Jpop: Perfume - Flash

On the 6th of April, jpop synthpop stars Perfume will release their new album "Cosmic Explorer", and as a first single we have already got to hear "Flash" one month ago as part of a trailer for the movie "Chihayafuru" which premiered last week in Japan. That was a movie about a Japanese card game based on first guessing the end of poems being read up, think of it like a version of Jeopardy without the money part.
The new short video released this week instead lets us finally see the three girls themselves with anew martial art styled choregraphy. The music is slightly above average, the hallmark electronic sound well in place.

•  Perfume - Flash (Short)
•  Perfume - Flash (Full audio, Chihayafuru trailer)

Jpop/metal: Babymetal - Karate

From maybe THE hot metal/jpop item of 2015, the three girls (and their possè) of Babymetal, now finally comes the much awaited first song from the new album "Metal Resistance", and for all the fans loving their mixture of metal and cute idol singing, this is most assuredly another favorite. I personally think it is not their best to date, but it is none the less quite nice.

• Babymetal - Karate

Trip to Korea and Japan: Day 18 - I will miss you, Sapporo! (また会いましょう)

(Click here for first day, yesterday and all trips)
Last day in Sapporo meant a lot of farewells. Staying at Buie Gakuen has meant so much for me, and I have people and friends there, some who I actually think may last for a long time (I hope) even if we are separated physically. I know I am emotionally at a stage in my life where to be careful about these things, but still my impression of Sapporo as a whole is of a big city with a soft heart. It doesn't feel like a city you disappears in, instead it welcomes you. All my contacts with museum curators, professors, strangers and others has all started and ended in very positive tones. I know this is only scraping on the surface of a much more mixed bag of truths, but still, I will treasure its memory.

 Curry food is actually very popular in Hokkaido right now. This was a super delicious SoupCurry that Kenji-san treated me with at his favorite restaurant. The base tasted excellent but also all the vegetables and meat was so varied and nice. Mushrooms, egg, carrot,zucchini(?),chicken,...

And in the evening it was BBQ on the roof. Here you see Kyokushin Karate Master Francois (sorry, soo bad spelling) taking on Judo Sensei Ayaka in a fight to the death. Just kidding! But it was this kind of informal evening when everyone joined up and brought meat, potatoes, drink, and shared it together.  There was soccer (my team won, yay) and very hentai japanese words explained in explicit detail (I think, I didn't understand anything...).

Aw, this I will really miss. So, I am not saying sayonara, instead:また会いましょう. ^_^

(Click here for the next day)