Roving Ronin Report

The Secret Desire of the Ninja

These stealthy assassins of yore…what lurks deep in their hearts?

It’s also up for votes on Current TV so please register and vote:

Secret Desire of the Ninja

Chance Encounter with Zen Priest

Komuso were Zen Buddhist Priests who used to travel about playing the Shakuhachi (Japanese Flute) for meditation and alms. Komuso means “Priest of Nothingness.”

I encountered this Komuso while I was in Nagoya. Komuso ceased to exist from the late 19th Century onwards.

The titles are bits of Zen sayings from samurai and Zen Masters. The subtitles tell the tale of the Komuso and their ultimate fate.

It’s up for votes on Current TV. Register and hit the green “I like it” button:
Zen Priest Playing Shakuhachi Current TV Submission
Register here:
Current TV

I also made it into a promo for Current TV:

It’s up for possible airing here:
Stop and Listen - Current TV Submission

I went to a wacked-out monthly dance event in Tokyo called Tokyo Decadance where people dress in wild outfits and such.

This guy was a mix of Resident Evil, Predator, Transformers, and Star Wars.

Music by:
Koko T

Check it out:

It’s also up for votes for possible broadcast on Current TV so please:
Register and Vote

Tokyo Youtube Gathering at a Hub Pub in Shibuya courtesy of Tokyo Cooney. We talk about Tokyo, Youtube, and our lives which are often intertwined.This is the second half of the Tokyo Youtube Hanami Gathering on March 30, 2008. I missed the first part with the hanami at Yoyogi Park and the last part at Karaoke. I’m bummed about missing the first part but thankful for missing the last part.

I decided to resurrect my old intro - The Roving Ronin Report - which I haven’t used in half-a-year. I always change up the scenes in the middle which different clips of a variety of things.

The following Japan Youtubers gave commentary in the video:
http://www.youtube.com/tokyocooney
http://www.youtube.com/TkyoSam
http://www.youtube.com/shotamerican
http://www.youtube.com/Noellafun
http://www.youtube.com/Gimmeabreakman
http://www.youtube.com/Omikron420
http://www.youtube.com/kkajapan
http://www.youtube.com/33sammi32
http://www.youtube.com/misternes
http://www.youtube.com/tokyokindel

Cameos in the background:
http://www.youtube.com/dallasintokyo
http://www.youtube.com/rodgerswan
http://www.youtube.com/racylaicie

There might be a few more Youtubers in the background that I don’t know about so scan closely.

Intro Music by the Exotic Ones
http://www.myspace.com/exoticones

The music that fades in and out during the video is by Supergirl Juice:
http://www.sgchannel.com

Violence, Robots, Cherry Blossoms, and more Violence!It’s a Youtuber Hanami Gathering in Tokyo!

See Youtuber ShotAmerican mercilessly pummel fellow Youtuber TkyoSam repeatedly!!!!

This all came about because Tokyocooney put together Tokyo Youtube Hanami Gathering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJm18Y…

This footage is from the pre-hanami gathering the night before in Ueno Park.

In attendance were:
Gimmeabreakman who lives in Nagoya:
http://www.youtube.com/gimmeabreakman

ShotAmerican whose handle I misspelled with an extra “a” in the video - Sorry!
http://www.youtube.com/shotamerican

TKyoSam:
http://www.youtube.com/TkyoSam

Tokyocooney made a brief appearance as well but I didn’t catch on camera at the time:
http://www.youtube.com/tokyocooney

Music by Mozart and the Exotic Ones:
http://www.myspace.com/exoticones

Sakura - Japanese Cherry Blossoms have been a part of Japanese culture for over a thousand years. They’re the subject of countless poems from waka to haiku.

The Short Happy Life of the Cherry Blossom

This is a photo montage I actually put up a year ago but never made public. It contains shots that I have taken over the years in different locations of sakura. You’ll see scenes from Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamakura, Himeji and few places you may not be aware of such as Ofuna and it’s giant Kannon statue. I put in a few Japanese poems to go along with the photos.

The geisha are from the Miyako Odori which is an annual geisha pulbic dance performance in Gion.

Music by the Secret Commonwealth:

The Secret Commonwealth

Here I face off against the deadly Juhyo - Japanese Monster trees of Mt. Zao - and live to tell the tale!

Juhyo trees are created by snow and ice mixed together by freezing strong Siberian winds that turns them into distorted monsters.

Juhyo Japanese Monster Trees

I went to the Honen-Sai Fertility festival again in the Nagoya area. I bumped into a fellow Youtuber, Gimmeabreakman, who has quite a market share of subscribers and views. He does a number of videos on Japanese culture, language, and on the Youtube community.

Here’s a cool vid he just put up about this past Honen-Sai festival. Mine will probably be up in a few weeks as I have other vid projects to finish first.

Check out his Youtube page at:

Gimmeabreakman

My blog on the festival:

Japanese Fertility Festival/

Here’s a video and blog I did on Dezomeshiki - A firefighting demonstration and parade put on every year by the Tokyo Fire Department. It features the hikeshi - old Japanese firefighters - doing acrobatics on ladders. The girl in the video who helps me pronounce Dezomeshiki is one of my school’s former students that I bumped into completely by accident.

Music by:

Super Girl Juice

For more information about Dezomeshiki and old Japanese firefighters check out my blog:
Dezomeshiki - Firefighting Japanese Style

Here’s a video I made last year about St. Patrick’s Day festivities in an Irish Pub in the heart of Tokyo with a brief interlude of Danny Boy being sung at a festival Enka Style.

Blog on St.Patrick’s Day:
St. Patrick’s Day Represents Celtic Survival