Nippon No Arashi, the new textbook about the members of Arashi going around Japan and teaching students about Japanese cultures, made it to school libraries this week. And only school libraries, because Arashi fans seem to be going absolutely bonkers that they can’t get a copy of this book for themselves. Unlike all of those…
A very special edition of Station To Station this week, as my computer is currently making noises usually reserved for a Nine Inch Nails song and I’ll be sending it into the shop for the weekend. So we will be blazin’ through this week’s tunes because my laptop could explode at any moment. Let’s dive…
Because what Japan needed was even more Arashi…everyone’s favorite Johnny’s boy band will soon appear in school libraries all over Japan. The group star in a new Japanese textbook called “Nippon No Arashi” which uses the member’s various adventures in Japan as jumping off points for lessons about the country and its history. Whatever gets…
Photo by me at a Circle K. SMAP “We Are SMAP” Long-time-coming theme song “We Are SMAP” might mark a turning point in J-Pop history. Since the early 1990s, the Johnny’s-concocted boy band has dominated the Japanese pop scene, hitting Oricon gold with many singles and albums during that stretch. They’ve hosted multiple TV shows…including…
After a few weeks off, Music Station thankfully returns this Friday to save me from thinking of one more piece of original content every week. Oh the humanity! It has been awhile, but let’s check in on the world of mainstream J-Pop, shall we? Arashi “To Be Free [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chWKkT49So8&hl=en_US&fs=1] Arashi haven’t been on a winning…