things in japan that i like

i like japanese noise bands. the boredoms are my favorite. actually, i'm not sure they qualify as noise, but they are still awesome and i still otherwise like noise.
here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoVrIjFVNT0

the boredoms also did this performance in dumbo in new york with 77 drummers. rad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHwnoyZ3fRo&feature=related

i also really like this band called number girl. they are not noise, but they do a lot with distortion, which i like. i discovered them watching tv really late at night at my friend's house in tokyo in the summer of 2000. then i made her figure out who they were and how i could get my hands on them. the only thing i knew about them was that they were called, or had a song, or had an album named, 鉄風, which means something to me because i can speak chinese (sort of). 鉄風 turned out to be the name of a single and an ep. and i think i lost it but still have the mp3 on my computere and still love it. i sort of wish i'd started learning japanese then... but i didn't. number girl are no longer together, which is a little sad, but oh well. but the song that started my whole love for them is on youtubem, and apparently the title is more than i thought it was originally, it's 鉄風、鋭くなって. apparently the means, "Iron Wind, the sharp", according to google translate. i agree with the iron wind part because i know those kanji but still, that doesn't make sense. i guess that's why i have to learn にほんご。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WqSa4VQDH0

i also like some japanese pop music. i think japanese pop music, unlike chinese, has this unmistakable sound that prevents it from sounding purely derivative, which is the sad fate of chinese pop music. i especially like this woman chara, who i guess is kind of huge in japan, but still seems kind of quirky. she was in this movie called "swallowtail butterfly" that i also like, even though it's not a great movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL9GzM7dQi4&feature=related

but better is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OJP42UyDlo

and finally, i saw this the other day. and it's hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7hIAVN6Evc
japanese allows one to be post-ironic in all the best ways. i don't even know if that word caught on in acadamese, but i used it all the time in college 10 years ago and i still think it has currency.

there's actually a lot more from japan that i like, but i have other things to do. and also, this basically reminds me that everything i love in japan is a testament to my past, how old i am, and with how little i've kept up with cool stuff; and that makes me depressed.