With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013
With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

Friday, September 17, 2010

ACF 681: Hatsune Miku, Japan's Biggest Virtual Idol, making U.S. debut @ J-Pop

Japan’s virtual idol Hatsune Miku

J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL 2010 WELCOMES JAPAN’S BIGGEST VIRTUAL IDOL – HATSUNE MIKU – FOR HER EXCLUSIVE U.S. DEBUT

Internet Sensation’s Live Concert To Be Premiered
With THX® Audio As Part Of
All-Day Japanese Pop Culture Celebration On September 18th

NEW PEOPLE, in cooperation with Tokyo Kawaii Magazine, are proud to present the official North American debut of virtual idol Hatsune Miku as part of the J-Pop Summit Festival 2010, taking place in San Francisco’s Japantown. In her first-ever appearance outside Japan, Hatsune Miku ‘performs’ in a special film concert at VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE tomorrow, Saturday, September 18th at 3:00pm. Tickets for the screening are $20.00.

Miku Hatsune is a virtual pop idol that has taken Japan by storm. She was born as the premiere product in the Vocaloid2 Character Vocal Series developed by Crypton Future Media. The technology, originally designed for professional musicians, enables users to synthesize singing by inputting lyrics and a melody. In Japan, Vocaloid singers have become the hottest new trend in the pop culture landscape. Miku Hatsune features a singing voice based on samples of voice actress Saki Fujita.

This VIZ Cinema premiere will present a recorded live performance with stunning THX® audio that was originally held in Tokyo on March 9th, 2010. The concert featured Miku Hatsune backed by a “live” band called the 39S Members. She performed 39 songs while being projected on a transparent screen set up on the stage, making her look like a living-sized hologram playing with a live band.

The J-Pop Summit Festival 2010 will present a variety of fun Japanese pop-inspired attractions including fashion shows, a theatrical film premiere, live art performances, and mini-concerts by some of Japan’s hottest bands. The celebration is complemented by innovative artists and companies from the Bay area and Japan that will join in with an array of products for sale in open air displays on both sides of Post Street and a food court highlighting Japanese cuisine will further complement the celebration. More details are available at: www.J-Pop.com.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s first movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.

About Tokyo Kawaii Magazine

Tokyo Kawaii Magazine is a digital magazine app for iPhone. It provides the latest news of Japanese pop culture from Tokyo known as the holy place of Kawaii to the world. Tokyo Kawaii Magazine has not only the latest news on Japanese animation and manga but also Kawaii stuff such as Lolita fashion, street fashion, cosplay, costumes, games, Japanese food, idols, visual-kei bands and internet culture, and popular districts such as Akihabara, Harajuku or Shibuya are also included in every issue.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

ACF 680: Screening of 77 Boadrum is part of special nightly J-Pop events in S.F.

The 77 Boadrum performance at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, NY

NOISE POP MEETS J-POP IN A MUSICAL SCREENING OF 77 BOADRUM AS A SPECIAL WEEK OF NIGHTLY EVENTS CONTINUES AT NEW PEOPLE

J-Pop Week Offers 5 Nights Of Pop Culture Inspired Film, Fashion, Music
And Anime Events That Culminate In J-Pop Summit Festival
On Saturday September 18th

Still more news about J-Pop Festival in San Francisco. I love being in New York, with all the Asian film and cultural events it offers, but what's been coming out about this festival has really made me wish I could be there. Lucky for all you who can make it.

NEW PEOPLE teams up with Noise Pop, organizers of the leading independent music festival in the Bay Area, for a special theatrical presentation of 77 Boadrum today, Thursday, September 16th at 7:30pm at VIZ Cinema. A pre-screening reception begins at 6:00pm, hosted by Shochu distiller Haamomii.

77 Boadrum is a documentary of the Japanese free-rock group the Boredoms’s astounding concert that took place July 7th, 2007 at 7:07pm in the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, NY and featured 77 drummers performing simultaneously. The film will be preceded by a music video screening of Cornelius’ Synchronized & Sensurround. General admission tickets for the film screening are $10.00.

Boredoms founder Eye Yamataka

The Boredoms are one of Japan’s most iconoclastic experimental musical acts. Formed in Osaka in 1986 by Eye Yamataka, along with frequent collaborator Yoshimi, the Boredoms acknowledge no limits of genre or form, there are no boundaries, and no ceiling on the possibilities of experience and expression. For more than 20 years, the band has redefined the concept of noise and experimentation within pop, punk, and psychedelic music.

For a pre-event reception beginning at 6:00pm, NEW PEOPLE will offer J-Pop gift bags and present inventive spirits and beverages provided by Bay Area Shochu distiller, Haamonii. Haamonii is a new low calorie Japanese spirit created from over 400 years of tradition that mixes like vodka but with far less calories and a very smooth, floral-inspired taste. Haamonii, which means harmony in Japanese, also won a gold medal from the Beverage Tasting Institute.

J-Pop Week continues at NEW PEOPLE every night through Friday, September 17th with a variety of events celebrating Japanese and Asian film, anime, fashion design, music and other forms of pop culture. Special gift bags containing a variety of fun premiums will be given to all ticket holders each night. Check www.J-Pop.com for a complete list of nightly events.

The J-Pop Summit Festival 2010 takes place Saturday, September 18th in San Francisco’s Japantown and will present a variety of fun Japanese pop-inspired attractions including fashion shows, a theatrical film premiere, live art performances, and mini-concerts by some of Japan’s hottest bands. Innovative artists and companies from the Bay area and Japan will join in with an array of products for sale in open air displays on both sides of Post Street and a food court highlighting Japanese cuisine will further complement the celebration. Complete details are available at: www.J-Pop.com.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s first movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.

About Noise Pop

Established in San Francisco in 1993, Noise Pop started as a yearly festival of independent music that featured the best local bands the city had to offer. Over the last 16 years it has grown into a widely respected brand. Noise Pop prides itself on bringing exposure to emerging artists, many of whom have gone on to widespread acclaim, including the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, Bright Eyes, The Donnas, Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) and Silversun Pickups. More info at: www.noisepop.com.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

ACF 679: Exhibit by artist Ken Hamazaki to run Sept 17th to Oct 24th in S.F.

POP CULTURE AND JAPANESE TRADITION COLLIDE IN NEW EXHIBIT BY ARTIST KEN HAMAZAKI OPENING AT THE SUPERFROG GALLERY FOR J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL 2010

Grateful Red Exhibition Twists Japanese Tradition And Ancient Rituals
To Explore New Worlds Of Experience And Imagination

NEW PEOPLE and the SUPERFROG Gallery are proud to welcome Osaka-based artist, Ken Hamazaki, who will open his exhibit Grateful Red during the J-Pop Summit Festival 2010. The exhibit runs from September 17th to October 24th.

Making his way to San Francisco from Burning Man, Hamazaki performs his avant-garde Red Tea Ceremony -YOU ARE GOD in the SUPERFROG Gallery on September 18th for the exhibit grand opening and as of the day-long J-Pop celebration. During Summit Festival he will also perform his art of “teeth-making” in a special public performance of Get Bit: HAGATA-MAN from 1:00pm-2:00pm in Buchanan Mall. A performance of the Red Tea Ceremony is also set for the Asian Art Museum on September 11th at 12:00pm leading up to the festival, and again on the day after on September 19th at 2:00pm, at SUPERFROG.

A special reception party hosted by the artist will be held at the SUPERFROG Gallery at 11:00am on Saturday, September 18th during J-Pop Summit Festival. The public is invited to RSVP to attend the reception to www.newpeopleworld.com/rsvp/rsvp-ken-hamazaki.

Taking the exhibition’s name from the free-spirited Bay Area band, the Grateful Dead, Hamazaki uses this sense of freedom to twist traditional Japanese ceremonies and ancient techniques to other worlds of imagination and experience. As the tea ceremony ritual demonstrates the pinnacle of Japanese Zen, its delicacies, and form, Hamazaki channels them through his own pop guise and serves up recipes for titillation.

Red paintings depicting Grateful Dead symbols reflect the concert experience providing an intimate and raw interaction. A life-size magnet painting will also be made on-site for the exhibition. A technique that Hamazaki has cultivated since childhood, the work reflects the sentiment of sand paintings from India as ephemeral moments skillfully rendered and easily transitory. Ken Hamazaki will also present a video collaboration with artist Hiroaki Katayama will be projected in unexpected places throughout the Gallery to kinetically activate the space.

Eclectic elements like a denim canvas by Evisu will be also transformed into Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Humans. Vividly colored scrolls like these historically provided inspiration for manga imagery. The Japanese word manga, literally translated, means "whimsical pictures" whose genre includes a broad range of subject matter including fantasy, mystery, horror, and sexuality.

With his shaved head, red body paint, and vivid crimson costumes, Ken Hamazaki is known in Osaka’s Minami Senba district as “The Red Man.” When he was 20 years old, Hamazaki traveled to England and after returning to Japan, he opened a gallery in 1992to display his artwork. In 1997, he moved the gallery to Minami Senba, painted the exterior and interior completely red and named it the Ken Hamazaki Museum of Contemporary Art, a title that, in Japanese, has the aggrandizing secondary meaning of the Hamazaki Prefectural Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition to holding exhibitions, his gallery sells interior decorative items and accessories, suggesting a fusion of art and lifestyle. For more information, visit www.kenhamazaki.jp/e/.

The J-Pop Summit Festival 2010 takes place Saturday, September 18th in San Francisco’s Japantown and presents variety of Japanese pop-inspired attractions including fashion shows, theatrical film premieres, live art performances, video game demos, panel discussions, and an outdoor concert featuring bands and artists from Japan and the Bay Area. More details are available at: http://www.j-pop.com/.

About NEW PEOPLE
NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located in San Francisco at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is available at: http://www.newpeopleworld.com/.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

ACF 678: J-Pop All-Day Celebration in San Francisco on Saturday, September 18th

J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL 2010

Sample The Diverse Sides Of Japanese-Inspired Pop Culture
With Art, Music, Gaming, Anime, Fashion And Film Events
At All-Day Celebration On Saturday, September 18th

NEW PEOPLE, a dynamic entertainment destination bringing the latest examples of Japanese popular culture to North American shores, has announced a captivating roster of activities and events for the J-Pop Summit Festival, taking place Saturday, September 18th across the whole of San Francisco’s Japantown.

The all-day celebration begins at 11:00am with a traditional Kagami-wari (breaking of a celebratory sake barrel) at the NEW PEOPLE’s entrance located at 1746 Post Street. A variety of Japanese pop-inspired attractions including fashion shows, theatrical film premieres, live art performances, video game demos, panel discussions, and an outdoor concert featuring musical talents from Japan and the Bay Area are scheduled.

Innovative artists from the Bay Area and Japan will also join in with an array of products for sale in open air displays on both sides of Post Street and a food court highlighting Japanese cuisine will further complement the celebration. More details are available at www.J-Pop.com.

Complete program details and times for each event are available at: www.newpeopleworld.com/festival/festival-programs.

ART & PERFORMANCE


Red Man Ken Hamazaki

“The Red Man” Ken Hamazaki Performance & Exhibition

Osaka-based artist, Ken Hamazaki uses a sense of freedom to twist traditional Japanese ceremonies and ancient techniques to other worlds of imagination and experience. Coming to Summit Fest from Burning Man, Hamazaki will perform 2 breathtaking performances – “Red Tea Ceremony - YOU ARE GOD,” and shows the art of teeth-marking in “Get Bit: HAGATA-MAN.” As these performances demonstrate the pinnacle of Japanese Zen, its delicacies, and form, Hamazaki channels them through his own pop guise and serves up new recipes for titillation.

Mori Chack Is Here

Sit in for an insightful interview panel with ultra-hip Japanese artist and graphic designer Mori Chack, internationally known for his his character, Gloomy Bear. Be among the first 50 people to get exclusive Gloomy Bear shirt autographed by creator at NEW PEOPLE, The Store.

Graffiti Artist Estria

Witness Bay Area graffiti artist Estria create 4 original canvases – live! Artworks to be auctioned to highest bidders!

Vinyl Village Marketplace

A unique market offering a colorful and inventive collection of designer vinyl toys and other pop culture collectables, directly from the creators themselves!

Artist’s Alley by Bazaar Bizarre S.F.

A handmade market created by local artists opens in the adjacent Buchanan Mall and offers a mix of Western and Asian-inspired goods and artwork.

GAMING & ANIME

The SEGA® Experience

Videogame manufacturer SEGA takes over VIZ Cinema for a captivating multimedia event and introduces their latest new titles on the theatre’s massive screen and with THX® sound. Come play the latest SEGA games in a way you’ve never done before!

Anime Lane by Anime On Display

The organizers of Anime on Display (AOD), San Francisco’s annual anime convention, assemble a variety of vendors offering unique anime and manga products.

Anime On Display Cos-play Contest

AOD presents the creative flair and charisma of the best anime cos-players in a unique contest.

MUSIC & FILM


J-Rock band Jinny Oops

Girls Rock Explosion 2010

Once again girl-power takes over the Pagoda Stage at Peace Plaza to rock the Summit Festival

Scheduled performers include, Hopie Spitshard, a performer presented by MYX-TV who is breaking the female rapper stereotype, Excuses For Skipping, a San Francisco indie rock quartet with soaring melodies, Jinny Oops!, an all-girl rock trio from Sakai City, Osaka and finally DJ Amaya, who will offer J-Pop diva remixes of popular female artists. Come dance the afternoon away to cool new sounds!

Detroit Metal City Film Premiere At VIZ Cinema

Check out the U.S. theatrical premiere in VIZ Cinema of this irreverently funny heavy metal comedy that takes the zany rock antics inspired by films like Spinal Tap to hilarious new extremes in this film directed by Toshio Lee and based on the popular manga comic created by Kiminori Wakasugi. Kiminori Wakasugi. Catch San Francisco’s air guitar champion in a special performance and enjoy a special pre-screening reception party.

Miku Hatsune LIVE!

Catch the first-ever U.S. appearance of Vocaloid virtual pop sensation at VIZ Cinema! Miku Hatsune's digital film concert! This is a dynamic synthesis of technology and human creativity for the 21st Century!

FASHION

BLACK PEACE NOW Fashionista 2010

See a range of edgy new gothic-inspired fashions from BLACK PEACE NOW. The winner takes home a whole head-to-toe outfit and a fashion photo shoot with The Moholy Ground Magazine photographer. Widely known, worn and celebrated in Japan, BPN clothing has appeared in numerous music videos, films and TV dramas.

Harajuku Kawaii Experience 2010

Join fashion label 6%DOKIDOKI and designer Sebastian Matsuda for a fashion show of the latest designs from Tokyo’s colorful Harajuku fashion district. Also browse 6%DOKI DOKI’s latest designs and products on the fashion floor of the NEW PEOPLE venue.

SOU • SOU Bikers Fashion Show

Come sample new biking-inspired fashions and rugged but stylish “Tabi’ style footwear from Kyoto-based SOU • SOU. Also browse a variety of SOU • SOU products on the fashion floor of the NEW PEOPLE venue.

FOOD & SPIRITS

HAAMONII After-Party (21+ only)

Haamonii is a new low calorie Japanese Shochu spirit created from over 400 years of tradition that mixes like vodka but with far less calories and a very smooth, floral-inspired taste. Find the HAMONII crew around the Summit Festival area to get VIP passes.

Gourmet Food Court

Come savor the delicious flavors of Japan. Snacks and desserts too!


The New People Building in San Francisco

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Monday, September 13, 2010

ACF 677: Reminder - Free Screening of "Turn It Up To 11" September 14th

TURN IT UP TO 11
2009, 93 minutes
New York Premiere
Showtime: 7:00 PM
Doors open: 6:30 PM
Price: Free.
Seating: first-come, first served

KOREAN MOVIE NIGHT's latest series of films continues tomorrow, Tuesday September 14th with this winner of four major film awards, a documentary that spawned the Korean catch phrase, "I don't think we're gonna make it." TURN IT UP TO 11 is a rambunctious rock n'roll odyssey about Incheon's unlikeliest talent incubator: Ruby Salon.

A tiny, hole-in-the-wall club founded by aging punk Lee Kyou-Young, who moved back home to Incheon after accidentally getting his girlfriend pregnant, Ruby Salon is the seed that sprouts two bands: Galaxy Express, a tight, ambitious outfit that dreams of stardom; and Tobacco Juice, a band whose members are so lazy they can't even be bothered to show up for gigs.

As one band goes up, and the other goes down, this slacker doc follows them to shows, bars, massive concerts, antagonistic rehearsals and empty clubs in the best movie ever made about the Korean music scene.

Beyond the publicity material above, I can say that I watched a DVD screener of the film and found it fascinating and insightful. Unfortunately, and due to events totally unrelated to the film and the screening, I'm not able to put up a full review at this time. Suffice it to say that Turn It Up To 11 gets an ACF rating of 3 stars, highly recommended. And that Galaxy Express, sort of a Korean cross between The Who in the 60s and The Sex Pistols, have the energy of James Brown at his height and deserve the success they have achieved.

This latest series of KOREAN MOVIE NIGHT presentations, all of which are free, focuses on documentaries but includes a Halloween special event. It will run every other Tuesday @ 7pm through ­ October 31, 2010, courtesy of the Korean Cultural Service.