日本サッカー J-League Defender Takahito Soma to come to MLS

Former Urawa Reds and current Second Division Bundesliga Energie Cottbus defender Takahito Soma has announced he has accepted an offer to move to an undisclosed Major League Soccer team here in the United States. This move is slated to take place during this summers transfer window. The 29 year old former J-League defender will join Colorado Rapids star Kosuke Kimura as the second player from Japan to join the MLS. "I have had an offer from an MLS club and want to move in the summer," Soma was quoted as saying Thursday. We at American Mishima are very happy to see the MLS invest in J-League players instead of retiring European players in decline. I have always argued the point about the logic of paying millions for the Beckhams of the world when the J-League has many talented players in their prime who would love to come play in the US. It's a wise descision to consider more J-League talent scouting. After all, who set up the winning goals in the last MLS Cup at BMO Field? It sure wasn't the likes of Thierry Henry or the over-hyped David Beckham. No, it was Kosuke Kimura - a man who was initially rejected by the J-League who has since become a superstar in his home country of Japan. I rest my case! I give kudos to the MLS for finally waking up and smelling that sashimi! We at American Mishima would like to offer Soma-San a nice よこそ ことしも よろしく おねがいします! & がんばって ください! Now show the MLS what the J-League players can bring to the pitch! Ganbare!

Ichiban Konichiwa!

We at American Mishima are proud to announce that Tinahime & I are expecting our first child together thus officially starting our very own clan this November 2011.

We could not be happier!

日本文化 Getty Museum Exhibit Features Vintage Samurai

Ongoing at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is an exhibit featuring rare 19th century photographs of Felice Beato who lived between 1832–1909. Felice Beato whose career spanned five decades was a pinoneer war photographer who covered the Crimean War, The Second Opium War, and the American Expedition into Japan and Korea. What is notable for our readers is his collection of late Bakumatsu Samurai whose images have graces countless books and exhibitions. Felicio Beato spent the years of 1863-1864 in Japan photgraphing everyone from the Nobility to people in everyday walks of life. He was one of the few photographers to caputre on film Japan's turbulent era of the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the rise of the Meiji Restoration. This fascinating exhibition has been ongoing since December of 2010 and will end April 24th 2011.

For more information please visit the Getty Museum link here.

神道 Defying the Tsunami, Otsuchi - Kozuchi Shinto Shrine Survives

It has been over a month since the Tsunami devastated the town of Otsuchi, Japan. And yet despite the catastrophic loss of human life and property, Otsuchi's Kozuchi Shinto Shrine remains beautifully intact. Set on a small hill the Kozuchi Shrine managed to survive the March 11th 2011 earthquake, raging fires from a resulting gas explosion, then the tsunami that literally wiped Otsuchi off the map leaving a sea of shattered lives and debris. Call it luck or the power of the Shinto Kami (For those not familiar with Shinto - What can best be described in Western terms as the Divine in Nature), this shrine has survived to become a place of refuge and place of prayer for those who seek favor and comfort of the Shinto Kami in hopes of finding their lost relatives and the strength to carry on. The Shrine has since become a shelter for twenty-two survivors and a focal point for those who would ring the Shrine's bell and make offerings. We at American Mishima ask you to please watch this video and continue to pray and donate to the countless victims of the multiple tragedies that have devastated Japan. ありがとう!

救済の取り組み Ken Watanabe's Street Team Sends Love from Little Tokyo

Actor Ken Watanabe's Kizuma 311 Street team filmed this in Japanese Plaza, Little Tokyo sending heartfelt messages and prayers for the People of Japan. The connection between the Japanese-American Community here and that of Japan remains as strong as ever. All of us here shall continue to pray for those lost and for the survivors who have endured so much.

ビル - Kirin's Double Disaster & Recovery

By now everyone has heard of the extensive damage and loss of life from Japan's combined earthquake and tsunami disaster of March 11, 2011. As people begin to pick up the pieces new stories are slowly making their way out to the web. As one might have expected, the Kirin Brewery plant in Sendai suffered damage as the tsunami knocked over four of its fifteen brewery tanks and flooded much of it's equipment. If that was not enough, much of the stored beer kegs and bottles were carried off by the waves and strewn throughout the Miyagi Prefecture. This of course invited Kirin's second disaster in the means of all the people arriving as told from eye witness accounts and other bloggers that hundreds came by car, foot, and even bicycles to pick up what free Kirin beer they could find littering the streets of  Sendai. Now by no means are we trying to make lite of things. We just happen to love Japanese beer so we can't blame these poor thirsty people and after what all they have gone through we at American Mishima wish them all a healthy and safe かんぱい!

For the record Kirin's president Koichi Matsuzawa is said to have announced on Thursday that Kirin will resume operations at its Sendai Brewery in September. Until that time we'll continue to drink our Sapporo. かんぱい!

一日の画像 - Picture of the Day

In the wake of tragedy one thing remains consistantly true: Life does go on to see another day. In this photo reposted from Japan Today shows a wedding couple led by a Shinto Guji before the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. As with most weddings that are planned months in advance, no one can ever possibly prepare you for an unexpected natural or man-made disaster to interfere with your plans nor is there any such preperation for how people will react should you continue on with your plans. I can attest to this thus having my own first wedding levied upon by the LA Riots of May 1992. Many people thought it was inappropriate to have a wedding during a state of emergency yet we chose to carry on. We at American Mishima admire the courage of this couple to carry on to new beginnings. As I write this I will reveal that I too hope to marry my current fiance' in the same Shinto tradition in Japan in the coming year. But enough about us here in LA. We at American Mishima would like to join in with others and wish these unnamed newlyweds a special  おめでとう ございます!