Well, yesterday (Saturday, 2011 June 4), the Japanese version of the long-running American late-night comedy sketch TV show called “Saturday Night Live” debuted on Fuji TV here.
"Saturday Night Live, Japan"
I watched it and it’s similar to the U.S. version. Just like the American “Saturday Night Live”…it’s nothing special enough for a blog post.
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Also, I was reading this month’s issue of the Japanese heavy metal magazine “Burrn!“…
In the back of the magazine, there was an ad for a charity album for the earthquake / tsunami victims in northern Japan. It will be titled 「ワン・フォー・オール,オール・フォー・ワン~東日本大震災チャリティ・アルバム」 (“One For All, All For One…Sendai Earthquake Charity Album”).
And it is due to be released on 2011 June 22.
I couldn’t find a picture of the album cover online…but the picture in the magazine ad was of the Japanese flag. A similar album cover to the earlier Sendai charity album titled “Song For Japan“.
But, unlike that album, the “One For All…” album will have songs by heavy metal artists such as Sonata Artica, Fair Warning, Gotthard, Edguy, Soilwork, Riot, Harem Scarem and others.
Not enough info about that album is available yet to make an interesting blog post.
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Better than either of those stories is seeing my very cute turtle 「ルンルン」 (Lun-Lun) leaning on her favorite concrete block to dry off after a swim in her pool yesterday afternoon:
Isn’t she cute? She’s a 「草亀」 (“Chinese Pond Turtle”).
Do you have a pet? Have you ever had a pet turtle? If you want a turtle, I recommend the 「草亀」 (“Chinese Pond Turtle”)…they are very friendly and easy to care for.
お台場 (Odaiba) is a man-made island in Tokyo Bay that is most famous for the beautiful view that it offers of Tokyo’s skyline, the driverless train that connects the island to the downtown Tokyo, the shopping centers, the ferris wheel, the unique Fuji TV‘s headquarters, and the 自由の女神像 (Statue Of Liberty) there.
Fuji TV head-quarters
「自由の女神像」 (Statue Of Liberty) at Odaiba
Also, in お台場 (Odaiba) is the “Himiko” Tokyo Cruise boat that looks like a spaceship.
It was designed by the famous anime artist 松本零士 (Leiji Matsumoto).
"Himiko" Waterbus ship
My wife and I bought some 持ち帰り (take-out) 牛丼 (rice and beef) from the “Yoshinoya” Japanese ‘fast-food’ restaurant and a couple beers from a convenience store and had lunch near the “Himiko” ship.
From there, we went to the nearby 潮風公園 (Shiokaze Park).
This park is popular for family barbeques (BBQ). You don’t even need to bring anything to have a BBQ there…you can rent everything you need: utensils, plates, charcoal*, and even the food* (*the charcoal and food are sold…not rented, of course).
The reason that we went to this park today was because they have displayed an “actual size” 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) robot! It stands 18 meters (59 feet) high!
This 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) robot is on display in Odaiba until August 31 in honor of the 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) anime series’ 30th anniversary. (The anime debuted in 1979).
When we went there today they were still working on the “actual-size” robot, but it looked about finished.
Here are some of the photos I took:
Also, last year at 上井草駅 (Kami-Igusa train station) in Tokyo (not far from 新宿 (Shinjuku, Tokyo). there is a brass statue about three meters tall of the same 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) robot.
The reason this statue was built there is because the anime studio that draws 「ガンダム」 (Gundam) has their headquarters there in 上井草 (Kami-Igusa).
「ガンダム」 ("Gundam") statue in front of 上井草駅 (Kami-Igusa Stn).
In a recent post I mentioned a TV show that I really enjoy called「欽ちゃん＆香取慎吾の全日本仮装大賞」 (Kinchan & Shingo Katori’s All-Japan Costume Talent Contest)…(Click here to read it.)
But that show is only on air twice a year.
There are a number of shows that I enjoy watching every week.
Let me introduce you to a few of them…
伊藤政則のＲＯＣＫ ＣＩＴＹ (Masa Itoh’s Яock City) 毎週金曜 午後２４時４５分～２５時１５分 (Every Friday night (Saturday AM) at 12:45 – 1:15AM) on TVK Yokohama.
Masa Itoh is a famous heavy metal critic. He works for Burrn! magazine (Click here to see my post about this magazine) and has his own TV that introduces new metal albums and concerts coming to Japan, and shows interviews that Masa Itoh does with musicians, as well as music promotion videos.
Many American and European heavy metal bands list Masa Itoh‘s name in their album liner’s “Thank you” lists.
テレビチャンピオン (TV Champion) 毎週木曜 午後７時５７分～８時５４分 (Every Thursday at 7:57 – 8:54PM) on TV Tokyo.
Every week they have experts in one field or another (such as chefs, carpenters, artists, etc) compete to see who is the best.
走れ！ポストマン (Run! Postman Run!) 毎週日曜 午後10時～ (Every Sunday at 10:00PM) on Tokyo Broadcasting Systems (TBS).
This show has a celebrity act as a postman to try to track down and deliver a letter or gift to someone who has touched the life of that week’s guest but they lost contact for one reason or another.
One week, for example,because of this show a woman whose mother is Japanese and father is American managed to get in contact with her long-lost father who had returned to America when she was young.
天才！志村どうぶつ園 (Shimura’s Zoo) 毎週土曜 午後7時～ (Every Saturday at 7:00PM) on Nihon TV (Nittre).
パン君＆ジェームズ (Pan-kun & James)
They show some amazing and interesting animals. Most popular segments include a celebrity help a different animal that has hardship (such as a baby panda whose mother tried to kill when it was born, and became handicapped because of it)…and also the popular パン君＆ジェームズ (“Pan-kun the chimpanzee and his pet bulldog James”) (pictured above) who have many adventures together. Both Pan-kun and James are very intelligent.
Watch this clip of one episode of the adventures ofパン君＆ジェームズ (“Pan-kun and James”):
知っとこ！ (Sittoko!) 毎週土曜 午前7時半～９時２５分 (Every Saturday at 7:30-9:25AM) on 毎日放送 (MBS).
It’s a live morning variety show. It always ends with the segment called 「世界の朝ごはん」 (World Breakfast) in which they feature a different city in world and introduce a bit of that city / country’s culture and then they introduce a local newlywed couple and the wife cooks an average breakfast for that city. And then the show’s hosts try some of the featured food.
サンデージャポン (Sunday Japon) 毎週日曜 午前10時～ (Every Sunday at 10:00AM) on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS).
A live morning program in which they show and discuss the week’s biggest news stories.
奇跡体験！アンビリバボー (Miraculous! Unbelievable!) 毎週木曜 午後7時57分～ (Every Thursday at 7:57PM) on Fuji TV.
This show is on at the same time as 「テレビチャンピオン」 (“TV Champion“) that I mentioned above so I have to always chose to watch one or the other. 😦
This show features stories of people around the world who have survived near-death experiences as well as other surprising or shocking stories. It’s always fun to watch when they show the surveillance-camera footage of robbery attempts by bungling-burglars!
ナニコレ珍百景 (What the…? A hundred unusual scenes) 毎週水曜 午後7時～8時54分 (Every Wednesday at 7:00 – 8:54PM) on TV Asahi.
They show unusual or strange things things around the country (Japan) that viewers submitted the information about.
世界の果てまでイッテＱ！ (To The Ends Of The World) 毎週日曜19時58分～20時54分 (Every Sunday at 7:58 – 8:54PM) on Nihon TV (Nittre).
On this show, a Japanese celebrity accepts a challenge to go to a foreign country and participate in some unusual part of their culture.
Here’s a clip from one episode that I watched when it aired a while back. It has a Japanese comedian named Daisuke Miyagawa travel to England to join in a cheese-rolling festival.
He actually manages to come in second place…but sprains his ankle in the process.
The whole Japanese cast has a laugh at the end because an English newspaper shows his name as Daisuki Miyazawa. (The typo in his first name is funnier than the one in his last…because his name is 大輔 (Daisuke), but the English newspaper wrote Daisuki which is 大好き (love) in Japanese.)
My favorite member of the cast of this show is a comedian called Imoto.
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Do you live in Japan? Have you ever seen any of these shows? I recommend them if you have a chance to watch them.
What types of shows do you like watching? What’s popular in your country?
Tokyo Five 
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