Celebrities: Hikaru Utada (宇多田 ヒカル)

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Today, I will be talking about a popular Japanese celebrity who is a solo artist named Hikaru Utada~! ! ! ^_^

• Name: Hikaru Utada (宇多田 ヒカル)
• Birthday: January 19th, 1983 (currently 31 yrs old)
• Birthplace: Manhattan, New York City, NY
• Height: 5'2" (1.58m)
• Spouse: Kazuaki Kiriya (married from 2002-2007)
• Parents: Teruzane Utada & Keiko Fuji
• Occupation: Singer & Songwriter

 
 Hikaru Utada is a Japanese-American singer and songwriter. She has been in business ever since 1996 and then ended it in 2011 on hiatus. Which means she probably paused on her music to handle personal things in her life. She is originally from Japan but, was born in the U.S. Her music is really popular in both Japan and the U.S. among both Japanese and American people. She plays many varieties of different music such as pop, R&B, rock, alternative, dance, electronica, synthpop, and experimental. She also knows how to play the piano, vocals, and guitar.

On September 7th, 2002 she married Kazuaki Kiriya. He is a photographer and a film director who was 15 years her senior and he had also directed several of her music videos. After 4 and a half years, the couple divorced on March 2nd, 2007. Soon, she confirmed she had a boyfriend 8 years her senior which they begun their relationship in about September 2009. Then on January 27, 2010 it was reported that their relationship had ended due to the fact that Utada was extremely busy with her "In The Flesh 2010", and the fact that they never saw each other. 

Sadly, on August 22, 2013...Utada's mother, Keiko Fuji, died by apparent suicide by jumping from the 13th floor of a 28-floor condominium building in Shinjuku, Tokyo. 

Soon, she announced on her personal site, that she was engaged to be a wed, asking for her fans and the media to view her personal life from a "respectable distance" as he is not in the entertainment industry. On that same day, her ex-husband congratulated her on her marriage. Then, on February 10th, 2014 Utada and her fiance Francesco Calliano left a message on Hikaru Utada's official site about how they met each other, him being a bartender in London hotel and asking for privacy. They were wed on May 23rd, 2014.

Here are some amazing photos of her family:

                                                This is Hikaru Utada's mother Keiko Fuji

                                        This is Hikaru Utada's ex-husband Kazuaki Kiriya

                                             This is Hikaru Utada's father Teruzane Utada

                                    This is Hikaru Utada and her husband Francesco Calliano



Now, I will show you guys videos of a few of her songs that she had written (it is kinda hard for me to find the official version of MVs but all the songs is the official version) Also most of her songs that she I have written are also part of the video game "Kingdom Hearts".:



                                                                  "Simple and Clean"

                                                                         "Passion"

                                                               "FINAL DISTANCE"

Thank you guys so much for checking out Liv N' Luv Japan! I will be posting more articles soon for you guys to check out! Bye Bye!! Love you!! Arigatou gozaimasu~!! ^_^

Liv N' Luv Japan 100th Blog Post!!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I have some very exciting news! I have finally reached my 100th blog post!! This was one of my goals for Liv N' Luv Japan last year during the winter. I wanted to reach my 100th blog post!!

I am so excited right now and I am feeling speechless! After blogging for more than a year now, I want to talk about what I learned about blogging........

• First things first, blogging takes A LOT of time! Blogging isn't just something that you do for like 15 or 20 minutes a day. It takes about an hour or more! For me, I be working on my blog for almost 3 hours a day. If you don't put the time for your blog then, it may not seem like much or it's maybe not your best interest.

• Secondly, blogging take motivation and passion! If you don't have motivation and passion then, I suggest you to stop blogging and find something else that you may enjoy because if you don't have motivation and passion then your blog will be unsuccessful and uninteresting. And you need to have lots of ideas to come up with to continue with your blog.

• Blogging has really improved me and open me to new information that I haven't even known about. When I first started blogging, I started blogging because I had passion for Japan and my dream career is to become a journalist. So, I thought that journalism and blogging tied together and was related so, I thought that blogging will help me learn a little more. Sometimes, blogging can be stressful but, for me I always find it fun to do and share the things I am interested in with other people. So as an opinion on myself, I think I would make a perfect journalist~!

• Because of blogging, I have made a lot of new friends online and they have taught me so much and we would always share our tips and talk about our experience with blogging and the things that strongly interested us into blogging about the things that we love. Blogging also improved me as a person as well. It made me more open-minded and made me also want to learn more about the advance part of blogging and makes me want to learn more about different people and cultures. Things like this really inspires me.

• I have had times when I loved writing so much and had so many ideas flowing through my mind while writing that I didn't want to stop and, I have also had times when I wasn't in the mood for reading, writing, blogging or even thinking about writing that when I worked on my blog I didn't know where to start.

•  There have been many times that I thought to myself that my blog Liv N' Luv Japan is a very great blog and someday will become very successful that I wanted to start a second or third blog but, I wasn't inspired by them and decided to keep Liv N' Luv Japan.

I am happy to be able to share most of what I have learned from blogging with you guys. And I really appreciate all of you for supporting me and viewing my blog. When I first started blogging from last year on July 11th 2013 to now, my priorities for my blog change from time to time. At first, the most important thing for my blog at the beginning was getting my blog to get notice. As soon as I got a couple of views and posted around 10-20 posts, I thought that I would get a really huge amount of views in almost a couple of days. But, I notice that I doesn't work that way so, then my priorities change from getting noticed to raising my view count.

Afterwards, I became more experienced and noticed I wanted more communication on my blog and wanted to be able to communicate with my readers and get to know more about their opinions on about the articles I be writing and about my blog as a whole. There is communication on my blog but now as much as I would want it to be so, I try to add social media into it by making a Facebook page, Google+ community, Twitter page, etc. And it helped a lot because it let me know that people were actually interested and took the time to actually follow. but, after making a couple of social networks for Liv N' Luv Japan, sometimes it is very hard for me to actually to keep up with everything.

The only thing I could actually keep up with is the Twitter account for Liv N' Luv Japan. I find it more fun and interesting to use than Facebook, Google+, etc. and so far the Twitter page as 13+ followers, and the Facebook as around 8+ followers and the Google+ community as around 29+ followers.

I also try to make my blog look a lot more interesting by coloring the font, adding photographs and videos, trying to interact with the readers, trying to find different subjects to talk about. Things I talk about is all Japan-related so I have the entertainment such as J-POP, Anime, Manga, Celebrities, etc. and I have some things on the Japanese language and help other people by finding resources that I recommend them to use. And now, I am starting to write more on what's going on in Japan and adding more of the traditional culture and history as well. 

Well, there is really not much I can actually say right now on this article. But, I now really my goal is to order in the hoodies and get more communication on my blog which is now my top priorities for Liv N' Luv Japan. Also, you guys can follow and tweet at @LivNLuvJP and you can also comment on my blog. And if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, compliements, etc. you would like me to know then please email me at: livnluvjapan@yahoo.com !! ^_^

Thank you guys so much for all of your support!!   

Today In Japan: Raising Awareness About Refugees

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I decided to start a new category for Liv N' Luv Japan. I always seem to talk about entertainment in Japan such as celebrities, anime, manga, J-POP, etc. But, yesterday I notice that I rarely and none at all talk about what's been going on in Japan or any history really at all. So, starting today I will start talking more on about what's going on in Japan and I will label this category as "Today In Japan".

First, I want to talk about "Raising Awareness About Refugees". There was an event and children was with the members of the Nadeshiko Japan which is Japan's women soccer team. So, the team members decided to join in fun and games with the children that was there that day and asked them true or false questions about the refugees, I guess to test the children knowledge on the subject. The event was organized by the UNHCR at Toyosu Lalaport in Tokyo on Friday (it is Friday here today but, it was Friday for Japan yesterday).

Afterwards, the players and the children all took a photo together:

Here is a couple of photos of refugees in Japan:

I learned that there is a such thing such as "Refugee Day". I guess that they want children to learn more about refugees for plenty of reasons such as to help refugee agencies to increase their profile and visibility, to provide an opportunity for refugees to celebrate and express their cultural identity, to attract positive media coverage of refugee issues, etc. So after reading about this, I am assuming that their is low knowledge on people not knowing about refugees. Even I don't know much on refugees myself! For those who do not know what a refugee is, it is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, natural disaster, etc.


Well, that is all for this article for "Today In Japan". On my opinion on refugees, I feel kinda sorry for them because you have to think about that they have to leave their families and the people they love. Also they are leaving their home country to go somewhere they are basically don't know about. If I was in that type of situation I will feel very worried and sad that I think I would go crazy. I wish I could help and support the people who are refugees and I am glad that I learned something new today that I didn't even know nothing about. Let me know your opinion on this article and how you feel about the people who are refugees in the comment section below. Also don't forget to follow and tweet to @LivNLuvJP !!

Celebrities: Ashida Mana (芦田 愛菜)

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Today, I am going to be on the subject of celebrities. I want to talk about a famous Japanese child named Ashida Mana~! ^_^

Birthday: June 23rd, 2004 (currently 10 yrs old)

Occupation: Singer, Actress, Model, and Tarento

Birthplace: Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Talent Agency: JobbyKids

 Now, here is a little more about Ashida Mana and my opinions on her. She has been on so many movies, j-dramas, commercials, and voice acting for animations/cartoons. So I am going to give you guys a list of the many things she has appeared in:


MOVIES:

• Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora (2010)
• Kokuhaku (2010)
• Ghost Mou Ichido Dakishimetai (2010)
• Inu to Anata no Monogatari (2011)
• Hankyuu Densha Katamichi 15 fun no Kiseki (2011)
• Usagi Drop (2011)
• Liar Game: Saisei (2012)
• Nobo no Shiro (2012)
• Pacific Rim (2013)

I am planning to check out all of these movies and plan to watch them since I am a huge fan of this kawaii little Japanese girl Ashida Mana. I am really interested in one of these movies which is "Pacific Rim". After I watch these movies I will also plan to write a review on my blog about them. ^_^

Now here is a little bit of information about Ashida Mana that you may not know about her. Her favorite foods are cucumber, fried vegetables, sukonbu and kameni. But, she dislikes eggplants, pumpkin, and milk. Her hobbies are riding the unicycle and reading. She looks up to the K-POP group KARA. She became famous and rose up to popularity after she was starred in the award winning j-drama "Mother" and she end up winning "Best Supporting Actress" at the 14th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix. And at the age of only six, she became one of the youngest leading actress in a Japanese drama called, "Sayonara Bokutachi no Youchien" in 2011.

Now like I said before, Ashida Mana is a singer so I am going to show you a couple of her music videos:


                                  Ashida Mana - Sutekina Nichiyoubi ~ Gyu Gyu Good Day!

                                                   Ashida Mana - Zutto Zutto Tomodachi

                                                   Ashida Mana - Minna no Happy Birthday

                                                  Ashida Mana - Maru Maru Mori Mori

That was just a couple of her music videos and I find all of them to be very adorable and I love listening to her music. It's hard to really choose my favorite song by her but, I gotta say that I would choose "Maru Maru Mori Mori" because the song is super adorable and so is the very colorful music video and just listening to the song makes me feel really happy and makes me feel like a really happy little kid~! ^_^

Now also like I said before, she has also been in so many commercials!! So, I will also show you guys a video full of most of the commercials she has been in:

And do you remember when I said that Ashida Mana looks up to KARA and is a really huge fan? Well, here is another video which was on her birthday and she meets the group KARA for the first time! Really cute~! ^_^

Well, that is all for this article on the celebrity Ashida Mana~! I will be posting more articles soon so stay tuned and don't forget to follow Liv N' Luv Japan on Twitter at @LivNLuvJP ! ^_^

J-POP: Arashi (嵐) - Troublemaker (トラブルメーカー)

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I am going to show you guys my favorite J-POP song of all time! This song is a couple of years old but it is still a really great song by the Japanese boy group called, "Arashi". And my favorite member of the band which he is my all time favorite...Matsumoto Jun~!! <3 ^_^

I love Arashi forever~!! <3 ^_^

私は永遠に嵐が大好きです〜！ <3^ _^

Anime: Space Dandy

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I want to talk more about anime, I have a obsession over anime that I can actually watch it for a full 24 hours consecutively like, seriously! xD

So, I want to talk about the anime "Space Dandy". I love this anime! It is full of all the genres I love! It is a Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi, and Comedy!

I started watching Space Dandy on Toonami and Space Dandy is a really new anime but, it has been out for a couple of months now. The only reason why I am now watching Space Dandy is because one of my friends messaged me one day and we were talking about the different anime we liked and watched and wanted to watch. They asked me have I ever seen Space Dandy and I was like, I never even heard of it before. Soon, I realize that it was going to be a special premiere of Space Dandy and I decided to give it a try. I love watching Space Dandy so much now! I was even watching last night! ^_^ I am on Season 2~!

The anime was produced by 'Bones' and Space Dandy started this year of 2014. Space Dandy is basically an alien hunter who is "a dandy guy in space". Dandy also have two friends to assist him in his hunt for aliens. There is QT the robot and Meow the space cat! I was surprised when I founded out that Space Dandy premiere first in the US before Japan. It premiered in the US on January 4th, 2014 then in Japan on January 5th, 2014.

My favorite character is definitely Meow! I love Meow!! He is so funny and can be kinda sarcastic at times and I love his hat that he wears and he always seems to be on his phone that looks like their version of Twitter. He is very lazy and very carefree type of person. He spends his time playing video games and reading manga as well. He has a super large appetite and is a connoisseur of ramen!

Also I really love the opening theme song of Space Dandy! The opening theme is called "Viva Namida" and when you watch the video, you can really tell a lot about the anime and what will be going on in a way and you will see lots of the characters you will be recognizing as well. I love this opening theme that when I watch the anime at home, I will keep rewinding the DVR just to hear the opening over and over again!

 That is really all I have to say about Space Dandy but, I highly recommend for all the people who love anime to actually give this anime "Space Dandy" a chance and I bet that the majority of you will love this anime and will become obsessed. Also, if you do watch Space Dandy and are reading this, comment below or tweet to @LivNLuvJP and let me know what you like most about the anime Space Dandy and/or who is your favorite character! Thank you guys for checking out Liv N' Luv Japan! Arigatou gozaimasu! ^_^    

My Top 5 NicoNicoDouga Dance Covers

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I am a huge fan of NicoNicoDouga! It is basically and mostly videos that you record a video of yourself doing a dance cover to a J-POP/Vocaloid/Etc song and sometimes people even record themselves singing as well but, dance covers are more popular and has over a million uploads. I have an obsession with J-POP/Vocaloid dance covers and so I have tons of favorite but, I am going to show you guys my top 5 favorite:

                                                 1. (AMUxk-two) 影炎≒Variation

                                                        2. KimonoTime - Bad Apple!!

                                                      3. PONPONPON Mirror Dance

                                              4. Aikawa Kozue & Hima! - Megu-Megu Fire

                                                  5. Ririri - O.T.N Gigantic Dance Cover

Any of you guys fans of NicoNico?! Then, let me know what your favorite NicoNico dance covers are! You can comment below! And don't forget to follow and tweet to Liv N' Luv Japan on Twitter @LivNLuvJP !

Want more of NicoNicoDouga?! Then CLICK HERE! ^_^

Coming Soon: Liv N' Luv Japan Hoodies!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I have some exciting news! Because I have been experiencing with blogging on Liv N' Luv Japan for more than a year now, I always wanted to do something to promote my blog and also for the people who love reading Liv N' Luv Japan and are fans, I wanted to sell some items so, I always want to have my own hoodies! I went online to see what I have to do to make them and how much it would cost to order them.

So I decided to go on with the plan and I customized some hoodies online! Once I reach my goal to collect enough money to order some in, I will sell them on my blog for you guys who are interested in buying some! I don't know about the prices right now since I just came up with the idea yesterday and trying to get everything organized for my blog to make it better.

I decided if I sell enough hoodies, I will use the money towards Liv N' Luv Japan. I would like to figure out if I could lose the domain 'blogspot' and to be able to make my URL 'www.livnluvjapan.com' instead of 'livnluvjapan.blogspot.com'. Also, I would like to start vlogging on my blog. I think it would be very interesting and more interactive and fun instead of reading all the time. So, I am also going to save up to get a better webcam. My laptop sucks at audio and the videos need to turn out looking more professional.

I want to give you guys a sneak peek at the hoodies though just to get you guys very excited!!!

Let me guys know in the comment area below of what you think about the hoodies and how many of you are interested in ordering one soon! You can leave a comment on Liv N' Luv Japan below, comment on Liv N' Luv Japan Facebook Page and/or tweet @LivNLuvJP ! Thank you very much!! Arigatou gozaimasu! ^_^

Celebrities: Masaki Sato (佐藤優樹)

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! It's time to talk about Japanese celebrities!!! I want to talk about Masaki Sato from Morning Musume. She is my most favorite member from Morning Musume. I love her cuteness and there is something about her that I like that make her stand out from all of the other girls in the group~! ^_^

Name: 佐藤優樹 (Masaki Sato)

Birthday: May 7th, 1999 (currently 15 yrs old)

From: Hokkaido, Japan

Occupation: Singer

Association: Morning Musume, Harvest, Jurin, Sato no Akari, Hello!Project, Mobekimasu 

Blood Type: A

Height: 153cm

Now, that was just some basic in general information about Masaki Sato. Now, I am going to talk more about her and about Morning Musume. First of all, Masaki Sato is part of the 10th generation of Morning Musume and she was one of the girls who were selected on September 29th, 2011. She has 2 younger sisters.

 Masaki Sato is known to have a cheerful personality. She is the 6th Morning Musume member who is from Hokkaido. What is really shocking to me that she is the only 10th generation Morning Musume member who has not had past experience in the entertainment industry. So, when I think about that, that means this is her first time ever and all of a sudden she just audition and got in with no experience at all! She had always spoken English until she was 5 years old, when she started kindergarten, she had to start using Japanese.

That is how much I learned about Masaki Sato so far. By far when it comes to the 10th generation Morning Musume, she will always be my most favorite member! I hope that she will audition to be in future generations. She is really young, and we are the same age! Plus, I am a few months older than her which is something surprising that I have learned as well! I am positive that she will probably be in future generations because of the fact, it will be a while before she gets to a certain age to graduate from Morning Musume.

Now, who is your favorite 10th generation member?! ^_^ I would love to know your opinions about Masaki Sato and your favorite member!! ^_^ Please comment below!! And don't forget to tweet @LivNLuvJP !!
Thank you very much!! Arigatou gozaimasu!!
  

Follow Liv N' Luv Japan On Twitter!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I have some very exciting news! I have made a Twitter account just for Liv N' Luv Japan! And for you guys who love my reading my blog and love Japan, you should follow Liv N' Luv Japan @LivNLuvJP !

I also have been wanting a Twitter Feed on my blog which I have been dying for! I always wanted one for my blog to spice my blog up and also to be able to communicate with others that are following and read my blog. I want more communication on my blog because I want to be able to socialize with my readers and to know there ideas and to be able to know what they would like to see on my blog, what they think about my articles, or just to give a shoutout!

I would love to have more communication on my blog because I think that would make my blog more of a blog. So, the things I will be posting on Liv N' Luv Japan Twitter is mostly to notify new articles that have been posted, maybe some pictures that I've taken that relates to anything Japanese, to socialize with other people who love Japan, etc!! Anything that you guys want!! ^_^

So please for the people who are reading this and that haves a Twitter account, follow Liv N' Luv Japan on Twitter: @LivNLuvJP

I would be really grateful and happy for that! ^_^

 

J-POP: Morning Musume - Help Me!! (MV)

Hello everyone! Check out Morning Musume and their song "Help Me!!"

                                               MORNING MUSUME - HELP ME!! (MV)

Keitai! Keitai! Keitai!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Today, I will talk about keitai! You may not have heard of it but you have probably seen it many times in anime, manga, j-drama, etc. They are the smartphones in Japan that looks like flip phones! And today, they are still very popular in Japan and works as well as any new mobile smartphone.

The number of mobile phone contracts are more than 127 million, more than 80% of Japan's population (pop.: 128 million) owning one or more mobile phones! Might as well say the everyone in Japan have a cell phone! ^_^

Starting in 1999 in Japan, Japanese manufacturers integrated email and internet capabilities for mobile phones. This makes Japan the first country in the world to introduced internet service to mobile phones! So, when I think of it, because of Japan, we are able to have the idea of having internet on our phones! Thank you Japan!! For you guys who don't know, keitai literally means "mobile" in Japanese, and the Japanese use keitai phones to communicate by email than actual phone conversations like calling. In Japan, striking up a friendship with people you meet and start getting along with, you'll eventually start exchanging emails because it's the most popular way to communicate now in Japan.  

In Japan, it's the norm to see people standing in street corners or on a train or subway seeing people stare at their phones for a long period of time, and most of the time it's mostly because they spend lots of their time communicating by email. Mobile phones and having an email to exchange with people is an essential part of having and creating friendships in Japan.

For junior high schools students, approximately 50% of them and more than 90% of high school students have a mobile phone! Because of the popularity of  mobile phones in Japan, the Japanese has fostered the country's unique and exotic culture of pictographs. We know them as either emoticons and/or emojis. It's used mostly by women and people use them to express their emotions in a fun way!

In my opinion, I love emojis! Usually if people would message me or either text me or even if I am posting most of the time on my social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. you will never see a something I wrote without some emojis! Emojis are my obsession and I honestly I enjoy talking to people who also use emojis often because it makes their messages fun to read and make it interesting. ^_^

Also because of the major popularity of the Japanese keitai mobile phones, their is a new literary genre in Japan called the "mobile phone novels". Which is was weird when I first heard about this a year or two ago because I was like, "A movie or a book based on phones?". But, then when I actually thought about it, I sounded it might be good to see what they will do about to see if it is actually a good genre because this is the only genre I heard of that didn't make sense to me at first until I watched a Japanese movie called "Koizora" (translation: Love Sky). The movie had over 12 million hits! It generated an unbelievable popularity, mostly upon young women. Unlike a conventional e-book, the novel started out as digital format and later a published book. The novel sold over 2 million and became a best seller. (Also for you guys who don't know, I have actually seen the movie and I have done a review on Koizora which is on my blog so if you're interested, check it out!)

Well, that's all the information I can put into thought about the keitai mobile phones. I hope you guys enjoyed the article! Now, my opinion about the keitai.....I WANT ONE! What really makes me want one are actually the little decorations you can add to your keitai and I find them to look so kawaii and it just influences me to get one! Let me know your opinions about the keitai by commenting! Thank you guys so much! Arigatou gozaimasu!

J-POP: Perfume - Nee

As a huge fan of the J-POP pop/electronic/techno group Perfume, I love all their songs without a doubt! Their music make me feel so happy! I don't think that their is any song by them that I dislike so as my first blog article for this week, I will post a MV of their song "Nee". Enjoy~! ^_^

Vending Machines In Japan!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I want to talk about something that I have dying to try someday in Japan which is their vending machines! Why do the Japanese get all the good stuff?! Vending machines in Japan are very popular and Japan haves the most vending machines in the world! They have more than a total of 5.5 million vending machines and only around 2.56 million of them are beverage vending machines.

The reasons why I always thought that the vending machines in Japan are interesting is because they not only sell beverages but also many random things that you wouldn't ever think of to be sold in a vending machine such as hot soup, traditional shrine charms, newspapers, magazine, novels, fruit, vegetables, sweets, bread, even underwear!!!

                                                       food sold in vending machines

                                                       a large variety of different beverages


Also, many vending machines in Japan are having where if you stand in front of the vending machine, it can detect your age and gender and also your body temperature to determine what item you should buy! For example, let's say there was a male in his thirties during the morning in the winter time. The machine may recommend him a certain type of hot tea, corn soup, etc.

There are many brand new types of vending machines where it has more of a sophisticated look and way of working with it such as a touch where it's like your operating a giant smartphone. Also, after purchasing an item, most vending machines will display a slot machines where buyers can have a chance to win another drink for free. It will also display the weather and temperature making it helpful to people who are passing by the machines as well.

Over about 980 thousand Japanese coffee vending machines have an app you can download where you have there is a "virtual store manager". Some people like it better when they buy things from a store mostly because they like the "warmth" of dealing with people instead of a machine all the time. So, when you download the app and register a vending machine you frequently visit, you will receive messages and special videos such as, "good job on your work today"!

That's is all I can say about the vending machines in Japan! They are just the best of the best! And I can't wait till I go to Japan someday and actually get to use their vending machines! In my opinion, I feel that the Japanese are really creative and very intelligent people to come up with something so amazing that it doesn't seem real! I like how they take something that people use almost every day of their lives and make it more easy to use, made it really fun, making it more modern, etc. To be honest, I don't think I would've ever thought of it!

Let me guys know your opinions on the vending machines in Japan and if you have any questions as well, feel free to comment on this article below! ^_^

J-POP: KARA - Bye Bye Happy Days

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Now, I am going to show you guys a MV and I kinda wonder about this video. Even though the singers are Korean and the group was originated in South Korea, I put this MV as a J-POP because the video is in Japanese. I really love K-POP but I love J-POP even more! ^_^ I think this song is really cute and I love their outfits and this song puts me in a really happy mood. I am listening to it over and over while working on my blog.

Here is KARA with their song "Bye Bye Happy Days"!

Let me guys know what you think about them!

Celebrities: Miyamoto Karin (宮本佳林)

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I like talking about famous Japanese celebrities, especially the ones I have an obsession over. One of my top favorites is Miyamoto Karin. Many of you who listens to J-POP may know her from the girl group Juice=Juice.

Birthday: December 1st, 1998 (currently 15 yrs)

Birthplace: Chiba, Japan

Occupation: Singer

Blood Type: O

Height: 154cm

That was a little general information about Miyamoto Karin that I have mentioned above. When I think of Miyamoto Karin, I think of her as a leader and not a follower. I really don't know why but, I think it has something to do with her being in Juice=Juice. She seems like the leader of the bunch and seems to be the most popular. But, that doesn't make her better than the rest of the other girls. 

Here is a little information you may be interested in knowing about Miyamoto Karin. Her favorite colors are baby pink and grape color. She doesn't like to draw (which I don't understand why...who doesn't like to draw?!). Her hobbies are home karaoke and playing with her cats. Her favorite subject is music (which is very obvious!). Her group Juice=Juice is part of Hello!Project. Other than her in the Juice=Juice group is Akari Uemura, Tomoko Kanazawa, Yuka Miyazaki, and Sayuki Takagi.

There is really not much more I can really say about her. But, I will make sure to post articles about the other members of the group for those who are curious about the other girls as well. And if you have any questions about Miyamoto Karin or want me to do an article about some of your favorite Japanese celebrities, feel free to let me know by commenting below! ^_^ 

What I Want To Do In Japan!

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Today, I am pretty tired now and sometimes it can get stressful to blog when you have to come up with something interesting to talk about to the viewers and that's related to Japan. And when you think up of something to post you barely know about, you have to go through a lot of research and it gets really stressful. And not all the time I usually find something to talk about that I can actually speak my mind about freely. So, I actually thought of something that I sometimes think about that I can talk about that most of you must've thought about as well.

For all of us you loves Japan, we all have that dream to someday visit and/or live in Japan. We all must've thought about all the things we want to see and do there as well. I think about that a lot and it has always been my dream for years to actually live in Japan and I vowed on my life a couple of years ago that before I die, I want to at least visit Japan! With all the compassion and motivation and self-esteem I put into about going to Japan, everyone I know believe for a fact that I will visit that country. I really don't remember why I actually started liking Japan but, I knew that their country and culture was way different and weird but actually interesting to me. I love both the traditional and pop culture. I am an obsessed freak with anime, manga, J-POP, J-Drama, Japanese fashion, Japanese language, ANYTHING BASICALLY JAPANESE!!

And as my dream to someday become a journalist, I hope to also work for a major business in Japan that deals with journalism. That is one of the reasons why I decided to start this blog. I wanted to get my name out there and show my compassion for Japan and to express myself and also to get to know new people, etc.!

So, now I am going to list my top 5 things I want to do in Japan:

1. Visit Akihabara

Akihabara is like an otaku nerd dream!!! Akihabara is known as the "Electric Town". And almost everything is out of the extraordinary. You have Japanese girls dressed up as cafe maids and you will see majority of people cosplaying as well mostly as anime characters and vocaloids or even well known icons. Akihabara is also a large well known shopping center. You can shop for clothes and accessories and go to food courts. Also, you can go shop for mangas, anime, electronics, video games, etc. It is so hard for me to actually explain the wonders of Akihabara but I am going to stop here with this one.


2. Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is both a mountain and a volcano. I have heard before that it is traditional in the summer time that many Japanese will go mountain climbing all the way to the top of mount Fuji. Also, which I didn't know until I saw online that there are many shops, outlets, and hotels on Mount Fuji. I would love to do this and just for the experience and taking action in something traditional and something active.



3. Shibuya 109

Shibuya 109 is a huge mall in Japan in the city of Shibuya. The name says it all. It is in Shibuya and the mall has 109 shopping centers including food courts! I love shopping for clothes and just being in an atmosphere like that. I even love window shopping just looking around for ideas and getting a chance to take it slow and look around instead of knowing I have money and ready to spend it on the first thing I see as usual. ^_^



4. Become An Exchange Student

I always wanted to be a student in Japan and experience the school life there. Just by watching YouTube videos and looking at other American exchange students in Japan makes me motivated to become a student. Also, what really attracted me to the Japanese school life are the Japanese uniforms for females. I really love the plaid skirts and the ties and bows and the navy jackets and knee high socks. I love it! I also love the anime based on school life in Japan!



5. Go To A Vocaloid Concert

And last but not least on the things I want to do someday in Japan, is go to a vocaloid concert! First of all, I am obsessed with vocaloids such as Hatsune Miku, Rin and Len Kagamine, Kaito, Gakupo, ALL OF THE VOCALOIDS!! And I was always curious about the vocaloid concerts. I watch them on YouTube that other people have recorded but, I have never actually been to a one. I know that the vocaloids appear on a holographic screen but, I am curious does the characters appear to look very realistic like, do they look like they are actually there.


There are so many many many more things that I really want to do in Japan that I cannot list them all! But, I would like to hear what you guys want to do someday in Japan and for you guys who have been to Japan before or currently living there, I want to know the things you enjoy in Japan and what you would recommend.

Mata Ne!!!

J-Pop Girl Group PASSPO

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! As you guys should know, I am a huge fan of J-POP. I listen to J-POP way more than I listen to any other type of music. So, I went online and searched "Japanese Girl Groups". I founded this J-POP girl group that I haven't heard of before. They call themselves "PASSPO". And as I read under their description on a site, they aren't really much popular and well known as well as most J-POP lovers know AKB48, Morning Musume, Perfume, etc. Their concept in almost all of their videos are flight attendants. They are kinda new knowing that they were formed in 2009 which way earlier than most groups that has been together for more than a decade.

PASSPO contains 10 members:

• Ai Negishi
• Yukimi Fujimoto
• Natsumi Iwamura
• Mio Masui
• Makoto Okunaka
• Shiori Mori
• Sako Makita
• Naomi Anzai
• Anna Tamai

How were these girls selected into being members of PASSPO?? Well, it all happened in 2009 when girls were entering the contest in Akihabara called, "Minna de Tsukuru Idol Unit". Also about the group that many J-POP groups do, PASSPO members also have a color. After a while since I have never listened to their music, I went on YouTube and searched the group to listen to at least one of their songs to see if I liked their music. And of course, I enjoyed it! Their music sounds really nice and soft and can also sound upbeat during the chorus. And their concept of flight attendants are really adorable and they can really make their music videos fit in with their theme. I am going to show you guys 2 of their songs:

                                                                PASSPO-"Truly"

                                                           PASSPO-"Kyandi Room"

Let me guys know what you think about PASSPO and if you like or dislike the group!!

Mata ne!! ^_^



 

JPOP: Morning Musume-"What is LOVE?"

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Here is an awesome music video and amazing song by the JPOP girl group Morning Musume!

Ameba Pigg

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! Now, I love anything and everything that has to do with virtual worlds and social media and I found a Japanese site that can has both! It's very popular in Japan and it deals with both social networking and virtual world game play.

It is called Ameba Pigg! To visit the site please CLICK HERE.

It is really fun and enjoyable! But, if you want to enjoy it fully then you are going to have to have a good level of the Japanese language. My Japanese is good but not great. Like I said before, I suck at reading Japanese because I don't know kanji except for the basics. But, I understand it by a little and I really liked the game itself and I wish I could use the social networks part of the site but, I can't understand the controls of it because of my Japanese. T_T

There used to be an English version of this site called Ameba Pico. I would used that site almost 24/7! I am obsessed with Ameba Pico. I would make tons of friends, play lots and lots of minigames, earn virtual money, shop for clothes and furniture. It was amazing but, after a while, Ameba Pico had been shut down like I don't know why exactly but there is no longer an Ameba Pico. I hope that someday though that Ameba Pico will be back on the internet someday soon.

Also about Ameba Pigg, I saw on YouTube videos that the Japanese would post that look much like commercials which may be a commercial in Japan, of the Japanese playing and enjoying Ameba Pigg. Here is a video I have founded. To see the video please CLICK HERE. (I cannot get the video on Liv N' Luv Japan so I used the link.)

Well, there is not much I can say now about Ameba Pigg but for you guys that are interested in this then I suggest you to give it a try! I am also planning to give this site another chance and hoping that I can use it right even though my Japanese is not too good to actually understand the game fully. ^_^;; See you guys soon!!

Read The Kanji

Hello everyone! Welcome to Liv N' Luv Japan! I have a little bit more I found online to help you guys with the Japanese language and I am pretty sure this is something that we all probably struggle studying...Kanji!

I struggle harshly trying to study kanji because there are so many meanings to just one kanji! I think the reasons I have a hard time studying kanji because kanji is complicated and frustrating for me to understand. There are so many meanings and ways of pronouncing them depending on the kanji they are compound with. I tried and I tried and I tried and I feel like giving up!! But, I know for a fact that I can't because I need to know this because my dream is to live in Japan.

So, to help you guys with kanji and also to help and improve my Japanese, there is this amazing website called "Read The Kanji". To visit the site please CLICK HERE.

I have experienced with this site before and I still do to help me learn kanji. It is very simple and easy to use and I find it fun to learn with this site. When you sign up you will be practicing your Hiragana and Katakana and basically what they will do is show you the character and you type in the romaji. It is very simple! The more you get correct you will start to level up. Soon, it would get more difficult and you can change between Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji anytime.

There is also a part on the site where you can a get a chart and see all the kanji on all the different difficulties. It is really amazing and I have learned a lot from it. Because I have a hard time remembering all the meanings and stuff, I try to learn 7 kanji a week which means I study 1 kanji a day. Soon, when I improve a little better learning kanji and catching on then I will try to learn more in a week. But, there are many websites out there that will help you learn kanji but, this is one of them I am recommending on my blog that I want to you guys to check out and let me know your opinion on the teachings. It is basically meant for you to learn the new kanji and it helps you remember it.

Here is a screen shot of how they teach you new kanji from the chart:

Here is also how they test you on the kanji and your understanding of reading kanji in a sentence:

I highly recommend this site if you are trying to improve your understanding to the kanji so there are not much of a frustration and complication. And also if you are trying to increase the amount of kanji you know.

This is all for this article on Read The Kanji on Liv N' Luv Japan!! ^_^