Month: June 2012

Rakugo 落語

Rakugo (落語, literally “fallen words”) is a form of entertainment based on monologues. The rakugoka (the person who does monologues) sits in a seiza position on a zabuton in front of the public and tells funny short stories. Normally the stories/jokes follow a similar patter in which two main characters go through an experience together or discuss/talk about some topic. The rakugoka changes the voice tone depending on the character he is interpreting. The stories usually end with an ochi, a culminating moment in which the moral of the story and the funny part of the joke is unveiled.

Last month I had the chance to attend a rakugo performance. The rakugoka made my imagination fly and he made me have an enjoyable and entertaining time, but for some reason I didn’t fully understand why the jokes were funny. Everybody was laughing but me!

A video so you can have an idea of how a rakugo performance is.

Manga

Thermae Romae

Post author By ageekinjapan
Post date June 9, 2012

Thermae Romae (テルマエ・ロマエ) is one of the few manga that I am following at the moment; I read it as soon as new volumes are released. The good thing is that volumes are released months apart from each other, so it’s easy to follow. It started being only a single manga but lately anime adaptations and even a live-action movie have been released.

The main character is Lucius Modestus, a Roman architect that one day finds a thermae in which he can travel through time and appear in an ofuro in present day Japan. The plot plays with the different possibilities that Lucius has by bringing ideas and technologies back to ancient Rome. I love the kind of imagination that the mangaka Mari Yamazaki has and the funny situation that happen in the most appropriate times.

These are some photos of the invasion of merchandising based on the manga and the movie:

Termae Romae
Take a picture of yourself with Lucius body. Using the QR code you can get the first volume for free.

Bath salts

Termae Romae
The movie

Termae Romae

Termae Romae
T-shirts

Manga and books. Termae Romae
Manga volumes and books about the manga.

Termae Romae
Compilation of the 100 best ofuros in Japan according to Lucius.

Termae Romae

The main characters in the movie are played by Aya Ueto and Hiroshi Abe. The movie is not bad but I was hoping more from Aya Ueto 🙂

Aya Ueto and Hiroshi Abe. Termae Romae

Gadgets

7.25 Million iPhones Were Sold in Japan During 2011

Post author By ageekinjapan
Post date June 7, 2012
1 Comment on 7.25 Million iPhones Were Sold in Japan During 2011

The Apple iPhone strengthened last year its position as the best-selling smartphone in Japan. During 2011 7.25 million iPhones were sold, reaching a 30% of the smartphone market share. Approximately 5.7% of the Japanese population bought a new iPhone last year. Impressive numbers!

The iPhone is the best-selling smartphone but if you look at the data of which operating system is dominating the market you can see that 69% of Japanese smartphones uses Android. On the other hand, “traditional” Japanese keitai still control 43% of the general cell phone market in Japan, where Sharp and Fujitsu sell almost as many keitais as Apple sells smartphones.

It seems like yesterday when the first iPhone was launched in Japan but it’s been almost four years now.

Via: Engadget.