The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has 3,000 Japanese woodblock prints from the Edo period (1600–1868). These “pictures of the floating world”or ukiyo-e feature famous beauties, Kabuki actors, landscapes, floral studies, heroes, and spirits. The collection includes work by masters like Harunobu, Kiyonaga, Utamaro, Shunsho, Sharaku, Toyokuni, Hokusai, and Hiroshige. Some of the best prints are on exhibit through January 8, 2012, along with the work of modern artists inspired by them.
Cute Aimi Eguchi (above) is a member of the Japanese girl group AKB48. She’s also a computer product, completely digital. The cybersongstress was created by sampling the attributes and actions of other singers in the group, synthesizing “Aimi,” then uploaded the result to the adoring public, who regarded her as another aidoru (アイドル), a pop idol. Now they know she’s a digital diva, but they dig it.
When the space shuttle Discovery (STS-133) visited the International Space Station (ISS), the Japanese robotic space freighter KOUNOTORI2 was already up there, and the station crew moved it to an alternate location. Discovery left for earth, and the crew moved the freighter back to the original port to continue working. When the earthquake struck Japan, the Japanese space program’s ground control station at Tsukuba was evacuated due to power failure and shortages of fuel and water. Photos indicate some interior damage, but there are no reports of injuries. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has passed control of the space station’s Kibo module to NASA ground facilities in Houston and Huntsville. The unmanned Japanese supply ship remains at the ISS and scheduled work with it has been postponed.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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This week’s big story in sports is the sumo wrestling scandal. It’s heavy: sumo wrestlers weigh in at over 300 pounds. The scandal: athletes have been fixing matches for Yakuza gangsters in return for cash payoffs. The repercussions: the grand tournament of Japan’s national sport has been cancelled for the first time since World War II.
Image (“Say It Ain’t So, Sumo, after Utagawa Kuniyoshi”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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You may have heard that Sony is hitting “erase” on the Walkman cassette player, stopping sale of the machine that started the personal portable music era 30 years ago. Not quite.
Sony has stopped producing and selling the cassette players in Japan, reports Shan Li in the Los Angeles Times, but at this time there are no plans to stop sales in the U.S.A.
Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated the eastern coast of Japan yesterday in advance of predicted tsunamis. Powerful waves were anticipated, produced by the massive earthquake that struck Chile, on the other side of the Pacific. Japan, always attentive to seismic events, had just been struck by a strong temblor of its own in the Ryukyu Islands, near Okinawa.
Relieved officials of Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued a downgraded tsunami alert Sunday evening after the waves were milder than expected. Officials cautioned that tidal swells of up to 6 feet were still possible. NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had cancelled a similar warning for Hawaii, where initial seismic-reaction waves reached about 3 feet tall.
Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Japan has declared the huge Hummer H3 automobile environment- friendly. Buyers of the 4700- pound behemoth will now receive a 250,000 yen ($2,780) subsidy. How did Japan’s Trade Ministry make Hummers “green?” Not by technological wizardry. Japan simply lowered environmental standards to avoid a trade war with the U.S.A.
The government of Japan is on the verge of establishing a national “Manga Museum” celebrating manga (comicbooks or “graphic novels”), anime (animated films and videos), video games and technology art. The proposed new National Center for Media Arts would be built in Tokyo by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, bunkachō).
There are indications that Tokyo’s prestigious Meiji University plans to open an amine/manga museum, but it is unclear whether the new government effort is in aid of the Meiji U project or would supplant or compete with it.
Flu Facts Public Health Posts. Second in a series. A public service of NotionsCapital.com
Disclaimer:This blog post is not intended to substitute for the advice of qualified physicians, parents, pharmacists, licensed health-care professionals or Japanese culture specialists. Contact your health care provider if you suspect you have a medical problem, and remoce shoes before stepping on tatami mats.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
