Kelsey in Japan and Hard Gay Ramen

Here’s a humorous video by Kelsey in Japan. She describes herself as “rather fond of having fun” and recently blogged about 25 Random Things About Me…in Japan, one of which is her being semi-obsessed with Hard Gay. Although he’s not on TV much recently, Kelsey really loves it when he does his dance thingy and shouts “Fu-hoo!”

Check out the video and please feel free to comment. There are probably a few scenes that would never make it on air in various countries. Also, be sure to show Kelsey in Japan some love and check out her blog. Fu-hoooooooooooooo!

What’s the Difference?

Many BT’er know that I love comedy and have a pretty thick skin but I just received an email/rant asking me why I took umbrage to the Tunnels and DJ Ozuma’s Yajima Beauty Salon CM campaign and follow-up PR stunt. You can read my previous posts on the subject but the bottom line is that I am tired of having certain performers or corporations in Japan continue with their BS ways of trying to dis’ on the DL. Maybe they think that no one will complain about it.

Japan Sugoi reports on Japanese singer Yasushi Nakanishi that started his career as a Stevie Wonder impersonator. Here is a guy that respects the music and image of another person:

Yasushi Nakanishi is a very popular 47 year old Japanese singer from Nara prefecture with 18 singles from 1992-1999 and 12 albums from 1992-2007.  The height of his popularity was in the late 1990s and many Japanese people will be familiar with his songs (ask them to sing karaoke for you).  Yasushi  attempted a comeback since 2005 releasing 3 albums Proceed,  Standards and Standards2.

Before he became a professional singer, Yasushi had been an amateur singer at university performing many songs by Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel. In 1986, Yasushi had even been hired by Japanese record labels to be a Japanese Stevie Wonder impersonator and appear on Japanese TV shows.

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See, nothing wrong with that picture. Pure POSITIVITY!

Yajima Beauty Salon – More Stupid Sh*t!

Tunnels and DJ Ozuma are back for more shadiness but I guess one way to revive a career is to do something out of the box or attempt to push the buttons of others. Click here for the original story on Yajima Beauty Salon. It may help to familiarize yourself with this CM before reading the post below. 

Many thanks to James at Japan Probe for posting this:

“Fuji TV has shown me that Yajima Beauty Salon, the comedy group that impersonates black women from Nevada, can do more than just sing. A clip from last night:

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Things that they did inside the Fuji TV building:

• Spoke in stupid fake broken Japanese with random Engrish words thrown in.
• Tried to steal a digital television.
• Pulled out a gun and shot a Japanese comedian.

Update: A lot of the comments on this thread have shown offense at this comedy act. I suggest that you make your voices heard by sending complaints to the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO). Use the online form on this page. Instructions (translation) on how to complete the form is here. Here is the number if you want to call Fuji TV and complain: 03-5531-1111

-Thanks to Ponta for providing the information on how to send a complaint!

Kimono Girl

Learn Japanese

Yajima Biyoshitsu

The talented and sometimes funny owarai duo, Tunnels, have recently hooked-up with DJ Ozma (former Kishidan band leader) to form and produce a temporary female trio called Yajima Biyoshitsu (Yajima Beauty Salon). The female trio is actually the three men in drag. Here is the official website.

The Yajima Biyoshitsu new song ties into a new Lotte chewing gum commercial (the CM schedule can be found here) starring actress Masami Nagasawa. The debut song, “Nihon no Mikata – Nevada Kara Kimashita,” debuted on TV the day before and saw a reportedly 14,000 chaku-uta (ringtone) downloads in the hour after its premiere, taking the #1 spot on the Recochoku daily charts.

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Now I do not mind comedy but I do mind the direction that the group, Avex and Lotte took in putting this commercial together.

According to the story line, the trio is supposedly made up of a family from Nevada, consisting of a 36-year-old former stripper named Margaret Yajima (played by DJ Ozma) and her two daughters, the 17-year-old Naomi and the 11-year-old Strawberry both played by Tunnels. The mother a.k.a. Black Bolt (her stage name at the shake joint) brought her daughters to Japan to look for their father, a Japanese barber or beautician named Yajima. 

I worked with the Tunnels twice in the late 90′s and their current comedy to me is mediocre at best. These guys are known for pushing the envelope or being over-the-top when it comes to stereotypes. To see DJ Ozma come out of retirement to do this gig is sort of a disappointment since I have been a fan of his since he was a leading the band Kishidan. Additionally, I have done a print, television and internet campaign for Lotte’s restaurant chain, Lotteria. 

Now unlike the Gosperats, no black face is involved in this current CM and it seems that men (on television) dressing up as women in Japan is sort of a norm. What I find extremely distasteful is the description of the faux black women, the implied teenage pregnancy and the husband that left the US (his family and his business) to return to Japan. What’s up with that?!

Black in Japan with a Yo-Yo

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Remember the yo-yo? It was the rave back in day. Anyway, this guy, Black, is pretty entertaining! He even puts one of my favorite comedians to the test. Gotta love those Japanese TV shows.

The Japanese Tradition: Sushi

Here is an interesting video on eating sushi in Japan. The video is in Japanese with English subtitles. Note that the subtitles are not an exact translation of the spoken Japanese and thus can serve as a great resource to help you practice your translation skills.

Gambatte!

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Who’s the boss?

A friend of mine was stuck on stupid when he commented on the “submissive” Japanese woman. My favorite Japanese comedian, Shimura Ken, shows wears the pants in the house.