☆MY BLOG☆僕のブログ☆MON BLOG☆

Ainori is a popular reality show in Japan, aired on Fuji TV on Monday nights at 23:00.

In August 2005, I discovered that Ainori was not only popular in Japan, but also all over the world thanks to Bit Torrent technology. I decided to write a summary of each episode, and do a translation of the weekly photo captions from the official site. What do I get out of this? I get to improve my Japanese, I get more traffic to my blog, but above all, I get the satisfaction of knowing many non-Japanese speakers all over the world can appreciate a truly unique reality show. Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to post any comments or questions you may have.

Ainori’s official homepage (Japanese only).

This month’s participants.

Ainori’s BT downloads available @ D-Addicts and Saiyaman

Ainori #294

WARNING! THIS IS A SPOILER!

Bad news people, Mie said NO! TK and her were standing in the pouring rain, and as she was trying to explain that she had mixed feelings about going back to Japan with him, he interrupted her to sing a love song at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, it was no use, as she had made her decision. It think she might have refused his offer because she didn’t want him to be just a surrogate for Suuzan, and if it’s how she felt, maybe it’s better this way. I really wanted to see those two become a couple, not to mention the end of the abnormally long “couple slump” that’s been going on for months, but hey, that’s life… Poor TK couldn’t hold his pride very long, and broke in tears when he said goodbye to the rest of the group. At least he went home with the satisfaction that he knew he did all he had to do, all the way to the end…

14

14

After TK had gone, the group left Ukraine to enter Ainori’s 63rd country: Romania. And yes, Hide has broken the record of countries visited by a single member, 14! This guy has been on Ainori for one and a half year now, and by the looks of it, is not about to leave the show. Some of us are even starting to wonder if he’s not tagging along just for the free ride…

As it is the rule of Ainori, a new member joined the group to replace TK. Meet Alex, 28, a native of Nara Prefecture, of both Japanese and Italian descent. Although his father was Italian, he lived in Japan all his life and can’t speak Italian. He is a cram school teacher back in Japan. Nicknamed the “Blue-eyed handsome half”, the girls were REALLY excited when he joined the group, and the boys really looked worried. That should be interesting…

Special treat for non-Japanese speakers

Ok, so today was my first day without my darling, and the void left by her absence and the comlpetion of my MA was quickly filled with her share of house choirs. Laundry, cleaning, shopping, cooking, you name it, this man does it all! Fortunately, I was working at my school’s kindergarten today, where they were kind enough to provide me with a bentou for lunch. Granted, as much as I’ll try to do all the cooking I can, I’ll probably have my share of bentou while my wife is away. Not that I’m complaining or anything, since they’re usually very good, except for a chronic lack of veggies (sigh), not to mention lots of potential blogging material. This particular one included five kinds of sushi (from the upper-left corner going clockwise: tuna, squid, salmon roe and cucumber, scallop, shrimp and egg), soba, a chawanmushi and a soup. It was really good!

The sushi

The soba

The chawanmushi

The soup, with pieces of deep-fried tofu

A bit different from the bentou I made for tomorrow…

My lovely wife Man left for her hometown, Ho Chi Minh, this afternoon. It’s been three years since her last visit, and she had been eagerly anticipating her three month trip for a long time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to leave with her, my school expecting me to work in exchange for my salary and all. I’ll be joining her in a little more than two weeks, as you can see on the counter at the top of my blog. I’ll be there for almost three weeks, and I’m also pretty excited about my first trip to my honey’s country.

Of course, we had a little get together on Friday night, to wish Man a safe trip, and I’d like to thank everyone who joined us. You can see the photo album here!

Last weekend we had our new friend Lynette’s birthday party, at Zeuse, as usual. Sorry it took so long to put up the pictures, guys. We had a great time! Happy birthday again, Lynette. Click here to see the photo album.

Ainori is a popular reality show in Japan, aired on Fuji TV on Monday nights at 23:00.

In August 2005, I discovered that Ainori was not only popular in Japan, but also all over the world thanks to Bit Torrent technology. I decided to write a summary of each episode, and do a translation of the weekly photo captions from the official site. What do I get out of this? I get to improve my Japanese, I get more traffic to my blog, but above all, I get the satisfaction of knowing many non-Japanese speakers all over the world can appreciate a truly unique reality show. Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to post any comments or questions you may have.

Ainori’s official homepage (Japanese only).

This month’s participants.

Ainori’s BT downloads available @ D-Addicts and Saiyaman

Ainori #293

WARNING! THIS IS A SPOILER!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a kokuhaku (love declaration in Japanese)! TK, the Yankee flavored one, finally made his move on Mie, the Kansai girl. It took him a few minutes to gather his thoughts before he started, but man, what a speech! I must admit I had watery eyes while he was making it. He was sooo smooth, explaining in very simple terms how he could see them going back to Japan together, how he really needed her, not to forget his very own “Ainori Rap”. What are his chances? I would say they’re pretty good. At the beginning of the episode, TK had to be hospitalized due to a viral myocarditis, ( i.e. an inflammatory virus attacking the heart muscle in plain English), which is a potentially fatal disease. Fortunatly, he got better within a couple of days, during which Mie realized how much she missed him and how much she cared about him. Then, the group took part in an Ukrainian Love Festival, during which girls make garlands and let them float down a river. Boys then have to catch the crown of the girl they like downstream in order to have their love wish realized. Hide caught Aya’s, and Umechan’s floated away unnoticed, which was quite symbolic. Mie’s crown got caught upstream, and TK looked for it for more than half an hour before he could find it. He scored a few more points when he told that to Mie during his kokuhaku. Mie is now thorned between TK and Suuzan, but since Suuzan confessed to her last week that he was not attracted to anyone in particular in the group, I do believe the balance will tip in TK’s favor. People, there hasn’t been any new couples since at least six months, and we might actually come out of that slump next week! Man, I can’t wait!

Special treat for non-Japanese speakers