Long Live The King

in this post i will be talking about a current happeaning artist movement that in not Only China but also Japan. .a man named Tsang Tsou-choi  was known as  the "King of Kowloon"  and as the "Hong Kong Graffiti King" . He ,unlike those who use spray paint in political graffiti, used traditional black calligraphy paint and a traditional black brush for his pictures. He was known through out the world as the oldest graffiti artist of all time. He, through his art, told his story of his life and heritage to explain why he thought he was the king of Kowloon. He did his art on public surfaces and public places, which soon developed the Chinese government to treat him as a  unwanted nutcase. He gained most of his recognition from the incident of Star Ferry clock tower, a historic clock tower once due for a massive relocation. He stood up against the government plans for the tower and pointed out the many flaws of the government dealings with local heritage. This inspired artist and other citizens to protest it's relocation. 

Now, after his death, the citizens of hong kong fight to establish protection for his art work. The government views the art work of the King of Kowloon to be unimportant and not recognizable historic art. The citizens, on the other hand do, stating the fact that he is a political figure that has inspired young artist today. The government offers to only take pictures and some protective shields but much of his work is still exposed to vandalism and weathering. The government hopes to erase the legacy of him so that one would not be inspired to do something as he has done, but this effort is failing. The news of his legacy reached Japan, and soon merchandise was available with his art work on it, including bags, posters, and umbrellas  With his death arose people who wanted his legacy to live on and published book works and inspired graffiti to this day

In the government point of view heritage is not as important as continuing economical development and if it comes down to choosing between the two they will quickly over look it. others believe that preserving his art is important to the China's history. This is a non stopping topic of debate. In my opinion this was a case of peaceful vandalism. he did not make violent threats to the government nor was his work destructive in my opinion. he wanted to be herd his way on his terms, so that people could actually pay attention to him. For who would pay attention to a poor old man in the street about he was a king?

Techno-logic Japan

this is what we are watching about the Japanese bullet train you guys should know that japan is much more than colors and cute stuff you can buy; it is also a place of great technology

MOCHI

my second post today, but i think that i am on a roll for some reason : ). 

in this post i will be talking about the first Japanese desert i clearly remember having for the first time 

Mochi!

mochi is made out of this very sweet rice that is then pounded into rice doe. it is very very sticky and often stretches when u bite into it >__<! it also considered a cake or a bun. i considerate a cake so that i can not be confused with a bean paste bun (another delicious treat of Japanese creation). Mochi is usually filled with red bean paste. it is a very sweet bean that comes in a very dark red (well at least the end paste looks dark red). the bean itself is bright red. 

i have only tastes one type of red bean paste from the mochi i get from this really nice Japanese food place down the street from my school i used to go there all the time but now i seem to be going less : ( 

the bean paste that i have tried (to the right of the image above) is really good in my opinion because i get to taste the bean skin but i heard that it is not as smooth as koshian. 

Yes it is my dream do go over to japan and travel across the island in search for the perfect mochi!!!!!!

but thus, i am confined to this country of america  ='(

Mochi also come in allot of really awesome flavors including:

Azuki Bean 

Blueberry

Cantaloupe

Cappuccino

Chocolate

Chocolate / Coconut 

Chocolate / Espresso 

Chocolate / Mint

Chocolate / Peanut Butter 

Chocolate / Vanilla 

Coconut

Coffee

Durian

Green Tea 

Guava 

Honeydew

Lychee 

Mango

Passion Fruit 

Peach 

Pistachio 

Plum

Raspberry White Chocolate 

Red Bean

Sakura

Strawberry 

Strawberry Dark Chocolate Chip 

Tiramisu 

Vanilla

and wait!  you can also top them of with sesame seeds or any other small seed you can imagine!

AWWWWWWWW THIS POST MADE ME HUNGrEY!!!!

White day!!

don't be racist now it's actually a holiday. And NO! they don't have a holiday for the rest of the other colors i am sorry.

but they do have white day!
i wish america would further adapt themselves to this holiday but of course the world is not square like i want it to be.

apparently women needed an answer in japan to their valentines day chocolates so whit day is just that. men give presents usually white themed or in white box's to the women that they love. the cool thing about white day is that you have not curtsy chocolates >.< therefore if you didn't get a gift it's most likely that you are alone (like myself....... so alone in the world : (....)

i think it is such an adorable holiday  for some odd reason. mostly due to the fact that i have no one to love what so every 

More New New years celebrations

continuing from more new year traditions

Shuri Castle in Okinawa japan just had thier new year celebration as well

        it’s basicaly like a party at Shuri Castle Park, a three-day event daily 8:30 a.m. ~ 5 p.m.  Celebrating the new year.
     
      The ceremony brings the New Year’s greetings to the Emperor who incorporated the essence of the Ryukyu Dynasty, a flashback to history.  Ryukyu dancing suitable for a king and queen is presented in a ceremony called “Chouhaiokishiki”(really long word)
The ceremony runs in three parts.

                  

     The Ninufanuunufee is a ceremony to the God of heavens to worship, and is the ceremony during which the upper and lower sides set the heart to one, also while it was solemn, and celebrated the new year praying for peace.  The second element, the Chounuunufee, looks at the beginning of the year, when people celebrate the king in a ceremony with prayers for prosperity of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

   Shishimai lion brings good harvest for the coming year.

this is scene from a part of a dance with a shishimai lion which is in many other rituals across japan like this one . it is similar to the one used in shinese new accept that i dragon and this is a lion

to further understand how they are similar lets recall snoop dog change to snoop lion as china is dog and japan is lion

The final ceremony, Ohtohri, invites subordinates and the king to drink a cup of awamori together in celebration completing the unity of all people don't you think.  The ceremony includes prayers for the prosperity of a king, a prince and a grandchild.  Throughout the ceremonies, performances of musical instruments and Ryukyu traditional dance takes place.

       as you can see these dancers who are all female (i hope not very sure. you really can never tell. but that is a story for another post) and they dance with theses gigantic head pieces and pretty kimonos

in atempt not to be sexxist there re guy dancer too who do many warior dances 

but girls can be many as well as you can see to the left

MONSTERS BABY

i am really excited to preasent probably on of the reasons why i love japan the most

Japanese
Monster
Wresling

it's probably the coolest thing ever since the invention of underwear

Kaiju Big Battle

it's like a mixture of cosplay and those really bad pro wrestlers with the actors on it and godzilla

most of the monsters mention in the video have died and usually they give birth or fuel revenge for a character like them or their children and or pets and or loved ones 

An example of this is that silver potato he died recently acourding to the kaiju facebook page and they have now revealed that he has two cats: Sinister and Dexter.

his signature was break dancing before his apponents 

my personal favorite is DOCTOR CUBE probably the oldest living monster besides kung pow chicken noddle soup can

DOCTOR WHO?

YES DoCTOR CUBE!!!

he is responsible for making many of the monsters in Japanese monster fighting

he loves knives and disecting live humans 

i just adore him

he also enjoys comming in the middle of the fight and just going crazy 

his overall goal is too take over the world 

• Finishing and Signature Moves

• Iconoclism (Front Flipping Slam)

• Bad Medicine (Fireman's Carry into an Elevated Powerslam)

• Scalpel Kick (540 Degree Kick)

• Jumping Knee to an opponent on the apron

• Theme Music

• Requiem for a Dream
• Cube Means Business

Holidays and eating Sushi

i would like in our nest meeting to watch this short video and compare it to other new years around the world  if you would like to tell me what you thing ahead of time that is also okay.

Another important holiday is children's day it's oh so very fun often you learn little about this holiday in elementary school but you often don't understand that it origins in Japanese culture. but it originally started for boys because the male had stronger authority in ancient japan it was also common for girls not to have  any school to go to or for it to be illegal for girls to participate in education.

children's day is celebrated in many parts of Asia and now includes girls in this holiday

also for anyone who want to do the presentation on Japanese food here ids a funny but very informative video on how to eat sushi. there is a very formal way to eat sushi and in many variations you use your hands and not chop sticks.

the text bellow is an exert from another cite http://sushi-master.com/usa/whatis/history.html

The History of SUSHI

We can trace sushi's origin back to the 4th century BC in Southeast Asia. As a preserved food, the salted fish, fermented with rice, was an important source of protein. The cleaned and gutted fish were kept in rice so that the natural fermentation of the rice helped preserve the fish. This type of sushi is called nare-zushi, and was taken out of storage after a couple of months of fermentation, and then only the fish was consumed while the rice was discarded.
Over time, it spread throughout China, and later, around the 8th century AD, in the Heian period, it was introduced into Japan. Since Japanese preferred to eat rice together with fish, the sushi, called seisei-zushi, became popular at the end of Muromachi period. This type of sushi was consumed while the fish was still partly raw and the rice had not lost its flavor. In this way, sushi became more of a cuisine rather than a way to preserve food.
Later in Edo era, Japanese began making haya-zushi, which was created as a way to eat both rice and fish; this dish was unique to Japanese culture. Instead of being only used for fermentation, rice was mixed with vinegar and combined not only with fish but also with various vegetables and dried preserved foods. Today, each region of Japan still preserves its own unique taste by utilizing local products in making different kinds of sushi that have been passed on for generations.
At the beginning of the19th century, when Tokyo was still called Edo, the food service industry was mostly dominated by mobile food stalls, from which nigiri-zushi originated. Edomae, which literally means "in front of Tokyo bay," was where the fresh fish and tasty seaweed for the nigiri-zushi were obtained. As a result, it was also called edomae-zushi, and it became popular among the people in Edo after Yohei Hanaya, a creative sushi chief, improved it to a simple but delicious food. Then, after the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923, nigiri sushi spread throughout Japan as the skilled edomae-zushi chefs from Edo, who had lost their jobs, were diffused all over Japan.
In the 1980s, in the wake of increased health consciousness, sushi, one of the healthiest meals around, has gotten much more attention; consequently, sushi bars have increased in the United States. With the introduction of sushi machines, which combines the mass production of sushi with the delicate skills used by sushi chefs, making and selling sushi has become more accessible to countries all over the world.

 there is also a link bellw the page on this cite that has the recipe for making some sushi personaly i learned how to cook sushi from cooking mama.

http://sushi-master.com/usa/whatis/recipes.html

that's probably all we will have time for in the meeting so that's that