It sparked my interest to know about this ancient Japanese tradition using bird feces! The guano is sterilized with a UV Ray. The natural enzymes powder of the Nightingale feces helps remove dirt, shed dead skin cells and also leaving skin softer and brighter,  it contains an amino acid guanine with anmonic whitening qualities. This Japanese beauty secret has been used for Geisha make up as well as a make-up cleanser, it has been utilized for generations in Japan since the 18th century. Sounds very intriguing! yet malodorous. However, something I’ll definitely try for its known results.

     UVERworld is a Japanese Rock band which formed in 2003, the band consists of five     members, Takuya, Katsuya, Akira, Nobuto and Shintarō. They are most known for their song D-Tecnolife which was the 2nd opening theme for Bleach. The band’s name “UVERworld” is a mix of “Uber” (In German meaning over) and world. UBERworld became UVERworld for a unique mien. Those of you who haven’t checked out this band do so, they’re pretty rad.

     Forming in 2006, Anli Pollicino is a five member J-Rock band from Japan. The Members include Kiyozumi, Shindy, Takuma, Yohichi and Masatoshi. Their first CD was released in November 21, ‘09 called Fahrenheit31. As of 2010, they will be doing a European tour in May and June.

 Tour Dates:

2/05 : Wattrelos (France) @ La Boite à musique
13/05 : Colmar (France) @ le Grillen
15/05 : Winthertur (Switzerland) @ Japanim Manga Night
16/05 : Munich (Germany) @ Feierwerk
18/05 : Clermont-fd (France) @ Salle Camille Claudel
19/05 : Lyon (France) @ Lyon’s Hall
20/05 : Marseille (France) @ le Baby
21/05 : Saint Jean de Vedas (France) @ Secret Place
22/05 : Perpignan (France) @ le Crockmore
26/05 : Madrid (Spain) @ Wurlitzer Ballroom
27/05 : Bilbao (Spain) @ Santana 27
28/05 : Bordeaux (France) @ le CAT
29/05 : Brest (France) @ le Vauban
30/05 : Rennes (France) @ Mondo Bizarro
03/06 : Liege (Belgium) @ le Tipi
04/06 : Amsterdam (Netherlands) @ Winston
05/06 : Cologne (Germany)@MTC
06/06 : Paris (France)@ TBC

     Hailing from Tokyo, Japan. Aural Vampire consists of two members Exo-Chika and      Raveman, they compose Electronica and Industrial music. Active since 2004, they released a self debut album called Vampire Ecstasy. Aural Vampire continue to do music and touring. It was recently announced that they will make a Musical guest appearance at Anime Central at Rosemont, Illinois in May 2010.

Check out their new album “Abingdon Road”,  its their second album and was released on Jan.27.  So far the new tracks I like are “Souen”, “Sweetest Coma Again” and “Shiosai”. Of course “JAP”, “Strength” and “From Dusk Till Dawn” were already in my iPod months ago.

     Cool Japanese make-up tutorial by Catalina. In this video she demonstrates how to apply a “Japanese” look. Be cautious of the fire used on the eyelash curlers and don’t get burned!    Check her out on her sites http://www.youtube.com/user/cl2425 and http://www.cl2425.com/.

     Ayumi Hamasaki, a Japanese Singer-Songwriter, Record Producer and Actress. Born and raised in Fukuoka,Japan. At the age of 14 she moved to Tokyo to pursue a career in Entertainment. Expanding her musical style from Trance to Rock as well as Electronic and Pop, using different instruments such as piano,orchestra,gospel choirs,traditional Japanese and Chinese strings,guitars,music boxes,etc… Her lyrics are focused on her feelings and experiences. Ayumi also won a Japan Gold Disc Award for “Best New Artist of the Year”. As of 2009 Hamasaki continues to work in the studio.

Ever wonder about all the different types of Japanese Fashion? Want to know what’s new for 2010? Well check out the video below for starters! Some of the dresses and shoes are actually cute…

The weird thing about the US is that if you show up to school dressed like the two kids below you are basically giving permission to the school bullies. So try this fashion at your own risk.

What’s new in fashion for the young and cute Japanese boy, you might ask. Well, the guys get to dress punk, styling a French inspired hat (I think?) and ripped shorts with leggings, very manly!

And the latest on Japanese Fashion is the lovely ensemble in the page below. Who wouldn’t want to walk around the streets dressed like this? Yes, ladies take out your dancing shoes and buy these lovely dresses.

Well, looks like there is not much that’s new in the Japanese Fashion world, I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing…

Picture Source:

Punk boy

Red plaid shorts

Blue and Purple Dresses

     Check out one of Kenichi Asai’s new songs called: “Mad Surfer” from his new album Sphinx Rose. I loved it, when I first heard it on Japan-iTunes, because of its 70’s rock style.   The song is being played as an ending theme song for the anime "Bleach" starting episodes 230 of season twelve. The video is not that entertaining and you can barely see his face since his hair is too long.

Her latest single Wasurenai Yo (“I won’t forget”) is number 5 in Japan iTunes. The song is nice and she sings well in both English and Japanese. She is one quarter Trinidadian and three quarters Japanese. The video has a short movie-like clip so the song won’t actually start till after 2 minutes. The video is watchable but could get boring for some, but the song is nice.