Joshi Puroresu Diary Launched

By the way, I have launched Joshi Puroresu Diary even though I have been supposed to be very busy writing up my PhD thesis. :-)

The aim is to organize joshi puroresu YouTube videos (which are increasingly uploaded during the past one year by presumably mad American fans of joshi puroresu) by date and wrestlers.

I believe that joshi puroresu is the last hidden gem in Japan. With help of YouTube and all those YouTube users who upload joshi puroresu videos, I can finally promote this to a wider audience.

Anyway, so far the best match is Momoe Nakanishi vs Ayako Hamada. Try watching this.

Am I an Alpha Blogger? :-)

I have found that some posts on this blog are cited by a couple of websites.

I have already mentioned that my review on Ping Pong restaurant is featured in the restaurant's own website.

My review on Menelik restaurant appears in Ethiopianrestaurant.com.

Now my review on Budapest Festival Orchestra's performance at BBC Prom last year is featured in the orchestra's own website.

What's next? :-)

Where Am I Going?

In case you still don't know where I'm going from next academic year on (especially for one reader in New Haven---I'm sorry I ignored your request until today), I'm moving to the world's 8th most livable city on 21 August.

Proof of Impossibility Theorem: Step 1

A couple of years ago, I was mad about this girl. The encounter with her made my life a lot easier. I even used a deformed version of her name as my login password for various websites.

But I didn't understand the nature of her job. She was like a fisherman. No matter how long you work, you won't earn any money on a day when there is no fish in the sea. The more you work, the more you earn on a day when there are tons of fish in the sea (assuming that the price of fish is constant no matter how much you sell them ... I apologize for my economist self). Working 8 hours everyday does not maximize your income. You need to work hard when you are lucky. You don't need to work at all when you are unlucky. Which will be the case tomorrow is uncertain, out of your control.

But I didn't understand this simple thing. I demanded a constant, steady flow of interactions with her everyday, which must have annoyed her a lot. If she reads this, I want to belatedly tell her that I'm very sorry for my immaturity.

If I'm asked, "If I met her today, then would I behave differently?" my answer is unfortunately no. To start a relationship, I need to have a sizable amount of time to stay together initially. Then we will learn about each other. Once I go through this period, then no matter how busy my partner is, I can trust this person and endure loneliness. If, from the beginning, we can't stay together at all, I can't go anywhere with this person.

Given that my life will be pretty much busy for the next six years, and given that I like a woman who is busy doing her work, this proves, at least partly, the impossibility that I will meet somebody soon.

This series "Proof of Impossibility Theorem" will continue irregularly.

Acknowledgement: This post is inspired by a blog post in Japanese on 7 July 2007 by Professor Fumio Ohtake, a labor economist at Osaka University.

D-Fix plus Takaco vs Kansai, Eagle, and Devil

I've learned that I can use YouTube to promote what I love in Japan: old-skool visual-kei rock and women's pro-wrestling. Here's an example of the latter:


Watch out for 4'10'' when Kaoru did swanton from the balcony. Also Kansai's Splash Mountain at 7'30''.

Get Addicted? Here's the last half of the match.

Enjoy another Japanese world.

Econoclasm Travel Guide vol.1: Tokyo

Last month's issue of Monocle magazine ranks Tokyo as the world's 4th most livable city (see the magazine article via International Herald Tribune's website).

American cities including New York are all out of top 20 (except for Honolulu) because crime rates are high. London is out, too, because of its infamous public transportation and due to the absence of bars after midnight.

To celebrate this, I make public my own travel guide for anyone planning (or longing) to visit Tokyo. Enjoy! (Adobe Reader required.)

S.K.I.N.

Imagine you are NOT from an Anglo-Saxon country. So rock musicians from your country are never famous world-wide.

Then two of the best rock stars for you back in school days, each the leader of a hugely popular rock band in your country, form a new group more than 10 years on, play the first gig, not in your home country but in Los Angeles, in front of screaming American fans.

How would you feel?

Well, this happened to me:


And it's not just rock music but also pianos, violin, and shamisen (a Japanese traditional guitar).

This is the final answer from Japan's rock music to the world. And here's more information on S.K.I.N. from a blog run by an American Japan's rock music fan.

In case you know the term "visualkei" by reading French Vogue or watching a German tv program, they are the best "visualkei" rock musicians.

Commix - Strictly (Metalheadz)

Commix has produced a couple of wicked tunes recently. This is one of them. His album is forthcoming from Metalheadz, Goldie's imprint. Watch this space.

This is a test post. As drum & bass tunes are of high quality these days, I should do something to let this be known to a wider audience. With the help of Blogmusik, I will start a music blog dedicated to drum & bass. If you click the above embedded music player, you will hear the tune, recorded from BBC Radio 1 programme hosted by Fabio on 23 June 2007. So it contains a couple of jingles of BBC Radio 1. This may be annoying, but this should be enough for you to appreciate the music and to buy drum & bass tracks.