Big in Japan: Cirque du Soleil set to open at Tokyo Disney

by Matthew Firestone on

On October 1, 2008, ZED will premier at the brand new Cirque du Soleil Theatre Tokyo at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

According to the official press release: “ZED is a living poem, a timeless evocation that draws on the Tarot and its arcana, an imaginary world that conjures the vitality of the human condition and holds up a mirror to our true selves. The central, larger-than-life character Zed represents all of humanity in all its guises, from wisdom to folly, from discovery to adventure.”

While Japan has previously hosted a number of Cirque du Soleil traveling shows, ZED is an original production that will have its world premier at Tokyo Disney. The show will also highlight the capabilities of the purpose-built Cirque du Soleil Theatre Tokyo, the first dedicated venue for Cirque du Soleil productions in Japan.

Tickets are currently on sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and range in price from ¥9,800 (US$90) for regular seats to ¥18,000 (US$160) for center stage floor seats. Keep reading for more info…

Despite its humble beginnings as a performing troupe in Montreal, Canada, Cirque du Soleil or the ‘Circus of the Sun’ is currently a global entertainment phenomenon that draws in crowds of theatergoers from New York to Sapporo. Of course, the stage troupe’s premier billings are mostly located in Las Vegas, which is home to multiple permanent venues that open up to almost 10,000 people every night.

After the opening of ZED on October 1st however, the Cirque du Soleil Theatre Tokyo will be able to give Sin City a run for its money. The purpose built auditorium, which is an architectural wonder in and of itself, will host an estimated 380 shows per year.

True to the Cirque du Soleil franchise, ZED will be characterized by its breathtaking stage antics, colorful costumes and orchestral performance, and will follow an abstract storyline incorporating both Western and Asian elements.

The show will focus on the title character of Zed, who turns to the world of the arcane for inspiration and connection. Throughout his magical journey, he comes across a cast of mythological characters from sphinxes to satyrs.

If you’re living and working in Japan, or you have plans to pass through Tokyo in the near future, don’t miss out on ZED.

Tokyo Disney Resort, which is actually located in Chiba city at Maihama station, is just a short ride from central Tokyo on the JR Keiyo Line. Come out for a dinner and a show, or grab a room at the adjacent Disney Ambassador Hotel and have yourself a holiday!

For ticketing information, you can contact the Cirque du Soleil Theatre Tokyo Information Desk between the hours of 10:00am and 5:00pm at 0570-02-8777, or check out their English-language website at http://www.zed.co.jp/home_en.php.

(Special thanks to my Mom and Dad for scoring me a pair of highly coveted ‘O’ tickets – looking forward to the show!!)

** Images are courtesy of the WikiCommons Media Project **

Big in Japan: North Korea invents super high-calorie noodle

by Matthew Firestone on

This may just be the coolest bit of news you read all day…

While any news story involving North Korean scientists tends to be about nuclear proliferation, today’s Big in Japan post is in fact a salute to these hard-working men and women.

In a failed state that does not produce enough food to feed its population, and is largely reliant on food aid provided by foreign donors, the invention of a super high-calorie noodle is indeed cause for celebration.

According to a recent article in the Choson Shinbo, a Japan-based, pro-Pyongyang newspaper, North Korean scientists have created a new type of noodle that has twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary ramen.

Made largely of corn and soybean, the new noodles are an engineering breakthrough in their ability to leave people feeling fuller, longer. The paper also reports that the new super high-calorie noodles are specially designed to delay feelings of hunger.

This culinary achievement is being hailed as further evidence of the mighty and divine power of Kim Il-sung, the deceased ‘eternal ruler’ of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK).

Keep reading for more on DPRK’s new ramen revolution…

As reported by a pro-Pyongyang newspaper earlier this week, North Korean scientists are celebrating the invention of a new super high-calorie noodle.

According to the Choson Shinbo, “When you consume ordinary noodles made from wheat or corn, you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger.”

Sounds good to me. After all, it’s hard to discount the claims of a country ruled by an immortal leader, especially when they come from such official sounding government ministries as the ‘Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers’ Party.’ Right.

Of course, the invention of this new type of ramen noodle couldn’t come at a better time, especially since the United Nations (UN) warned last month that North Korean residents are experiencing their worst food shortages in more than a decade.

However, the notoriously reclusive communist country is extremely reluctant to allow foreigners to assess the scale of the problem, or to even allow the proper distribution of emergency food aid within its tightly controlled borders.

So, it looks like the humble ramen noodle might soon take up the front lines in the fight for the hearts and bellies of ordinary North Koreans. Over the next few months, the DPRK government will be mass-producing the noodle, and distributing it in bulk before the bitter winter descends on the Motherland.

Sadly, this is no laughing matter, especially since an estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s. Furthermore, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned last month that six million people were in urgent need of food aid.

While it’s difficult to actually gauge the severity of the situation on the ground, reports that ordinary North Koreans have taken to scavenging for wild foods are not very encouraging. On that note, let’s all hope and pray that this super noodle really is the miracle food it’s purported to be.

** Images courtesy of the WikiCommons Media Project **

Big in Japan: Famous kissing robot comes to America

by Matthew Firestone on

Love is hard in any language, but you shouldn’t let your search for Mrs. Right get you down. After all, if you’re having problems finding someone of the same species who understands you completely and intimately, perhaps it’s time to start looking elsewhere…

A few months ago, Big in Japan reported about the latest and greatest robot in the Land of the Rising Sun, namely Eternal Maiden Actualization, or EMA, a 15 inch tall robotic girlfriend that kisses on command. Aimed at a target market of adult men, this robotic lover is very sweet, petite, stacked where it counts, and runs on 6 AA batteries.

But don’t take my word for it, just ask Minako Sakanoue, the Sega spokewoman behind Japan’s latest robot craze:

“Strong, tough and battle-ready are some of the words often associated with robots, but we wanted to break that stereotype and provide a robot that’s sweet and interactive. She’s very lovable and though she’s not a human, she can act like a real girlfriend.”

And, in case you’re in the market for a new emotional companion, you can now snag an EMA robot in North America for the low, low price of US$99.99.

Love was never so easy (^3^) ???????????

While the ‘Eternal Maiden Actualization’ or EMA robot can’t exactly engage you in deep and philosophical conversation, or even stand by your side for a night out on the town, she can love you nevertheless. Using state of the art infrared sensors, EMA can pucker up her lips and give kisses to her human masters. Just for the record, this is what EMA’s designers call her “love mode.”

But of course, the fun doesn’t stop there! On the contrary, EMA can also serve as your busty personal assistant. If you’re entertaining clients, she can hand out business cards, sing, dance and flirt with the best of them.

Seem ridiculous? Perhaps. However, Sega expects to sell more than ten thousand EMA robots in the first year alone, and that’s before Version 2.0 rolls off the assembly line in the not too distant future.

If you don’t have the time and money to get yourself to Japan, fret not as EMA is now available in North America, and is being marketed by the WowWee company under the very appropriate ‘Femisapien’ label. All you need to do is drop a quick and easy US$99.99 at Amazon.com , and in approximately 5-7 days, you’ll have yourself a brand new (or slightly used) robotic girlfriend.

On a more serious note, it’s worth pointing out that EMA is actually an incredible piece of technology. Displaying an incredible range of motion, as well as a revolutionary interactive interface, EMA is a great piece of electronic engineering, even if you already have a real girlfriend made of flesh and bone.

** Special thanks to Robert Oschler over at www.robotsrule.com for alerting robot lovers about the availability of Femisapien in North America **

SilkAir Winning Asia’s Low-Cost Carrier Wars

by Josh Lew on

Despite the rise of regional airlines aimed at budget-minded travelers, SilkAir, one of Southeast Asia’s original low-cost carriers, remains at the top of the game. Even with competition coming from the likes of Bangkok Airways and AirAsia and with high fuel prices, SilkAir managed to post a profit for the last quarter.

Perhaps SilkAir’s lineage has something to do with its success. It is wholly owned by Singapore Airlines, which is consistently rated as one of the world’s best carriers. Aside from the in-flight services and amenities that come from being associated with a high quality brand, SilkAir often carriers Singapore Airlines customers on shorter, regional flights.

The main competition comes from AirAsia. It flies many of the same routes (Singapore to Phuket, for example). However, unlike SilkAir, it has no sugar daddy to feed it passengers and give it a reputation for quality. SilkAir also code-shares with Malaysia Airlines and Garuda and flies to cities in insular Southeast Asia as well as vacation hot-spots.But, the best reason to fly SilkAir: the in-flight meal of Hainanese chicken rice is nearly as good as you’d get in a Singapore hawker center.

Back to school: A photo essay ode to schools around the world

by Jamie Rhein on

Today is the first day of school for my children. My daughter waltzed out the door at 7 a.m. this morning after showing me the piece of cheese she was eating–(she plays soccer and I’m adamant that she eat some sort of protein), to catch her ride. She’s a 10th grader.

For my son, who is now a first grader, the anticipation build-up of last year is much less. We know our routine. Kindergarten left a lump in my throat. First grade is old hat, but he still wants me to drive him and walk him in for the first day. After today, he heads out on the bus.

This first day of school got me thinking about schools around the world and what a gift having a school to go to is. When I was in the Peace Corps, I worked with my village primary school on certain days to do health education. In The Gambia, at the time, most kids did not go to school. The primary school in my village was the only one for miles around.

Amazingly, this shot by tigz pix was taken in N’Jowara where I served. This is inside one of the three classroom buildings. I’m not sure where my pictures are, so I’m happy to use this one. It looks exactly the same.

On this first day of school, here’s an ode to all those parents, grandparents or other caregivers, who make sure their children head to a classroom if they can find one and they have the means, and all those people who have chosen to teach, and all those children who sit in rows or gather in groups, day after day, working to learn–and if not working to learn, have a kernal of hope that life will turn out well once the last bell rings on their last day of school ever–when they head out into the world to see what happens next.

Click on the photographer’s name to go to the Flickr page. I picked these because these are the photos I found with Creative Commons use.

Mexican 2000, who snapped this shot, points out that school kids in Japan were different colored hats in order to show which class they belong to. These little guys are on a field trip to Himeji Castle.

On September 11, 2007, was Read with a Hero Day. Stories of heroism, tolerance and justice were read, according to the photo’s description. This shot by Staff Sgt. Russell Kilkar was taken at East Side Elementary School in Edinburgh, Indiana.

Head to a rural village and pull out a camera to take pictures of children and see how many show up. This photo by OpenDemocracy reminds me of my own experiences. It’s a swarm. For an excellent film that shows what a rural school is like in China, check out Not One Less. It’s about a 13-year-old girl who reluctantly becomes the teacher of a one-room school when the teacher has to leave for some reason.

School girls, in what I assume is Chile. Photographer Angela7dreams didn’t label the specific country in South America where this was taken, but this one is in a group of other shots of Chile.

School kids either heading to school or home in Taxco, Mexico. The shot is by michale.

School girls with their book bags in Bandung, Indonesia. Wouldn’t it be great if all school kids looked as happy as sektordua found these three?

This photo taken at the Khmer Literacy School in Cambodia, and posted by cambodia4kids.org, shows the efforts of a farm project to encourage farmers to send their children to school. You can read about the project, by clicking on the link.

These school kids in France are on a field trip that I would love. This was taken by ConspiracyofHappiness at the Musee Rodin.

A group of school kids in India taken by Tom Maisey.

Man and his son at the opening of Salah Hadi Obid Elementary School in Afak Village, Iraq. Photo by James Gordon, Flickr.

* The first photo is of my son walking into school this morning. He is in good hands.