JUNJI ITO interview clip from BBC3's Japanorama

This clip features a short interview with Junji Ito, conducted by British japanophile Christopher Jonathan Ross. I've heard of his show Japanorama previously when he interviewed Junko Mizuno, but I've never seen it. Despite being sort of lamely "ISN'T JAPAN STRANGE AND UNUSUAL!?" in tone, the show (over its three series to date) covers pretty interesting stuff, usually before it's become played out in western media.

This interview comes from the Kaidan episode (which also features an interview with Takashi Shimizu)and was posted on YouTube earlier this year. Ito's pretty taciturn but it's still a rare chance to see a video of one of my absolute favorites online. Check it out!



And since we're on the subject, here is a picture from a year or two ago of Junji Ito's wedding! I can't remember her name, but his wife (right) is a manga artist too, I hear.


[via Daul]

UPDATE! Here is the Junko Mizuno interview, from an earlier episode of Japanorama:

HI NO TORI TIMBERLANDS

And you thought Kazuo Umezu Chuck Taylors were strange... Doing random searches, I came across this old Hypebeast post describing a team-up between Timberland Japan and Tezuka Productions!



In 2006, as part of their EarthKeepers Collection, Timberland worked with the Tezuka folks to create a line of hiking/outdoors shoes and sandals based on Osamu's self-described life work, Phoenix (Hi no Tori). By not, the Timberland Earthkeepers Collection site is nowhere to be found, but I dug up this image:



What a strange partnership. I think the design of the shoes are kind of ghastly, but if you are a size 11 you can buy a (collectible?) pair of the sandals at this ebay auction -- with a Buy It Now price of only $99.00.


These sandals look really weird to me.

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

ELECTRIC ANT ISSUE #1... COMING SOON!

This weekend we finally launched a site for our zine. We're still knee deep in layout stuff (damn you, InDesign!), but it should be off to the printers by the end of the year. Details on the full contributor list below:



ELECTRIC ANT #1 ("YOUR FIRST KISS"), FEATURING:
COMICS, FICTION, ILLUSTRATIONS, LISTS, INTERVIEWS, AWESOMENESS

EDITED & PUBLISHED BY:
RYAN SANDS, EVAN HAYDEN, and ALICE KIM

CONTRIBUTORS:
FEATURE COMIC BY AARON K
HELLEN JO
DEREK YU
ANTHONY WU
ANTHONY HA
DEREK KIRK KIM
JEN YIN
CALVIN WONG
JULIA WERTZ
DAVID MURRAY
MC LARS
MISCHA UNOVITCH
MATT LOCK
GEA*
MARI NAOMI
ROOT STUDIO
OLIVER RIZK
RYAN GERMICK
TONY TULATHIMUTTE
JUSTINE LAI
HANNAH ISBELL
NATE SHOCKEY
SOPHIA FOSTER-DIMINO
ERIC NAKAMURA
...and an interview with FREDERIK SCHODT!

We're excited that the issue is starting to come together. My plan is to sell it directly through the site, and I'm also hoping to get a few indie/zine/comics shops and distributors to carry it. We'll see! As we get closer to release, I'll post more details about the content, some web-exclusive stuff and sample pages. Will anyone actually want to buy it though? Only time will tell...

Interview with IDW regarding Umezu's Reptilia

Last month, we blogged details and a preview of the newest Kazuo Umezu release, REPTILIA. It was scheduled to be out by Halloween, but it sounds like that was re-scheduled for November. Reptilia marks the first manga license for the publisher IDW (famous for the 30 Days of Night series).



While we're waiting for this 320 page Umezu omnibus, check out a recent interview with IDW publisher and editor-in-chief Chris Ryall, where he offers some of the details on their horror manga strategy and the licensing process. You can't argue with their reasoning for focusing on Umezu first:

"We’re starting with the father of horror manga. We’re starting with the guy who’s credited with establishing this genre."

[Via Manga Blog]

TODAY: Fred Schodt talks Tezuka & Astro Boy in SF!

Translator/Author Frederik Schodt is giving a talk at the Japan Society in San Francisco. He'll be giving a lecture similar to one given previously during the Asian Art Museum's Tezuka: Marvel of Manga exhibit, discussing his friendship with Osamu Tezuka, the continued impact of Tezuka's manga and Schodt's latest book, The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution.

I attended his previous Tezuka lecture and found it INCREDIBLY interesting-- Schodt is a humble and nuanced speaker, and as someone who's been the authoritative voice on manga for the past 25 years, he has a wealth of interesting stories and personal anecdotes. The guy is basically Manga Jesus, and a living resource on the early development on manga in America. If you're in the SF Bay Area, I highly recommend checking out this event!



Details below (and here):
Location:
Japan Society
500 Washington Street, Suite 500, San Francisco

Time:
Wednesday - November 14, 2007
5:30 pm Reception
6:00 pm Program
7:00 pm Book Signing

Cost:
Free for Japan Society Members & Students / $5.00 Non Members

MY UMEZU & KAGO TOYS!

As promised, here's a quick post of two recent gifts I received. Both are toys that 1) I didn't previously know existed before I got them and 2) are probably too weird and perverse for your average kids!

+ KAZUO UMEZU 'DRIFTING CLASSROOM' MONSTER! - from Evan

Evan hasn't revealed just where he found this, but I recently got a sweet Kazuo Umezu figurine toy from him! You don't know which one you'll get til you open the box, but I happily scored the giant bug monster from Drifting Classroom! This piece is on my desk at work and gets weird looks from coworkers. The toy can be joined with the Sho figure to create a scary diorama.


It's detailed, heavy and gross-- and here sitting on the inside front cover of our zine (work-in-progress!)


The box is bright red with a girl's screaming face on it... I guess you can definitely tell what you're getting yourself into.


Umezu (naturally) adorns the side of this box, with his bio, short bibliography and signature.


Other toys in the set include characters from Snake Woman, Orochi, Senrei (Baptism), Akanbou Shojo and others!

+ SHINTARO KAGO BULLYING KIT! - from Ben

According to Ben, this set is one of a few different types available and each is hand-packed by Shintaro Kago himself. They are available at Tokyo's indie/eroguro/weirdness mecca, Taco Che. Thank you Ben for this amazing present!


The packaging features some fantastic Kago art, and incites you to bully assholes at your school!


The kit includes glue to use on your classmates books, thumbtacks to put in their shoes, 'Kick Me'-like signs to put on their backs, and finally...


...what bullying kit would be complete without ear plugs so you can block out the cries of your victims!