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Post Japanese-related YouTube links here

For those people who don't know, YouTube has a number of Japanese-language karaoke videos. Here is one of my favorites:

Tsugaru Straights - winter scenery (The Tsugaru Straights are between Honshu and Hokkaido.)

津軽海峡・冬景色

 
Recently, I've been enjoying watching random old videos taken walking/driving around Tokyo back in the 1980s/90s. Here are two I found that are close to where I live now. (The first video actually passes in front of where I used to live, though it looks like the apartment complex I lived in was just a field with scattered trees at the time.)





I think I enjoy these because I always sort of wonder/romanticize about what it would have been like to live in Japan back in those days (or slightly earlier really, like late Showa period), and these videos kind of let me travel back in time for a bit.

Anyhow, these will probably be most interesting to those who have lived in or visited Tokyo and thus have a frame of reference to compare it to, but maybe others will enjoy it, too.
 
Recently, I've been enjoying watching random old videos taken walking/driving around Tokyo back in the 1980s/90s. Here are two I found that are close to where I live now. (The first video actually passes in front of where I used to live, though it looks like the apartment complex I lived in was just a field with scattered trees at the time.)

I'd completely forgotten about the thread linked below. I'm not sure, though, whether the 80s and 90s count as "yesteryear". 😄

 
I'd completely forgotten about the thread linked below. I'm not sure, though, whether the 80s and 90s count as "yesteryear". 😄

I'd forgotten about that thread, too, but thank you for bringing it back, as those videos are absolutely beautiful.

And while my first inclination was to not want to describe two decades that I was alive for in their entirety as "yesteryear", it then occurred to me that the 1980s are as far removed from the present day as the 1940s(!) were from the 1980s.

(At least I think it'll be a while before my childhood years can be referred to as "times of yore". :p)
 
And while my first inclination was to not want to describe two decades that I was alive for in their entirety as "yesteryear", it then occurred to me that the 1980s are as far removed from the present day as the 1940s(!) were from the 1980s. (At least I think it'll be a while before my childhood years can be referred to as "times of yore".

I share the sentiment and dread to admit that the 80s are history. To me, they were wonderful days of high school reverberating with the tunes of the Cure, Rick Astley, Kim Wilde, A-ha, the Clash, U2, and many others. It's when pop music ended for me.

Ah, sweet nostalgia. Time for another cup of sake. 😄 🍶
 
You forgot to mention Duran Duran. But let's be real, Rick Astley was not that wonderful despite being one of the first memes. :)
 
I share the sentiment and dread to admit that the 80s are history. To me, they were wonderful days of high school reverberating with the tunes of the Cure, Rick Astley, Kim Wilde, A-ha, the Clash, U2, and many others. It's when pop music ended for me.

Ah, sweet nostalgia. Time for another cup of sake. 😄 🍶
So sad that it ended for you before the late 80s/early 90s Manchester ('Madchester') scene! (Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, James, Happy Mondays, New Order, etc)
 
There is a very exciting sumo tournament going on. As of Day 13, both Hakuho and Terunofuji are undefeated. The two should meet on Sunday to determine the tournament champion.

hakuho



Terunofuji
 
Both Hakuho and Terunofuji remain undefeated going into the final day, setting up a dramatic final day match. (Don't you just love the sneer on Hakuho's face?)





 
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Here is the exciting conclusion of the tournament. (And that is the longest time-consuming tachiai I have ever seen.)

 
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Interesting. I don't remember seeing that at all. Maybe because they were too busy running to get out of my way. :LOL:
 
Interesting. I don't remember seeing that at all. Maybe because they were too busy running to get out of my way.

Definitely not the rule, lol. I have never seen this either.


Both Hakuho and Terunofuji remain undefeated going into the final day, setting up a dramatic final day match. (Don't you just love the sneer on Hakuho's face?)

A little follow up on that Saturday match: many deemed Hakuho's fist-pumping, kachiage (forearm thrusts) and harite (face slaps) unworthy of a yokozuna.


The match starts around 3:10.

 
Now for something very different. Bluegrass music in Japan. (I didn't know there was a bluegrass nightclub in Ginza Tokyo.)














 
I thought it would be good to see a traditional musical instrument. This is a shamisen (Japanese three-string 'guitar')

2015年 津軽三味線日本一決定戦 A級女性の部優勝 駒田早代さん

 
Another traditional Japanese musical instrument is the koto. Here a Japanese woman plays perhaps the best-known Japanese song of all time, Sakura.

 
The word for koto in Chinese is guzheng. Here is an impressive video of a very young Chinese girl playing the koto/guzheng. This video is not about Japan, but I think you will enjoy it. (The girl has more videos on YouTube.)

 
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One of my favorite Japanese musical instruments is the shakuhachi (bamboo linear flute). "Linear" means it is not held at a 90 degree to the mouth like most flutes, but is held in line with the mouth.

 
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