JUMI on tour review: Japanmarket Leiden

OK, so today JUMI went to the Japanmarket in Leiden (the Netherlands), organized by the Sieboldhuis, Japanmuseum. And the market was exactly as we expected (we didn't had expectations at all, ahum...). First of all it was too crowded for a small market, so sometimes we were pushed away by other visitors. And about some of the visitors, hm. There's nothing wrong with cosplay (=people wearing costumes of their favorite animecharacter). But in my opinion, if you choose to wear cosplay stuff, do it the right way, adapting everything, including your make-up, in that particular style. Visitors also had the chance to take pictures together with 'cosplaygirls'.

Ugly wigs, guys wearing eyeliner, girls who are wearing costumes three sizes smaller...omg, some visitors...

There was also a Taiko performance (drums). We couldn't see anything because it was too crowded but it sounded OK. 

Of course there were stalls, selling art, kitchenwear, sake, origamistuff (that was cool) and food.

We tried little cute green tea cookies.

And we tried sushi at two stalls.

The sushi of the first stall was nice. Of course it wasn't extremely fresh. The sushi was already pre-packed. But it was OK to eat.
The sushi of another stall was...uhm....disgusting! The rice was too sticky and mushy, as if we were eating babyfoodrice or something. A dissappointment!



We relieved the sadness by buying a bottle of Inemankai (red rice sake, very very very jummy).
And with the bottle of sake in our hands, we ended our tour at the Japanmarket 2011 in Leiden.

Dorama Baby-faced Beauty

Last week I found out about this new Korean dorama: Baby-faced Beauty. Even though the story is a bit predictable, it's fun to watch the drama (and maybe you can also relate to the main character).

The story

It's about a 34 year old woman, played by Jang Na Ra, who gets fired from her job. Then her friend finds out about a vacancy at a big fashioncompany. She loves to design and create clothing, so this is her chance! Unfortunately the company only wants a 'young' person in his/her twenties for this job. She wants it, so she has to lie about here age in order to get hired for the job. And it works, because of her very young appearance people believe that she's twenty-something. And she gets the job. Now she has to survive her collegues, who are kinda looking down on her, because she's just a young girl. A young girl...well, if they only knew her real age...

You can watch the dorama at Dramacrazy.net

Maybe you recognize the song of the trailer. It's from a Japanese dorama Densha Otoko. A must see!

It's a fan, it's an umbrella: it's FANBRELLA!

Ooh noooo, it's raining outside, you're outside, but what if you cannot find a shelter! Of course, there's a solution: the umbrella! But what if it's also too hot outside. On the one hand, you want to refresh yourself with the rain, but on the other hand you don't want your clothes all get wet. Hmmm, a dilemma. But wait, there's a solution for this problem too: the fanbrella!

Yes, open your fanbrella and be protected from the rain and cool down at the same time. Fanbrella, the ultimate solution for summer rain?


You can order the fanbrella at thanko.jp

Gackt goes Dutch!

Japanese superstar Gackt is coming to The Netherlands! Did you know, the first Japanese song I heard was by Gackt?

Since then his voice got me hooked. I listened to 'Black Stone', 'Secret Garden', 'Mizerable' and so on... His spectaculair Diabolos liveshow is awesome, he made his entrance into sold out Tokyo Dome by riding a horse.

In 2010 Gackt went to Europe for the first time ever for a couple of concerts. Unfortunately the gigs were sold out that fast that I haven't got the chance to check him out live. BUT, he's coming back!!

July 26 he will perform at Melkweg in Amsterdam! Ticketsale starts today. Hmm I still have to order tickets, no idea how many fans will go. Maybe I have to hurry...!

Here's the first song I heard of him, Redemption ;)

Light graffiti by Michael Bosanko

I think everybody experienced this once: You go outside to take pictures in the dark. And you put the camera on your tripod. And then you think that the pictures you've taken are nice, but they are not. The pictures are ugly and blurry!

This also happened to photographer Michael Bosanko...but with a happy end. He took pictures of a moonlit landscape, but it went unexpectedly wrong. He took the camera from its tripod and discovered that by putting the camera into long exposure, he could actually move the camera in his hands and use the moon itself to 'write out a word'. This was his start of light art. Afterwards he also created objects, such as trees and Pacman by using light, without photoshopping or special effects. Very nice!

Click here to see his other light creations.

JUMI on tour: Japanmarket Leiden, May 29

If you're planning to go to Leiden (the Netherlands) this Sunday, you definitely should check out the Japanmarket. The Sieboldhuis (Japanmuseum) will organize its annual Japanmarket.

This year, the museum pays special attention to modern Japanese youth culture, with aspects such as fashionable clothing, manga, childrens kimonos and so on.  There will also be an auction for the victims of the disaster in Japan. Visitors can bid on beautiful photographs and other stuff.

Click here, to read more about the Sieboldhuis.

Chocolate good for your skin?

Did you know that chocolate is good for your skin? Well, ahum, not if you eat too much of it. But it can be good if you just put melted chocolate on your face, for example. It's good for dry skin and it keeps you young.

In India, there's this beautyshop, specialized in chocolate treatment for the face, hands and feet. Unfortunately I can't afford to fly to India, so for now I just have to use the chocolate mousse which is waiting for me in my fridge.

City Hunter countdown: 25th of May

OK, my patience was put to the test, because I had to wait a very very looong time, for this moment. The premier of City Hunter. And my impatience grew when I saw trailers of the dorama. Unfortunately I still need to wait three more days (or a week longer, because it also has to be translated into English). Hm. Anyway, you can see this dorama (and lots of others) at dramacrazy.net.

For those who are curious about City Hunter (or want to see Lee Min Ho :)), need to check out this trailer.

Hatsune Miku drives Toyota Corolla

Recently we've posted about her own radioshow and now she's busy promoting the new Toyota Corolla. Yes, I'm talking about Hatsune Miku, again. And for the fans some other good news (if you live in or near LA): from 1-4 July, she will make her US concert debute at the Anime Expo! Click here to read more about it. For those who can't make it, just have to enjoy this new Toyota commercial.

Order a bowl of Kung fu noodles

Now and then I ask myself, how restaurantmanagers select their employees. Sometimes the extreme rudeness of a cranky waiter/waitress for example, actually makes me want to eat my food as fast as I can, before I also get the rude crankyness-disease (I can imagine that it can be the vision and whole purpose of a restaurant...a fastfoodrestaurant).

In Hai Di Lao, a Chinese hotpot restaurant in Shanghai, customers won't feel rushed to eat their food. Food will be served with a little bit of entertainment. There, they have a special way to serve noodles: by making fresh noodles in front of the customers.  A 20-centimeter-long piece of dough will be turned into a three meter long noodle, by using cool tricks. Customers sometimes even have to duck, as the noodles fly over their heads. Check out the video of a performance, here at JUMI!


Address: 4/F, No. 1 Dapu Lu, near Xujiahui Lu. Shanghai

Rocky vs Transformers? Real Steel

I just saw an interesting trailer of the upcoming movie: Real Steel. It's about a guy, Charlie Kenton (played by Hugh Jackman), who loses a change to become a boxing champion when robots take over, and he becomes a small-time promoter. Then his son finds an exceeded robot on the streets. Charlie decides to use his boxing skills to train this robot, so that the robot can participate for the boxing championship. If you want to see this movie, you have to be patient, because it will be released on October 7, 2011. For now, enjoy the trailer!

Hello Kitty Vans

The Sanrio/Hello Kitty-mania in shoeworld isn't over yet. Last time we've seen special Sanrio editions of Dr. Martens and Hello Kitty Reeboks. Hello Kitty fans, it's time to introduce Hello Kitty Vans! Unlike the Dr. Martens, these Kitty Vans will be much more widely available. The Vans x Hello Kitty Collection will be available in June 2011 at theVans stores.

Human vs Robot: the Ultimate Switch Battle

We've seen a lot of battles between humans and robots. This one is funny. It's a battle of switching on/off of the light. Who will win this battle? Check it out, here at JUMI!

May I introduce my witness for my wedding? My dog!

Of course you want the most precious person to be your witness when you'll marry. But what if your best friend is a dog? Well, now it is possible to get married (officially) with your dog as a witness. A hotel in Yokohama (Yokohama Kokusai Hotel) offers this special wedding ceremony.

Of course dogs don't have their own signature, they cannot even hold a pen. Instead of the signature, dogs have to seal the paper with their paws. During the ceremony a special dog trainer is present, who takes care of the little best friend.

It's pretty expensive if you want your little best friend to be your witness. The fee will be about 563 euros or more in addition to ordinary wedding fees (!). Well, for some people, it's worth the money, it's their little best friend, right?

And now its Keanu Reeves as Kaneda (Akira movie)??

So we've posted earlier this year about the making of a live action movie of Akira. The main character besides Akira is his friend Kaneda. A couple of famous actors wanted to have this leading role of the movie, for example Zac Efron and James Franco (blg). (And Morgan Freeman as Kolonel Shikishima. What the....??!!)

Now I've heard that Keanu Reeves is front runner to play Kaneda! Reeves talked to Warner Bros. about it, and because they already built a good relationship (because of the Matrix trilogy) he really has a big advantage compared to the other actors.

*sigh* which actor do you think will fit the role of Kaneda? I already made my choice...

The story of Akira will be adapted into two live action movies. We don't know when the movie will be released but we will keep you updated.

Jang Geun Suk #1 with Let me cry

K-actor Jang Geun Suk has released a song in Japanese: Let me cry. Right now it tops the Japanese Oricon chart. After his songs of the cute dorama Mary Stayed Out All Night OST, this is a fresh new sound of him. I like it! ^^

Necomimi: control your cat-ears

What if you can control and move your accessories (you're wearing) by using brainwaves? Is it even possible? Yes. A Japanese company developed hairbands (hairbando) where you can actually move the cat-ears on it, not by touching, but just with your brain: Necomimi. So with these cat -ears you can express your emotions without even talking!

So, for example when you feel relaxed, you brain produces these kind of waves, and the ears will respond to that, by laying down. But if you're concentrating on eating that superjummy donut, you're ears will rise.

This is just the beginning. The company will develop more fashion items and gadgets using brainwaves and other biosensor with "Augumented Human Body" as the concept, under the projectname Neurowear.


Source: neurowear

Hatsune Miku gets own radioshow

She was introduced in 2007 and she gained a lot of fans since then: Hatsune Miku, the vocaloid artist. Say what? Yup, Hatsune Miku isn't a real person, but a computer created anime character, with a synthesized voice. She already did some concerts, which were packed with a loooot of screaming fans. Click here to check out one of her concerts.

And now some good news for the fans. She will have her own radioshow, Ere Uta!, every Saturday from 10.15 p.m. on the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) Radio 1 service. Listeners can submit their own music made with voice synthesis software and request songs. Funny, first the live concerts, now her own radio show, so what's next?

Isao Machii hits bullet away with samurai sword

I think almost everybody experienced (or will experience) this once in their lives. So you're walking down the street and then, all of a sudden a little annoying dumb fruitfly, wasp or mosquito flies towards your face thinking that your face is edible (ulgg, that's so irritating, if a fruitfly flies into your eyes). At these times I wish I had the skills of Isao Machii. Isao is a modern day samurai. And gosh, if you see his videos where he shows what he can do with his samurai-sword...

This short video gives a demonstration where someone shoots him, but he cuts the gun pellet. Very nice. Hmm, imagine cutting that annoying mosquito in half, mwuhahaha...ahum, sorry.

Let me check what time it is on my MIXTAPE

I'm still loyal to my lovely Leisu watch which I bought two years ago in a 300 Yen shop. But now I found out about this one: EOS x Tokidoki Mixtape, watch. And this one looks so beautiful!

As you can see it's like a real cassette tape with two movable disks. The right disk indicates the time. It's uhm a bit more expensive than my Leisu watch. The Tokidoki version costs about 145 US dollars (but it has a genuine black leather strap). EOS new york also produced other mixtape watches in the colours blue/white, gold/black, black/black.

Click here to check out (or order) the mixtapes of EOS new york.

Super Mario Bros. on your Chuck Taylor All Stars

To celebrate Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary, Converse came up with a special edition of the Chuck Taylor All Stars. The 8-bit version of Mario is spread all over the All Stars and look at the stars! The shoes will be available starting July.