Today, there was a very rare rugby match, New Zealand vs Australia, at Tokyo Olympic Stadium.  The game was very interesting with a lot of present of 45,000 people.  New Zealand won.

This is a top rugby game of the world. I don’t know why this game was held in Japan instead of NZ or AUS.  Such a popular game should be a profitable game for either country, so I wonder why.

Anyway,  for Japanese fans, it’s very exciting to have experience to see such a top level game.

In Japanese rugby games, most popular game is a college game, Waseda University vs Meiji University.  This game gathers more than 50,000 present every year.  This game is certainly popular, while so, it’s a college game and the watchers are mostly students or graduates of both universities. This doesn’t simply show rugby popularity in Japan.

When I was a student, I loved rugby very much.  To my joy, at that time Frence National Team came to Japan for some test matches. Blanco, the strong fullback player,  was playing in the team, which made me excited to see. 

But the present people then were only 15,000 or so.  Japanese team also had a good standoff player,  Yuji Matsuo.  So the number of present was a little disappointing.

Compared to that time, the fans numbers are absolutely increasing.  Today’s fans really got excited to see 2 teams play although it’s not  a Japanese team game.

Japan got the world cup country right in 2019, or 10 years later.  We hope there would be more rugby fans in Japan then, and like today, I want to see them to get excited at good play scenes no matter which team is playing in front of them.

Noriko Sakai has been a pure image idol for a long time in Japanese entertainment industry, or on the media. To our tremendous surprise, she was arrested under the stimulative drug use several months ago.

This happening made a big impact on Japanese people, who believed Noriko Sakai to be the idol with purity. Her husband was found on the street and was asked by a police officer, then he behaved strange.  Police officer soon noticed his drug career, but he insisted on calling his wife, Noriko Sakai, on the phone.

Soon after the call from her husband, Noriko Sakai came up there and police officer also asked her about drug.  Noriko Sakai then escaped from there and didn’t appear for some days after that.

During her escaping time, her drug use was also proved. She suddenly became the criminal from a national idol star.

 Noriko Sakai is now attending the court. She seems to say that she would quit entertainment business as a star, and she is thinking to be a helper for elder people.

Her broken image will not recover soon. She needs to pay much for the play she did with drugs.

During this happening,  many of  Japanese became not to believe in people of the entertainment business more or less. Also the media is not doubt if they are telling the truth or not because many hidden facts about Noriko Sakai splashed out after this.

She said she didn’t have sisters or borthers, but as a a fact, her brother was also arrested under the same crime, drug use.

And among internet talks, they say that many of her family members’ names are reported as Korean names, not Japanese names, which means she and her family are hidden Korean in Japan.  Also several members of her family are said to be Yakuza members ( Japanese Mafia) by the internet sites or blogs.  For the correct information, we should wait for the judgement because the internet talks sometimes includes false information, but a lot of rumors like these suddenly poped out at this time.

Once people get arrested, real names and profession are often published in the media. This time, as far as I know, her brother’s case was reported on the Yahoo news and many came to know the real career of Noriko Sakai.

But probably not many will blame her of her hidden career.  Most important bettray to fans in Japan is, without a doubt, use of drugs for such a long time.

Now she is not expected to appear on the TV again.  However, many expect her to be one of the social members, who can contribute to our society.

Okinawa is a very beautiful resort island of Japan. When looking back the history of Okinawa, it’s a history of war and tragedy.

Okinawa was a final battle place in 2nd world war. Japan protected against the US navy around Okinawa not to allow the US navy to come to mainland Japan. Okinawa without reasons became a land of tragedy. The US navy tried to land on Okinawa and had serious battle against Japanese troops there.  This battle caused casualties over 250,000 people of Okinawa in spite that Okinawa didn’t want to fight. 

After the war, Okinawa needed to accept American Air Force base by the decision of Japanese government against Okinawa’s expectation.  Japanese government could not refuse the USA’s order about the Okinawa base, but again, people of Okinawa was sacrificed under the name of war.

The base of the USA is still in Okinawa, and the argument on necessity of the base has no conclusion every year.  People of Okinawa request the removal of American base each year, and they want the peaceful island back to their own hands.  ]

This matter would probably take so long time to solve.

Today, a news tells that this discussion between Japan and US are still being held but no compromising result seems to be seen now.  I’ve heard same kind of news about Okinawa since I was born.  I also feel sorry for people of Okinawa, but they in Okinawa are the real victim of war and world power game.

Sita, the leading role girl of Laputa, is probably the ideal girl for Japanese people. She is strong, modest, and pretty, also she cares people and nature.

She is expressed as a pretty girl firstly, but in the end, she has both pretty character and decisive minded character. She has love to people but she does not forgive evil. She tries to save her friends but it means she saves the world.

She has all the characters the Japanese traditionally want.

I think the character is not only for Japanese but also for all the people, adult, children, boys and girls.

That’s the way Miyazaki’s films attract all kind of people in the world.

He never expresses the IMPOSSIBILITY in the story.  Story itself is a fiction and a dream like one, but the substantial roles of casting are always based on the actual people, or on the concept what the people should be.

He draws great animation as art, but his story also makes his films great arts together with the perfect animations.

Probably, I’m not interested in children’s thoughts or their way of life,  as an adult, I can enjoy his works very deeply and it reminds me of the purest mind of my childhood. That’s a real amazing experience.

 Japanese animation is becoming more popular in the world.  Animation is called ANIME in Japan just like a nickname, but this nickname is also becoming world wide standard when fans mean Japanese animation.

Among Japanese animation works, there are some very high quality works as Hayao Miyazaki’s works, who won many prizes in the world including academy award of the USA. His works are admired not only by the Anime fans in Japan but by all of the nation of Japan.  He is a god of animation of Japan.

But….the standard anime style are still like small fan groups entertainment. There are so many new and old works of Anime, of course, Anime fans follow many of the Anime works.  The rest of the Japanese don’t know them all. Often Anime fans in Japan are regarded as strange type of people because they focus only on Anima world life like closed world, and they love drema story in the animation. So standard Japanese don’t understand why Anime fans are so enthusiastic about their dream world.

Anime fans COSPLAY style is also unfamiliar to standard people in Japan. They can’t understand why fans spend much money in the costume and display in front of people. ( COSPLAY is born by Costume Play ) 

However, more interestingly, the cosplay has become world fashion now.  Cosplay summit is held in Japan annually with many cosplay lovers from the world. They are all enjoying the Costume Play World just like Anime dream !

Many of the Japanese still don’t understand this new pop culture, while they ignore the strrange anime fans, the fans alreay became international.

Anime fans or cosplay fans are still minority in Japan. But the fans in the world are not small numbers and they don’t feel minority because they contact each other over boudary of countries. 

It’s really a global standard time.  Anime probably became the global standard for same type of people, who like to live in a dream world.

Laputa, or the English title, Castle in the Sky, is probably my most favourite work of Hayao Miyazaki. First of all, I watched this movie when I was young, maybe in the middle 20′s, so all the impression I got was fresh and unforgettable. Timing was good to see this for me. Of course this movie still tells me a lot, but the first impression was right still too.

I can tell many things about Laputa, but little by little, I want to explain my feeling about his works.

Laputa idea was probably quoted from British old story or something ( sorry I don’t know) because I’ve seen such an article before. There is a famous British person in Japan who lives in Japan more than 20 years, he gave his lovely comment about this moive that he remembered his hometown, Wales of Britain. He praised this movie as he got a dream he always has in his mind from this movie. He is of course an adult, but it’s not unusual that a grown man has such a comment at Miyazaki movies. Miyazaki works are not only for kids but more for adult persons.

Laputa is a lovely and dreaming story for me, too.

What does Laputa mean for me or us ?

Is it our heart of good and bad, love or evil ?

Laputa is expressed a dreamland firstly, but it is finally destroyed by sincere boy and girl when Laputa is about to be controlled by human evil.

When Laputa dissapears, there is no tear, there is no regret, but there is a confirming justice.

Dream of Laputa is destroyed but reality of love, real humanity comes out from that ending.

Laputa tells me more and more when I see again and again.

This story continues…

It started when I was about 25 years old. I saw ” Castle in the Sky”.

That was an unusual experience because I did not like animation at all until then, but the movie I saw was beyond my comprehension to animation. Hayao Miyazaki’s movie was not only a beautiful animation but a high standard movie with strong message for adults too.

I had been thinking animation is like a toy for kids, but it was my mistake. His animation is a work of art. Of course children also can enjoy his animation. On the other hand, his animation movies give us adults a kind of basic sense of humanity.

First of all, Hayao Miyazaki is the greatest animation creator in Japan. With no doubt, I think, this is true and it will not change in the future. I, like all the average Japanese, am always waiting for his new movie to come out. It’s a thrilling experience all the time to see his new art works.

His animation is beyond the art, it’s like what only the genius can bring it into being. Pictures, stories, and the concept are always stimulating to our brain and also heartwarming.

His works bring us what we usually forget in the daily life, but everyone surely has. It’s a refreshing surprise and tear-dropping moment too.

I’m very much influenced bu his works and life concept. Here it’s my pleasure to write about his works as myself grows with them day by day.

Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Princess Mnonoke ( Mononoke Hime) was released in 1997.  That’s 10 years ago but the quality of the film still remains the same without getting old.

Pricess Mononoke was really a total masterpiece in plot, art, and fusion of the talent.

Staff of Hayao Miyazaki film team went to Yakushima island situated close to the Kyushu island before making this film and they tried to get the image of ancient forest.

Yakushima island still keeps its original forest without humans invasion. A lot of eco tours seems to be popular there. If Princess Mononoke gives you a hint of Japanese culture and god of nature, it might be a good idea to visit this island someday.

Lupin the 3rd is a very famous and popular Japanese manga or animation series. First of all it started as Manga books but later it expanded into films as the popularity becomes high.

Among the films, the most famous and popular one is ” Lupin the 3rd, Castle of the Cagliostro”.  Some may know that this was the first work by the director Hayao Miyazaki.  He was not meant to be this director but the intended director lost his attention into this work and Hayao Miyazaki took place.

Actually Hayao Miyazaki changed some styles of this animation. In this movie, Lupin is drawn as a nice middle aged man, but in the previous series, Lupin was like a hardboiled dandy guy, who makes girls cry and kills people drastically.  Also the remarks of Lupin became more like comical and gave the audience much laughter.

As a fact, some of the old fans did not like Miyzaki’s type but new fans were born by this Miyazaki director’s flavour.

 Now this movie, Castle of Cagliostro, is regarded as the top work of Lupin or more than that, and it’s like animation lover’s holly bible. It’s funny, active, comical, full of humorous words and expression of characters.  This should be the dawn of Japanese animation into new era, and it was done by the genius animator, Hayao Miyazaki.

At the time of this work, Hayao Miazaki was not known well.  So it’s really surprising to see the interview film at the time.  The voice-over actors were more famous than Miyazaki, so interviewer asked many things to them, not to Miyazkai !  Only one question was made to Miyazaki but it was really stupid question and Miyazaki answered ” I don’t know “.

If the same interview was held, absolutely the interviewer makes questions to Hayao Miyazaki only.

Probably the biggest interest of tourists to Japan is having Japanese food while they stay. In Tokyo, or in Japan anywhere,  there are numerous Sushi restaurants in various types. Most of them are good in taste, but if you search for ultimate Sushi of Japan, you should see the popurarity ranking of Sushi restaurants in Tokyo.

Many of the popular Sushi restaurants selected by Japanese are traditional type of Sushi restaurants. Now Sushi is arranged in many style like California style or Chinese style too. But for Japanese, the traditional Sushi made by professional Sushi Chef is the most favourite.

Please check the next Sushi restaurants. All of them are traditional but actually they are selected as top 10 popular restaurats in Tokyo by tour magazine readers of Japan.

1. Sushi Karaku  2. Ginza Kyubei  3.  Umegaoka Midori Souhonten  4.  Roppongi Bintokona  5.  Tsukiji Sushi Dai   6.  Kagurazaka Futaba  7. Akihabara Sushi Chaya GInyu   8. Koutouku Kitasuna Umisachi  9. Sushi dokoro Ginza Fukusuke Honten  10.  Tsukiji Edogin Honten

Above Sushi restaurants are all famous but maybe a little expensive. Ginza or Tsukiji area restaurants are rather close to center of Tokyo and easier to try.