11.18.09

Sora-mimi ç©șè€ł or “misheard” lyrics Japanese-Finnish

Posted in Finnish, Japanese, Word and print at 15:23 by krause

Many years back I laughed myself into tears watching Hatten Ă€r din, an animutation internet meme or also a sora-mimi. A sora-mimi ç©șè€ł (lit. “empty ear”) is Japanese for “misheard lyrics” or for homophonic translation of song lyrics, which means interpreting lyrics in one language for similar-sounding lyrics in another language. The video or animutation Hatten Ă€r din has homophonic subtitles in Swedish, although the song is sung in Arabic – that sounds like Swedish…

There are also sora-mimi in other languages, and as I focus mainly on the Japanese and Finnish culture, I will remind of these songs that are sung in Japanese but sound like Finnish.

Lollin vei on Youtube
Hironobu Kageyama’s Lonely Way a.k.a. “Lollin vei” (Meros no Youn Live – Super Robot Spirits 99) and also Hironobu Kageyama’s 鳄äșșæˆŠéšŠă‚žă‚§ăƒƒăƒˆăƒžăƒłă€€Choujin Sentai Jetman = Aviator or Birdman squadron jet man/ Jetto Man a.k.a. “Ghetto Man”, and Vajra on! a.k.a Kenkiin, the first “translated-into-Finnish” song. Many Finnish newspapers and tabloids have noticed the popularity of the Finnish “subtitles” or sora-mimi in their leisure and culture sections.

Lyrics for Lonely Way in Japanese (Requires support for Japanese charachters)

Kenkiin on Youtube

Japanese lyrics for Vajra On (Requires support for Japanese charachters)

Ghetto Man on Youtube

Lyrics in Japanese for Jetto Man (Requires support for Japanese charachters)

Just a Raper on Youtube

Huh, Just a Raper, that is ć軿˜Ÿç„žă‚žăƒŁă‚čăƒ†ă‚Łăƒ©ă‚€ă‚¶ăƒŒ Genseishin Justiriser with Japanese lyrics.

And finally, Kimil’ on Corolla… You know, the Finnish F1 driver Kimi RĂ€ikkönen, may soon be driving a Toyota…Kimil on Corolla

with lyrics (ć…‰æˆŠéšŠăƒžă‚čクマン Hikari sentai masuku man = Light squadron mask man).

æ—„æœŹäșșに

KenkiinăŻăƒ•ă‚€ăƒłăƒ©ăƒłăƒ‰èȘžă§ă€ŒéŽăźäž­ă«ă€ă€‚Kimil on CorollaăŻăƒ•ă‚€ăƒłăƒ©ăƒłăƒ‰èȘžă§ă€Œă‚­ăƒŸïŒˆç”·ăźćć‰ïŒ‰ăŻăƒˆăƒšă‚żCorollaがある」。

07.20.09

Finrando no desain (Finnish design in Japanese)

Posted in F-Design, Finnish, Friends, Japanese at 16:06 by krause

Some time ago I blogged some Japanese traditional garments (kimono and obi) made of Finnish design printed cotton (Marimekko’s Unikko). Now I spotted the same design on the cover of a booklet about Finnish fabric(s): Finland Fabric 2.
Finland fabric 2After all, it is not surprising that there are books about Finnish design in Japanese – one can search for more Finnish related stuff in Japanese just by typing (or copying) ăƒ•ă‚Łăƒłăƒ©ăƒłăƒ‰ into the search engine. It was actually entertaining to look at what for example Google finds on that search string. Somehow it tells us how the Japanese see Finland. Who would have guessed Santa, Lapland, Aarikka, Iittala, Arabia, Marimekko, Moomin, the cathedrals and churches of Helsinki, big ferries to Sweden, old Russian coins, snow, salmiakki, wooden artifacts, kahvila Suomi are well documented? Haha.

I would have liked to find more of viili, acidofilus / lactobacillus products, piimĂ€, xylitol – just to name a few. No Eliel Saarinen, not much Alvar Aalto. But true, this was only Google. I found some funny ones, though.

Pikku Finland day Pikku Finland day21.6 was a surprise. First of all the place for the festival is Kanazawa, the city where I happened to live. The caption is about sausage being served, Iittala and Artek…

I also found a calling card I received in Japan: Café Kiitos (Thank you in Finnish).
Kahvila Kiitos So we have Kamome Shokudou (Kahvila Suomi) and the Japanese have ă‚«ăƒ•ă‚§ïŒ†ăƒŹă‚čトラン ă‚­ăƒŒăƒˆă‚č that is Kafe & Resutoran Kiitosu! Here’s anohter blog entry on kafe Kiitosu.

What’s more, there is a bakery by the same name:
Bakery Kiitos (Blogged in Yuki-san’s blog Another Time).

And if I do kumihimo, there is Finnish himmeli straw craft in Japanese: Himmeli

From the category Finnish horror stories, メンミ = mĂ€mmi, the black stuff fermented from
blogged by “Malion” form Japan: If you can’t understand the Japanese description of this traumatic event, look at the numerous smilies :D .

06.17.09

Engrish vs. Hoono soomi; soomi wins.

Posted in Finnish, Japanese, Word and print tagged , at 16:31 by krause

Ei ole todellista! Hervottoman hauskaa kaikille, jotka osaavat englantia, mutta nyt huonon enkun lisÀksi Engrish.com -sivustolla on myös epÀkelpoa suomea (Kirjotusvrihekuva vie tÀlle saitille):

Hoono soomi @ Engrish.com

Muutoin saitti on kyllĂ€ ihan viihdyttĂ€vĂ€, siis niin kauan kuin voi nauraa muiden virheille.    Omat eivĂ€t niin naurattaneetkaan. Kuka tekee noin huonoa jĂ€lkeĂ€!!?? EipĂ€ ole varaa enÀÀ hihitellĂ€ engrishille…

09.05.08

Isle of Sheep [ I Love Sheep ]

Posted in Dance, Finnish, Friends, Outings tagged , , , , , , , , , , at 16:42 by krause

Isle of Sheep The one and only, legendary Isle of Sheep event hosted by Vallilan Tango was a success, once again. August 29th the evening started around 4 PM, when people took off to the trail through the marsh. We were invited to have juice, cookies, and candy, then to follow the signs to Lammassaari along the path.

Marsh
[Photo: Jakke. Path to Lammassaari]

A short person, all I could see for 20 minutes, was grass. Halfway, there was a platform from where I could see the beautiful city skyline in the evening sun. After a while we heard a voice coming from the grass, reciting old thruths about social dancing in the olden days. The player was hidden so it was a surprise – an “experience”, as the organizers called it.

Pohjolan pirtti
[Photo: Jakke. Pohjolan Pirtti / Koitto]

When arriving at the site we were greeted by Mustalaisprimas plays blonde, a blond violinist playing outside the century-old red villa originally a social club for a sobriety society. No alcohol was to be sold, but we were well prepared. There were some other performances, as well. A band called The Barn Sparrows (Musiikkia syvĂ€stĂ€/-ltĂ€ etelĂ€stĂ€) entertained us with music from the deep south or from deep … and as last year, also Granny (Mummo) had a word or two to tell us.

Musician peeking at Mummo
[Photo: Jakke. Antti the musician peeking]

Valtiovarain ministeri
[Photo: Jakke. Guests and hosts]

“Jyrki Katainen”, both a female and a male version greeted everybody and reminded us to make a deposit – to buy badges and neckties to support the band.

Mr. Playback Boy
[Photo: Jakke. Mr. Playback Boy]

The show inside started with Mr. Playback Boy, the only Drag King I’ve ever seen. I’m soo in love with him (her). Mr. Playback Boy is Laura , a “theater and music professional” as she calls herself.
Mr. Playback Boy
[Photo: Jakke. Mr. Playback Boy = Laura Murtomaa]

(S)he was the slimiest latino ever, the playboy evergreen singer, the obscene pop star, a frustrated base vocalist in an acappella group, a pompous male choir member, and finally, a director of orchestra.

Vallilan Tango
[Photo: Jakke. Vallilan Tango]

After a short while of dance instruction, the band started to play, and people floodedon the dance floor. Vallilan Tango is this strange but excellent band featuring among other things, a vocalist who sings in broken English or broken Finnish as I think he is Dutch. And, they excel in Finnish tango, although they play cha cha, waltz, fox, and even polka, too.

As the villa is old and has no heating, it was chilly when I first arrived. I had to change clothes halfway in the night, as I was soaking wet, and it wasn’t the slight rainfall we got that night.. The Youngest R had found me a pussikalja somebody forgot in the bus, so I drank my present – I was so thirsty I didn’t care what it was.

There are more pics and even more to come. All photos are taken by Jakke. To contact Jakke, leave a comment.

There are more photos of the event by Jakke. These require you to log in to Facebook.
These are in Picasa (Isle of Sheep 2008) / Reeta Viljakainen.
These are also in Picasa (Isle of Sheep 2007) / user: Christian
Also Isle of Sheep 2007 photos by Jungle/Arctic at Flickr

08.09.08

Doomu vs. Futuro

Posted in F-Design, J-Design tagged , at 13:56 by krause

We have Matti Suuronen’s Futuro, designed 1968. Now the Japanese strike back with the styrofoam home Dome.

Futuro village:
Futuro

Dome village:
Dome

There are interesting dome houses, spherical, round and even revolving houses around the globe (pun intended), not to mention all sorts of traditional habitats like huts (Africa, Celtic etc.), teepees, Sami fur kota teepees, yurts, and of course, igloos. This dome house in Hakui, Nooto hantoo (Nooto peninsula, Japan) was photographed by me in 2006.
Hakui Dome house
Recently, the Futuro sold at Christie’s for €140,000 (¥23,200,000 or $210,600). The production has been discontinued, so the only way to acquire one is to buy a second hand Futuro.

A brand new Dome will sell at 3 million yen (under $30,000 or €18,100), but there are more expensive extended homes / public building solutions.

Futuro will arrive at your door step fully assembled. Only “legs” or supports and plumming, electricity etc. will need to be completed after transportation.
Futuro on the road
Dome modules
The Dome modules are assembled in a fraction of the time required to build a traditional house. The modules can be lifted by two or three people, and once the modules are snapped into place, the house is covered with plaster, painted, and customized.
Dome customized

Dome customized

Mushroom Dome
Karaoke place in Suijin no mori.

Dome gallery

Dome gallery inside

Dome customized

Pool

Futuro will blend into the Finnish lake side landscape perfectly (?):
Futuro bu the lake

Interior of Futuro:
Futuro inside

Futuro kitchen

The interior is more versatile than in Futuro, which is always the same size, and not very spacious: The Dome can be used as a sauna, shop, bar, office, hotel etc. in addition to just being a home.
Dome sauna

Dome steamroom

Dome bar

Bed room

Living room

Shower

Some videos of Dome.

The Finnish Futuro and Japanese Dome are not the only round, dome etc. shaped or spherical houses. There are lots of ufos around. As this is not a blog dealing with architecture, here are links to non-Japanese and non-Finnish round houses.

Dymaxion
Sunspace Homes
Bulle“ à 6 coques
Kugelhaus
And a blog with unusual living solutions:
Flatrock
And you can always search for “dome home” or “dome house” “round house” “rotating house” “spinning house” or “revolving house” – lots of interesting images there.

05.21.08

Marimekko makes it to an obi / Marimekko-kankaasta obi

Posted in F-Design, Wafuku (kimono) tagged , , , , at 20:18 by krause

Some time ago already I bought some fabric to make an obi for my purple tsumugi awase. I found striped blue/purple viscose/cotton fabric so stiff it almost doesn’t need stiffener. I was browsing some of my favorite obi links and found…

Marimekko tsuke obi that a Japanese woman had thought Marimekko was perfect for sewing an obi.
Marimekko baggu OBI And what’s funny, obi means also stripe, not only belt or sash. So the bag (or fabric) is named OBI in Japanese. (Click on image to surf to seller.)

Well, we the round eyed, we like the Oriental stuff. But hey, Marimekko looks great as an obi, and evidently the cotton material is ok, too. Works well with a more modern kimono like this:

Marimekko yukata

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Wafuku (Japanese traditional clothing, e.g. kimono / yukata / obi) are not the only traditionally Japanese goods manufactured in Marimekko motifs. I need one of these Marimekko kotatsu covers:

Marimekko kotatsu If you don’t believe kotatsu covers are a big thing, visit the site by clicking on the image.