Tokyo Youtube Gathering at a Tokyo Bar

Tokyo Youtube Gathering at a Hub Pub in Shibuya courtesy of Tokyo Cooney. We talk about Tokyo, Youtube, and our lives which are often intertwined.

This is the second half of the Tokyo Youtube Hanami Gathering on March 30, 2008. I missed the first part with the hanami at Yoyogi Park and the last part at Karaoke. I’m bummed about missing the first part but thankful for missing the last part.

I decided to resurrect my old intro – The Roving Ronin Report – which I haven’t used in half-a-year. I always change up the scenes in the middle which different clips of a variety of things.

The following Japan Youtubers gave commentary in the video:
http://www.youtube.com/tokyocooney
http://www.youtube.com/TkyoSam
http://www.youtube.com/shotamerican
http://www.youtube.com/Noellafun
http://www.youtube.com/Gimmeabreakman
http://www.youtube.com/Omikron420
http://www.youtube.com/kkajapan
http://www.youtube.com/33sammi32
http://www.youtube.com/misternes
http://www.youtube.com/tokyokindel

Cameos in the background:
http://www.youtube.com/dallasintokyo
http://www.youtube.com/rodgerswan
http://www.youtube.com/racylaicie

There might be a few more Youtubers in the background that I don’t know about so scan closely.

Intro Music by the Exotic Ones
http://www.myspace.com/exoticones

The music that fades in and out during the video is by Supergirl Juice:
http://www.sgchannel.com

A Tokyo Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) Party Video

Violence, Robots, Cherry Blossoms, and more Violence!

It’s a Youtuber Hanami Gathering in Tokyo!

See Youtuber ShotAmerican mercilessly pummel fellow Youtuber TkyoSam repeatedly!!!!

This all came about because Tokyocooney put together Tokyo Youtube Hanami Gathering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJm18Y…

This footage is from the pre-hanami gathering the night before in Ueno Park.

In attendance were:
Gimmeabreakman who lives in Nagoya:
http://www.youtube.com/gimmeabreakman

ShotAmerican whose handle I misspelled with an extra “a” in the video – Sorry!
http://www.youtube.com/shotamerican

TKyoSam:
http://www.youtube.com/TkyoSam

Tokyocooney made a brief appearance as well but I didn’t catch on camera at the time:
http://www.youtube.com/tokyocooney

Music by Mozart and the Exotic Ones:
http://www.myspace.com/exoticones

Sakura – Japanese Cherry Blossom Montage Video

Sakura – Japanese Cherry Blossoms have been a part of Japanese culture for over a thousand years. They’re the subject of countless poems from waka to haiku.

The Short Happy Life of the Cherry Blossom

This is a photo montage I actually put up a year ago but never made public. It contains shots that I have taken over the years in different locations of sakura. You’ll see scenes from Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamakura, Himeji and few places you may not be aware of such as Ofuna and it’s giant Kannon statue. I put in a few Japanese poems to go along with the photos.

The geisha are from the Miyako Odori which is an annual geisha pulbic dance performance in Gion.

Music by the Secret Commonwealth:

The Secret Commonwealth

Golden Dragon Dance of Tokyo Video

Kinryu-no-Mai or Golden Dragon Dance is performed every year in Asakusa, Tokyo to celebrate the founding of Senso-ji Temple.

On March 18, 628 AD two fisherman found a small gold Buddhist statue in the river. Supposedely, a Golden Dragon appeared in the sky to mark the event. A temple was built for the statue and Asakusa grew from then on.

Music by the Secret Commonwealth:

The Secret Commonwealth

Samurai Dave vs. the Juhyo Japanese Monster Trees of Mt. Zao!!!!

Here I face off against the deadly Juhyo – Japanese Monster trees of Mt. Zao – and live to tell the tale!
 

Juhyo trees are created by snow and ice mixed together by freezing strong Siberian winds that turns them into distorted monsters.

Samurai Dave meets Givemeabreakman at Japanese Penis Festival

I went to the Honen-Sai Fertility festival again in the Nagoya area. I bumped into a fellow Youtuber, Gimmeabreakman, who has quite a market share of subscribers and views. He does a number of videos on Japanese culture, language, and on the Youtube community.

Here’s a cool vid he just put up about this past Honen-Sai festival. Mine will probably be up in a few weeks as I have other vid projects to finish first.

Check out his Youtube page at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Gimmeabreakman

Dezomeshiki: Japanese FireFighting Demo Video

Here’s a video I did on Dezomeshiki – A firefighting demonstration and parade put on every year by the Tokyo Fire Department. It features the hikeshi – old Japanese firefighters – doing acrobatics on ladders. The girl in the video who helps me pronounce Dezomeshiki is one of my school’s former students that I bumped into completely by accident.

Music by:

Super Girl Juice

http://www.sgchannel.com

Why I Like Japan

This is a video asnwering the question that is often asked of people who live in Japan which is basically  “Why do you like Japan?”

Mainly my three reasons:
*History
*Festivals
*Culture

Plus I also like the food, hot sake, and cold Sapporo beer.

When I first came to Japaan, I didn’t have the economic security to spend much time getting around or getting into the culture. I slowly came to acquire a love of Japan rather than coming over here head-over-heels with Japan to begin with.

On my trials and turbulations during my first year, check out my Ronin Teacher Saga:
https://samuraidave.wordpress.com/2006/07/23/saga-of-a-ronin-english-teacher-in-japan/

Background music by Super Girl Juice. I meet them in Tokyo and bought their CD last year.
http://www.sgchannel.com 

Zagreb’s Noonday “Chime” Video

Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, has an interesting way to mark the time at noon using a howitzer cannon.

Momote Shiki – Japanese Archery Ritual Video

On Seijin-no-Hi (Coming of Age Day) in early January in Japan, an archery ritual known as Momote Shiki is held at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo for all those turning 20 for that year.10 Archers at a time shoot two arrows at a central target. The ritual is performed by the Ogasawara-ryu school of archery.

Here’s a short clip of a Shinto Priest shooting the Kabura-ya (whistling arrow):