Peter's Japan blog

Now some pictures of the other figures I did during my last photo shoot. This time I'm posting the pictures of Tokiha Mai. This is a 1/6 scale figure from Good Smile company. Tokiha Mai is the lead character of Mai Hime, and a secondary character in Mai Otome & Mai Otome Zwei.
I find the figure very well done, with nice pair of eyes and short skirt. The typical flock of hair at the front is done very well. Also, the big red scarf gives the figure a dynamic look.

Have a look:

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Himeji Castle is a Japanese castle located in Himeji in Hyōgo Prefecture. It was the first Japanese National Cultural treasure to be registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Title: talkin' 2 myself
Release dates:
September 19th 2007: Japan

Info: the single is going to have a strong rock influence.
talkin' 2 myself PV directed by Tetsuo Inoue (also known for other Ayu PV's like Moments, Inspire, STEP you, Rainy Day; and also for other big artists like Koda Kumi, BoA, Chihiro Onitsuka, ayaka, CHEMISTRY, hitomi, Cocco...)

Versions + Tracklisting
CD version (Preorder from YesAsia (Global))

AVCD-31333
1. talkin' 2 myself
2. decision
3. fated (orchestra version)
4. talkin' 2 myself (instrumental)
5. decision (instrumental)

CD+DVD version (Preorder from YesAsia (Global))

AVCD-31332/B
1. talkin' 2 myself
2. decision
3. fated (orchestra version)
4. talkin' 2 myself (instrumental)
5. decision (instrumental)
dvd:
1. talkin' 2 myself (video clip)
2. decision (video clip)

Weekly ranking

Tie-ups
talkin' 2 myself: CM for Panasonic Lumix FX33, to be shown August 12th
decision: music.jp CM

PV's

TV Schedule:
9/14 Music Station
9/14 NHK「MUSIC JAPAN」
9/21 NTV「MUSIC FIGHTER」
9/24 FujiTV「HEY!HEY!HEY!」

Updates:
July 31th 2007: Announcement
August 9th 2007: Titles known
August 17th 2007: a bit more known about the track listing (2 songs + 1 remix)
August 21st 2007: full tracklisting
August 28th 2007: cover update!
September 3rd 2007: Schedule & PV director update
September 7th 2007: PV link on Daily Motion (might get deleted after a while, if you like it, buy the single and support ayu)

Well, not really images, but bright dots in 3D, but it's a good start.
The device was created by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Scisnce (AIST).
This technology doesn't use vapor or some gas to project the image on. This device uses powerful lasers to heat up the oxygen & nitrogen in the air at a specific point. Since the device can do this at a speed of 1000 dots per second, relatively smooth animations can be made. In the beginning this could be used for advertising, but when the technology improves over time, it might be used for 3D TV.

Original article: here
Original press release in english with some additional examples: here

It is still uncertain when or how long I will be going to Japan, it will depend on many factors like when Ayus concerts are, if a friend of mine will be able to come too and because I will also be going to America (for probably 3 weeks again) with other friends. It might be in March, April, May, June, it depends. But hopefully not in summer as Ayu doesn't have real concerts in the summer (just a few appearances at A-Nation).

We shall see :)

Saw this Japanese school movie about a group of 4 girls who form a band and practice some songs for their schools cultural festival and the girls need to overcome problems like the time limit and personal problems. It's a fun movie to watch and I like the main song very much which is a cover of the famous Japanese punk band The Blue Hearts. Some elements of this movie were used in "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu" in the episode (12) that had the legendary performance of ENOZ with God Knows and Lost My Music.

Watch a clip here of their performance of Linda Linda at the end of the movie: YouTube.
Link to IMDB: Linda Linda Linda (2005)
Link to Amazon: Linda Linda Linda

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Okay, my first real photo shoot of figures is done. It may not look very good, and my lightning conditions were crap, but I had to work with what I've got. The shots at the window should have been taken from the outside in stead of the inside... But I'll do them again later when I have more time.
I also took the opportunity to take pictures of my other (few) figures as well. I didn't have any decent pictures of them yet. I will post these in a few days.
These pictures where taken with a Canon Powershot A70, quite an older model but with many options for a point-and-shoot camera. I should get me some decent camera as I already have this one for more than 3 years, maybe I should get me a Canon EOS ;p

Okay, enough with all the talking here are the picture. Click on them to see full size.

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