Here are some AKB48 songs that have been given the chiptune treatment. This basically means that the songs sound as if they were played on a NES or a Gameboy. It definitely gives an interesting vibe to the songs and makes them feel “retro.”

For the soundcloud songs, you’ll have to click on the link to listen to them directly from soundclound.com.

Aitakatta

Ponytail to Shushu

Everyday, Kachusha (without lyrics)

Everyday, Kachusha (with lyrics)

Okie Dokie (with lyrics)

Synchro Tokimeki (with lyrics)

In Japan, Coming of Age Day is celebrated each year on the second Monday of January. Japanese people are legally considered adults at the age of 20. So to celebrate their becoming an adult, all Japanese who have turned 20 in the past year are invited to an official ceremony held in their city. For this occasion, women usually dress up in flashy kimonos with long sleeves called furisode (see picture) and men wear either suits or the traditional Japanese hakama.

In the city of Aso in Kumamoto prefecture (Kyushu region), the mayor Yoshioki Sato gave a rousing performance to pep up the new adults. He sang AKB48′s “Flying Get” this year (2012) and “Heavy Rotation” last year (2011). That is so full of awsm that I’d gladly vote for him just because of this (^o^)丿

Posted below are his performances and I’ve put the original Flying Get as a comparison. The singing is not great (as you can hear), but it’s his intention and willingness to do such an embarrassing act that is surprising. Props to him! I wonder what he’ll sing next year (｀ω´)ｸﾞﾌﾌ

Flying Get

Heavy Rotation (Singing starts at 0:47 in the clip)

The “real” Flying Get

Source: natalie.mu, dannychoo.com

Every year for April Fool’s Day, Google always comes up with an ingenious joke of some kind. This year, they’ve introduced “Google Maps: 8-bit edition” which takes Google Maps and morphs it into a NES era world map like in the Dragon Quest series.

The cool thing is that Google has added special images for famous landmarks in their 8-bit maps. I’ve added images below of some of these landmarks. They’ve even hidden some classic Dragon Quest enemies in there!

Try it out here: http://maps.google.com/?t=8&utm_campaign=8bit

Here’s the Google video that introduces the product. I love the part where you have to blow on the cartridge to make it work properly (｀ω´)ｸﾞﾌﾌ

Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Louvres in Paris, France.

Buckingham Palace and Big Ben in London, England.

Google HQ in Mountain View has a huge Android robot.

Slime found near Shinjuku!

On March 25, 2012, the third and last day of AKB48′s Saitama Super Arena concert, Acchan surprised everyone by saying that she’s decided to graduate from the group. Here’s a transcript of how she announced it to the fans. I also included the follow-up allocution that Takamina gave right after.

After the third encore song, Acchan steps up announces that she has something to say. Fans are surprised and shocked, probably knowing that something big is about to happen. You can hear some fans saying “No way, she’s not about to stop is she?”

When I was 14 years old, I passed the AKB audition. I then became one of the original members. Passing that audition was for me, the first big decision I took in my life. And today, here and now… let me take my second big decision.

At this point she pauses, choked up by emotion. Fans cheer wildly, encouraging Acchan. Takamina puts her hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. But Takamina herself gets taken over by emotions and starts crying.

I, Maeda Atsuko, will graduate from AKB48. For a long time, my emotions have always had extreme ups and downs and I have caused a lot of trouble to the members. And for all you fans too, I have often caused you to worry. Even so, I’ve done my best during these six and a half years.

During the first day of this concert, there was the announcement about Tokyo Dome. The dream that I had since I was 14 years old and that we all shared is finally going to come true. I am really touched. And at the same time, I once again realize that I have to move forward to face the dreams that I have as a 20 year old.

To be honest, I’m filled with anxiety. I don’t know how this will turn out. But doing this now, and for the sake of many of my juniors too, I have to graduate, I have to walk [down my own path]. But, the details [about my graduation] haven’t been decided yet. It also means I’m not stopping today right away. That’s why when they will have been decided, I would like to once again convey them to you. Sorry for taking up time like this. Thank you very much.

The crowd cheers and applauses. They then start chanting “Acchan, Acchan.” After this, Takamina says the following:

Since it’s a sudden announcement, I’m sure that you must all be surprised. Members were also in the dark about this. I’ve always been watching by her side. I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen her carry [the team's] heavy burden, I’ve seen her cry, I’ve seen her smile, I’ve seen all of it.

Last year, when I went to eat with Atsuko… she frankly told me that she was thinking about what she announced today. That’s why I’d truly like you to understand that this is not something Atsuko decided at the spur of the moment. She thought about it a lot on her own. This is the decision she has taken after all of her reflections.

[…]

Even if being in AKB48 is a dream, it is not the end goal. This is the same for all members. [Atsuko has] carried a heavy, heavy burden on her back. Even though the details haven’t decided yet, [when the time comes] let’s all send her off. Everyone’s warm voices will surely be able to help send her off. Your warm feelings will become something she’ll cherish in her life. With all our might, [indiscernible]. That’s right, since everyone is here, it will be fine.

I really really don’t want her to graduate! But, we have no right to stop her… So, let’s all send her off together. Everyone, please help send her off!

The translation for Acchan’s part was based off of this post from @AKB48Journal that I’ve edited and added in parts from the video/audio recordings. But a transcript really can’t convey all the emotions that you can feel by listening to it. So here is a video of Acchan’s graduation announcement and an audio clip of Takamina’s follow-up.

Acchan’s announcement starts @1:40 in the video below.

Takamina’s speech:

卒業とは出口じゃなく、入り口だろう。

It’s already been one year since the horrific 9.0 earthquake struck Eastern Japan’s coast on March 11, 2011. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami which generated waves that were more than 10 meters high. As if that wasn’t bad enough, all of this was compounded by the partial nuclear meltdown that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

I remember waking up that morning and seeing the footage on TV of the massive tsunami wreaking havoc. It was a mass of black water that slowly engulfed (when viewed from a helicopter circling high above) everything in its path. Houses were swept away and some were even burning above the tsunami itself. Cars were being carried by the tsunami as if they weighed nothing. Another scene that I still vividly remember is of a huge whirlpool that formed after the tsunami hit. It sucked up everything that went too close and you could see how fishing boats were slowly being dragged towards it. It was a sight to see, the power of mother nature.

I spent the whole day at work with my web browser tuned into various Ustream channels that were streaming emergency news bulletin from NHK, TV Asashi and TV Tokyo. I remember the news announcers were wearing safety helmets while delivering the news (because of aftershocks, wearing a helmet was must). This was something I had not seen before in Canadian news reports and I found that kind of peculiar. Although my Japanese wasn’t (and still isn’t) good enough to quite understand everything that was being said, I was able to comprehend the gist of what they were announcing. Seeing the same scenes being played over and over again just made you realize how terrible this unfolding disaster was.

But one year later, it’s great to see how the region has started to recover. You can see various before/after pictures of different areas that were hit by the tsunami below. The top picture was taken right after the earthquake and the bottom one was taken about 11 months later. For more pictures,check out the link at the bottom of the post.

I read an interesting comment on the website from which these images come from. It’s true that the debris have been cleaned up, but the reconstruction has barely started. Where there was debris, there is now vacant land and not new buildings. This shows that the road to a complete recovery is still far away for the Tohoku region.

Interesting to note that the building in the background was Sony in the picture taken right after the disaster but one year later, it is now Maruyama.

Source: Mail Online

Show: Music Lovers (April 4, 2011)

During the talk segment of the show, the hosts discuss “forbidden topics” with AKB48 members such as “When it comes to school uniforms, I’m at my limit” or “I have an embarrassing secret I can’t tell people.” Each AKB48 member has a buzzer button and she presses it if she thinks the situation being discussed applies to her. The host then select one of the members to talk in more detail about the topic.

Here is how one of the topic discussed led to discovering another side of Minegishi:

Announcer: Well then, the next question is with respect to other members: “There are members who don’t return things they borrowed.”

*Audience calls out Mayuyu* (She apparently hasn’t returned to Sashihara a Nintendo DS game she borrowed a few years back I think)

Announcer: Switch on!
*Takamina makes a funny face, mashes her button and proceeds to laugh*

*Members are given a couple of seconds to decide if they press their button or not*
Announcer: The result is… six people!
*Takamina raises her hand high up into the air, clearly wanting to share her story*
Takamina: When Miichan stayed over at my place, she wore my panties and went home with them.
*Miichan laughs in embarrassment*
*Audience laughs*
Host 1: Eh? You’re talking about underwear right?
Host 2: Eh? Even among girls, there are underwear thieves?
Takamina: She really is an underwear thief!
Miichan: No, you’re mistaken! I decided to stay over at Takamina’s place, but this wasn’t planned in advance. So I didn’t bring an extra pair of panties with me. That’s why I asked her to lend me a pair and put those on.
Takamina: *interrupts Miichan’s explanation* If it was only lending panties, then that would be fine. It’s just that when we were changing into our outfits one day, she was wearing panties I’d seen before! When I said “Our panties match!”, she answered “Eh? These are yours, Takamina…”
*Audience laughs*
Miichan: No, no! I was wondering if I should return panties that I was already wearing. So I was thinking that for her birthday, I could buy her new panties as a thank you gift for everything she’d done for me until now.
Takamina:  About that, if only I had actually received them from Minegishi… It was actually her mother who gave me panties! Panties as an apology!
Host 1: Kind of like “Sorry about my daughter always taking your panties”?

Sasshi has mentioned on various TV shows that she’s an idol wota. On AKBINGO, she did otagei dance a couple of times and on Nemousu TV Season 3, she gave a lecture to a university class about idols and taught them otagei. Seeing her actually meet her idols is a whole another story. Even though she’s an idol herself, she goes into complete fangirl mode when she meets the Dream Morning Musume unit on Waratte Iitomo!, a show she regularly appears on.

I don’t know much about Dream Morning Musume except that it’s a unit formed in 2010 that is composed of ex-Morning Musume members. The host of the show interviews them for about 10 minutes and then changes topic to mention that Sasshi is a huge groupie of theirs. At this point, Sasshi hasn’t appeared on camera yet. Here is how Sasshi goes ballistic when she gets the chance to meet her idols.

Host: You know… Earlier, Sashihara was fangirling over all of you. She’s been your groupie for the longest time.
Morning Musume member: Ehhh? That makes me happy.
*At this moment, Sashihara timidly pops out from behind the board, clinging to the edge. She looks awestruck at the sight of the Morning Musume girls. Her eyes dart left and right and she can’t make eye contact with them.*

Host: Sashihara, why don’t you come over here?
Sasshi: Ehhh?! *Takes a step forward* No, I’m fine… *hides behind the board again, shaking her head* I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine…
Host: You’ve always admired them and been a groupie, right?
Sasshi: Yeeeees… *her voice trails off as she answers.*
Host: You also went to their handshake events?
*Sasshi finally moves away from the board and steps out, tightly clasping her hands together.*
Sasshi: I went to Nakazawa-san and Yasuda-san’s handshake event.
Nakazawa Yuko: EEHHH?! *Stands up looking surprised*
Morning Musume member: Both of you?
Nakazawa Yuko: A handshake event with me and Kei-chan is really rare! *laughs*
Morning Musume member: Where did this happen?
Yasuda Kei: Thank you very much.
Sasshi: I also went to many your concerts… HHHNNNNGGGH! *covers her face with her hands* Waaahhh!! *looks away from the idols*
*Morning Musume members laugh*
Host: You went to their concerts? From when you were still in Oita?
Sasshi: I traveled from Oita to Fukuoka for the concerts…
Host: So you went to Fukuoka? Where did you go for the handshake events?

Sasshi: Fukuoka… *while answering, she covers her mouth with her hands and her voice trails off yet again. She really looks awestruck here.*  What should I do…
*Morning Musume members laugh*
Sasshi:  *gasps* AAAAAAHHHHHH… *covers her mouth*
Host: [Asks a question that Sasshi totally ignores]
Sasshi: They’re really moving!
*Audience and Morning Musume members laugh*
Morning Musume member: We can move! We’re people too! We can properly move!
[...]

After a commercial break, this is what happens when the show resumes.

Host: Since you’re already here, you can shake hands with everyone.
Sasshi: EH?! CAN I REALLY?! *wide smile*
*Sasshi proceeds with shaking each member’s hand, saying thank you every time. Her voice is much higher pitch than usual here.*
Sasshi: WHAT SHOULD I DO?! *puts both of her hands on her cheeks*
Host: It looks like you’re about to retire tomorrow or something!
*Audience laughs*
Sasshi: Oh my god… Really… This is too much! I’m sorry!
Host: Well then Sashihara, can you go on standby? We still have a show to run here.
Sasshi: I’ll be leaving then. Excuse me. Thank you very much. *heads towards the board from where she first appeared* Please do your best! Sorry to have intruded. *goes off stage*
[Host returns to interviewing Morning Musume group]
Sasshi: *from backstage* WHAT SHOULD I DO?! THIS IS AWESOME!
Morning Musume: Wow, I can hear a voice from back there!

On the December 10, 2011 episode of the ANN (All Night Nippon) radio show, Miichan, Mariko-sama and Harunyan were the hosts. During one of the segments, Mariko thoroughly enjoyed teasing poor Harunyan. The topic was “if senbatsu ◯◯◯◯ existed, who would be the top three chosen AKB48 members?”

Mariko teased Harunyan hard by always answering “Nyaro” (a nickname for Harunyan that only Mariko uses) as her senbatsu member, no matter what the topic was. For the first topic (“is popular with kids”), Harunyan was initially genuinely happy that Mariko picked her. However, when she realized that Mariko was messing with her, she started getting flustered.

For the second topic (“makes you think ‘she eats fast’!”), here’s how the conversation went:

Mariko: NYARO!
Minegishi: Yui-chan. Wait, c’mon stop it!
Haruna: NO MORE! DON’T JOKE AROUND!　(｀д´)
Minegishi + Mariko: *laugh*
Haruna: WE’RE CHOOSING A FAST EATER SO WHY DID YOU SAY NYARO!?
Minegishi + Mariko: *laugh*
Haruna: DO IT SERIOUSLY! PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW!
Minegishi: Hey, what’s going on? *laughs* What’s going on with you two?
Haruna: IF IT’S GOING TO BE LIKE THIS, THEN I’D RATHER DO THE PARODY SONGS SEGMENT.ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ
(The parody song segment is something Harunyan hates doing)
Minegishi + Mariko: *laugh*

For the third topic (“you can tell when she gets flustered”), Miichan gets into the trolling action too.

Minegishi + Mariko: Nyaro!
Haruna: WHYYYYY!? STOP IT ALREADY!
Minegishi + Mariko: *laugh*
Haruna: WHY DID IT — *sighs* WHY DID YOU SAY NYARO *covers her face with her hands* !#$@%^&*(
Minegishi: *while laughing* I don’t know. I don’t know either.
Haruna: How did you end up wanting to say Nyaro?
Minegishi: I don’t know… Because I got winked at. *laughs* Mariko winked at me so I said it!
Haruna: Aaaaaahhh…
Mariko: You get upset all the time.
Minegishi: *laughs*
Haruna: Is that true?
Mariko: It’s not. I just wanted to say it. *laughs*
Haruna: HEY!  Haaaaaaahh…　(´Д｀)ﾊｧ…

Harunyan getting teased was sooooo entertaining to listen to. She wanted to do the segment seriously but Mariko just kept derailing it. A flustered Harunyan is the best ( ´ー｀). About halfway through the segment, Miichan took a picture of Mariko and Harunyan which you can see at the top of this post. You can clearly see Harunyan’s exasperation and Mariko’s huge grin and troll face.

This post is the Cliff’s Notes version of the seven and half minute long clip. You can listen to the subtitled version of Mariko’s trolling in this Youtube clip:

On the music show “Countdown TV” that aired on February 11, 2012, Yuko Oshima and Tomomi Itano had a small talk segment where Yuko talked about her Valentine Day’s memories. She mentioned that most of the ones that she could think about were shocking events.

One of these shocking events occurred when she was in middle school. She had a boyfriend at the time so for Valentine’s Day, she made him some chocolate. However, they both went to different schools so it was hard for them to see each other. Even though she made chocolate and wanted to give them, she wasn’t able to. A whole month after Valentine’s Day, Yuko still hadn’t given her boyfriend the chocolate! By that time, it had spoiled.

Being unable to meet face to face, they used to communicate through e-mail. During one of those exchanges, Yuko told her boyfriend that the Valentine’s Day chocolate had gone bad. He answered by saying “That’s no good,” and decided to break up with her at the same time.  With her usual humor, Yuko summarizes the situation by saying “So the chocolate and myself were both thrown into the trash together!”

Kind of funny how Yuko has no good memories of Valentine’s Day. That guy must be kicking himself today for having dumped Yuko!

Yuko Flipping the Bird

Something I noticed during the talk segment was that Yuko inadvertently gave the middle finger to the camera while telling her story ( ﾟдﾟ ). When she was saying that her Valentine’s Day memories were bad ones, she used her fingers to count the number of memories she could recall. She then goes to say “The one I’ve decided to talk about…” and at that moment, raises her middle finger. It was totally unintentional, but I found it amusing

The following is a translation of what she originally wrote in Japanese. I’ve changed a couple of parts to emphasize some of her points. I hope my translation didn’t butcher the explanations too much ^^;

Link to the original article: http://lang-8.com/281195/journals/1010908/

1. About Kanjis

It’s really great to know lots of kanjis. However, when you use too many of them, sentences actually become harder to understand.

Example)
今晩は。昨日は吃驚させて御免なさい。
今日は凄く嬉しかったです。有難う。
終電結構混雑してたんじゃ無いですか？
明日は八時三十分に会いましょう。
宜しく御願い致します。

Translation)
Good evening, I’m sorry for surprising you yesterday.
I was very happy today. Thanks.
The last train was quite crowded, wasn’t it?
Let’s meet tomorrow at eight thirty.
Please take care of me.

In the above example, you can notice that kanjis are used a bit too much. (The content of the sentences is random, so don’t pay too much attention to them.)

Corrected Example)
こんばんは。昨日は驚かせてごめんなさい。
今日はすごく嬉しかったです。ありがとう。
終電は、かなり混んでいたんじゃないですか？
明日は８時３０分に会いましょう。
よろしくお願いします。

Of note, numbers are most of the time not written with kanjis. Occasionally, it’s also better to change the structure of a sentence so that it’s not full of kanjis.

2. Using Polite Speech (丁寧語、です・ます調）

For people who use polite language, please pay attention to how you conjugate the verb ending. If you use polite speech, then it’s better if everything is written with polite speech.

Example)
それは、私にとって初めての海外旅行でした。
とても楽しかった。
また行きたいです。

Translation)
This was my first overseas trip.
It was lots of fun.
I want to go on a trip again.

Corrected Example 1)
それは、私にとって初めての海外旅行でした。
とても楽しかったです。
また行きたいです。

Corrected Example 2）
それは、私にとって初めての海外旅行だった。
とても楽しかった。
また行きたい。

Either of the corrected examples are acceptable. The first set of corrected sentences uses only polite form while the second one uses only plain form.

So the big idea is to not go crazy on kanjis and to remain consistent with verb conjugation. If the text is written in polite form, then everything should be conjugated to polite form. If it’s written in plain form, then everything should be in plain form. Mixing both is a no-no.

I know that I have problems with both issues raised in this article. I use a bit too many kanjis and I’m inconsistent in verb conjugations.

I wonder what’s the secret ratio of kanjis to kana? In my case, it’s sometimes hard to gauge whether a word should be written with kanjis or not.