Asia Blog: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam

Our favorite singer Koda Kumi (倖田來未) has a new album coming out on January 30, 2008, according to JpopCD Art. The album is called Kingdom and will feature the following tracks:

01. Introduction For Kingdom
02. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki
03. Amai Wana
04. Himitsu
05. Ai No Uta
06. anytime
07. Under
08. BUT
09. Koi No Mahou
10. Aishou
11. Anata Ga Shite Kureta Koto
12. Wonderland
13. FREAKY
14. MORE
15. Black Cherry

Early reviews of the album are positive; there are four reviews on YesAsia already, with comments like, “this is truly amazing. I wasn’t expecting this from Kumi Koda. Completely unexpected, original, and refreshing.” The reviewers are judging based off of samples, but they sound hyped!

Someone paid me to take a look at Japanese Friend Finder and write a review. I was initially going to reject the request, but after looking at the site, I feel writing a review is justified. For, as you will soon see, Japanese Friend Finder is not affiliated with the famous Various Inc. Adult Friend Finder brand, but rather is simply a copycat site with a similar name.

There are a few things which immediately spark warning bells:

• The title tag reads “Japanese Women for Chat Dating …”
• It’s powered by “WorldFriends Networks” not “FriendFinder Network, Inc.”
• It boasts a dithered 8-bit image in its header
• The “featured members” don’t change on refresh (just once a day)

However, I can’t find anything bad about it online. And, it features convincing personal endorsements that suggest that it’s legit, even if it’s a second-rate dating site. Looking at the CEO Dominic Penaloza’s LinkedIn profile adds either legitimacy or caution, depending on how you look at it. After graduating from the University of Ontario in 1992, he worked a brief 8-month smith for Smith Barney IBD in 1994, spent a year at Greenwich Street Capital Partners, then 4 years at Prudential Asset Management Asia. To me, this sounds like the quest of a relatively young man to find his passion–although my cynical side wonders about his two short stints on wall street. Now he’s been managing Meta4 Group for 8 years now, lending strength to the legitimacy of Japanese Friend Finder.

Technically, they boast “1 million members” and their profile asks you to register your racial preferences. Do you like Thai girls, or Vietnamese? Chinese or Korean? The question is appalling, but central to Japanese Friend Finder’s mission–hooking you up with the girl from the country of your fancy. I like the language preferences section better, as learning Urdu or Tagalog appeals to me.

But somehow, I think sites like this are more for casual hookups or the desperate. I’d rather meet women serendipitously. And introduction from a friend, a drink bought at a bar, or picking up something she dropped in the street are all more romantic, satisfying ways to get to know someone. Or a dating site that tried to align your interests with other members’ interests holistically, comparing preferences in body type, nationality, language, and interests.

Ne-Yo is collaborating with Utada Hikaru on a song called Do You. It was released on Nov 21 to digital outlets in Japan. This is part of Ne-Yo’s worldwide initiative; other collaborators include Natasha Bedingfield (UK), Sarah Connor (Germany), and Mary J. Blige (U.S). Ne Yo sez, “She has great voice and I’m sure it will work perfectly.”

I was originally quite excited; now you can hear the full song on Youtube, still no downloads in US iTunes or anywhere else I looked:

I just wonder, do you ever
think of me, anymore? Do you?

The song turns out to be pretty boring. They’ve done something horrible to Utada to make her sound less like herself and more like a generic female voice. Also, her breathing comes out very harshly on the track. Ne-yo is stilted and unispiring. Well, listen to yourself–I give it a 1/5.

According to Mainichi news, the reason Ayumi Hamasaki and Tomoya Nagase divorced was an abortion Ayu allegedly had:

“Ayu is a formal member of a top Tokyo hospital, which guarantees her absolute privacy, but apparently somebody happened to spot her bawling her eyes out while at the hospital in the spring,” the reporter says. “I have to admit that I don’t know whether the rumor is true.”

If she did become pregnant, her music career would be on hold, possibly forever. And with competition from Koda Kumi, she has to be on top of her “j-idol” game.

In the style of icanhascheezburger, plz? here’s a lolcat I found naturally while browsing through a Koda Kumi photobook. It might be the first asian-themed lolcat; I don’t know!

We get to use two memes in one photo, which is always lovely. Since I could not decide if the kittuh looked happy to be abused by Koda or not, I thought I’d include “DO NOT WANT.” But I were tha lolkittah I’d definitely be happy, so you get the “… O RLY???” on the other side of things!