“I see now what I have to become, to join a tour like this…”

We know how you feel…

We know what’s on your mind…

And before you start your Labor Day weekend of fun. We want to bring you back down to Earth real quick to remind you the deadline for signing up for Intermixi’s Tokyo Game Show 2008 tour is this Labor Day, Monday Sept 1st!

Here’s just a tiny breakdown of everything we’re packing into our next tour:

Paid breakfast everyday & lunch in Harajuku
Admission to Tokyo Game Show 2008 (The exhibitor list now up)
The Ultimate Akiba Experience
Unlimited Game Night in Odaiba
A “How to Draw Manga” session by Manga University
See Maximum the Hormone perform live in concert!

All that along with our standard cultural and pop city experience of Tokyo, Intermixi is sure to give you a one-of-kind adventure in Japan!

For a while now, the tour has already been booked solid and is ready for departure, but we still have a few seats available before the doors close on this tour forever!

So really…

Come on…

IT’S TIME TO GO TO JAPAN!

The list has been updated for the exhibitors attending the Tokyo Game Show 2008:

* Academy of Art University
* ACQUIRE CORPORATION
* ARC SYSTEM WORKS Co., Ltd.
* Beijing Tidemark Consulting Co., Ltd.
* bushiroad
* CANADA GAMES
o Bug-Tracker
o Complex Games Inc.
o D-Box Technologies Inc.
o Deep Fried Entertainment Inc.
o Di-O-Matic, Inc.
o DTI Software Inc.
o Enzyme Testing Labs
o Fugitive Interactive Inc.
o GestureTek Inc.
o Hothead Games, Inc.
o Q8ISMobile Inc.
o Quazal Technologies Inc.
o Sarbakan Game Studio
o Side Effects Software Inc.
o Studio X Labs
o Wave Generation
o Wicked Studios Inc.
* CAPCOM CO., LTD.
* CNET Networks Japan K.K.
* costy
* D3PUBLISHER INC.
* DeNA Co., Ltd.
* ELECTRONIC ARTS K.K.
* ENTERBRAIN, INC.
* FromSoftware, Inc.
* G DATA Software K.K.
* GAMETECH CO., LTD.
* Geisha Tokyo Entertainment, Inc.
* HOLLAND PAVILION
o BGIn
o Control / Het Redactielokaal
o Dutch Game Garden
o Elements Interactive Mobile
o Ex Machina
o Grendel Games
o Khaeon Games
o Netherlands Foreign Trade Agency EVD
o NHL University
o NLGD Foundation
o Province of Fryslan
o Province of Utrecht
o Streamline Studios BV
o Triangle Studios
o Utrecht School of the Arts
o White Bear Holding BV Imma Games
* HUDSON SOFT CO., LTD.
* INTERCHANNEL
* IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INC.
* ITPIA CO., LTD.
* JAPAN e-SPORTS ASSOCIATION PREPARATORY COMMITTEE
* KDDI CORPORATION
* KOEI CO., LTD.
* KONAMI
* Koubou Inazumagumi
* LEVEL-5 Inc.
* Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
* MATCHINGWORLD, Inc.
* Microsoft Co., Ltd.
* MORI GAMES CO., LTD.
* NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
* Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.
* NTT DOCOMO, Inc.
* PLANEX COMMUNICATIONS INC.
* PRIME SENSE
* Prometech Software, Inc.
* SEGA CORPORATION
* Silver Star Japan
* SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION
* Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
* SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
* TAITO CORPORATION
* Taiwan Game Pavilion
o FunTown World Limited
o Gemmy Planet, Inc.
o Goldrock Inc.
o Insrea Game Center Corporation
o Joymaster Inc.
o Lager Network Technologies Inc.
o Mega Net&Tech Co., Ltd.
o M-etel Co., Ltd.
o Winking Entertainment Corporation
o XPEC Entertainment Inc.
o Zeroplus Technology Co., Ltd.
o Taipei Hsien Computer Association
o Taiwan External Trade Development Council
* TATA ELXSI LIMITED
* TECMO, LTD.
* TGL PLANNING INC.
* The Behemoth
* TOMY COMPANY, LTD.
* Transcosmos Inc
* Vuzix Corporation
* Yudo Inc.

See anything you like?

Still taking signups for our Tokyo Game Show tour!

The Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), a government organization purely focused on getting people to visit Japan. Has recognized and honored Intermixi’s efforts in Japanese touring efforts. We’re now up on their site showcasing both Intermixi as a whole and the upcoming Tokyo Game Show.

YOKOSO INTERMIXI!

(I wonder if they like heavy J-rock?)

Oh here’s a glance Aka’s summer report card:

Prepping and studying much for something Aka?

So over the weekend my date happened to be rummaging through my dvd collection for a movie to watch while I went to wash out my Joker green hair. (See forum for pics.) I was very surprised that as a non anime fan or gamer, my collector’s edition of “Final Fantasy: Advent Children” caught her eye. Long story short, I painfully listened to the English version, she didn’t understand anything that was going on but in the end thought it was amazing…

And I guess that got me thinking about the Final Fantasy franchise and what it means to the video game industry, Japan and most importantly the Tokyo Game Show 2008.

Without a shadow of any doubt the Square-Enix (the company that owns the FF Franchise) booth holds pure dominance as the main attraction for Tokyo Game Show every year. And as early as I can recall, every year at TGS was cloaked by a sea of people with only one purpose.

To see the trailers… more importantly to see the Final Fantasy trailers.

With Final Fantasy XIII the talk of Nihonjin gamer town, I can only imagine what the upcoming Intermixi travelers are in store for. I’m at an ease though, with our “Ultimate Akiba Tour” (viewing all the hidden gamer pit stops) and the “Unlimited Game Night” in Odaiba, we always customize and give everyone’s tour experience a unique touch gamer or not.

I admit, I haven’t actually played a FF game in a long time. The commitment the series requires is more than I could even give my date that weekend. But as I flashback to some of my older Japan tour memories, (hunting down the Square-Enix retail store in Shinjuku, finding the Advent Children movie during the scarce period or seeing the Amano’s World wall tapestry in Square Enix headquarters) my most memorable has to have been the time I was surrounded by a sea of 5′4 gamers all staring a the Square-Enix mystery trailer about to begin.

As a cloaked mouse like figure appear welding a keyblade, the trailer ended up being Kingdom Hearts 2. There wasn’t any thunderous applause as you’d expect in the states. Actually everyone sorta just resumed their lives like some mysterious spell had released them. But during that time, as the music of Utada Hikaru’s Hikari filled the air, I felt it…

A universal feeling that pulled upon my heartstrings. That gamer or not, you understood just how big of a movement, attraction and ultimately universal difference the Final Fantasy franchise and Square/Enix is making.

Perhaps at this years Intermixi’s Tokyo Game Show tour I’ll pick up the re-released copy of Advent Children and explain it to my date…. in Japanese.

*All images © BUNSYODO Printind K.Nagami/© JNTO

Early registration for Intermixi 2008 TGS tour is closing soon!

Just a reminder here’s a brief rundown of what’s being offered:

Tour package price: $1775 $1675 [+ tax and surcharge (approx. $320)], save $100 when you sign up early by Aug 22nd!
“Maximum The Tour” extended package: $250
Land Price: $820 (Maximum The Tour Land Price $1070)

Cut-off date is: Sept 1st.
Includes:
Hotel and Airfare
Breakfast Everyday
Paided Lunch in Harajuku
Tokyo Game Show
The Ultimate Akiba Experience
Unlimited Game Night in Odaiba
“How to Draw Manga” by Manga University
See Maximum the Hormone live in Japan!

And for the most part, the people have spoken! Intermixi’s phone lines have been packed with people requesting MAXIMIZE THEIR TOUR! It’s going to be a great show.

We’re ready to go to Japan… Are you?

Don’t delay turn in your registration form today!

Shonen Jump is hoping that it can continue it’s biggest crossover success in a long time with “Bakuman”, a story about two gifted students taking a crack at becoming mangaka. Of course, in full on hand-party mode, the two have already mentioned ‘Death Note’ in their book, as well as manga’s international popularity. They even gave nudges and winks to DBZ and One Piece and they’re not 60 pages in.

Yowza.

Seeing as how Death Note managed to combine both my love of mayhem and hot goth chicks who wear lingerie, I’m kinda interested to see how high the stakes get in this one as it is quite a different beast. But the kicker is that SJ (which presumably means ‘Viz’ in the states) is publishing the book online in 4 different languages before they’ve set up publishing deals in other countries. Hell-ooooo aggressive marketing!

I’m wondering if this one is going to go the long haul… I really do. A part of me thinks it’s too inside, but another part of me thinks it might be an interesting take on a rigid and uniquely Japanese form of self-expression. Mangaka don’t get the kind of leeway that comic creators get in the states, and it’s damn hard to produce art in a country where you make an average entry-level salary of 2500 bucks a month FULL TIME, you know?

Sadly, it may be awhile until this one reaches our shores in printed format. But if you have no fear of flying or fun, you may want to go ahead and sign up for a tour with us.* For reals, there’s no better time to pick up this and the Blanc Et Noir leather slipcase book that features Obata’s color works. It may be worth it just to hear the Maximum the Hormone debate that I will be having with Aka san… he likes them, and I, uh, don’t.

* = Tokyogetter: “I know how to do tie-ins!”

“An Asian man infatuated with hip hop meets a black woman with a passion for cooking. Can they put aside racial differences to give love a chance?”

Once a participant of one of Aka-san’s old Pop Japan tours, Joe Doughrity has grown as an established director giving us film surrounding in the Japanese culture. He now presents to us a 22 minute version of his short film “Akira’s Hip Hop Shop” now screening throughout the month of August as part of the Con-Can Film Festival in Japan.

Please watch the film and rate it! (Very important, it only takes a minute to register.)

English: http://en.con-can.com/watch/preview.php?id=20081206

Japanese site: http://jp.con-can.com/watch/preview.php?id=20081206

Who knows your might even see some familiar faces.
Also later this month pre-order your copy of the official “Akira’s Hip Hop Shop” DVD. It contains the award-winning 37 minute Director’s Cut and the DVD is packed with bonus features.

Mirrored from Tokyogetter.com. Cuz, uh, he works for us too.

Banana Choco. French Toast. Pretz. Pineapple. Bitter Chocolate. Melon Pan (bread). Salt. Butter. Hokkaido butter. Roast. Chocolate peanut. Cocoa. Potato.

Sure, some were better than others, but I’ve tried ‘em all. My rotund ass has rocked more pocky than you can begin to imagine. I am a walking testament to dead carbs, sugar, and salt. I am a man driven by pushups, hatred, and whatever candy-coated stick I am chewing on at the moment. I think the only one I haven’t tried is SARS-flavored. I’ll get to it someday.

That said, here are a few flavors I’d like to see. Take a note, candy manufacturers, you can make some moves with this here handy list of pocky treats I’d gladly scarf down and barf up after my second tall boy:

Pancake

Strawberry Cheesecake

Linux

Hamburger

Baby Hamburger (DUDE I HAD TO USE THIS IMAGE SOMEWHERE AND THE DAY HAS COME!)

And, of course…

(wait for it)

(Just a bit more…)

(Ready?)

Chocolate Rain

As you might have experienced last week, Intermixi suffered a “Cat 5 Server Crash” and was down for a few days.

Now, we don’t know what causes a category 5 server crash or if there really is such a rating for server crashes…

But look, all we know now is that we were down and now we’re back.

To make up for lost time, look out for daily updates.

Starting… Oh now..

(look up)

Ever wonder why there is so much Engrish floating around in J-pop? Ever wonder why when you watch Evangelion there’s five minutes of advanced Japanese grammar and 4 syllable kanji combination (read: hard to understand) words punctuated by the occasional “AT Field-o”?

Welcome to the concept of gairaigo!

Gairaigo (外来語) is the descriptor used for foreign loan words in Japanese. These foreign words get imported into Japan, chopped up, remixed, and inculcated into Japanese life at an alarming rate. So much so that you occasionally have to turn around and ask your friend what something means, even though it’s probably actually English and not Japanese. Keeping in Japan’s cultural tradition of acting like the Borg from Star Trek, gairaigo functions to help increase the already deep and complex vocabulary of Japan by constantly importing new words. It also has a cachet of cool attached to it to slip some English into an all J-go sentence.

Ex: “Watashi wa punk rock suki desu yo!”

”I like punk rock, man!”’

Although the influence of English is heavy in the realm of gairaigo, it’s not the only dog at the pet store, so to speak. German words are there, like the word for part-time work “aru-baito” coming from “arbecht”, which is German for, you guessed it, “work.” Even Portugeuse words are in the mix. “Pan”, meaning bread, is actually a Portuguese word.

What’s even more interesting is that some of these words or groups of words will get shortened after their introduction, which can up the word’s all-important cool factor. For example, Japanese bands Le Arc en Ciel and Brilliant Green become “Lark-ew” and “Buri Gree”, respectively. That’s good for me, as I cannot pronounce Le Arc en Ciel in French, nevertheless put forward a heavily accented version of it in Japanese. Good thing, ne?

There are many reasons for gairago to have a place in the language. For instance, Japan’s heavy emphasis on foreign imports or its function as an access port to Southeast Asia factor in heavily. Regardless, you can always expect to hear some English, French, Italian, or Spanish somewhere, if just fleetingly. In fact, if you’d like, you can start referring to us as “inter-mi.”

Has a nice ring to it, right?