 The new year means a lot of festivites and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California recently held its annual New Year Celebration Festival in Little Tokyo Los Angeles just a few days ago! Held in Little Tokyo's Weller Court and Japanese Village Plaza, this event always had entertainment, food, cultural activities, and even a sake fest. There was also a kimnono fashion show, an ondo dance, as well as several performances. This is always a really fun event, and we have a gallery for everyone to check out below! While the festivities are over, you can still experience it vicariously through the gallery, and maybe make plans to attend the event next year! We hope that everyone had a great 2023, and will have an even better 2024, and we have lots more to show you here at A-to-J! All photos by Ivan Aburto.  We're big fans of live theater here at A-to-J Connections, and an upcoming event just popped up on our radar: THE GUARDIANS OF WONDER, produced by Alicein Project, will have be having its Hollywood debut in just a few weeks!
 acttil, on behalf of Ashibi Company, recently announced that the Shurijyo Castle Area, a reproduction of Okinawa's World Heritage Site "Shurijyo Castle Area", has been unveiled in the metaverse location, "Virtual OKINAWA" today!
 Tech company WFS, Inc. recently announced the release of "Hello Kitty’s Room", a new communication game featuring Sanrio Company, Ltd.’s Hello Kitty, on Google Assistant.
 Here we have another super adorable release! Amigurumi Sweets: Crochet Fancy Pastries and Desserts, by Miyuki Ichikawa, is another crafting book that joins the line of VIZ Media DIY manuals. This book allows you to make an array of different aesthetic sweets such as: parfaits, cakes, macarons, doughnuts, taiyaki, and more! These projects can either be standalone pieces or made into items that you can use every day: jewelry, coin purses, and scrubbers.
 VIZ Media presents the vivid world of Japanese amigurumi with the release of Amigurumi Sweets: Crochet Fancy Pastries And Desserts! set to release on February 12th.
 Fans of Sailor Moon have a once in a lifetime chance to catch the Sailor Moon Super Live in Washington DC next March as the live opens the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival!
 A "Flowerball" against a wallpaper of Murakami's flowers There's a good chance at some point you've seen a work by Takashi Murakami. Perhaps his ubiquitous flowers? Or maybe a picture of My Lonesome Cowboy floating around online? Probably his cover for Kanye West's Graduation album in passing? No matter how you've seen some of his work, there's nothing quite like seeing the pieces for real, to really grasp the scale and detail behind his often brightly colored, cartoony, and occasionally unsettling works.
 Japan’s top maid cafe chain maidreamin gives Canadian fans a double dose of Akihabara culture this month, returning to North America to perform at the four-day Fan Expo Canada event at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, August 30 – September 2.
 (c) Takarazuka Revue Company A-to-J Connections is no stranger to the Takarazuka Revue we've hosted panels on the topic and even had a blog dedicated to it in our early days. We recently had the opportunity to speak with a former Takarazuka actress and we were very excited to conduct this interview. While Mio Cloud's time in the Takarazuka Revue might have been somewhat brief, her time as Jun Sagiri (an otokoyaku or "male player") provided us with a lot of insight on what being a part of the troupe was like and gave us an insider's look at the Revue itself. We're really excited to bring everyone this interview so we hope that you all check it out!
Before we jump in, here's a brief rundown on what the Takarazuka Revue is: The Takarazuka Revue is an all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Japan formed in 1913. It held its first performance in 1914 and has been in operation ever since and currently consists of five troupes, Flower (Hana), Moon (Tsuki), Snow (Yuki), Star (Hoshi), and Cosmos (Sora). There have been countless shows, from originals to adaptations of popular works, arguably the show that brought the Revue to massive popularity was The Rose of Versailles which debuted in 1974. Several other popular adaptations also include Black Jack, Rurouni Kenshin, Sengoku Basara, and more. What makes the Takarazuka Revue stand out among others is the fact that all roles are played by highly-trained female actresses. While there is much more to be discussed regarding the Revue and its history we will refrain from delving too deeply into it here, but instead suggest that interested readers check out online resources such as the Takawiki (http://www.takawiki.com)! |
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