Adventures in gachapon! Can you feel that hybrid dog-bird?

Gachapon (or "gashapon") is one of my not-so-guilty pleasures here in Japan. They are coin-operated machines that randomly dispense from a selection of... anything, really. The endless variety is what keeps me addicted and checking them every time I find one.

I came across one that caught my eye the other day.

This series is called "Inutori", which means "Dogbird".

The breeds in this series include (from right to left):

The cover-boy, "Shibird".

"Terrierbird".

The masterfully named Bichon frise/pidgeon hybrid, "bigeon".

"Huskeybird".

"Retriebird".

"Pendog".

Each one comes with a nest and two small eggs. The machine will cost you 300 yen for each try.

Well, I just had to have a "pendog", so I tried several times. This was my haul in the end:

Not pictured are the two other shibirds and an extra Spuds MacKenzie, but in the end, down to my last couple 100 yen coins... I got the pendog.

4 out of 6 in the set, but I'm pretty satisfied.

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Live report! "Scrappy Travelling for Miles Tour 2023" NINE MILES & Kaminarigumo + Yoshiaki Manabe

On July 14th, Cody and I attended Kaminarigumo's & Yoshiaki Manabe's "Scrappy Travelling for Miles Tour 2023" at Koenji HIGH. This was a particularly special show, because it featured the very first live performance of Yoshiaki Manabe's (from the pillows) "NINE MILES" solo project. For this new incarnation of NINE MILES, Keiji Ueno from Kaminarigumo takes charge of the vocals. Ghoma (also Kaminarigumo) provides keyboard. To start off, I'll write about how the return of NINE MILES and the album "Into the light again" came to be. The revival of NINE MILES started in early 2023 when Yoshiaki Manabe was asked to join Kaminarigumo's summer tour as the support guitarist. Manabe thought it would be an interesting idea to play as NINE MILES as an opening act, and asked the other members if they'd like to do it. He thought it would be nice to have a tour t-shirt for the occasion, so he asked his bandmate from the pillows Sawao Yamanaka ...

Louisiana Mama

When I chat with older folks in Japan, once I tell them that I’m from Louisiana, they start singing this song without fail: …100% of the time. The song is originally by American singer Gene Pitney, but in 1961, Hisahiko Iida released a Japanese language version. Iida’s version became a big hit in Japan the following year, and Louisiana Mama became his signature song. The single sold around 400,000 copies. Because of the success of Iida’s cover, Louisiana Mama is more well known in Japan than anywhere else in the world, including its home country, the United States. Photojournalist Toshiaki Nakayama wrote in his essay collection, “Nobody Knows Louisiana Mama: A Snapshot of America”, about his experience of asking various people in Louisiana about “Louisiana Mama” and finding that nobody knew the song.

10th Anniversary

March 4th was the 10th anniversary of Japan Jukebox. Ten years ago, we debuted our first episode on KRVS. Time flies, huh? I guess a lot has changed since then. Back then, I was creating playlists in my bedroom in Lafayette on my iPod Classic (the battery died somewhat recently and I intend to do surgery and replace it. I love that thing). Living in Japan and experiencing the music I love firsthand seemed like an unattainable, but... here I am. I've even become friends with some of my favorite bands. If I stop to think about it, it all seems a little surreal. Keeping Japan Jukebox going for as long as possible has always been our hope. Japanese music has never been "just a hobby" for us. And while I've taken more of a backseat the past several years leaving most the show's work to Cody and Zack, my passion is still there, if not stronger than ever. So if you have listened to and enjoyed Japan Jukebox over the past ten years, thank you. I hope that we have introdu...

Japan Jukebox

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