosts an annual concert.

Enjoy soothing music appreciating hydrangeas in full bloom.

• Time: 4:30pm–5:45pm • Admission: free • Where: Chomeiji

Temple • Access: JR Biwako line Omihachiman stn bus to Chomeiji, 20min walk • Tel: 0748-32-7003

Kabuki Fune-Norikomi, Osaka End of Jun (to be announced) Kabuki actors will cruise down rivers in a large gondola to greet Osaka people. They will be waving and smiling at onlookers during the cruise between Hachikenyahama and Dotonbori. The Tonbori River Walk would be an ideal viewing spot.

• Time: around 3pm • Admission: free • Where: Tonbori River Walk • Access: Subway Midosuji line Namba stn/Sennichimae line Nippombashi stn • Tel: 06-66447565/06-6214-2211 • www.kabuki-bito.jp

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

Agata Matsuri Agata-jinja, Kyoto Jun 5

The Agata Matsuri is renowned as a unique festival that’s held very late at night. The local people love this centuries-old-festival and celebrate it annually with great passion. Around 11pm, following the solemn ritual performed in the pitch black, vigorous local men take the sacred palanquin called Bonten out of the shrine and carry it around the neighbourhood.

They perform acrobatic movements with the Bonten in the area – shaking it and spinning it at quick speeds. Usually about 500 stalls line the route to the shrine on the day, and the festival is bustling with 130,000 visitors every year.

• Time: 9pm • Admission: free • Access: JR Nara line Uji stn, 15 min walk/ Keihan Railway Uji stn, 8min walk • Tel: 0774-21-3014

Provided by Biwako Visitors Bureau

Jun 10

Rokoku Sai Festival Omijingu, Shiga Rokoku festival – water clock festival – will take place at Omijingu.

Participants will perform the resplendent ceremony in a solemn atmosphere.

On 10th June 1,300 years ago, the Emperor Tenji first used a water clock in Japan. This day is called Time Day to commemorate the start of the time measuring system. The latest style of clocks and watches will be offered to the god by Miss Otsu dressed in a beautiful ancient-style costume. And bugaku – Japanese classical performing arts – will be performed by shrine maidens in full dress. The museum at the precinct has the oldest clock in Japan and many other unique clocks including an ancient fire clock presented by the Rolex watch company of Switzerland.

• Time: 11am • Admission: free • Access: Keihan Railway Omijingu-mae stn • Tel: 077-522-3725

FESTIVAL 25 Taue Sai Festival, Kyoto Jun 10 This shrine grows rice to offer to the God in its own rice patch. On this day girls called saotome, dressed in colourful costumes, will plant rice seedlings. Elegant court music and dance will be performed beside the rice paddy field.

• Time: 1pm • Admission: free • Where: Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine • Access: JR Nara line, Inari stn • Tel: 075-641-7331 Okoshiya Matsuri, Hyogo Jun 14 This colourful parade consists of a miniature shrine, a group of girls wearing summer kimono and Japanese musical instruments heading to a sacred place called Okoshiya.

The festival is also known by the name of quince festival. These girls give visitors Japanese quinces.

• Time: 2pm • Admision: free • Where: Nishinomiya-jinja shrine • Access: Hanshin Railway Nishinomiya stn, 5min walk/JR Sakurashukugawa stn, 8min walk • Tel: 0798-33-0321.

Yuri Matsuri, Nara Jun 17 Dating back to early 8th century, sacred lilies were offered to the god of this shrine.

The flowers were believed to guard against serious disease. The solemn ceremony of offering lilies will be performed at the shrine in the morning. Young girls dressed as ancient Japanese princesses walk in procession through the town in the afternoon.

• Time: 10:30am • Admission: free • Where: Isagawa-jinja shrine • Access: Kintetsu Railway Nara stn, 5min walk • Tel: 0742-22-0832 Takekiri Eshiki, Kyoto Jun 20 Well-built mountain priests will show a dynamic performance. They will cut broad bamboo in one swipe, one after another.

This ancient ritual depicts a legend of a saint who slew huge serpents.

• Time: 2pm–3pm • Admission: ¥200 • Where: Kuramadera temple • Access: Eizan Railway Kurama stn, 5min walk • Tel: 075-741-2003 Aizen Matsuri, Osaka Jun 30–Jul 2 This is one of the most popular religious festivals in Osaka. It will be amazing to see so many ladies in their summer kimono around the Aizendo temple during this event. Flamboyant hoe-kago — decorative palanquins carrying campaign girls — will parade on June 30th.

• Time: 9am–10pm • Admission: free • Where: Aizendo Shomanin Temple • Access: Subway Tanimachi line Shitennoji-mae Yuhigaoka stn • Tel: 06-6779-5800

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FLEA MARKET • Admission: free • Where: Shitennoji (Temple), Osaka • Access: Subway Tanimachi Line Shitennoji station, 5min walk • Tel: 06-6771-0066

Only One Market in Neyagawa Jun 24 (Sun) • Time: 10am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Neyagawa Sumiyoshi Shrine, Osaka • Access: Keihan Neyagawa stn • http://only1market.com

Kyoto Osaka

Art & Craft Market Jun 2 (Sat) & 3 (Sun) • Time: 11am–6pm • Admission: free • Where: Crysta Nagahori Takino Hiroba, Osaka • Access: Midosuji Line Shinsaibashi stn, Sakaisuji Line Nagahoribashi station • Tel: 06-6341-8866 • http://newacm.exblog.jp Kochikura Ichi Jun 9 (Sat) • Time: 10am–5pm • Admission: free • Where: 24 Sekki Takatsuki, Osaka • Access: Hankyu Kyoto Line Kanmaki station 5min walk, JR Kyoto Line Simamoto station 10min walk • Tel: 072-686-1113 Kuzuhamiya Mikke Ichi Jun 17 (Sun) • Time: 10am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Kuzuhamiyasando Shotengai, Osaka • Access: Keihan Kuzuha station 13min walk • Tel: 072-380-5353 Shitennouji Kotto Ichi Jun 21 (Thu) & 22 (Fri) Antique market • Time: 8am–sun set time

Ichimoku Tezukuri Ichi Jun 2 (Sat) • Time: 9am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Umekoji Park, Kyoto • Access: Kyoto station 15min walk or take bus 33, 205, 208 to Umekojikoenmae • Tel: 075-771-1631 • www.tedukuri-ichi.com Zuishinin Komachi Tezukuri Ichi Jun 3 (Sun) • Time: 8:30am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Zuishinin Temple, Kyoto • Access: Kyoto Subway Tozai Line Ono station 5min walk • Tel: 075-315-2671 Kameoka Tezukuri Ichi Jun 3 (Sun) • Time: 10am–3pm • Admission: free • Where: Galleria Kameoka, Kyoto • Access: JR Sagano Line Kameoka station Bus to Galleria Kameoka Fujimori Tezukuri Ichi Jun 16 (Sun) • Time: 9am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Fujimori Shrine, Koyoto • Access: JR Nara Line Fujimori

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012 station 5min walk, Keihan Sumizome station 7min walk • Tel: 075-711-8161

Kobo-san (Toji ) Jun 21 (Thu) • Time: 5am–sunset • Admission: free • Where: Toji-Temple, Kyoto • Access: JR Kyoto station 15min walk, Kintetsu Toji station, 10min walk • Tel: 0774-31-5550 • www.touji-ennichi.com

Hyogo

Poppen Kobo Jun 1 (Fri) • Time: 10am–6pm • Admission: free • Where: Nagata Shrine Shotengai( Shopping Street), Kobe • Access: Kobe Subway Seishin Yamate Line Nagata station/Kobe Kosoku Tetsudo Kosoku Nagata stn • Tel: 078-691-2914 Harborland Seaside Market Jun 3 (Sun) • Time: 10am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Harborland, Kobe • Access: JR Kobe station 5min walk, Subway Kaigan Line Harborland station, 5min walk.

• Tel: 078-360-3639 Sanda Kobo Ichi Jun 12 (Tue)–14 (Thu) • Time: 11am–8pm • Admission: free • Where: Sanda Station, Hyogo • Access: JR Takarazuka Line Sanda station, Kobe Dentetsu Arima keiyu Sanda Line Sanda stn • Tel: 079-563-4455 • www.sandakoboichi.jp Kobe Arts & Craft Market Jun 21 (Thu) • Time: 10am–5pm • Admission: free

• Where: Gakuentoshi Univer Dome, Kobe • Access: Kobe Subway Yamate Line Gakuentoshi stn • Tel: 078-597-6930

Takarazuka Garden Market Jun 23 (Sat) • Time: 10:30am–4:30pm • Admission: free • Where: Takarazuka Garden Fields, Hyogo • Access: Hankyu Takarazuka Line Takarazuka station/JR Takarazuka station 10min walk • Tel: 0797-85-6210 • www.gardenfields.jp

Nara

Pocket Marche Jun 3 (Sun) • Time: 9:30am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: Keihanna Kinen Park, Nara • Access: Kintetsu Kyoto Line Shinhosono station 8min by bus, Kintetsu Gakken Nara Tomigaoka sation 15min by bus • Tel: 080-5364-2345 Kankyo Festival 2012 — Recycle flea market Jun 3 (Sun) • Time: 10am–1pm • Admission: free • Where: Kankyoseibi Center, Nara • Access: JR Narayama station 10min walk • Tel: 0742-71-3001

Shiga

Kusatsu Art Jun 16 (Sat) • Time: 10am–4pm • Admission: free • Where: JR Kusatsu station, Shiga • Access: JR Kusatsu station, east exit • Tel: 077-564-5201 • www.kusatsufan.jp/art

TOKYO

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TOKYO SCENE A quick roundup of what’s happening in that other place this month.

Hyperdub Episode One Jun 8 Over the past eight years, London’s Hyperdub imprint has been releasing some of the most forwardthinking dance music in the world.

Home to artists like Burial and Hype Williams, the label has received heaps of critical praise and has influenced producers all over the world. Hyperdub comes to Tokyo on June 8, with an all-night event at live house Unit. Expect sets from labelfounder Kode9, King Midas Sound, Hype Williams and many more.

Recommended for those who like dance music unafraid to move in uncharted territories.

• Time: 11pm • Admission: ¥3,800 in advance, ¥4,500 at the door • Where: Unit • Access: Ebisu Station • Tel: 03-5459-8630 • www.unit-tokyo.com The End Of The World — 73 Questions We Must Answer Until Jun 11 The looming specter of death and the inevitable decay of everything we know are probably not topics one wants to dwell on at the start of the summer, but this exhibition at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation pushes those apocalyptic topics to the forefront. While perusing the exhibit, visitors will be posed 73

questions about life that will shed light on what the individual values in their life. Heavy stuff, but one everyone eventually has to face – might as well think about it while in a nice museum.

• Time: 10am–5pm, closed on Tuesday • Admission: Adults ¥1,000, 18 and under ¥300 • Where: National Museum of Emerging Science & Innovation • Access: Funeno-Kagakukan station • Tel: 03-3570-9151 • www.miraikan.jp/sekainoowari/ basic_en

Legoland Discovery Center Opens Jun 15 On one level, here’s the perfect place to bring the kids. Tokyo’s Legoland Discovery Center, opening on June 15, features more than a dozen attractions, ranging from rides to movies to rooms full of Lego bricks. The center will also feature a collection of Lego bricks assembled to look like famous landmarks from all over the world. So yeah, great for little ones – but even adults occasionally need to slip back into youth, and being surrounded by a toy requiring copious use of imagination is a great gateway.

• Time: 10–9pm, last admission 7pm • Admission: ¥2,000, children two and under get in free • Where: Decks Tokyo Beach Island Mall • Access: OdaibaKaihin Kouen Station

• Tel: 03-3599-5168 • www.legolanddiscoverycenter. jp/tokyo

Sanno Matsuri Until Jun 17 If thinking about the end of your days doesn’t seem like an appropriate beginning to summer, take in a festival instead. The Sanno Matsuri, held at Hie shrine, features all the staples of a Japanese festival – kids decked out in formal attire walking in a parade, traditional court dancing, taiko showcases and a dance competition. Even better, the Sanno Matsuri lasts all day and doesn’t cost a thing to attend.

Plus you earn Japanese-culture cred points.

• Time: All day • Admission: Free • Where: Hie shrine • Access: Tameikesanno stn • Tel: 03-3581-2471 • www.hiejinja.net Maple Wonderland Until Jun 17 Syrup isn’t near the top tier of foods foreigners in Japan end up missing after spending a few months in this country — I see you, Mexican food — but I imagine many wouldn’t balk at the chance to savor Canadian maple syrup smothered over all sorts of food-stuffs. Ebisu Garden Place is here for you — at least until June 17 — with Maple Wonderland,

a Canadian maple syrup fair. You can enjoy Canadian maple syrup the traditional way — on pancakes — but can also try it on various desserts and chicken.

• Time: 11am–6pm • Admission: Free • Where: Yebisu Garden Place • Access: Ebisu Station • Tel: 03-5423-7111 • http://gardenplace.jp/sp/ maplewonderland.html

Hostess Club Weekender Jun 23 & 24 Tokyo-based record label and promoter Hostess put on their own two-day music showcase in February of this year, and the event did well enough to warrant a sequel. This Weekender installment features some of the most buzzed-about bands in the world right now, from the dance-focused sounds of Hot Chip to the hazy pop of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti to the buzzsaw rock of Cloud Nothings.

The event also features the likes of Bloc Party, The Cribs, Mystery Jets and Here We Go Magic among others.

• Time: Doors open at 1pm on Saturday, 12pm on Sunday • Price: ¥7,900 for one day, ¥13,900 for both days • Where: Yebisu Garden Place • Access: Ebisu Station • Tel: 03-5424-0111 • http://ynos.tv/hostessclub/ schedule/20120623weekender

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FEATURE PARTY

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

All caked up Surely everyone in Kansai knows … do we really need to mention it again? Oh, go on, then. KS is having a party.

Yes, it’s our birthday and we are 12 years old.

I

n celebration Kansai Scene is inviting all our friends and readers to Cafe Absinthe for a big get-together. Lots of people are coming and if you come too, then everyone will be there. There will be two live bands, DJs, a buffet, prizes and lots and lots of people.

Prizes

These friends of KS are offering prizes for the event:

• Awillize (Intl Admin Scrivener) • Brastel • Cafe Absinthe • Cobra beer • Gaylord • GS Travel • Hyatt Regency • Himalaya • MojoPrint • Peace & Nature • Arthur Murray, and more

The bands THE TAKOSAN

Formed in Osaka in 1993, The Takosan is the godfather of the Kansai soul scene. Backed by a heavy groove based in soul, blues and funk, vocalist Lonely Phantom aka Yasuhiro Ando’s distinct outlook on the world shines in his performance and adds to his unique stage presence. The intense, but soulful, stage performance of this four-piece unit is not to be missed.

On occasions, it is a costumed performance; sometimes, blood flows from foreheads; and on other occasions, a mackerel dances on stage. These antics graced the stage of the Fuji Rock Festival in 2004, 2006 and 2009 with audiences calling them back for, at least, three encores before the organisers had to step in. The Takosan have released four albums, two 7” singles and two documentary videos.

The current line-up came together in 2011, creating a new musicality and performance that raises the roof.

Next year, The Takosan celebrate their 20th anniversary.

the-takosan.com BANG OF SUN Bang of Sun is a Kobe-based, original rock outfit. Founding members, Pablo Zula and Chad Cottam, both from Australia, first met in Kakogawa in 2008. What started out as two friends jamming out some acoustic fun in a park on a snowy February afternoon evolved over time into a distinct sound. Merging harmony with thrashing acoustic guitar riffs, Bang of Sun continued to develop their sound in the parks around Kobe, or the streets and thoroughfares of Sannomiya.

The band’s sound is now electric and amplified, but the acoustic elements remain a core component.

The sound brings together a variety of familiar and more exotic influences, including hard rock, pop, experimental and world music.

In 2010, Bang of Sun started hitting the Kobe music circuit, playing in bars and clubs, regularly. Recent and favourite venues include a monthly residency at Bar Trinity, regular shows at the new and snazzy Bar Iznt, and a release party for their new CD, ‘Teething’, at Kobe’s renowned live house, Chicken George.

With the release of their ‘Teething’ EP, Bang of Sun is set to shake up the rest of Japan in 2012. First stop: Osaka!

bangofsun.com

DJs

WES LANG Wes has been a part of the Osaka scene for a number of years, laying down a smooth blend of ethnic beats, atmo-

spheric downtempo, and jazzy drum ‘n’ bass. He currently hosts the Twilight Voyage session at Cafe Absinthe and has also plays regularly at Bar Zerro, Oasis Lounge, and Cafe Barbes. Wes is also our MC for the evening.

DAVID BYRNE Starting his DJ life in Taiwan, David Byrne is fairly new to the Osaka. He has played at Absinthe, Zerro, l&l and Vano. DJ Byrne has a diverse sound from breaks to techno to minimal and groovy tech house. He is an up and coming DJ and one to look out for.

JULES Hailing from Sydney, Australia, DJ Jules began DJ-ing in the jazz scene and on radio around the time of the Sydney Olympics. After moving to Japan, he became a regular in the club scene with Afro, Latin, Cuban and Scandinavian jazz grooves. He is a regular at Café Absinthe and organises the monthly Citrus Bitch and Lefthanded Jazz events.

JELECTROMANCE Joey Parker aka Jelectromance, has played jazz, house and techno/tech house for the last seven years at many of Osaka’s best-known venues and outdoor events. Currently a regular at Grand Cafe.

Where: Cafe Absinthe, Shinsaibashi When: Jun 1o (Sun), 6pm–midnight Admission: ¥2,000 with one drink and buffet Access: see KS Shinsaibashi map B1 www.absinthe-jp.com Email: event@kansaiscene.com www.kansaiscene.com

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LINGO

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Weddings without a hitch J Text: Wes Lang • Image: KS

une certainly is a popular month for getting hitched, so if you find yourself attending a kekkon shiki (wedding ceremony), hirouen (reception), or a nijikai (second party), familiarize yourself with some of these phrases below.

Two of the most important bits of lingo to master are the words for bride (shinpu) and groom (shinrou). At the nijikai, the party kicks off when the emcee announces the arrival of the couple with the polite phrase shinrou shinpu no gonyuujou desu (The bride and groom will now enter).

This is usually followed with the request gokiritsu kudasai (please stand up). While the couple enter, the audience

LINGO

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engages in nonstop hakushu (applause), halting only when the host jumps back on the microphone to continue the proceedings by ordering the guests to sit down (gochakuseki kudasai).

After the meal and perhaps a change of clothes (oironaoshi) by the bride, the cake cutting (keeki nyuutou) will commence, rounded out by a bit of free time to take photos with the newlyweds.

Here is your best chance to offer your best wishes with the tricky expression: gokekkon omedetou gozaimasu. Sue nagaku oshiawase ni (Congratulations on your wedding. Wishing you eternal happiness). If it happens to be your own wedding, a simple arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much) will go a long way to keeping the universal harmony flowing. 結婚式

kekkon shiki

wedding ceremony

披露宴

hirouen

wedding reception

結婚式二次会

kekkon shiki nijikai

the ‘second party’ of the wedding

新郎新婦のご入場です

Shinrou shinpu no gonyuujou desu.

The bride and groom will now enter.

ご起立下さい

Gokiritsu kudasai.

Please stand up.

ご着席下さい

Gochakuseki kudasai.

Please be seated.

お色直し

oironaoshi

changing of the clothes by the bride

ケーキ入刀

keeki nyuutou

cutting of the wedding cake

ご結婚おめでとうございま す。 末永くお幸せに

Gokekkon omedetou gozaimasu.

Sue nagaku oshiawase ni.

Congratulations on your wedding.

Wishing you eternal happiness.

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FILM+

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Rapped up KS spends an afternoon at the cinema and asks, is Yu Irie the coolest director in Japan?

Text: Chris Page Photos: Chris Page and courtesy of promoter Yuuki Tanabe

The man Kansai Scene was treated to a screening of Saitama Rapper: Roadside Fugitive at independent Cinema 7 in Juso. The theatre was packed and it was standing room only at the back for the overflow of moviegoers, KS included.

Afterwards, while the stars of the film met with fans in the street outside, KS sat down for a coffee with the film’s director Yu Irie in a nearby cafe.

Irie was quiet and relaxed and spoke with a businesslike eloquence about his films. And there was a lot to talk about.

Roadside Fugitive is the third in a series of films about wannabe rappers (see sidebar). Three rap-themed films?

What’s with the rap? At first, Irie blandly replied that he liked hip-hop so it was an easy vehicle. He then went on: “In rap you don’t have the usual inhibitions to expression.

You can express ideas you normally wouldn’t be able to.”

It’s not just rap that enables an artist to articulate difficult ideas, so does moviemaking — themes of betrayal and disillusion are strong in SR3: a condition of modern Japan?

“There is a lot of anger in the film. It comes from a lot of things, but in part it comes from the earthquake of 2011.

It was with that event that a lot of things came out that we didn’t know.” Irie explained that the government and the nuclear industry had been lying to people for a long time, and continued to do so even as the Fukushima reactors melted down. The 2011 disaster does not figure directly in the film but the sense of betrayal and disillusion it

engendered does.

There is a strong thread of social commentary. The film’s bad guys are quite startlingly bad — they bully, humiliate and exploit, seemingly with relish, and are quick to turn on the violence. This viewer was left with the impression he was seeing a dark and scary side of Japan he had hitherto missed.

Tokyo, the big city of bright lights, is a place of hopes and ambitions fulfilled, but most of us never get there, Irie tells us. It’s impossible not see the story as a representation of the frustration of an over-mediated generation lacking faith or direction in conventional lifestyles and aspirations.

Disaffection is not a phenomenon we easily associate with Japan but here it is, a big, loud cry in movie form.

Comparisons with Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile are inevitable, but Irie brushes them aside. These are two different films each reflecting it’s own society. 8 Mile deals with poverty and racism, Roadside Fugitive deals with other themes.

While Hanson’s characters are trying to rap their way out of the ghetto, or at least garner some respect, Irie’s characters are trying to escape from a mundane and cloying life.

Cinematographically, Irie is clear, the two films are different beasts. Irie insists that 8 Mile was a “cool” movie and he didn’t want to make a cool movie. What he means by this is that 8 Mile is a slick, big-budget production, faithful to the mores of mainstream filmmaking. Whatever the strengths of the story, it was made a movie kind of movie.

With Roadside Fugitive Irie has eschewed convention to attempt an ultra-realism.

FILM+

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

33

The rap What: Saitama Rapper: Roadside Fugitive, aka, Saitama

“In 8 Mile, people are talking or walking down the street and suddenly you get background music. That doesn’t happen in real life. I have used no background music and none of the usual filming tricks to create effect. There’s music in the story but it’s where you find it in real life: on the stage.”

Disarmingly, the director tells us his film is “deliberately uncool”. It’s made with hand-held cameras and a minimum of technical artifice, which gives it a sort of fly-on-wall perspective for the audience.

Irie makes use of some extraordinarily long single shots, each seemingly several minutes in length. “I’m not trying that again,” he said flatly. These shots are employed at the emotional and dramatic climaxes of the film taking us through the final and dramatic fall of the protagonist, Mighty (Eita Okuno — see sidebar). They have the effect of putting the viewer right there in the middle of the character’s crisis and contribute to the suspense. However, these long shots are extremely demanding for actors and crew.

Okuno, more than the other actors, is required to sustain a considerable emotional intensity and convey his extreme state of mind, while doing some demanding physical work without any pause for breath. Obviously, this kind of scene is just one take. This is why Irie is now reluctant to try this technique again.

The approach works. As the takes go on and on, you find yourself holding your breath with anticipation and the effect is one of immediacy. You are right there in the action alongside the Mighty and his pals Tom and Ikku and the scary yakuza. Irie says he was aiming for “raw”.

Raw is certainly what we get.

Irie now has three acclaimed rap films on his growing CV. So what next? The man will not be drawn, but if he maintains the impetus he has picked up with the Saitama Rapper films, his will be a career to watch.

Rapper 3, 8000 Miles: Roadside Fugitive, or Roadside Fugitive, or サイタマノラッパーロードサイドの逃亡者, or just SR3, depending who you are talking to.

When: very much now, if you see what I mean.

Where: not simply everywhere — you have to look for this one. But we’ve made it easier with some pointers below.

Why: Saitama Rapper: Roadside Fugitive is the latest film from Yu Irie, a rising star in Japan’s film industry.

Roadside Fugitive is the third film in the Saitama Rapper series, which kicked off in 2009, with a film that according to one blogger wag was not so much low-budget as no-budget, with reported production costs of a tiny two million yen. The film tells the story of three young men trying to break out of what they consider to be a dull rural experience and get to the bright lights of the big city as professional rappers.

They don’t make it, and at the end of the film we see one of the characters, DJ Mighty (Eita Okuno), striking off on his own. The second film in the series takes up a different story with different characters, an all-girl rap act. The third catches up with the original characters three years down the road. DJ Mighty is still in Tokyo pursuing his dream and in the rap battles shows some real promise until he falls in with a bad crowd who, shall we say, don’t have his best interests or anybody else’s at heart. In a parallel story we see his two hometown rapper pals Ikku (Ryusuke Komakine) and Tom (Shingo Mizusawa) still pounding the beat of provincial talent contests and rap events, still trying to get their own break.

Where Mighty’s story is dark and tragic, the tale of his pals is lighter and comedic and the two tales complement each other perfectly taking us by different routes to a powerful denouement.

Tight plotting, snappy dialogue and compelling characters, all presented with some very clever cinematography make this a must-see.

Saitama Rapper: Roadside Fugitive/Drama/Comedy/ Japan/Japanese/ 110mins • Starring: Ryusuke Komakine, Shingo

Mizusawa, Eita Okuno • Director: Yu Irie • Dongyu Showing: • Jun 2–22, Kyoto Minami-Kaikanv (Japanese only) • Jun 16–29, Kobe Art Village Center (Japanese only)

34

FILM

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Jane Eyre JUN 2

Gothic drama, romance and fluttering petticoats on the Yorkshire moors are the hallmarks of the Bronte sisters, a talented trio of British authors born and raised in the stifling Victorian era.

Emily, Charlotte and Anne — and their brother Bramwell — lost their mother and didn’t spend much time with their father after he was appointed the rector of their village. The siblings spent their time working as governesses, learning French, writing, and in the case of Bramwell, getting high on opium. Tragically, though typical of the

Soul Surfer Jun 9 Hawaiian surfer Bethany Hamilton survived a devastating shark attack and lost her left arm at the tender age of thirteen. No one could blame her for never wanting to go near the water again, but within just a month of the attack she was back on the surfboard, riding the waves once more.

These days she’s a professional surfer, and puts her recovery and daily motivation down to her strong belief in God. This drama is based on her book of the same name, and features real footage of her in action over the years.

• Biography, Drama/USA/English/ 106mins • Starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt • Director: Sean McNamara • Walt Disney Studios

Hello Ghost Jun 9 Sang-man, a depressed Korean guy, decides to leap off a building and end it all, but instead it turns out to be a new beginning for him.

Now he can see ghosts and four quickly befriend him: Ms Weepy who never stops crying; Mr Smokey who can’t give up the fags; Little Greedy, a kid who can’t stop eating; and Mr Perverted who ... well, you get the idea. Can Sang-man put his troubles aside and help his spirited new friends move on to the next world? A light-hearted look at the afterlife that already has a few Hollywood directors eyeing the scripts for a remake.

• Comedy, Drama/South Korea/ Korean/111mins • Starring: Tae-hyun Cha, Ye-won Kang, Moon-su Lee • Director: Young Tak-Kim • Twin Co Ltd

era, the Brontes all died of tuberculosis in their late twenties and thirties, but not before leaving the world with a wealth of gutsy, intriguing stories that leaves today’s chick-lit genre firmly in the shade.

Jayne Eyre was Charlotte Bronte’s second penned novel, but the first one to be published under her pseudonym Currer Bell. The novel was wildly popular, though some people were scandalized by the idea it could have been written by — gasp — a woman.

Thankfully, women’s rights have made leaps and bounds since then, and while they’ve still got some way to go all around the world, a young English woman writing a frank and honest novel about women’s feelings is hardly an eyebrow-raiser these days.

But bringing a new adaptation to a classic book like this sometimes is. What bits will they cut out? Will they try and update it or stick like glue to the time period? Who will play the Byronic, brooding Rochester? And will it ever, ever be as good as the book? That’s for you alone to judge.

The story then: our heroine Jane has escaped an abusive, restrictive childhood to work as a governess at the mysterious Thornfield Hall. She enjoys her job and kind of fancies her employer Mr Rochester, but he’s got some dark secrets locked up at Thornfield. How will Jane deal with the ugly truth behind her new life?

• Drama, Romance/UK, USA/English, French/120mins • Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell • Director: Cary Fukunaga • GAGA

Snow White and the Huntsman Jun 15 Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairiest of them all? Until perky Snow White came along, the evil queen loved gazing at her magic mirror and hearing it kiss her perfect posterior. Now, with the help of a handy huntsman, she’s hell-bent on wiping out the shiny new girl in town. But the huntsman has other ideas once he meets his prey.

The queen better watch her back, because this girl isn’t going to lie around and wait for a prince to save her. Stylish CGI brings a feisty new twist to the fairytale heroine.

• Action, adventure, drama, fantasy/USA/English • Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron • Director: Rupert Sanders • Toho-Towa

The Legend of Love & Sincerity Jun 16 Makoto is a delinquent who comes to Tokyo determined to avenge his past. He meets Ai, the daughter of a wealthy Tokyo family. She has an honours student mooning around after her, but destiny decides she’s meant for Ai. Of course, the path of true love never runs smooth, but this one has music and dance numbers to amuse us along the way. Based on a manga called Ai to Makoto by Ikki Kajiwara, the story has already been adapted as a TV drama and three movies in the 1970s.

• Romance/Japan/Japanese/ 133mins • Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Emi Takei • Director: Takashi Mike • Kadakowa Pictures/Toei Company

FILM

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

The Amazing Spider-Man Jun 30

Comic-book superheroes are all in fashion this season, baby. Skin-tight snazzy costume, check. Mysterious past, check. Some vague love interest, check. Token weapon or sidekick, optional. Marvel comics executives must be rolling in their piles of cash, because every other month another comic superhero has been leaping from the page to screen for fanboys and girls of all ages.

Not to say they haven’t done a good job. Last month’s Avengers surprisingly stormed the box office all over the world.

One Day Jun 23 Boy meets girl, but while on a date they decide to stay just friends.

Will they regret that for the rest of their lives? We catch up with them on the same day every year for the next 20 years and get to decide for ourselves. Over the decades, Emma and Dexter make life choices that seem to pull them further away from each other. Will their story have a happy ending? Based on a novel of the same name, this plays as more intriguing romantic drama than predictable romantic comedy.

• Drama, Romance/UK,USA/ English/107mins • Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson • Director: Lone Scherfig • Asmik Ace Entertainment

The Rum Diary Jun 30 The director of cult classic Withnail & I, Bruce Robinson takes a stab at one of Hunter S Thompson’s yarns, a posthumously-published novel found in his house by Johnny Depp. Depp, no stranger to rumloving characters, plays Paul Kemp, a hard-drinking American journalist in 1950s Puerto Rico. He joins the local paper but gets lumbered with penning tourist fodder and horoscopes. While Paul stumbles through his responsibilites, a wealthy investor arrives to shake up his humdrum life in more ways than one. Fans of the original book have bemoaned the lack of details, but Depp fans will enjoy the ride.

• Comedy, Drama, Romance/ USA/English/120mins • Starring: Johnny Depp, Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron Eckhart • Director: Bruce Robinson • Showgate

35

But Spider-Man ... didn’t we only just finish up a trilogy of Spidey movies? Tobey Maguire doing his cherub-lipped best, kissing Mary Jane upside-down, battling the Green Goblin and turning emo when he wore the Venom suit.

Is it really time for a reboot already?

Marvel seems to think so, and with a different Spidey in the suit and a new director at the helm — the appropriately named Marc Webb — it’s also got a new look, backwards into Peter Parker’s past.

We all know Peter’s life changed after he was bitten by a radioactive spider. But how did the eight-legged critter come about in the first place? Orphan Peter was raised by lovely Uncle Ben and Aunt May, but what really happened to his parents anyway? These are the big questions our suprhero has to face, when he’s not busy flinging himself from building the building or saving the city’s ass from certain doom.

This reboot also brings Gwen Stacy, the first love of Peter’s life, back into the movie series. The blonde highschooler was Peter’s girlfriend in the comics until a doomed meeting with the Green Goblin and a bridge. She appeared in Spider-Man 3 as a love rival to Mary Jane, but this movie aims to put her back in her rightful place as the first girl to capture Peter’s heart. Go Gwen. Whether she survives for an inevitable sequel is another matter.

• Action, Adventure, Fantasy/USA/English • Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans • Director: Marc Webb • Sony Pictures Entertainmen

We Need to Talk About Kevin Jun 30 Eva is a woman on the edge. Her son Kevin, a troubled child from the off, has committed a crime so horrendous perhaps even she can’t forgive him. And of course, the community wants to pin the blame on his parents, guilty or not.

Tilda Swinton is perfectly cast here, a fragile-looking powerhouse of emotional acting that brings a best-selling novel to life. A haunting, and slow-paced story, but we don’t need to see the gore to share her horror in her sociopathic teenage son. It’s all in her reactions.

Harrowing, yes, but sure to be unmissable.

• Drama, Thriller/USA/English/ 112mins • Starring: Tilda Swinton, John CReilly, Ezra Miller • Director: Lynne Ramsay • The Klock Worx Company

The Big Year Jun 30 Time to dust off the anorak and binoculars as three big comedy stars have teamed up to make a unlikely comedy hit about birdwatching. With its gentle humour and spectacular scenes of North America, the movie has been a surprise hit. Owen Wilson is Kenny, the reigning champion of bird spotting, and Stu (Steve Martin) is a new retiree who wants to beat his record. He takes the aimless computer programmer Brad (Jack Black) under his wing along the way.

• Comedy/USA/English/100mins • Starring: Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Steve Martin • Director: David Frankel • SPO

36

DVD

CINEMA

DVD RELEASE LISTINGS J Edgar Jun 2 Leonardo DiCaprio plays the legendary J Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI. Water for Elephants Jun 6 A vet runs away with a circus and falls for the ringmaster’s wife.

Whoops.

The Change-Up Jun 6 Two friends, with very different lives, learn if the grass is really greener when they switch bodies.

A Little Bit of Heaven Jun 6 Kate Hudson’s happy-go-lucky lifestyle is changed dramatically after she’s diagnosed with colon cancer.

Kaibutsu-Kun Jun 6 One of the blokes from Arashi plays a monster prince embarking on an adventure in The Land of Curry.

1911 Jun 8 Jackie Chan’s 100th movie, this is an epic retelling of the birth of the Republic of China.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Jun 13 A journalist and a computer hacker team up to track a missing woman and uncover a whole nest of secrets.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jun 16 Nine-year-old Oskar investigates a mysterious key left by his father after he died in the 9/11 attacks.

Tower Heist Jun 20 Ben Stiller leads a ragtag group of co-workers in a plot to rob a wealthy swindler.

Tale of Genji: A Thousand Year Enigma Jun 22 The world’s first novel brought to robe-swishing life by the dreamy Ikuta Toma.

OSAKA TOHO CINEMAS UMEDA • Tel: 06-6316-1312 • www.toho theater.jp • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st & 14th of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: Men in Black 3, Girl, The Skin I Live In • From June 1: The Vow, Grave Encounters • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Hotaru no Hikari • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 22: Act of Valor • From June 23: One Day • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man UMEDA BURG7 • Tel: 06-4795-7602 • http://burg7. com • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: Dark Shadows, Nijiirohotaru, My House • From June 1: Bad Teacher • From June 2: I AM. :Smtown Live World Tour in Madison Square Garden • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Soul Surfer • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 16: The Divide • From June 23: Trespass • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man, Rinjyo UMEDA GARDEN CINEMA • Tel: 06-6440-5977 • www. kadokawa-gardencinema.jp/umeda • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st of the month • Now showing: Oranges and Sunshine • From June 2: Faust • From June 16: Cave of Forgotten Dreams, The Snow of Kilimanjaro CINE LIBRE UMEDA • Tel: 06-6440-5930 • www.ttcg. jp/cinelibre_umeda • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st & 15th of the month • Now showing: Hesomori, The Black Power • From June 2: The Final Judgement • From June 9: The Way, Future X-Cops • From June 23: Attack The Block, Rurouni Kenshin THEATRE UMEDA • Tel: 06-6359-1080 • www.ttcg. jp/theatre_umeda • ¥1,000: Wed

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012 for women, Tue for men, 1st of the month • Now showing: Vidal Sassoon • From June 2: 11.25 Jiketsunohi Mishima Yukio, House of Tolerance (Until June 8) • From June 9: Signal Getsuyo no Luka, Cheburshka (Until June 15) • From June 16: Hikari to Kage • From June 23: Bellflower • From June 30: Blak Bread, La Proie

OSAKA STATIONCITY CINEMA • Tel: 06-6346-3215 • www. osakastationcitycinema.com • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st of the month • Now showing: Men in Black 3, Girl, Midnight in Paris • From June 1: The Vow, Abduction • From June 2: Gaiji Keisatsu, Jane Eyre • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Hotaru no Hikari • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 16: Seeking Justice, The Lucky One • From June 23: Masao-kun ga iku!

• From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man, The Rum Diary, Always, Rinjyo TOHO CINEMAS NAMBA • Tel: 06-6633-1040 • www. tohotheater.jp • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st & 14th of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: The Muppets, Dark Shadows, Men in Black 3 • From June 1: The Vow, Grave Encounters • From June 2: I AM. :Smtown Live World Tour in Madison Square Garden • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Hotaru no Hikari • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 22: Act of Valor • From June 23: One Day • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man

NAMBA PARKS CINEMA • Tel: 06-6643-3215 • www. parkscinema.com• ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: Men in Black 3, Midnight in Paris • From June 1: The Vow, Abduction • From June 2: Blood-C The Last

CINEMA

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com Dark, Gaiji Keisatsu • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Soul Surfer • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 16: The Lucky One • From June 23: Love Masao-kun ga Iku • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man, The Rum Diary, Always

CINEM@RT • Tel: 06-6282-0815 • http:// www.cinemart.co.jp/theater/ shinsaibashi/• ¥1,000: Wed for women, Mon for men, 1st of the month • Now showing: Sunny, Midnight FM • From June 2: I Don’t Know How She Does It • From June 9: The Journals of Musan • From June 16: Punch • From June 23: I’m Still Here • From June 30: Love And Cash, Hello Ghost

KYOTO MOVIX KYOTO • Tel: 075-254-3215 • www. movix.co.jp • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st & 20th of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: Men in Black 3, Midnight in Paris • From June 1: The Vow, Abduction • From June 2: Gaiji Keisatsu, The Final Judgement • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Soul Surfer • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 16: The Lucky One

• From June 23: Love Masao-kun ga Iku, Berserk • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man, Always, The Rum Diary, Rinjyo

KYOTO CINEMA • Tel: 075-353-4723 • www.kyoto cinema.jp • ¥1,000: 1st of the month • ¥1,300: Wed • Now showing: Oranges and Sunshine, Animal Kingdom, Manuale d’ Amore 3 • From June 2: 11.25 Jiketsunohi Mishima Yukio, A Trinoi Lo • From June 9: The Monster’s Club, Autmun Adagio • From June 16: Watashi wo Ikiru • From June 23: The Journals of Musan, Memories of Anne Frank • From June 30: Arirang TOHO CINEMAS NIJO • Tel: 075-813-2410 • www.toho theater.jp • ¥1,000: Wed for women, 1st & 14th of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: Men in Black 3, The Skin I Live In • From June 1: The Vow, Grave Encounters • From June 2: Jane Eyre • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Hotaru no Hikari • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 16: Ai and Makoto • From June 22: Act of Valor • From June 23: One Day • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man, The Way

KOBE OS CINEMA MINT KOBE • Tel: 078-291-5330 • www. jollios.net • ¥1,000: Tue for

women, 1st & 16th of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: Men in Black 3, Girl • From June 1: The Vow, Abduction • From June 2: Jane Eyre, Gaiji Keiji • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Hotaru no Hikari • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 16: Ai and Makoto • From June 23: One Day • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man, Beyond the Oneday Story of 2PM & 2AM

KOBE KOKUSAI SHOCHIKU • Tel: 078-230-3580 • www. shochiku-eigakan.com • ¥1,000: Tue for women, 1st of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • From June 1: The Vow, Abduction • From June 2: The Final Judge- ment, Blood-C The Last Dark • From June 9: Signal Getuyobi no Luka • From June 16: The Lucky One, Tosyokansenso • From June 23: Love Masao-kun ga Iku • From June 30: Always, The Rum Diary CINE MOSAIC HARBORLAND MOSAIC 3F • Tel: 078-360-0700 • www. cinemosaic.jp • ¥1,000: Tue for women, 1st & 16th of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing: Men in Black 3, Girl • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman

37

• From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man

CINE LIBRE KOBE • Tel: 078-334-2126 • www.ttcg. jp/cinelibre_kobe • ¥1,000: Tue for women, 1st & 15th of the month • Now showing: The Descedants, Midnight in Paris • From June 2: 11.25 Jiketsunohi Mishima Yukiko, The Final Judgement • From June 16: The Wasy, Oninikike, I Don’t Know How She Does It • From June 23: Trespass, The Skin I Live In • From June 30: Black Bread

NARA MOVIX KASHIHARA • Tel: 0744-21-1700 • www. movix.co.jp • ¥1,000: Wed for women, Thu for men, 1st & 20th of the month, 3rd Tue of the month • ¥1,200: after 8pm • Now showing : Men in Black 3, Midnight in Paris, Girl, Wu Xia • From June 1: Abduction, The Vow • From June 2: Take Shelter, Gaiji Keisatsu, The Final Judgement • From June 8: We Bought a Zoo • From June 9: Hotaru no Hikari, Nader and Simin, A Separation • From June 15: Snow White and the Huntsman • From June 16: The Lucky One, Catch. 44.

• From June 23: Bridesmaids • From June 30: The Amazing Spider-Man, Always, The Rum Diary Note: for show times and ticket information, call cinemas.

38 CLASSICAL FEATURE

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Classical musings T

he big classical event in town this month is the Liverpool Oratorio composed by Paul McCartney (yes, THAT Paul McCartney) with a little help from the American conductor and composer Carl Davis. The work will be performed at Hyogo Performing Arts Center on June 15 by the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by Douglas Bostock who is currently guest professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.

The Liverpool Oratorio was McCartney’s first foray into classical music (he’s since tried his hand at high art several more times), and was originally performed at Liverpool Cathedral in 1991. An oratorio is an opera without costumes or sets, the most famous being Handel’s Messiah, and McCartney has given us just that in his story about the birth-school-work-(near) death of its working-class protagonist. As is the case with McCartney’s songs in general, the individual numbers are highly melodic and earnest, though the whole is not as musically cohesive as a classical oratorio can be.

That said, the real reason to hear this concert is for the soloists: soprano Barbara Bonney, mezzo Mika Shigematsu, tenor John Ken Nuzzo, and baritone Peter C. Lindskoog.

It has sadly become rare in recent years to hear international vocalists of this calibre in the Kansai area, so this performance of the Liverpool Oratorio is an opportunity worth looking into.

The Kyoto Symphony Orchestra can be heard on its home turf in an afternoon performance on June 10 conducted by the Latvian conductor Andris Poga in a concert that features Brahms’ First Symphony (which was Brahms’ long-awaited, powerful response to Beethoven’s Ninth back in the day) and Ravel’s magical, jazzy Piano Concerto. The soloist in the Ravel is French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet whose recent recording of the work on the Chandos label won numerous awards last year. Bavouzet is very much a pianist of the moment. His presence promises to bring extra excitement to a program packed with excellent music.

I have been looking for an opportunity to send readers to Osaka’s wonderfully intimate Phoenix Hall in Umeda where you can hear music in a space the size of a large

living room with a night view of Osaka in the background (though the window curtain is often closed for the performance). That opportunity comes this month when Mario Brunello gives a solo cello recital on his 17th century Maggini instrument at the venue. The program features Bach’s Cello Suites 1 and 5 framing two more recent works: “Unlocked” by contemporary British composer Judith Weir (see it performed here: www.youtube.com/watch? v=YyCVGPfN2zs) and Suite for Solo Cello by early 20thcentury Spanish composer Gaspar Cassadó. Brunello is a fantastic performer with an intensely present sound who regularly comes to Japan to give masterclasses and performances, sometimes in odd places like the top of Mount Fuji. Here’s a video clip of that event: www. youtube.com/watch?v=kU6Cu7Zw7Zg. And you thought Yo-Yo Ma was adventurous? If you like the cello, you won’t want to miss Brunello.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)

• Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Andris Poga (conductor) • Kyoto Concert Hall • Jun 10 • 2:30pm • ¥3,500/¥4,000/ ¥4,500, seats behind the stage = ¥2,000, discount for students and second half of the concert (available day of concert only) = ¥1,000/¥1,500/¥2,000 • Kitayama Subway Station (on the Karasuma line), 3min walk from exit 1 • 075-711-3231 (10am–5pm) • http://www.kyoto-symphony.jp/concert/detail. php?id=169&y=2012&m=6

Liverpool Oratorio

• Hyogo Performing Arts Center • Jun 15 • 7pm • ¥5,000–¥12,500, casual seating ¥2,500 • 0570-06-9939 • JR Hyogo Station • www1.gcenter- hyogo.jp/sysfile or http://pmlo-japan.com/

6/16 Mario Brunello cello recital

• The Phoenix Hall • Jun 16 • 6pm • ¥4,000 • 06-6363-7999 • 9min walk from JR Umeda Station.

• See map http://phoenixhall.jp/access.

• http://phoenixhall.jp/sponsor/series/2012/2

40

LIVE

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Solas

Jun 11

Irish-American Folk Quintet

• Club Quattro, Osaka • Celtic • 7pm • ¥5,500 • Tel: 06-6311-8111

Formed in 1994, Solas, meaning light in Irish, was created by seasoned musicians Seamus Egan, Winifred Horan, John Doyle, Karan Casey and John Williams. The two Johns and Karan have moved on but the current quintet, which still includes Egan and Horan, come to Japan to play four dates.

Dubbing themselves as the “quintessential Irish-American band recording and touring in the US today,” Solas are currently working on their next album Shamrock City. The album won’t be released until early 2013 but with a five track EP available at gigs, fans can get a taster of what to expect.

Shamrock City will tell the story of Michael Conway, great-greatuncle to band member Seamus Egan. At the turn of the 19th century, Conway sailed from Ireland to the US (Philedelphia) and went on to work in the copper mines of Butte before being killed by a blow to the head aged just 25.

Obscuras & Beneath the Massacre

Jun 13

Technical Death Metal from Germany and Canada Technical death metal bands Obscura and Beneath the Massacre team up for a short tour of Japan. No longer just death metal, these musicians have taken their instrument mastery to a level where the genre must now be renamed with the pre-fix ‘technical’. And to be fair to them their playing is pretty damn technical — there’s no rock and roll diving around stage or exaggerated facial contortions as the guitarist feels the emotion of a sustained C bent up to a D. It’s total concentration and technical mastery of their tools and yes, of course, they are overlaid with venomous deep throated guttural growls from the frontmen — excellent.

Obscura hail from Munich, Germany and were formed in 2002. This will be their first headlining visit to Japan, promoting the 2011 album Omnivicium.

Canadian band Beneath the Massacre came together in 2004 in Montreal and are currently pushing their 2012 release Incongruous.

• Club Quattro, Osaka • Metal • 7pm • ¥6,000 • Tel: 06-6535-5569

Curly Giraffe Shangri-La, Osaka Jun 2 • Pop-rock • 7pm • ¥4,500/¥5,000 • Tel: 06-6341-3525 Beyond the Blue Tour ft.

Every Avenue/Mayday Parade/William Beckett plus more Rockets, Osaka Jun 3 • Rock • 3pm • ¥5,400/¥5,900 • Tel: 06-6649-3919 Base Ball Bear Taku Taku, Kyoto

Jun 7 • Rock • 6:30pm • ¥4,200 • Tel: 075-351-1321

Shakalabbits Muse, Kyoto Jun 6 • Ska-punk • 7pm • ¥4,500/¥5,000 • Tel: 075-223-0389 Cascade Varit, Kobe Jun 9 Visual Kei rock • 6pm • ¥5,000 • Tel: 078-392-6655

Exile Kyocera Dome, Osaka Jun 10 & 11 • Vocal group • 5pm • ¥9,500 • Tel: 06-6357-4400

Angelo Namba Hatch, Osaka Jun 14 • Rock • 7pm • ¥5,800/¥6,300 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Solas Club Quattro, Osaka Jun 11 • Celtic • 7pm • ¥5,500 • Tel: 06-6311-8111

Ginger Wildheart Rockets, Osaka Jun 17 • Rock • 6pm • ¥6,800 • Tel: 06-6649-3919

Obscura & Beneath The Massacre Club Quattro, Osaka Jun 13 • Metal • 7pm • ¥6,000 • Tel: 06-6535-5569

Stray Pig Vanguard Varit, Kobe Jun 17 • Rock • 6:30pm • ¥4,200/¥4,700 • Tel: 078-392-6655

LIVE

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com

Ginger Wildheart

41

UK ft.

John Wetton

UK Classic Rock

70s Prog Rock Super-Group

Jun 17 Still rockin’ after all these years, Ginger Wildheart — basically The Wildhearts gigging under the name of their frontman, for obscure marketing reasons — return to Japan where they continue to have a strong following. Incidentally, Ginger — the man, not the band — auctioned one of his guitars last year to raise funds for the British Red Cross and it was bought by a Japanese fan from Sendai for a staggering £17,000 (approximately ¥2,500,000).

Originally formed in northeast England 23 years ago by surviving members Ginger and guitarist CJ (after Ginger was sacked by fellow rockers the Quireboys) the band had a good commercial run in the 90s especially with the 1995 album P.H.U.Q and Fishing for Luckies a year later.

Over the last two decades it has been a turbulent ride for the band and fans, with line-up line-up changes and hiatuses becoming the norm; in fact, in December 2010 Ginger stated that he was unsure if Ginger Wildheart would ever reform but here they are again.

In 1977 John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia, Family, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep) formed UK along with Allan Holdsworth, Bill Bruford and Eddie Jobson.

Labelled a progressive rock super-group at the time, UK released a self-titled album in 1978 before Bruford and Holdsworth departed. Replacement drummer Terry Bozzio was drafted in and a second album Danger Money was released in 1979 for which a support tour with Jethro Tull ensued. In 1980 the band called it a day and went their separate ways.

Fast forward 32 years and UK are back featuring John Wetton (bass, vocals), Eddie Jobson (keyboards, violin) and Terry Bozzio (drums). Sadly, original member Bruford passed away in 2009.

How long this reunion is intended to last is not certain, though it has been stated in the media that this tour is most likely a one-off, so classic AOR fans should get their tickets fast before it’s too late.

• Rockets, Osaka • Rock • 6pm • ¥6,800 • Tel: 06-6649-3919

• Namba Hatch, Osaka • Rock • 7:30pm • ¥9,500 • Tel: 06-4397-0572

Summer Sonic Osaka ft.

Rihanna/Jamiroquai/New Order/Garbage plus more (18th) — Green Day/Franz Ferdinand/Lostprophets plus more (19th) Maishima Special Venue, Osaka Jun 18 & 19 • Pop/Rock/R&B • 11am • ¥12,500(1 day)/¥22,500(2 days) • Tel: 0570-084-655/ 0570-02-9550/0570-03-9911

Rega Shangri-La, Osaka Jun 20 • Rock • 7pm • ¥3,000 • Tel: 06-6341-3525

UK ft. John Wetton Namba Hatch, Osaka Jun 19 • Rock • 7:30pm • ¥9,500 • Tel: 06-4397-0572

Alvino Varit, Kobe Jun 23 • Pop-rock • 6:30pm • ¥4,500 • Tel: 078-392-6655

UVERworld Osaka Jo Hall, Osaka Jun 22 & 23 • Rock • 22nd: 6:30pm • 23rd: 5:30pm • ¥6,000 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Jun 19

Kinoco Hotel Shangri-La, Osaka Jun 23 & 24 • Rock revival • 7pm • ¥2,800/¥5,000 • Tel: 06-6357-3666

Sadie Muse, Kyoto Jun 30 Visual Kei Rock • 6pm • ¥4,000/¥4,500 • Tel: 075-223-0389

Mo’some Tonebender Taku Taku, Kyoto Jun 24 • Rock • 6pm • ¥3,500 • Tel: 075-351-1321

Jun Sky Walker(s) Wynterland, Kobe Jun 30 Rock • 6pm • ¥5,500 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Seiko Matsuda Osaka Jo Hall, Osaka Jun 30 Female vocal • 5pm • ¥8,400/¥22,000 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Jun Sky Walker(s) Taku Taku, Kyoto Jul 1 Rock • 6pm • ¥5,500 • Tel: 075-351-1321

42

CLUB

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Circus

JUN 28

Ellen Allien Asia Tour 2012 in Osaka As many of you know, clubs in Osaka are facing hard times because of the fuzoku eigyo ho (which is similar to the cabaret laws in New York City) for the last 18 months. In this difficult situation, a new club, Circus, will open in Amemura. The grand opening is in July but the venue will be visited by a couple of international DJs such as Pendulum, Ben Klock and Sammy D in June. However, the highlight of the month is the techno queen and Berlin’s BPitch Control label owner Ellen Allien.

Apart from the fact she is pretty much the coolest female DJ on the planet with a world-famous record and fashion labels, she is originally famous for her pure DJing skills and ability to rock a dance floor. That is the reason why she has been headlining dozens of festivals across the globe for the past decade. Since the venue is quite small, there is a limited number of advance tickets available and it is a super rare chance to see her play. Get your tickets before they sell out.

• Ellen Allien Asia Tour 2012 in Osaka (Techno) • DJs: Ellen Allien, Monashee and more • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: ¥3,000 (ADV: ¥2,800) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • www.circus-osaka.com 1 (FRI) JOULE Teionclub feat. X-Noize (Trance/ Techno) • Guest Act: X-Noize • DJs: Takatsugu Wada EnergyDai, O-Man, Chang + more • Open: 7pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6214-1223 • http://club-joule.jp METRO Qualia (Techno/House) • Live: aMadoo • DJs: Kazuma, Masa aka Conomark, Taito, Umemazu Urame ni Deta • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (ADV: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Kyoto • Tel: 075-725-4765 • www.metro.ne.jp 3 (SUN) OWL OSAKA Sunset Party feat. Christian Smith Japan Tour in Osaka (Techno) • DJs: Christian Smith, Soichi Tanaka, Mitsuda Daisuke, Takatsugu Wada, Monashee, sxxo • Open: 5pm–9pm • Admission: Men: ¥3,000/2D, Women: ¥2,500/2D (free before 6pm) • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http:// owl-osaka.net owl-osaka.net TRIANGLE Qube.tv Show Case (Techno)

• Live: Aoki Takamasa • DJs: Yukke, Ono, Jungle Funk • Open: 7pm–1am • Admission: ¥2,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6212-2264 • www.triangle-osaka.jp

8 (FRI) CIRCUS Circus Show Case feat. The Star Festival 2012 After Party! (Techno/ House/Drum & Bass) • DJs: TBA • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: Free • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com OWL OSAKA Sunset Party feat. Boost (Techno) • DJs: Shin Nishimura, Junkyjun, K2, Toru Ikemoto • Open: 5pm–9pm • Admission: Men: ¥3,000/2D, Women: ¥2,500/2D (free before 6pm) • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http://owl-osaka.net TROOPCAFE Fumiya Tanaka-long set (House/ Techno) • DJ: Fumiya Tanaka • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (ADV ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Sannomiya • Tel: 078-321-3130 • http://troopcafe.tumblr.com 9 (SAT)

CIRCUS

Circus Show Case (Techno) • DJs: Fumiya Tanaka, Naoya Sugimoto + more • Open: 6pm– midnight • Admission: ¥2,500/1D (Members: ¥2,000/11D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com

GRAND CAFE

Daishi Dance presents Mid Night!

(House) • DJ : Daishi Dance • Open: 9pm–1am • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (¥1,500/1D before 10pm) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6213-0031 • www.grandcafeosaka.com

OWL OSAKA

Sunset Party feat. Suiurumn (House) • DJs: Sugiurumn, Atsuo Morita, Yosuke • Open: 5pm–9pm • Admission: Men: ¥3,000/2D, Women: ¥2,500/2D (free before 6pm) • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http://owl-osaka.net

10 (SUN) CIRCUS Pendulum & MC Verse Japan Tour in Osaka (Drum & Bass) • DJs: Pendulum & MC Verse, Koichi Sato, Masashi & MC Aoi • Open: 6pm– midnight • ADV : ¥3,500 • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com MUSIC BOAT

Arigato-chan + Detox presents Sunday Sunset Crusing (Techno/ House/Drum & Bass) • DJs: Aki, Sudo Brothers, Shunjack, Hilock, ITaru Kosakada tatasuo.y • Departure: 5:30pm • Admission: Men: ¥5,000, Women: ¥4,000 • Where: Kobe • www.facebook. com/events/429640247054404/

OWL OSAKA

Sunset Party feat. NWC presents Kireek (Electro/Techno) • DJs: Kireek + more • Open: 5pm–9pm • Admission: Men: ¥3,000/2D, Women: ¥2,500/2D (free before 6pm) • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http:// owl-osaka.net

UNIVERSE

Universal Adventure Chapter.3 (Techno) • Guests: Len Faki, A.Motch • DJs: D41 ex.energydai, Hidetaka, Takatsugi Wada + more • Open: 3pm–11pm • Admission: ¥3,000 (ADV: ¥2,500) • Where: Namba • Tel: 06-6641-8733 • http://cavaret-universe.com

15 (FRI) CIRCUS Youngsta & MC Toast Japan Tour (Dubstep) • DJs: Youngsta & MC Toast, Light-One + more • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: ¥2,500/1D (Members: ¥2,000/11D)

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com

16 (SAT) CIRCUS Circus Show Case (Techno) • DJs: Naoya Sugimoto + more • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: ¥2,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com OWL OSAKA Sunset Party feat. Wave!! (House) • DJs: Rasmus Faber, Ko Kimura, Yoku, Doraneko • Open: 5pm–9pm • Admission: Men: ¥3,000/2D, Women: ¥2,500/2D (free before 6pm) • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http://owl-osaka.net 17 (SUN) CAFE BAR PRATAS Nudic8 (Techno/House) • DJs: Yoku, Joules, Brett, Dimitri, Luke, Kenji Shimazaki, Sachiko, Tetsu Shiraishi, Daisuke Ito, Kazumi Fairy, Andy • Open: 5pm–11pm • Admission: Free • Where: Namba • www.galaxygallery. info/category/pratas CIRCUS Ben Klock Japan Tour (Techno) • DJs: Ben Klock, Kihira Naoki, Sou • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: ¥3,000 (ADV: ¥2,800) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com OWL OSAKA Sunset Party feat. NWC presents 80Kidz (Electro/Techno) • DJs: 80Kidz, Taku-Hero + more • Open: 5pm–9pm • Admission: Men: ¥3,000/2D, Women: ¥2,500/2D (free before 6pm) • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http://owl-osaka.net 22 (FRI) CIRCUS Circus Show Case (Drum’n’Bass) • DJs: Masashi + more • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: ¥2,500/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com 23 (SAT) CIRCUS Circus Show Case (Techno) • DJs: Sammy D, Naoya Sugimoto, Yasuhisa • Open: 6pm–midnight

• Admission: ¥2,500/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 •http://circus-osaka.com

24 (SUN) OWL OSAKA Sunset Party feat. Easy Jet (Electro/Techno) • DJs: Ilmari, Nigo, Usus, Taku-Hero, Mitsuda Daisuke + more • Open: 3pm–9pm • Admission: Men: ¥3,000/2D, Women: ¥2,500/2D (free before 4pm) • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http://owl-osaka.net 29 (FRI) CIRCUS Circus Show Case (Drum & Bass) • DJs: Masashi + more • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: ¥2,500/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com 30 (SAT) CIRCUS Circus Show Case (House/ Techno) • DJs: Kaoru Inoue, Ageishi, Yasuhisa, Naoya Sugimoto • Open: 6pm–midnight • Admission: ¥2,500/1D (Members: ¥2,000/11D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • http://circus-osaka.com JOULE Shinichi Osawa DJ Set (House/ Electro) • DJs: Shinichi Osawa + more • Open: 7pm–1am • Admission: ¥2,500 • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6214-1223 • http://club-joule.jp GRAND CAFE Freedome Time meets Bossanova Underground (Nu Jazz/Bossa Nova/House) • Live: Orange Pekoe, Hajime YOshizawa Trio, Small Circle of Friends • DJs: Shacho, Yoshihiro Okino, Yoshijiro Sakurai, Bossanova Underground DJs • Open: 6pm - 1am • Admission: ¥3,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6213-0031 • www.grandcafeosaka.com OWL OSAKA Night Party feat. Raptus (Progressive Trance/House) • DJs: Myon & Shane 54, MKitten aka Mikanyan, Shinji • Open: 9pm–1am • Admission: TBA • Where: Umeda • Tel: 06-6362-0822 • http://owl-osaka.net

44

FOOD

Spirit of plenty Kokopelli, Namba, Osaka Text: Christian Page Photos: courtesy of Kokopelli

KOKOPELLI • TM Bldg. 1F, 1-6-5, Chuo-ku, Namba, Osaka • Open: Tue–Thu, 5pm–midnight; Fri, 5pm–2am; Sat, noon–2am; Sun, noon–midnight • Access: Kintetsu/subway Midosuji/subway Sennichimae, Namba stn; in the street leading to the front of Hozenji • Tel: 06-7502-3757 • www.prco.jp/~kokopelli • Also on Facebook • Jul 4th, special event: all drinks half price

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

K

okopelli, the native American deity, is associated with abundance and fun. He brings new life, plenty, and, to the Hopi and other original nations of the US southwest, he embodies the spirit of music and play. For all these reasons he is the emblem of bar-restaurant Kokopelli in Namba.

Kokopelli offers classic American dishes prepared with the care and flair of a chef who has trained internationally and worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Burgers, chili, buffalo wings, roast pork, Cajun-style prawns — each with its own twist.

The owner-chef Masatoshi Yamamoto is a thoughtful, welcoming gentleman with impeccable English and an evident passion for his trade, which has taken him across continents. He trained in Japan and then continued to train and work in France, in Alsace.

This was followed by several years back in Japan in a Michelinstarred French restaurant. Then he moved on again, this time to the US, specifically Pasedena, and later back to more European-style cookery Japan.

As with many people in Masatoshi’s trade his overarching ambition was to start his own place and in October last year, he opened Kokopelli, where he is putting all his skills and international influences to work. “Like using French skills and making American cooking,” he told me.

The food: the burgers (¥800) are big and satisfying and you can choose extra toppings (for a small extra charge) such as cheese, bacon, avocado or jalapenos. There’s the pulled pork sandwich (¥900) with its piquant sauce — and how many places in this region serve pulled pork sandwiches? The buffalo wings (¥750) are appropriately spicy, and served with a blue cheese dip, just the way they should be. The garlic-lemon prawns (¥500) jangle with flavour. Then there are the creative twists: the chocolate in the sauce for the signature roast pork, the hint of coffee in the chili.

Masatoshi describes the food as “American-style comfort food that everyone can try.” And the master would like to develop the theme, speculating that in the future he might introduce more homey classics like meatloaf or prawns and grits. Most intriguingly he cites an interest in native American cooking, proposing “a couple of dishes that have a native American influence.”

Native American food features game meats, such as venison and rabbit, which are problematic in Japan — not too many buffalo around Hozenji. But some of the spices and flavouring can be applied. He talks of a kind of stew that immediately conjures in my mind images of communal eating around a big pot on an open fire under the stars.

Kokopelli, being a fun-loving deity is not averse to a drink, and here another of Masatoshi’s passions becomes evident. There are over 30 kinds of beer. There’s Kirin (¥500) on tap and the fridge is full of beer from the US, Mexico and Europe. There are the obvious names like Budweiser (¥600) and Corona (¥650), but there are also micro-brewery beers such as Samuel Adams (¥850), and sometimes Anchor. Californian wines fill out the North American drink theme.

The restaurant is distinctive, clearly one of a kind. The interior theme uses white and wood, which evokes adobe without imitating it. There are images of native Americans and ornaments and decoration of native-inspired design. The music, all American again, is just low enough that you can actually speak without shouting.

The location in the warren of colourful, characterful streets around Namba’s Hozenji temple is perfect: Kokopelli the deity may not be native to these shores, but his dedication to the enjoyment of plenty and fun makes him the perfect complement to this community.

46

FEATURE DRINK

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012

Dram in a can

Whisky in a can — sacrilege or a refreshing summer alternative to beer? KS gets its whistle wet in the interests of research.

Text & photos: Clint Anesbury

A

s the heat of summer begins its oppression, we can turn for distraction and refreshment to the array of quirky drink products that hit the shelves in the spring; in particular, a compelling variety of brand-new canned alcoholic concoctions. Non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverage companies in Japan often embark on limited edition themed drinks to welcome and celebrate each of the four seasons of the year. This spring, the tradition brought the release of a diverse range of canned grog to complement the existing range, which includes beer, chu-hi, and drams in a can.

The large variety of pre-mixed drinks on the shelves guarantee an appeal to a broad range of people. Of perennial appeal is the highball, and whisky drinkers will welcome the recent additions to this range.

These colourful canned whiskies, which generally have an average alcohol level of nine per cent, are readily available in convenience stores, vending machines and supermarkets. Brands are forever accumulating and flavours have recently multiplied, including Suntory’s April release of their Torys Coke & Lemon edition, the fifth addition to the whisky giant’s continuing flavour portfolio: Torys Original Extra, Torys Ginger, Torys Yuzu (winter edition), and Suntory’s Kakubin. One can only guess at the flavours and mixes to come.

Until recently, Suntory was the major player in canned whisky, supplying millions of thirsty drinkers with their elixir. But due to the surge of popularity and additional capital available to drinks companies, other brands have joined the movement and began to supply the Japanese alcohol beverage market with premium canned highball options. This in turn has encouraged consumption. Presently there are at least 10 varieties of drams in a can on the market, which include a mixture of both Japanese and foreign blended whiskies. This proliferation has had a significant effect on Japan’s whisky business.

Although these drinks are portable, recyclable, and extremely light compared to lugging around a full bottle of whisky and soda water, they still cop flack from the whisky aficionados. Another Japanese whisky giant, Nikka, which is owned by Asahi and probably Suntory’s main rival, released a high quality canned highball using premium Taketsuru pure malt. The use of this particular expression caused an outrage amongst the purists in the whisky community — you don’t use a single malt in a mix! Whisky connoisseurs expressed their anxiety and fear that something bad was happening to the industry.

So, are they any good? This may be debated till the end of time.

Although I am a devotee of drinking single malt whisky neat, in my opinion, canned highball potions can be amusing and are certainly a great alternative (given the occasion and weather) to other alcoholic beverages such as beer.

Let’s face it, they are reasonably priced (Torys Coke & Lemon retails around ¥160 while the premium mix from Nikka is around ¥300) and can be refreshing, especially between the months of June and August when the weather is demanding. In any event, purist, progressive, newcomer or novelty seeker, it is worth giving the whisky and soda canned dram a go.

Five drams in cans Taketsuru 12-year-old Premium Highball • Nikka • ¥298 • ABV: 8% • 350mls • Comment: Lightly carbonated, rich body and an enjoyable, lingering aftertaste.

Rare Old Super Mizuwari (whisky & water) • Nikka • ¥198 • ABV: 9% • 250mls • Comment: Packs a punch, yet reasonably smooth with a good aromas.

Suntory Old Mizuwari (whisky & water) • Suntory • ¥188 • ABV: 9% • 250mls • Comment: Mellow and mild with a pleasant enough mouthfeel.

Suntory Kaku Highball • Suntory • ¥200 • ABV: 7% • 350mls • Comment: Refreshing, a good mix and worth considering over a BBQ in warm weather.

IW Harper Highball • Licenced by Kirin • ¥200 yen • ABV: 9% • 250mls • Comment: If you are looking for something very fizzy then this is possibly the best one out of the international varieties.

CLASSIFIEDS 49

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com http://kami.kyotodesign.com/ Email: kathy@kyotodesign.com

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Employment NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER WANTED We are looking for a Femail Native English teacher who has experience in teaching children and adults. • Part time or Fulltime • Trainning term will be provided for Full time position • We also support Visa Contact us at 06-6262-1225 Central Village Shinsaibashi Email: cv_shinsaibashi@yahoo.co.jp http://www.cv-school.net HOSTESSES POSITIONS IN UMEDA Younger than 30y/o ONLY. Must speak Eng. and/or Jap. But Welcome

all countries. Friendly, outgoing a must. Usually 3~4 hours a night Mon to Friday, but negotiable.

Please contact DOUX Email: angiemomaya@yahoo.co.jp http://www.doux2005.com/

AM LEAVING HAVE CLASSES I am leaving Japan & need someone to take over my kids’s classes in Wakayama. I have classes on Mon, Tues, Fri & Sat. You will need some sort of transpo. If you are a female, a native English speaker, don’t smell & have a bit of time call Sarah at 090-2351-4389.

FLYER STAFF Needed in Hirakata, Umeda, Tezukayama & Kyoto. ¥2,500 for 2 hours cash! www.modernenglish.net Email: info@modernenglish.net FLYERWORK ! We need foreigners to hand out flyers for our English conversation schools located on the HANKYU Kobe line. We work 7-9am weekday mornings paid at ¥2,000 + ¥500 yen travel allowance. Motivated flyer staff will be paid an extra ¥5,000 per new student joining our schools.

Email: flyerwork@gmail.com LOCAL GUIDE WANTED We are looking for local guides in English. You are energetic, intelligent, outgoing, have a love for your town & a passion for telling stories. Come, visit & subscribe on Shiroube http://shiroube.com/ WORKING HOLIDAY STAFF WANTED To work w/ disabled persons (carework) in Osaka. No experience necessary, Japanese pref. Pls ONLY apply if you hold a working holiday visa & you are able to work for 8 mons or more. Salary ¥1250/hr, 8:30am- 6pm 5 days a week.

Email: info@yourwing.org LOOKING FOR PART-TIME JOB 23 years old Canadian male living in Kyoto. I can teach French & English & I can also work as a model. I am also interested in any other kinds of part-time jobs, so pls contact me.

I am currently on a student visa & I have a part-time work permit.

Email: plesudavid@gmail.com EXPD. GUEST HOUSE MANAGER IS. Looking for partner. Do you have large older building sitting empty?

Need some income from that building? I have 6yrs experience in starting, opening & running a guest

house. Pls contact me for more info.

E: ted.travis@hotmail.com

NEED AN ENGLISH TEACHER? Friendly & Experienced American teacher w/ a permanent visa is looking for a part-time or full-time teaching job in Kansai. I have years of experience in teaching Adults & Kids, all levels. 09039294994 Email: dambadam@yahoo.com SEEKING BUSINESS ENG CLASSES Australian. Permanent resident.

15 yrs experience teaching business & other classes in Japan. Seeking part time classes during weekdays.

Email: george_all4one@yahoo.com FEMALE AMERICAN ENGLISH TEACHER 24-year old ALT seeking employment in the Kansai area, within commuting distance to Osaka.

Has a current working visa. Capable, upbeat, & experienced in the Jap school system, & w/ students of many ages. TEFL certified & good w/ young children. Conversational level Japanese.

Email: west.to.east.klh@gmail.com PRIVATE ENGLISH LESSONS IN OSAKAI am from America and I can teach you English. I am available for one hour lessons for 3,000¥ and one and a half hour group lessons from ¥5,000. Whether it is business English or conversational English, I am here to help. Let’s learn some English! E: Jmschwartz7@gmail.com JOB / SPONSOR I lived 3 yrs in Tokyo and then I moved back to Europe. Now I want to move again to Japan, so I m looking for a job or sponsor. I’m a Webdesigner & I can speak Jap, English, German and Italian. So if somebody can help me, feel free to contact me anytime.

Email: meia-dio@gmx.de

For Sale General NEED A GREAT BED 1 x single wooden bed w/ mattress. GREAT cond ¥3000. 1 x single bed that turns into a small couch - FANTASTIC for a small apartment! ¥3000 1 X Laminated Cabinet great cond ¥2000 Free blankets. Email for pics. Pick up from just near Daitokuji Temple Kyoto. E: laurenhadler@gmail.com

50 CLASSIFIEDS SAYONARA SALE NEAR UMEDA www.flickr.com/photos/supersayonara/ We are at Fukushima Stn on the JR loop line & only a 10 min walk from Umeda subway stn. www.flickr.com/photos/sup Email: alexiaberta@gmail.com Big Sayonara sale on now!

Everything avail for pickup between July 6-20th. Have furniture, appliances, bedding & other misc. items. For pics, check out my Facebook photo album (under the name ‘Laura Hitchon’) or picasaweb.google. com/102453057774347578284/ SAYONARASALE#. Willing to neg. http://picasaweb.google.com/ 10245305777 Email: laurahitchon@hotmail.com 11.5 WIDE NEW ROCKPORT SHOES Brand new never worn Brown 11.5 wide Rockport “ed” oxfords for sale.

I bought wide by mistake. Yours for ¥6000! E: brettgross13@gmail.com TENT FOR SALE MontBell Moonlight 5 tent w/ ground sheet & inner mat (sold separately) for sale. http://webshop.montbell.jp/goods/ disp.php?product_id=1122289 Good condition. ¥20,000. E-mail if interested. Email: porubado@ yahoo.co.uk BED FOR SALE - KYOTO Single bed for sale in Kyoto city. 1.5 yrs old. In very good cond. Spring mattress & steel frame bed. Must be sold/taken

by May 27. Only ¥3000 if you can pick up or ¥7000 if you want it delivered. Pics available on request.

Email: nami_n73n@i.softbank.jp WHITEBOARD 180 cm X 90 cm wallmounted whiteboard. It’s a bit dinged, so it will be cheap. Make an offer. Email: xxjsxx@hotmail.com HONDA GYRO UP 50CC SCOOTER 3-WHL It’s a Honda Gyro Up Kouki (latest body style) 3 wheeled 50cc scooter. Great for restaurants/bar/ business owners or for someone who cant get a car but needs space to store items as they travel. More info & pics at: http://osaka.craigslist. jp/mcy/3002739204.html Alvin 09096915832 Email: fsr20det@yahoo.com FOR SALE Panasonic lime green vacuum cleaner for sale. Handy & cordless. Comes w/ charger. ¥4000.

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012 Can send via COD. email for pics.

Email: lulu_plf@hotmail.com

(shipping cost is incl.) www.kscrs. com Email: info@kscrs.com

See website for details. http://forsaleosaka.webs.com/

23IN MONITOR Mitsubishi diamond crysta wide RDT231WM hdmi almost new hardly used 3 yrs old. Shipping incl. Email: mag6999@gmail.com CASIO EX WORD DICTIONARY Hey there, I am selling a CASIO EX WORD dictionary. The exact name is: XD-SW9400 I haven’t used it very often so it’s in a perfect condition.

Even kept the original packing. If you are interested, please drop me a message w/ your asking price.

Email: akarui@lavabit.com CANON 60D W/BOX & BAG I am selling one of our Canon 60d’s.

It was bought last June & we have 3 of them. This is the newest, & it was barely used. Comes w/ Box & extra camera bag. Price is ¥50,000 firm. Can meet in Osaka. chibimokuproductions@gmail.com BRAND SHOES, APPAREL, HANDBAGS www.addwholesale. com offers brand shoes, apparel, handbags & so on. Welcome to visit & buy, no MOQ and fast shipping. www.addwholesale.com E: lindafromchina@hotmail.com SAYONARA SALE Beautiful & valuable items to get for little money.

It’s in Kobe. Write an email & drop by! E: morisensei.07@gmail.com WORD PROCESSOR Sharp word processor w/printer, “Shoin Processor” WD-Y340, asking for ¥980 obo E-mail: speak6up@yahoo.co.jp APPLE IPHONE 4S-64GB 3G UNLOCKED It has the iOS 5 firmware version & introduces Siri, a personal voice assistant allowing you to vocally communicate w/ the iPhone. It comes w/ a 3.5” screen w/a resolution of 640 x 960, but on the inside there’s a twice more powerful dual-core A5 processor.

E: electronicstuffs@hotmail.com SURFBOARDS FOR SALE Superfish, funboards, longboard for sale. Send email for pics & prices.

E: AndyDunstan@rocketmail.com

ENGLISH SYSTEM LAPTOP FOR SALE Good system, perfect cond, never had any problems. Acer Aspire 5536 English OS, 15.6 HD, 2.1GHz Dual Core, 4GB, DVD Burner, WIFI, HDMI, ATI Radeon graphics, Webcam. ¥30,000 in Hyogo www.cnet.com.au/acer-aspi Email: philpar1@hotmail.com SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE GT-N7000 Network HSPA+ up to 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100, 4G LTEEDGE/ GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 Processor 1.4GHz Dual Core Processor. Display 5.3” WXGA (1280 x 800) screen* HDSuper AMOLED E: electronicstuffs@hotmail.com

FREE GIVEAWAYS! We did some upgrading on our furniture to accommodate a growing family so we are giving away for free the smaller/ lesser capacity stuff. Here they are: Washing mach (National NA-F42V5) & Shoe Cabinet. All in good cond for pick up near JR-Nagase (8-min walk from the stn). http://nagasefree.blogspot.jp/ E: higashiosakaresident@gmail.com SAYONARA GIVE AWAY Leaving in 2 mons, so Im giving away certain items & selling others. Pls check this link for pics: www.flickr.com/ photos/77954156@N06/ Items to be picked up not far from shinsaibashi.

Email: getfitin3months@gmail.com

Computers AFFORDABLE COMPUTERS ARE HERE Used laptop, tower computer, display are here. Super price!

Vehicles 2001 NISSAN LIBERTY WAGON Good general cond, not smoked in, 2.0L auto, economical to run, shaken, 7 seater, ABS, airbags, Navi, 78,000kms, alloy wheels w/ good tyres, roof bars, runs well, totally reliable, no accident history, good bodywork & engine. ¥140,000.

Email: junglegs750@hotmail.com 2008 YAMAHA BWS125 SCOOTER Four stroke engine w/ fuel injection, very economical (35kmL+), 11,000kms, very clean & reliable, good runner, screen, compulsory insurance incl, w/ extras eg.cover/lock/helmet/ toolkit/bar muffs etc. Y150,000.

Email: junglegs750@hotmail.com

Others BASKETBALL Want to buy a size 7 basketball in Kobe for ¥1000. Can meet at Sannomiya or somewhere close. Thanks. Max Email: gameosaka@gmail.com

Giveaways SAYONARA SALE Lots of Books, Women’s clothing/Shoes & Miscellaneous Household Goods for Very Low Price/Giveaway in Osaka.

Everything must go ASAP! Email: dwrivait@hotmail.com KANSAI SCENE I have over 100 Kansai Scene magazines dating back to 2000. Come & get them soon or they’ll go into recycling!

Pets 2 FREE KITTENS AVAILABLE END MAY Very cute kittens, one gray/ white, one tabby, blue eyes, born Mar 28th, avail end of May. Free to good home. Pick up in Yodogawaku. Samantha 090-4903-6249 Email: ep_osaka@hotmail.com ADOPT/FOSTER A CAT OR A DOG Japan Cat Network has cats & dogs rescued from Tohoku & from other areas of Japan. We are looking for loving responsible foster or adoptive homes. Contact us now to find a friend & save a life! Contact us also for help, if you want to do rescue or volunteer work in your community. http://japancatnet.com/ Email: anne@japancatnet.com

Announcements COOKING LUNCH BOX FOR A PICNIC Let’s cook a Jap lunch box & go for a picnic! Date: Jun 10, 10:15am Venue: Koshikiiwa Kominkan in Nishinomiya (Kurakuengushi stn.)

Fee: ¥800 Sign up by Jun. 6 For detail, contact Nishinomiya City International Association at 0798-32-8680 www.nishi.or.jp/homepage/nia Email: niasakura@ceres.ocn.ne.jp INDIAN COOKING LESSON Everybody Im doing indian cooking lesson in kyoto every month. Next

CLASSIFIEDS 51

jun 2012 | kansaiscene.com cooking lesson is on 10th of june. this time i gonna teach vegetarian cooking. Pls send email for booking. for more detail pls check my www. facebook.com/indocurry.lesson http://facebook.com/indocurry. lesson. E: indocurry@hotmail.com

BUY A SET OF WEATHER FLASHCARDS Selling a set of 6 large colourful weather flashcards for ¥2K plus shipping! These are originals & made by myself! The cards: Sunny, Windy, Rainy, Cloudy, Snowy & Stormy. You may contact me at 0909117-3901 or at yargow@hotmail.com MEET OTHER GAIJIN PARENTS During some relaxed events for parents & children, usually in Takarazuka or Nishinomiya. Check the calendar of upcoming events at kansaiparents.org & visit us one day.

MUSICIAN FOR MUSIC EVENT Music Event will hold at Pierrot Harbour on 23 June, & we are looking for musician & performers. Where is very famous entertainment place, & used by professional artists & TV shows. Pls feel free to contact us, if you interest our event. www2.odn.ne.jp/sugar-town/ Email: azuma36@gmail.com KANSAI BULLDOGS CRICKET CLUB We are looking for players for the new season w/ regular games in the Osaka & Kobe area. All equipment provided & players of all levels welcome. For some good quality but social cricket email us or call Jason on 09039957908.

Email: kansaibulldogs@gmail.com KANSAI CANADIAN ASSOCIATION Your Canadian Club in the Kansai...

The KCA (Kansai Canadian Assoc.) always welcomes all new members.

Visit our website at: www.kansaicanada.com GIANT INFLATABLE JUMPING CASTLE Rent a giant inflatable castle for your child’s birthday/event.

Call James at 090-9117-3901 or send & email. (kansai region) Email: yargow@hotmail.com LA FETE DE LA MUSIQUE A KOBE Cafe de Paris is looking for Musicians for: LA FETE DE LA MUSIQUE le 21 juin 2012 a KOBE. www.terrasse-deparis.jp for more infos: pls contact: parisjapon@yahoo.fr

www.terrasse-de-paris.jp Email: parisjapon@yahoo.com

Lang. Exchange HELLO OSAKA Iam man seeking lang exchange please help to improve my poor japanese I can teach you spanish we can meet up in namba after work or weekends.

E: treintaycinco350@yahoo.com ENGLISH - JAPANESE 28/M (Married) from New Zealand. I’m looking for a lang. exchange partner in Tennoji area. I speak a some Jap but would like to improve my skills, in return I can teach you English. If you are interested pls contact me.

Email: lynden.simon@gmail.com LOOKING FOR A TEACHER? I’m a flexible, easy-going native Eng teacher. I can teach private or group lessons in or near Minami. Any time, day, level, & topic! My lesson fee depends on the day, time & place, so pls contact me if you are interested!

Email: reachsatori@softbank.ne.jp FREE ENGLISH Let’s learn English while drinking. You take me out to the bar, cafe or izakaya. & I will teach you free English.

Email: seiyu32@yahoo.com LANGUAGE EXCHANGE! I’m a girl from Taiwan. Looking for language exchange partner in kobe! I can teach Mandarin Chinese. I’m interested in learning any languages! & Im so looking forward to make a lot of new friends here! So, feel free to contact me!

E: oo0_theone_0oo@yahoo.com.tw LAG. EXCH. (SPANISH-NIHONGO) I’ve just arrived to Japan. Want to increase Jap language skills. Im a girl from Argentina so im a native spanish speaker. If any Jap boy or girl is interested in learning some spanish I will be glad to exchange languages w/ you! I leave my email for contact. I live in Kyoto Email: dandysama@gmail.com LANG EXCHANGE & FRIENDSHIP British guy from near London & going to the olympics would like a sincere lady who is interested in England to exchange w/, Im calm & patient to help w/ your English. Im

free sometimes Sun & Mon. Email: uk1seaview@yahoo.ie

GOOD FRIENDS IN KANSAI Looking for lang. exchange mates.

I love talking w/ anyone from serious issues to silly jokes on the telly.

I am also glad to help people who learn Jap so hard through language exchange. & I guess it would be nice to get to meet Aussies Kiwis in Osaka area. E: Karintoprince@yahoo.com ENGLISH-JAP IN UMEDA-KOBE !

American teacher is looking for a Jap friend for lang exchange & friendship in Umeda & sometimes in Kobe. I hope to practice my Jap & help you w/ your English.

E: practicemyjapanese@asia.com LETS GET STARTED IN UMEDA !

Are you thinking of studying Jap? You are able to improve your JP abilities. Keep a positive attitude & do not hesitate to start it. Let’s study together in Umeda!

Email: aiming21@gmail.com LANGUAGE EXCHANGE I am a Jap guy, I am seeking people who wanna exchange lang. in Chinese Mandarin.

I like making friends too. So if anybody who wanna exchange lang, you can contact me by the following e-mail: stan@mandaringarden.org www.mandaringarden.org LET’S STUDY TOGETHER!! I(JF) & my friends are looking for English lang. exchange partner in Osaka. We can teach Jap for any level. Let’s enjoy for lang. exchange!

Email: rimim@hotmail.com LANGUAGE EXCHANGE IN KOBE I teach Jap, Japanese Kanji & you teach English by correcting my English. New Jap words & idioms I teach. Email: wakinohama123@ yahoo.co.jp LANG EXCHANGE I am looking for language exchange friends who would like join Lang. Exchange party. M/F anyone. Pls send me a friends request on facebook. www.facebook.com/kansaifriends Email: osakaneil@yahoo.com

Friendship MAN FOR WOMAN- GET TO KNOW ME! Do you remember romance?

Get to know me & in very short time

you will have it again! Not only that but you will become more attractive, cease ageing, achieve inner peace & possibly win the lotto! All this & more. Act now, all ages and races welcome. E: monyafeek@gmail.com

LOOKING FOR NICE GIRLS I’m a handsome Canadian guy just looking for some fun in Kyoto. Nice girls don’t hesitate to write me for more info.

Email: iparty66@gmail.com DATE Good looking Canadian guy seeking a kind nice looking woman (25-35 yrs old) to go out w/. Let’s enjoy the good things in life.

Email: iconoclastkansai@gmail.com LOOKING FOR A SINGLE MAN Who knows have a good time & mature. & who is looking for a good woman. I am in 30’s, honest Jap/f, open minded, fun loving, well traveld, giving personality, I’ll tell you more about me later. Pls be at least 30. http://hy832224@gmail. com Email: hr832224@gmail.com MAN FOR WOMAN! Mature & stylish western guy, 45, loves food & music, seeks romance w/ attractive, fun woman. Pic appreciated.

Email: exp513@gmail.com CUTE TEACHER SEARCHES F Are you looking for a caring & funny partner in Kansai. Here I am, friendly & tolerant, waiting for your reply. I like rock- music, literature, art & preparing tastful dishes. Would you write me? E: pemrr694@aol.com FRINDSHIP Gaijin Living in Kobe area Self Employed well to do, Im now spending two weeks a month at home. I am single & looking for Young Jap Female or Gaijin, I love Fun time & I will take care of all expenses. Please send e mail.

E: sydneyfunguy@hotmail.com KANSAI CANADIAN ASSOCIATION Your Canadian Club in the Kansai...

The KCA (Kansai Canadian Assoc.) always welcomes all new members.

Visit our website at: www.kansaicanada.com LOKKING FOR A FRIEND Straight man looking for a transvestite to be a good friend, if you live in around Nishinomiya it would be better. Let’s have a good time.

Email: behrooz66@hotmail.com

52 CLASSIFIEDS NICE M SEARCHES GIRLFRIEND Who wants to meet an interesting & cute M? I’m friendly and like good movies, cooking & history books.

I teach here & have also got some good humor. Pls write soon: Email: samege987@gmail.com LOOKING FOR FRIENDS I’m a Jap woman looking for friends who speak English in Osaka. I want to enjoy chatting at a cafe or a bar is also OK! I’m in my 20’s, like music, movies, travel. Let’s meet & have fun! E: oboroduki33@gmail.com HOLA Im honest happy man late 30s looking for female serious relationship if we match eachother we can build our future together I like music sports jap culture I will move to osaka next mon I speak spanish eng & a little jap we can exchange our lang. too if interested Email: pacalabe@yahoo.com COMING TO OSAKA AND KOBE Hello there. I am nice european white guy coming to Kobe & Osaka for job jewels fair next week. I am looking for girl or lady partner. I can host you at my hotel or I can come your house as you like. Mail me soon to schedule. Only clean & smart girls pls. E: ohorikoen@hotmail.com LONELY WM NEEDS CARING JF Friendly & kind WM, EuropeanAmerican mixed breed, abandoned from last owner, is looking for a caring & loving JF who wants to adopt me for life. Very clean, hardworking & faithful. Can understand easy Nihongo commands. No short time keeping pls.

E: lonelyinthebigcity@hotmail.com LOOKING FOR A YASASHI GIRL !

Friendly English teacher & businessman is looking of a Jap girl to go out for a chat & tea, or go windowshopping. Hope to get to know each other & start as friends first.

E: wannabewithyou@beatlesfan.com TALL & FUN SEEKING GIRL WANTED I’m a gentle, athletic & fun-seeking guy in late 30’s. Seeking a sexy, open minded lady from around 20-30.

Let’s drink &...

Email: papayaya@excite.co.jp FIND YOUR SOUL MATE Its time to find your real soulmate, I have found a great service, who main goals is to help every jap out there find there true SOULMATE now. I feel this is the best service for all those jap

kansaiscene.com | jun 2012 male & female who are struggling to find that special person. http://affiliates.cupid.com/sign Email: daniels@t.zaq.jp

LOOKING FOR A FEMALE FRIEND. A gaijin man who is cool, friendly, nature-lover, romantic, non-smoker, light-drinker, average-looking, late 30s, talkative, speaks enough Jap, loves Jap food, health-conscious, gentleman in nature, likes to meet a typical Jap girl to be friends & enjoy life. Email: bdggq788@yahoo.co.jp I WANT LOVE! Kind, gentle, funny Canadian man looking for love! I want only ONE woman to share romantic times together! Single or married OK. Do you want REAL love? Pls contact me!

Email: onelovekobe@yahoo.com ANY WF OUT THERE FOR DATES? Are there any WF out there for dates in Kansai region? Most of the ads here are placed by males & very few by women which is very depressing. LOL Just looking for a nice companion on off days. If interested, pls email me.

E: amaimonosuki@hotmail.com PARTY PEOPLE Looking for Jap & foreigner people who like to party and a social get together. Making new friends, sharing culture, food, hobby etc. Add me/message me on facebook. Email: kansaifriends@ facebook.com SPARRING PARTNER Looking for new sparring partners, Any art, any Gender, Nationality etc. Black belt level or equivalent only pls. I am second level Black belt In Wing Chun. http://youtu.be/USgJvRFeAd0 Email: d.i.p@live.co.uk SCUBADIVING Shall we go scuba diving to wakayama in summer, autumn?

E: matsuurahideo@hotmail.com LOOKING FOR A LADY Very good looking & stylish 47 yrs young western guy w/ a great sense for art, culture, nature & beauty looking for romance. You must be very attractive & self-confident. W/picture only.

Email: heyhowzgoin@gmail.com LOOKING FOR FRIEND IN OSAKA I live also in osaka since a fews yrs if you are a time during your day off we can spend time around osaka drink coffee I do also photography Im french guy 40 y/o good looking

blond bleue eyes & good education speak english & jap.

Email: brelbru@yahoo.fr

LOOKING FOR FUN IN KYOTO Very good looking and easy going Canadian male in Kyoto. I’m kind of new here, don’t know many people & Kyoto is pretty boring, so I’m looking to meet some nice girls &/ or also some guys who are same minded & like to go party & have a good time. E: iparty66@gmail.com DEAR GERMAN LADY IN OSAKA I am J-guy in 40s handsome warm kind & funny. I found your ad in this cllassified below & sent massage, but the mail address was not good so may mail was rejected. Plssend me your mail address if you see this Email: juso2010may@yahoo.co.jp SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP I’m pretty Jap lady who likes classical music (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, RimskyKorsakov etc.) & Western art (Renaissance, Art Nouveau ). I’m 36 y/o.

I hope serious relationship w/white gentleman who is engaged in professional work. No English teacher pls.

E: flower_garden1975@yahoo.co.jp WEST. GUY SEEK LADY TO TRAVEL Western guy nihongo hanaseru looking for a Jap girl for traveling together around Asia & do Art. Email: eigofox@gmail.com SEEKING WESTERN WOMAN For Friendship & more, to hang around, enjoy life for harmonious, discret relationship. Longer commitment. I’m trilingual scientist, JPNAmerican M, like to enjoy nature &zoo. Share intelligent talk on occasion. Humor, nice, easygoing, adventurous, music lover welcome. I won’t cheat you.

Email: benzene98@hotmail.com LOOKING FOR WOMAN FROM EUROPE Im french boy under 40 also from (caucassian type) good looking & presentation Im looking for only foreignier woman between 35/45 (only europeen type not jap) first to be friend, I leave in japan since fews years contact me if you interesting. E: mermazj@yahoo.com HELLO Im man single 39 y/o gaijin seeking serious relationship I will be in Osaka next month I like sports music travel onsen talk we can explore osaka together where one person live two can live too if inter-

ested send me a mail.

E: treintaycinco350@yahoo.com

SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP Lonley JF want to see only One Boyfriend (36-47) for serious & long term. I’m alone. Im quiet, calm, indoor type woman who likes coffee. Email: soluri@live.jp FRIENDSHIP AND MORE Blonde & Busty, German girl, 32y, looking for the right man, I am very open minded, interested in a lot of things & living in Osaka Email: rainbowgirl002@yahoo.com OSAKA Im man late 30s looking for nice honest female iam ready to get married we can start serious relationship first I like hanabi sakura Im honest serious person.

E: necnec61@yahoo.com RELAXED BUT BUSY IN KOBE Relaxed Married Black male (30) living in Kobe Chuo looking for a friend to hang out w/. M/F is ok & Asian/Westerner is ok. I don’t speak Jap but I am interested in learning & I have been English teaching for 4 yrs. I love bicycle riding, movies & food. E: camashtorcal@aim.com WALKING IN THE HILLS Living & working in Osaka since half a year I want to go exploring the nature in the hills. It would be wonderful if you like to join me! Let’s do some weekend tours together & in the summer go for the Fuji! Im 33 & I speak German, English & Spanish.

Email: Th.specht@gmx.de LOOKING FOR MATURE WOMAN ONLY Looking for a mature woman (married/not is ok) who s looking for nice moment whith a beautilful boy Im around 40 very nice looking speak jap & a little english to spend a nice relation for short time or long time is ok. E: caquoorene@ymail.com DURING THE DAY, WIFE CAN PLAY Offering English conversation in the day or evening for housewives.

My private lessons are fun. Im an American English teacher w/ 8 yrs daytime in home or cafe English teaching experience just for ladies.

Pls consult for more info E: myouken _mountain@softbank.ne.jp More KS classifieds online!

Because of space, we are unable to print all classified ads. Visit www. kansaiscene.com for more ads and to place your own.