One of the most complex characters found in modern Chinese dictionaries[48] is 齉 (U+9F49) nàng listen (help·info) (pictured below, middle image), meaning “snuffle” (that is, a pronunciation marred by a blocked nose), with “just” thirty-six strokes. However, this is not in common use. The most complex character that can be input using the Microsoft New Phonetic IME 2002a for Traditional Chinese is 龘 tà “the appearance of a dragon walking”; it is composed of the dragon radical represented three times, for a total of 16 × 3 = 48 strokes. Among the most complex characters in modern dictionaries and also in frequent modern use are 籲 yù (simplified chinese 吁) “to implore”, with 32 strokes; 鬱 yù (simplified chinese 郁): “luxuriant, lush; gloomy”, with 29 strokes, as in 憂鬱 yōuyù (simplified chinese 忧郁)”depressed”, with 15 and 29 strokes, respectively; 豔 yàn (simplified chinese 艳)”colorful”, with 28 strokes; and 釁 xìn (simplified chinese 衅) “quarrel”, with 25 strokes, as in 挑釁 tiǎoxìn “to pick a fight”. Also in occasional modern use is 鱻 xiān “fresh” (variant of 鮮 xiān) with 33 strokes.
In Japanese, an 84-stroke kokuji exists[49]—it is composed of three “cloud” (雲) characters on top of the abovementioned triple “dragon” character (龘). Also meaning “the appearance of a dragon in flight”, it has been pronounced おとど otodo, たいと taito, and だいと daito.
Spencer Kelly departs from Click’s private airbase in London and heads east to the land of the future, a place that’s always ready to try the next big thing – Japan.
He uncovers the Japanese desire for new technology and ventures into Akihabara – Tokyo’s technology district – and even discovers designs for a robot suit.
A body found on a mountain in Japan was confirmed as popular cartoonist Yoshito Usui, whose manga and animation series “Crayon Shin-chan” has attracted a worldwide fan base, a report said.
Usui, 51, had been missing for more than a week when a body covered in bruises was found on Saturday by a climber in a mountain range straddling Gunma and Nagano prefectures, Kyodo News agency reported.
The report said his family Sunday confirmed it was the cartoonist and quoted police as saying he may have fallen from a climbing path.
It added there was no sign of a suicide note.
Usui had been missing since September 11 after telling his family at his home in Saitama prefecture, near Tokyo, that he would be hiking on the mountain and would be back by the evening.
When he failed to return his family contacted police.
Usui made his debut as a manga author in 1987 and gained popularity in the 1990s with “Crayon Shin-chan” featuring the daily life of Shinnosuke, a mischievous five-year-old boy. (Source: Hindustan)
At the age of five Mineko left home to study traditional Japanese dance in Gion, Kyoto and by 21, she was considered Japan’s best dancer and maiko. (Source: Kimono Box)
Hanaikusa is just an hour long movie.
Inoue Mao plays the role of Mineko, a young maiko (apprentice geisha) in the Gion Kobu Geisha district of Kyoto.
The story is based on the autobiography of the famous retired Geiko (geisha) Mineko Iwasaki (who was one of the sources for Arthur Golden’s “Memoirs of a Geisha”). Iwasaki is also involved in the drama by personally coaching Inoue in the ways of the Geiko, and training the cast to speak the unique Gion dialect.
Hanaikusa 【花いくさ】
In December 2002, NBC played a spot featuring an interview with Mineko Iwasaki in relation to the Memoirs of a Geisha novel.
Between the 21st and 24th of July 2009 1,026 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 48.2% of the sample were male, 8.0% in their teens, 14.6% in their twenties, 28.8% in their thirties, 26.0% in their forties, 12.5% in their fifties, and 10.1% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample. Note that today’s question is for the men only.
Q: What’s your secret favourite fetish? (Sample size=495, male)
Utada Hikaru fails to break into US with yet another album.
Utada Hikaru’s album “This is the One” failed to break the US market when it was released 5 months ago.
This was her third attempt to woo American listeners, herself being a college dropout of Columbia University and native of New York City. Her first attempt to enter the American market was “Exodus”, which sold around only 55,000 copies, a low number compared to her success in Japan, where she has sold over 26 million.
Will she ever succeed in making it big in the US or will Americans continue to give her the cold shoulder?
