[Asian Pacific Review] Nihonjinkai: Japanese Student Association at Fresno State

Through diligence and diversity, the Japanese Student Association is providing a positive educational environment for many students at Fresno State.  Established over 30 years ago, this club has gone through many changes.  Establishing a fun yet educational understanding of the Japanese culture is one of many ambitions of the group.  The Japanese Student Association is also a great way for Japanese students to develop career opportunities around Fresno as well as jobs that may be available in many areas throughout the United States.  The JSA also assists students with the many challenges foreign students face in establishing a comfortable settlement here in America.

Club President Hiroko Shirae explains that the JSA has gone through many changes throughout the years in Fresno State.  The club was established with around 100 members, all of Japanese ancestry.  Present time, there are about 60 members, and only 10% are Japanese.  Shirae feels that many people of various ethnic backgrounds are very interested in Japanese culture, and that this is a very wonderful thing about JSA.  This allows an intricate connection between Japanese and Americans.  It was only a few years ago when the club decided on a more educational approach.  Programs such as Conversation Partner Program have been created to help Japanese with their English speaking, as well as giving Non-Japanese students the opportunity to learn and practice the Japanese language.

Shirae would like to encourage more Japanese students to join JSA.  She feels that many the students on campus can benefit from the many connections established within the Japanese community.  A career workshop within the association can be a great benefit for those who may need assistance in job placement around the community.  The club also attempts to connect with the many local Japanese Americans.  This is done through activities such as baseball games between Japanese living here and those from their ancestral homeland.  These events not only contribute to a more positive educational and promotional environment for the Japanese, it also gives the club exciting events to look forward to.

The club has fundamental aspects in education as well as leisure.  Earlier this semester there was a field trip to Mitsuwa, which is a kind of Japantown in San Jose, California.  The JSA also puts together fun-filled picnics, game nights, movie nights, and trips to the ice skating rink.

Every year, the club puts together some of the most memorable shows.  Performances such as the “Kochikame Dance”(a modern dance routine), “Bon Odori” (conical straw hat dance), and Karate are among the many, which captivate the hearts of many in the audience.  The “Rock Soran” is a popular favorite, which is a dance that replicates movements by Japanese fisherman.  The club also plans to cook authentic dishes such as yakitori and onigiri for events such as Vintage Days at Fresno State.

The Japanese Student Association uses the slogan “Where We Shine Together” to describe the kinship within these dedicated club members.  Japanese and even non-Japanese members work in collaboration to promote a culture that is important, as it is influential in their daily lives.  President Hiroko Shirae has hopes that more Japanese students on campus will assist by joining the JSA with hopes of accomplishing this goal.  The club meetings are held on campus every Friday, 5:00 p.m. in Music Building room 160.

 

[Asian Pacific Review] What is On Your Playlist?

Thanks to the availability of sources across the Internet, the taste of music has grown to an unbelievable paramount.  Fans of a certain genre of music are no longer bound by deals and opportunities given only by our local record vendors.  Music that is available from other countries are finally crossing international borders and entering the local market.  With the vast number of technologies available, we find ourselves listening to our favorite music almost everywhere and anytime we would like to.  Through an interdependency, we not only become aware of whatever mainstream music is played for us here, we also become aware of the different kinds of music playing around the world.  After talking to a few students around Fresno State campus, we find that there are a few interesting trends happening in the music scene today.  Let us take a moment to expose some of these astonishing revelations.

See Vang, a senior in the graphic design department enjoys listening to some of her favorite music on her mp3 player.  See is currently listening to a variety of Asian music, folk music, and even country.  Her current favorite singer is Jay Chou, a famous Chinese musical and television celebrity from Taiwan.  See explains, “Jay Chou is one of those guys who doesn’t care about music boundaries. That’s why I praise him so much. He has so much to offer not just rap or just ballad but he does everything”.  An interesting thing about Jay Chou’s music is that at times he incorporates effects such as a helicopter flying or sounds animals make within certain compositions.

Korean pop music has gained a huge following to fans at an international level.  Calida Arunson, a linguistics major here at Fresno state enjoys listening to a wide variety of music, including traditional Khmer music, Contemporary Christian music and Korean pop as well.  Calida remembers the way in which she was introduced to K-pop music.  A few years ago, a friend of hers had a video collection of music videos of a Korean group known as Shinhwa.  She was amazed at how well they danced, their wonderful music, and the good-looking guys.  The videos were so captivating that it led her into an extraordinary fandom towards this music.  “When it came to mainstream music, I was really into listening to rap, R&B, and hip-hop music.  After a while, rap was starting to change and I didn’t like it as much.  K-pop was sort of an outlet from this music.”

Seiya Higgason, a junior in the history department, loves listening to music on her Zune.  She is currently listening to the latest single by a band called U-Kiss.  The song is called “Man Man Ha Ni”.  This music can be described as a techno/pop sound with synthesizers.  She enjoys music from these bands not only due to their great sound, but because she feels and describes, “they go the extra mile when it comes to making music”.  Seiya is author of her own blog dedicated to Korean music (@ http://angrynoona.wordpress.com)  Some bands that she recommends are Big Bang, G-Dragon, and 2ne1 if you are into hip-hop.

Japanese music is also making a big impact on the music scene.  Through popular influences such as anime and video games, Japanese music has been gaining a lot of popularity.  Christina Yang, a first year student here at Fresno State enjoys listening to a variety of Japanese music through her twin sister’s iPod.  She has many favorite bands.  Several of them include Girugamesh, Olivia Lufkin, AAA, ON/OFF, Ai Otsuka, TRAX, Big Bang, Ikimono-gakari, and Stereopony.  “Most of the mainstream music here talk about money, girls, and partying; they are starting to sound alike. Unlike mainstream music, they are more creative, expressive, and inimitable in both their music and lyrics”, Christina explains.

There is also a great interest in music from Canada and Europe.  John Leonard Ibarra, currently a graduate student, has a very diverse interest in music.  He enjoys listening to music on his computer at home.  His favorite music comes from the soundtrack of “Lolita”, a movie that is based on a novel by Vladimir Nabokov.  “This is my all time favorite story.  It is so nostalgic, so sad”, he explains.  John Leonard also enjoys music from Canadian Idol winner, Theo Tams.  All in all, this lover of music listens to a wide variety, ranging from lively mainstream music to more personal or nostalgic soundtracks.  John also mentions that he graduated as a music major, which may have an effect over his perspective about music.

Overall, the accessibility of music has created a more open, global appreciation of artists worldwide.  Thanks to the Internet, music lovers are not bound to listening to mainstream music.  Instead, people have more freedom now in finding music from all over the world.

 

THEE OUT MODS “Rock-n-Roll Pirates” Review

ARTIST:  THEE OUT MODS

ALBUM:  Rock-n-Roll Pirates

LABEL:  7 Samurai Records

available on www.japanfiles.com

ALBUM TRACK LISTING:

1. Treasure Island
2. Umaku Ikanaize
3. Punk a go go
4. Sakura
5. Iikagenni Shiyagare!!
6. GERO
7. Fuck This Shit
8. MY WAY
9. GLORY
10. Rokudenashi
11. It’s your life

Get me up!!

One of the hottest new sounds, THEE OUT MODS are bringing a major ruckus on today’s punk music scene.  The new album “Rock-n-Roll Pirates” is 100% pure energy.  I started listening to the opening track “Treasure Island” on my iPod and could not help myself from wanting to stand up and dance.  The opening guitar riffs were playfully melodic with steadily beating foot on the bass pedal.  Suddenly I hear a powerful voice open forth, “Come on!” as it lead me into an exhilarating voyage.

THEE OUT MODS is composed of three hard-edged members.  Frontline vocal and guitarist SANA has a rough and powerful voice.  She can be strong yet add a flavorful twist by expressing dramatic changes in the vocals.  YOSHIKI on bass exhibits versatility and playfulness on the guitar riffs.  On drums, KENNY manifests an explosive range of ability as well as strong attitude in his playing.

“Rock-n-Roll Pirates” has many interesting titles.  “Umaku Ikanaize” is an awesome song as it exhibits THEE OUT MODS explosive attitude in its music as well as the lyrics.  SANA’s voice is deep, energetic as it gives this song a sexy vigor appeal to it.  “Iikagenni Shiyagare!!” is lightning fast with the bass line running through an awesome bliss.  “GERO”, one of my personal favorite songs is a fun song with very dynamic edges in the percussive end.  “Rokudenashi” is one of the more mellow songs, but through the versatility of the band, it still packs a punch.  The album closes with one of my favorite songs so far, the very creative and exciting “It’s you’re life”.

With so many fun songs, THEE OUT MODS puts together an awesome compilation that would be enjoyable by many audiences.  Judging by these wonderful songs, I am pretty sure they will definitely rock during their live performances.  They have an awesome style that is sexy and rough, which goes along with their music.  If you are into the rock or punk scene, definitely check out “Rock-n-Roll Pirates”!

 

[FFXI REPORT] Bangz: Sunbreeze Festival

Summer time can be a fun time for everyone in Vana’diel. One of the first events held this summer was Celestial Nights. This event is pretty much a “haiku” writing event. Members from different linkshells will compose a poem which will then be posted on this tree where everyone can read them. Me being somewhat of a poetic tarutaru myself I decided to share a couple of them too all of my wonderful friends:

- Chocobo -

Across wide plateau

We dash, sweet feathered friend

My party awaits!

There is another event called the “Test of Bravery”. In this event, we must partner up to find certain goal points in various dungeons in Vana’diel. My friend Emm, a level 75 White mage, called to my attention that we should try out this new event. We started in the city of San d’Oria.

We then headed to Castle Oztroja, home of many dangerous Yagudo tribes. Yagudo are bird beastmen that controlled much of the land surrounding the federation of Windhurst. Emm and I were warped to that castle to find a certain “Goal Points” located throughout the castle.

Placing us in dangerous areas of the castle we sneaked our way hoping to find our destinations. As soon as we reached the goal point, a moogle suddently appeared before us. This frightened us and doing so, this moogle took a picture of us as we just stared, terrified at this sight. The moogle thought it was very amusing, then warped us back to the city where we gained prizes for participating in the event. Our prizes were M & P meatsticks …

 

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