Jukebox Friday: Another Trip to Japan.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for Japanese music. Here's another batch of videos:

"Love Message" by The Possible:


"Robo Kiss" by W, a Morning Musume side project:


And just to show that there's more to popular music in Japan than bouncy girl groups (not that there's anything wrong with that at all), here from 1965 is Akira Fuse and the Blue Comets with "Do the Clam":

The Last of the Famous International Playgirls.

Now THIS is a TV show I wish I could have seen. It's the Japanese series "Playgirl Q," which ran from 1974-1976. It was a sequel to the more famous "Playgirl" and starred Sawa Tamaki, Azuma Michi, Hagiwara Mimi, Kathy Nakajima, Nakamura Akiko and Ikeshima Ruriko. Think of it as a Japanese "Charlie's Angels," but cooler. Here are the opening and closing credits (watch out for boobies!):


[via TV in Japan.]

Dog and Chimp Level Downtown Tokyo. Film at 11.

The dog and chimp in question are Japanese television sensations Pankun and James. Here they are cosplaying as Ultraman and a giant monster rival.


Check out more of their antics here.

[via TV in Japan.]

Commercial Breaks.

Some more fun with television advertising!

From Chicago comes Moo and Oink:


From Japan comes Sangaria:

[via Japan Probe.]

From a much cooler era comes Salvador Dali, the corporate shill:

[via PCL LinkDump.]

And finally, from the Land of Fuck You (a.k.a. Baltimore) comes Big Bill Hell:

Jukebox Friday: Back to Japan.

Let's get busy with some more Japanese pop, shall we?

Perfume - "Secret Secret"


Bonnie Pink - "So Wonderful"


Riki - (Sorry, don't know the title):

1,000 Hands of Mercy.

From Japanese TV, this Chinese dance troupe performs a spectacular dance for Senju Kannon, the thousand-armed goddess of mercy:

Jumping Someone Else's WTF.

This clip has been making the blog rounds in the past few days, so I present it to you as well. Who am I to buck a trend?

Anyway, here it is without comment, because it's better that way...

"You Have Such Good Manners For a Zombie."

Leave it to the Japanese to combine gaming with stand-up comedy.



[via TV in Japan.]

Jukebox Friday: Big Japanese Megapost.

Here's a bunch of videos that have only two things in common -- they're cool, and they come from Japan.

"Early Riser" by Plus Tech Squeeze Box:


"Wake Up Dodo" by the Pillows:


A live TV performance by Maywa Denki using a bunch of homemade instruments:


"Brightdown" by Takami Nami:


"Akero" by Hifana feat. Twigy:


"Boys Be Stylish!" by Boystyle:


And finally, a trio of songs from the punk goddesses of 54 Nude Honeys. Unfortunately, embedding is not allowed. Bastards!

Marketing, Japanese Style.

Television advertising is crazy enough, but leave it to Japanese TV to take it to another level.

Here's something you won't see advertised in America: toilets. With big singing mascots:


Frying pans never looked so fun:


The girl group Perfume urges you to recycle:


And finally... Beware! This one will worm its way into your brain and never let go. Thanks to "Bike-Oh," your mind will be destroyed:


[via TV in Japan.]

The Dance Dance Revolution Will Be Televised.

Dance Fight!

From Japan's "Super Chample" TV show, here's a badass dance off between all-star dance crews from Japan and South Korea. Word!



[via TV in Japan.]

Jukebox Friday: Big Brass Bands.

Sorry, folks, about the lack of post yesterday. Real life -- whaddaya gonna do?

Anyway, let me make up for it with this double dose of Japanese all-girl brass band goodness. First is Tokyo Brass Style, with their jazzy cover of "Makafushigi Adventure," which is better known as the "Dragonball" theme:


Not to be outdone, this is Pistol Valve rockin' the house live with "Fo-Fo":


Fofofofofofofofofofo!

[via TV in Japan.]

"You're the Fish Face I Adore"?

The only thing better than the day-glo '80s is the day-glo '80s in Japan. Here are three commercials from Wham!, pitching cassette tapes on Japanese television:



[via TV in Japan.]

Japanese Air Eating.

Want to see some competitive eating without the chunks? Leave it to the Japanese to make it surreal:



[via Japan Probe and TV in Japan.]