Posts Tagged ‘arashi’
ふるさと home
Posted on: March 14, 2011
- In: arashi | happenings | japan | life | reflections
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the word ふるさと furusato literally means “hometown,” but it can also mean home, or where one belongs.
being a person who calls japan a second home – my REAL home, where i am happiest and at my most natural, it is heartbreaking to see the damage caused by the great tohoku earthquake last friday. it is not something that could have been prevented, but i am glad that japan is such an efficient country, and i am touched time and time again by the warmth, kindness and honesty of the japanese people in difficult times like these. being far away from japan right now, there is nothing much i can do but keep a close watch on them, and pray for the best.
right now, the only thing i can do, is share the following song :
“ふるさと furusato.”
this song was performed by arashi and many other young japanese singers during the annual kohaku utagassen program this year, and it is perhaps the most suitable song for this particular moment in time. the lyrics really warm one’s heart, and i believe every single word in it, is true.
[click here to listen to the song]
[the peaceful greenery that calms and soothes the soul]
夕暮れせまる空に 雲の汽車見つけた
なつかしい匂いの町に 帰りたくなる
as dusk approaches, i come across a train of clouds
i feel like returning to the town with the nostalgic scents
[strangers always ready to share a smile and a victory sign]
ひたむきに時をかさね 想いをつむぐ人たち
ひとりひとりの笑顔が いま
僕の そばに
earnestly piling up the times
of the people who made my memories
each and everyone’s smiles are now
by my side
[my beloved host family in osaka, who loves me unconditionally at all times]
めぐりあいたい人がそこにいる やさしさ広げて待っている
山も風も海の色も いちばん素直になれる場所
there are people there who I want to meet again
who are waiting for me with kindness
the mountains, the winds and the color of the seas
it is the one place that i can be myself
[kind people who i met by chance in the arashi concert, are now my friends]
忘れられない物語がそこにある 手と手をつないで口ずさむ
山も風も海の色も
ここはふるさと
my unforgettable stories are there, and we hum as we hold hands
the mountains, the winds and the color of the seas,
this is my hometown
[my kids in saitama, who clung to me and cried when i left, telling me to never forget them]
めぐりあいたい人がそこにいる やさしさ広げて待っている
山も風も海の色も
(ここはふるさと)
there are people there who I want to meet again
who are waiting for me with kindness
the mountains, the winds and the color of the seas,
(this is my hometown)
[strangers who were more than glad to help, when i was lost and alone in the mountains of kyoto]
君のふるさと
your hometown
[the place where i am the happiest]
僕のふるさと
my hometown
ganbare nippon!!!
the sun will rise again tomorrow.
マジシャンの誕生日 a magician’s birthday
Posted on: June 17, 2010
♪ お誕生日おめでとう！♪
happy 27th birthday to
♥♥♥ 二宮和也 ninomiya kazunari ♥♥♥
i love how happy you truly look whenever you’re together with the rest of them, especially when you’re on the stage in concerts!
🙂 this year’s birthday cake!
i can’t believe it’s been one year since i last celebrated! time really flies!
i wanted to get something yellow but the only one they had in yellow was orange-flavoured, and i’m not too fond of orange >o<;; this one had lemon jelly on top though, so it's somehow yellow? :p
i’ve given up on trying to write about how much i love you D: it’s just impossible to put into words…
so i’ll just let the photos do the talking :p
i’m praying for your good health, success and happiness! ♥ i hope you get a lot of love and rest for your birthday!!! ♥
nino birthday picspam #1
Posted on: June 16, 2010
- In: arashi | nino | photos
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it’s going to be nino‘s 27th birthday soon ♥♥ and in celebration of that, i will be posting my favourite photos of him! 😀 do bear with me, dear readers! :p
so here we go! the first picspam consists of some of my all-time favourite photos of him. it’s very VERY difficult to narrow it down to 12 photos, because there are so many good photos of him, but i tried my best!
♥♥ it’s often been said that he resembles a shiba inu, and i can’t agree more – it’s those expressive brown eyes!
well-known for his love of gaming, he also enjoys being cooped up at home in his pajamas with nothing but his baby-blue nintendo ds
he also gets giggly at the most unexpected moments!
he looks good in shirts with skinny ties
ask him what he’s obsessed about right now, and it would always be the same answer : magic
how he gets away with almost anything, and i really do mean anything : the pout (TM)
his childhood dream : professional baseball player
his loyal companion throughout the years : his guitar
his passion : stageplays, movies and acting
the shy japanese chef who falls in love : tawara ippei (haikei, chichiue-sama)
he doesn’t show much skin, but when he does, he does it well
i love this so much, i want a really big poster of it in my room
and last but not least :
the mayor of pathetic town who stole my heart : ariake kouichi (ryuusei no kizuna)
電車での一人旅 solitary journey on the train
Posted on: May 9, 2010
yesterday i went to 保土ヶ谷 hodogaya to look for the church featured in maou and was supposed to go exploring in sakuragicho as well, but right after i found the church, it started raining so i decided to go train-hopping instead to collect stamps! 🙂
takadanobaba –> [yamanote line] –> shibuya –> [tokyu toyoko line] –> yokohama –> [yokosuka line] –> hodogaya
i saw this on the train… a really cute bag!
the best reflective surface i could find in hodogaya hahah!
it’s gradually getting warmer but spring is still in the air
garden decorations
i love the colours in this shot 🙂
a really nice stairway up the hill. somehow this shot reminds me of itoshii kimi e…
this made my day ♥♥♥ :p
green houses 🙂 it must be really convenient to have a postbox right outside your own house
classic cars
a nice playground right on top of the hill! it overlooks the whole city >w<
保土ヶ谷カトリック教会 hodogaya catholic church
it was a friday so there was actually nobody there, but they were preparing for an event so i didn’t want to be too much of a bother
it looks really pretty on the inside!
it was a cloudy day, which was really too bad because i would be able to see the sunlight streaming in through the stained-glass windows if it was sunnier
even so, it was really beautiful and tranquil…
i am always entranced by japanese wisterias
the same house that had the cat decoration earlier. i saw this hiding in between the bushes on the way back 😀
it’s not winter anymore, but i love my snowflake necklace
it started raining so i figured it would be no use trying to get off at any stations to explore, and started train-hopping to collect stamps since i don’t have many stamps from outside tokyo
the benches at 横須賀 yokusuka
i find this really amusing. it’s polite and nice for a warning sign XD
a lot of schoolchildren on the trains, since it was a friday evening. school was just over so i guess a lot of them were on their way home 🙂 one of the girls had a 5×10 strap on her cellphone XD
i spotted the name of this station on the huge JR line train map when i was in the train, and couldn’t resist!!! it was really far away though. i find it funny that a lot of schoolgirls got off at this station too.
the colour even matches >w< ♥
田園調布 denenchofu
Posted on: May 7, 2010
- In: arashi | food | happenings | japan | life | outings | photos | tokyo
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backlog : 2010.05.03
i went out on an adventure! 🙂 after finding out that the mansion used as masamune-kun‘s apartment in the my girl drama was in a small town called 田園調布 denenchofu, i decided to set out to look for it!
the houses in my neighbourhood had their carp streamers out :3
a sign at the local shrine : may they grow up healthily!
takadanobaba –> [yamanote line] –> meguro –> [tokyu meguro line] –> denenchofu
🙂 i arrived at a surprisingly quiet and pretty town!
i have no idea why but it reminds me of a western country…
foreigners often complain about how hard it is to find places in japan due to the messy layout of the address system, but i find it quite helpful! i find places quite easily with these little blue signs and the signs painted on lamp poles along the street
🙂 the apartment where masamune-kun lived at! it’s actually an unused western building that belongs to the house next to it
wisteria in the gardens
take a peek through the fence 🙂
i found an opening, so i went in!
the main entrance
the decorative birdhouse hung on a tree branch. this birdhouse was photographed in the my girl fanbook as well!
really pretty flowers that look like cherry blossoms, but i don’t think they are…
this sort of looks like a scene out of an english book!
hiro lazing in one of the birdcages >w<
hello!
even the flowers by the roadside are dancing in the spring breeze!
so happy!
this looks like a very expensive neighbourhood to live in
not many people walking around too…
tea time at lepi dor 🙂
i found out about it online and even though it looks intimidating on the outside, it’s actually a pretty affordable place!
i ordered the millefeulle and the gateau fraise
a close up of the gateau fraise. they used real whole strawberries in between the layers!!! *o*
the best millefeulle in the world
i love my rabbit brooch
the main sales counter downstairs at the patisserie 🙂
the other side of town
is it just me, or does it look like an old cowboy movie setting?
in front of a (closed) cafe. i understand the sign about no smoking, but the one about drugs…
the cutest sign ever
多摩川 tama river
a nice building at 狛江 komae!
i love the colour gradiations!
carp streamers are everywhere :O they love their boys huh?
this house is really awesome, they have wisteria hanging over their front gates *O*
a traditional good old barber
spring has come
Posted on: April 23, 2010
along with the rain.
it’s been raining the past few days and the temperature dropped instantly within the first hour of rain so i still don’t quite feel spring in the air just yet, but the flowers are all starting the bloom! i took some photos this morning when i went grocery shopping in the rain 🙂
recently, there have been many weird arashi related coincidences in my classes… i never realized watching arashi would let me learn so much >w<
1. hana ichi monme was mentioned in my haiku class and i actually could sing the song =w= thank you shukudai-kun!
2. the phrase tenki ame (meaning “rain on a sunny/fine day”) was also mentioned in my haiku class… thank you marathon!
3. the word samidare (meaning “early summer rain”) in literature class >w< thank you nino!
4. the kanji for 翔 appeared in one of the haiku we were studying >w< one of the rare times i knew the reading of a kanji compared to my friends who were better at it, without looking it up on my electronic dictionary… thank you shochan!
… i can’t remember the rest but there were definitely a lot of arashi-related coincidences in my classes this week!
in other news, more misfortune has fallen upon my laptop 😦 the screen has gone all crazy and i’m beginning to feel like buying a new one, but that would mean a japanese one, with its funky japanese keyboard and weird settings… i should probably go fix it, along with the malfunctioning keys on my keyboard… but i keep worrying about how much it would cost and how long it would take >o<;; i hate electronical problems!
Posted on: April 10, 2010
today i went out to meet megan for the first time, to receive the lemony snicket and terry pratchett books 🙂
the adorable kaibutsu-kun poster at shinjuku station!
the whole place was filled with them ♥
it changes to the new arashi ni shiyagare poster after a while >w<
i met up with megan at the east entrance and we went to cafe comme ca for cakes!
it was a very nice place!
i didn’t have the chance to take photos around the cafe but the cakes were beautiful! captain, let’s come here for cakes!
i ordered the fruits tiramisu!
>w< it was really pretty ♥♥♥
red hearts
after that, we went for karaoke!!! two hours of arashi is DEFINITELY not enough :O but they wouldn’t let us extend because it’s a saturday and there were a lot of people waiting in line… we started with allergy and ended with love situation. we wanted to end with 5×10 but we couldn’t skip through our song list fast enough XD
on the way back, i realized there was actually a nino poster at takadanobaba station ♥
spring has finally arrived 🙂
the sakura tree in the backyard is in full bloom, and the ground is constantly covered in a soft carpet of pink 🙂
the books i received from megan ♥ thank you SO much! i finally have books to read now! the problem now, would be how to bring them all back…
a new beginning
Posted on: April 9, 2010
the new spring semester has started and what better way to start it than with some arashi love!!! i went to collect my 5×10 dvd after i finished my classes on the first day!
finally… after 4 months of waiting!!!
>w< it's a strange feeling
the poster that comes with the dvd. i would have preferred a booklet ;_;
i have too much to talk about the concert but i shall spare my normal readers the spazzing and fangirling so i’ll just list down the reasons why i think dome > kokuritsu XD (of course, kokuritsu is epic fun and there are lots of awesome moments but…)
– no acappella kansha kangeki ame arashi for opening
– aibachan‘s solo had more impact in dome… explosions + popup stage entrance, anyone?
– no ohmiya in hitomi no naka no galaxy
– actually, no ohmiya throughout the whole concert…
– no balloons in kumori nochi, kaisei
– no dancing in truth
– no crack fun in fight song
– no boku ga boku no subete!!
– audience weren’t as pumped up during attack it!!
… okay to be fair, the dvd had lots of surprises that i was totally not expecting so it’s still fun to watch >w< i was NOT expecting that thing that happened during pika☆nchi in the medley XD if you’ve watched the dvd you’ll know what i’m talking about. fireworks were pretty impressive too!!! *o* believe was really awesome, what with all the overhead shots…
i’m really glad i went ♥
my life according to arashi ♥
Posted on: March 26, 2010
- In: arashi | meme
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i stole this from izumi who before this, stole it from naochan hahah! it seemed fun so i thought i’d try it out! (angel, if you’re reading this… do it!!!)
using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. pass it on to 12 (or a million) people you like. you can’t use the band i used. do not repeat a song title. it’s a lot harder than you think! repost as “my life according to (ARTIST NAME)”
Are you a male or female?
my girl
Describe yourself:
troublemaker
How do you feel:
happiness
Describe where you currently live:
sunrise nippon
If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
niji no kanata e
Your favorite form of transportation:
aozora pedal
Your best friend is:
oh yeah!
Your favorite color is:
everything
What’s the weather like:
rain
Favorite time of day:
tabidachi no asa
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
boku ga boku no subete
What is life to you:
beautiful days
Your fear:
allergy (i am thankful i was not born with any)
What is the best advice you have to give:
we can make it!
If you could change your name, you would change it to:
snowflake
Thought for the Day:
life goes on
How I would like to die:
take me faraway
My soul’s present condition:
re(mark)able
My motto:
kitto daijoubu
マイガールの世界展 my girl’s exhibition
Posted on: March 19, 2010
today i went for the my girl exhibition at roponggi, which was held in celebration of the official release of the dvd box ♥ it comes with a special hand towel that i really want, but the dvd box is too expensive for me 😦
i am way too easily amused
people lining up to go in – they were controlling the crowd so it wouldn’t be too packed inside, and to make sure that everyone had the chance to take a good look at everything
there were quite a lot of families, with both parents and kids 🙂 i’m glad to see more than just arashi fangirls! it will probably be packed to the brim tomorrow since it’s a saturday…
i like the overall presentation – very simple and very sweet
view from the entrance
they had one panel for each episode, with a brief summary of what happens and 4 photos from the episode
they had a replica of the sakura tree at masamune-kun‘s school >w<
hiro went along with mummy because he is a koharu fan 😀
besides that, they also had various key items on display : the drama scripts, masamune-kun‘s camera, koharu-chan‘s lucky charm, her hair accessories, masamune-kun‘s outfits, koharu-chan‘s pajamas >w< i wish i could take photos of the items on display! and i knew aiba-chan was tall, but i’ve only realized today exactly how TALL he is when i was looking at his outfits hahah! (and big shoes too!)
masamune-kun‘s bike, with the child seat attached
other key items that was near the photo-taking spot, so i managed to get some photos >w<
koharu-chan‘s cape and the symbolic red-and-white muffler scarf!
koharu-chan‘s shoes, boots and bags
the postbox by the riverbank and koharu-chan’s string telephone!
i was hoping that they would restock the handphone straps but sadly, they only had clear files left 😦 i quite like the mug too… oh well! i bought the clear file anyway =w=;;
hiro with the huge doraemon at the tv asahi souvenir shop
the miniature tokyo tower in the lobby
upclose at the sparkly dangly stuff 😀
on the way to azabu juban station, i spotted this! i wonder how it tastes like…
a nostalgic name for me! as long as i can remember, azabu juban is where sailormoon lives :p
so cute!
even the patrol cars here are cute hahah! so tiny!
wrong kanji but at least it still reads ohmiya :p
my lunch 🙂
troublemaker photos were up at the shop today. the damage is done. i am heartbroken over the lack of my otp 😦 johnny’s, what were you thinking?!
l'isle joyeuse 