Walking along Route 246, I was surprised to look up and see the katakana script reading アースウィンド！ びっくり仰天だった！ アースis, in English, arse…or, so I thought. Arse wind, then, could only mean one thing….surely a company couldn’t have named itself after a fart? Of course it didn’t. In fact, アース is also the reading for earth. That makes Earth Wind a little easier to comprehend, even if the English is still a little awkward.
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Australians have a special way of spreading Christmas cheer Ploughing snow is a big no-no, we have sun over here Christmas pud is a pav instead, while lunch is on the beach Cold ham replaces turkey, And we have three servings each Kangaroos help Santa out, ‘Cause reindeer just won’t do For they don’t know the bush so well, roos just bound on through Forget the fur lined boots this year, thongs are what we need Rudolf will have to sit it out, while Skippy takes the lead But don’t you worry, have no fear, Santa’s used to us down…
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Shinzo Abe addresses the Australian Parliament at Parliament House, Canberra, on July 8, 2014. He was the first Japanese prime minister to address both house of parliament.
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Shinzo Abe addresseｄ the Australian Parliament at Parliament House, Canberra, on July 8, 2014. He was the first Japanese prime minister to address both house of parliament. He gave a joint news conference with Australian Prime MInister Tony Abbott following the address.
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50代以下オーストラリア人及びイギリス人であれば、間違いなくロルフ・ハリスという芸能人の存在が分かるはずだ。1950年代後半以降同人物が子供を中心にイギリス在住でありながら出身国であるオーストラリアのことを全身全霊でPRし続けた。イギリス・オーストラリアを中心にものすごく愛され、両国のほとんどの人にとって「大好きなおじさん」のような存在だった。しかし、明るい表向きの顔の裏面は暗く虐待的な性格を隠したようだ。今週、小児虐待罪として5年9か月の実刑判決が下れた。虐待疑惑が浮上した2012年末頃からほぼ誰でも信じられなかったが、徐々にハリス受刑者の行動パターンが明確となり、約30年間に渡り自分の実娘のベスト・フレンドをはじめ数多くの未成年女性を性的に虐待した事実が明らかとなって有罪判決に至った。考えRoo自身をはじめ、ハリス受刑者を愛した何百万の英・豪人がこの事実にショックと痛みで受けた。 今では、ハリス受刑者が日本で知られていないと言っても過言ではないと思う。でも、いつもそうじゃなかった。1960年代前半、ハリス受刑者の多数中の最も大きなヒット曲「Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport」が日本でもひそかなファンを集めた。それほどヒットしなかったがザ・ピーナツ及びダニー飯田によって原版のオーストラリア動物の言葉遊びの歌詞をもてない男の話をコミカルに替えてシングルとして発表された。 いずれにせよ、子供大好きなキャラとして売れたハリス受刑者が今84歳。今からイギリスの刑務所で禁固生活が始まる。何とも言えない複雑な感情だが、日本語の替え歌のように悲しい気持ちでいっぱい。が、曲と違って、コミカルな味気がない。
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Not really related to Kangaeroo.com, but an amazing downpour hit Tokyo on the afternoon of June 29, 2014, and it deserved to be recorded. Fortunately, nobody appears to have been injured in the massive deluge that struck the capital that had been basking in glorious sunshine just minutes earlier (and would return to relatively fine conditions within an hour). So much for climate change deniers…
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An awesome young Japanese guy playing a hip tune on the didjeridu, an indigenous Australian instrument, in Tokyo’s Harajuku district. Related stories Ringo’s Ring-in, Awesome Aussie Anime Highlight the Fab Four’s Oz Oddities
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The 1970 Osaka World Expo was a boon for Japan’s second-largest city, then, like the rest of the country, enjoying the postwar boom that propelled Japan from the brink of destruction to being the No. 2 economic power in the world. 1970年に行われた大阪万国博覧会は、当時高度成長期真っ最中商業地域であり日本第二都市である大阪にとって世界に披露する機会を与え、思い切ってその素晴らしさを見せた。 Australia, too, was still enjoying unprecedented prosperity in 1970, and it showed with its amazing pavilion at the Osaka showcase. 当時、オーストラリアも景気が良かったし、万博で見せたご立派な「オーストラリア館」もその証拠と言えるだろう。 The pavilion, modeled on Katsushika Hokusai‘s The Great Wave at Kanagawa, was at the end of the Expo donated to Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, which is Sydney’s sister city. It was supposed to be a symbol of the…
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Australia rarely makes the news in Japan, so it’s interesting to see it on the front page of the Asahi newspaper June 4 evening edition. The story is about Japan’s Aussie Rules team, the Samurais, who’ll be battling it out in the International Cup starting from June 8. Japan has a really small, but thriving, Australian Rules competition, with two leagues (including several all-Japanese teams), the Eastern League, centering on Tokyo and surrounding areas, and the Western League, comprising Osaka and Nagoya. Here’s an excerpt from the Asahi report: サッカー・ワールドカップ（Ｗ杯）大会が迫るなか、「世界で最も激しい」というフットボールの世界大会も８月に開かれる。それってラグビー？ いえいえ、オーストラリアンフットボール。豪州では国技と言われる大人気のプロスポーツだ。５大会連続で出場する日本代表も、追い込みに入っている。 A translation: Just as the soccer World Cup is about…
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Colorful Japanese entertainer Kyary Pyamu Pyamu will play one show in Australia later this month as part of her Nanda Collection World Tour 2014. Demand to see the performer probably best known for her flamboyant 2011 viral video “Pon Pon Pon” has been enormous and her only Australian show on March 23 was shifted from Sydney’s Metro Theater to the considerably larger UNSW Roundhouse. The often infantile 21-year-old whose full stage name is Caroline Charonplop Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (her real name is Kiriko Takemura) is currently among the best-selling contemporary performers and is easily Japan’s best-known singer among 20-somethings outside…
