For the past year and a half, I’ve been developing a new website about Japanese fashion and Tokyo urban culture.  The new site is called Tokyo a la Mode.  Please check it out! I will no longer be operating Joypop.  It might come back in the future as something different, but I’m not sure yet.  Thank you for your support! -Bobby

Pillows will be touring the U.S. in June!  This band will not put you to sleep!

6.20 2006 / Logan Square Auditorium @ Chicago, IL

6.22 2006 / The Knitting Factory @ New York, NY

6.24 2006 / The Crododile Cafe @ Seattle, WA

6.27 2006 / Whisky A Go Go @ Hollywood, CA

6.28 2006 / Slim’s @ San Francisco, CA

For more info: The Pillows MySpace page

Film Synopsis: In theme with Park Chan-Wook’s series, Lady Vengeance centers around revenge—in a tastefully disturbing, yet artistically beautiful piece. Lead character “Geum-Ja”, at the age of 19, goes to prison for the murder and abduction of a child on behalf of her accomplice “Mr. Baek”, only to find out that she is betrayed. While in prison, she carefully prepares for her revenge by winning the hearts of her fellow inmates with her kindness, thus earning herself the nickname “Kind Ms. Geum-Ja.” Upon her release from prison after 13 years, she finally sets out to seek revenge on “Mr. Baek”, with the help of her former prison mates. Lady Vengeance opens in L.A. theatres May 12th, 2006.

Here’s a recent online article about Dir en Grey.  The J-rock band will be touring the U.S. with Korn this summer: Before having released an album in America, Dir en grey is causing a commotion here. In March, the Japanese band ignited frenzied response with its first three U.S. shows. Dir en grey made its stateside debut with a showcase at last month`s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas. That was followed by stops at the 800-capacity Avalon in New York (March 21) and the 2,000-capacity Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles (March 23), both of which sold out within hours of being announced online. The ecstatic response has put Dir en grey in the enviable position of a likely support spot on 33 dates of Korn`s summer tour, according to Bob Chiappardi, co-president of Warcon Enterprises (Dir en grey`s American label/distributor), as well as another source close to the band. Read entire article

Jiang Hu 34 Contemporary Chinese Artists Curated by Huang Zhuan April 29 - May 20, 2006 Opening Reception Saturday, April 29th, 4 – 6 pm Roberts & Tilton Gallery 6150 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90048 http://www.robertsandtilton.com/ Cui Xiuwen, Feng Zhengjie, Gu Dexin, Guan Wei, Gu Wenda, He Sen, Lin Yilin, Liu Wei, Lu Hao, Ma Liuming, Ni Haifeng, Shi Tou, Sui Jianguo, Peng Yu, Sun Yuan, Unmask Group, Wang Bo, Wang Guangyi, Wang Jianwei, Wang Luyan, Wan Yin, Wang Youshen, Wu Shanzhuan, Xiang Jing, Xu Tan, Yang Shaobin, Yue Minjun, Zeng Fanzhi, Zeng Hao, Zeng Li, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhang Xiaotao, Zhao Gang, Zhu Jia Jiang Hu curated by Huang Zhuan, internationally recognized curator and professor of art theory at the Ganzhou Academy brings together 34 of the most important Chinese contemporary artists of our time. Jiang Hu can be translated literally as “rivers and lakes,” but its metaphoric meanings are rich and open-ended. Jiang Hu can simply mean “wild or unsettled region,” particularly the out-of-bounds frontiers far from mainstream culture. In medieval literature the concept of Jiang Hu referred to an ideal fictional realm inhabited by itinerant outsiders, such as scholars, monks, fortune-tellers and artists who were said to have magical powers. In more recent times, the Jiang Hu refers to the underworld society whose members possess the gravity defying powers of flight and super-human martial arts skills as popularized in the recent film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In the context of this exhibition, Jiang Hu refers to the complex dynamics of contemporary Chinese art within the global art world. Jiang Hu travels to The Tilton Gallery, 8 East 76th Street, New York (May 23 - June 30, 2006) and Kustera Tilton Gallery at 520 West 21st Street, New York (May 25 - July 14th, 2006).

JAPANFILES.COM PRESENTS
MUSICFEST 2006 AT FANIME!

Six of the leading Japanese independent bands will be performing in one place at the Fanime Convention in San Jose, CA—Memorial Day weekend, May 26-29, 2006!

This years Fanime Musicfest is a once-in-a-lifetime event, featuring the first ever United States appearance of legendary Japanese rock band GUITAR VADER—world-famous from their involvement in Sega/Xbox game Jet Set Radio Future and the new Japanese anime series Beck.

This is the biggest gathering of Japanese music acts in the USA this year! JapanFiles is bringing the hottest bands from the Tokyo music scene face-to-face with fans who already love their music and now can finally see them perform live!

Other MusicFest performers from Japan include:

Swinging Popsicle* (pop)
Goofy Style* (hard rock)
Miami* (retro/techno)
Poplar* (hip-hop)
Up Hold (metal)
*also making USA debut

JapanFiles continues its mission to bring the hottest Japanese music to the USA. Now with over 100 bands, were the only service bringing CD-quality MP3 downloads direct to thousands of J-Rock fans in America!

More info:
JAPANFILES. COM—Japanese Rock/Punk/Hip-Hop/Techno—JapanFiles.com

Tickets available NOW at Fanime.com

Imagine an Asian American theater in Los Angeles. The Linda Lea theater used to screen samurai period dramas and other films for the Japanese community back in the heyday of Little Tokyo.  It closed its doors in the 80s when downtown stagnated.  Now with the building boom in downtown Los Angeles, the entire area is experiencing a renaissance of new living space, restaurants and hip bars and cultural assets. ImaginAsian Entertainment is a media company based in New York where they operate the ImaginAsian channel for Asian American television. (You’ll have to check your cable/satellite company to see if they carry the channel.) They also opened up the ImaginAsian theater in New York a couple years ago.  They are now part of a project to convert the Linda Lea into 300-seat auditorium that will host screenings, feature films, performances and other events.  Sugoi! Article - LA Downtown News Online

THE JAPANESE WORLD CLASSICS MEDLEY February 2 - 5 @ Egyptian March 2 - 3 @ Aero Featuring the famous: Akira Kurosawa’s THE SEVEN SAMURAI, Yasujiro Ozu’s TOKYO STORY, Kon Ichikawa’s THE BURMESE HARP, Hiroshi Teshigahara’s WOMAN IN THE DUNES; the not-so-well-known Kurosawa’s STRAY DOG and DRUNKEN ANGEL; and the fairly obscure: Ko Nakahira’s CRAZED FRUIT and Masaki Kobayashi’s BLACK RIVER. http://egyptiantheatre.com/archive1999/2006/JapaneseClassics.htm 323 466 FILM

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!  Happy Chinese New Year everyone!  Sorry I’ve been away for so long.  I’ve been busy in preparing a new website that I hope will launch soon, so please stay tuned for details. I read an interesting article about the high-end Hong Kong department store, Shanghai Tang, in the recent issue of Fast Company.  I remember that the retailer tried to make it in the Big Apple about 10 years ago, but the Chinese-inspired fashion didn’t sell so well back then.  Well, it looks like they’ve made a few changes and have a solid strategy for the future with the goal of becoming China’s first great luxury brand.  Sugoi!  Read the article for yourself.

Here’s a rare opp to experience the real Japanese underground rock scene, including the North American debut of Mongol 800! Bleach03, considered the no. 1 female hard core punk band in Japan, have come to the US four times before.  They performed @ SXSW in Texas, the world famous CBGB in NY, and in LA (twice), the audience @ Silver Lake Lounge was blown away. official website Mongol 800 (a.k.a. Mon-Pachi) is one of the biggest million-seller bands, but not like any other band in the Japanese music industry. They sold millions of copies without any promotion, no music videos, no TV appearances, no contract with a major label—they dont even use their pictures for CD jackets. They stuck with the underground and kept it real.  This is their first performance in America! official website *** hai sai America, night of Okinawan rock *** what?: hard-core punk, ska core who?: Bleach03, Mongol 800 where?: Aratani Japan America Theatre (244 S. San Pedro St. Little Tokyo, LA, CA 90012) when?: Nov. 15, Tuesday (open 7pm, start 8pm, end 11:30pm?) ticket: $35 and $25 email: http://losangeles.vivinavi.com/JA/sc/HaiSai_America/