“Death Note”

On the plane from Singapore to Osaka, I was watching this Japanese movie “Death Note” and “Death Note ~The Last Name~”.  This movie was made in 2006, 3 years ago, but I never had a chance to watch it although it sounded interesting to me.

“Death Note” is a Japanese manga (comics) series which had been serialized in a popular Japanese manga magazine “Weekly Shonen Jump” for almost 3 years.  The movie, in my opinion, really followed the original comic well.  I enjoyed watching it!

A brief description of the story is … The series centers on Light Yagami, a university student who discovers a supernatural notebood, the “Death Note”, dropped on Earth by a death god.  The Death Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose face they have seen, by writing the victim’s name in the notebook.  The story follows Light’s attempt to create and rule a world cleansed of evil using the notebook, and the complex conflict between him, his opponents and a mysterious detective known to the world only as L.  (from wikipedia) 

Together ”Death Note” and “Death Note ~The Last Name~” and the third film “Death Note ~L; change the worLd”, the movies earned over $80 million in Japan and stayed at #1 at the box office not only in Japan, but also in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. The cult hit broke into the Asian mainstream and almost got banned in China as a smattering of copycat true crimes became associated with the movie.

The actor who played Light Yagami is Tatsuya Fujiwara.  He’s been on many films, plays and tv series drama etc, but I never had any interest on him… until now!  After watching this movie I realized how cool he is :p  And, the scene where both Light and L believe themselves to be on the side of justice and the two match wits in an intricate game of cat-and-mouse is very interesting.  If you like watching Japanese films I recommend this.  Guess which one, either Light or “L”, wins in the end.

Haunted House in Japan

Some people love listening to scary stories and going to hunted houses… well, I don’t mind doing that occasionally to have some excitement and thrills, but not everyday. I mean, Japanese horror is really really scary! I read an article about UK film board - Britain’s film board banned the sale of a Japanese horror DVD due to its extreme violence which could cause psychological harm to audiences.

Who have you adopted?

Here are the stories from PetRescue about unwanted pets finding new home…

<Buzz’s Story>

Buzz was always smiling. That’s why he stood out to Pam who had a big empty space in her family and was looking for a new friend for her Golden Retriever, Tyson.

Although Buzz was once unwanted, after having his profile on PetRescue everyone wanted to take him home! And when Tyson met Pam he knew he’d found his perfect person…

<Cherub’s Story>

<Matisse’s Story>

Matisse and her siblings came to stay with their foster carer Rebecca until they were big and strong enough to find new homes.

“I’m what you call a ‘failed foster carer!” says Rebecca. 

“Matisse captured my heart and we bonded instantly. She has the most amazing, easy going nature.”

What a clever puss to find the perfect forever home without even leaving her rescuer!

<Bindi’s Story>

Bindi and her brothers and sisters were found dumped in bushland and caring rescuers saved their lives and nursed them back to health.

When it came time to find the perfect forever families for them, PetRescue was the place! Within a few days all of the litter had fantastic new homes and Bindi was matched with the Cloustons who gave her a great new name after their hero, Steve Irwin. Bindi has proven to be a real ‘Aussie dog’ with a big heart. She is now looking forward to a happy future with her people.

If you are thinking to have a pet, why don’t you go to animal shelters.  Those animals are once unwanted, but looking for loving new owners and warm home.

Tanabata

Today is 07 July… it’s Tanabata in Japan!  Tanabata is Japanese star festival, takes place on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year, when, according to a Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega, which are usually separated from each other by the milky way, are able to meet.  

Tanabata story is very romantic.  According to those separated stars, the story is about two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, are allowed to meet only once a year on this day.  The river separates these lovers is Milky Way, called “Amano-gawa” in Japan.  Amano-gawa means “river in Heaven”.  

Here is the story ..

Orihime (織姫 Weaving Princess), daughter of the Tentei (天帝 Sky King, or the universe itself), wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川Milky Way, lit. “heavenly river). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星 Cow Herder Star) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet. (wikipedia)

In Japanese custom, we celebrate this day by writing wishes on Tanzaku (small pieces of paper) and hung them on bamboo tree.  With Tanzaku and other decoration, the bamboo is set afloat on a river in the night time.  

Many areas in Japan have their own Tanabata customs, but this is what I did when I was a child.  Besides, there is a river named “Amano-gawa” near my house and this is the place my family and I set the bamboo tree afloat every year on this day.

Now, still, I write a wish on Tanzaku and hung on a tree in the garden although we don’t set the tree afloat in a river.  Just keeping up one of Japanese custom here :p

Some photos from Japan ↓↓↓

Japanese Tale

I was told lots of Japanese old tales from my grand parents when I was little.  Some of them are famous stories like “Momo Taro” “Saru Kani Gassen” “Kachi Kachi  Yama” etc, but also they told me about “hell” quite often.