Music Video of the Week: Telephone cover by Team Kozan

It’s not uncommon to find western classical musicians covering pop songs but this is the first time I’ve come across a cover that makes use of traditional Japanese instruments (specifically a  bamboo flute and zither known as a shakuhachi and koto respectively). I wouldn’t have thought this would work with a Lady Gaga song and I’m surprised how well the musicians behind Team Kozan pull it off.

What makes this cover even more special is their reason for doing it:

“We Japanese got a lot of help from GAGA 2 years ago for “Japan earthquake”. We never forget gratitude to GAGA. and We wish GAGA complete recovery,and we are waiting for comeback of GAGA.”

(Insert: “Awww…”)

I’ve never heard of Team Kozan before but from what I gather browsing their website, the founder Ishikura Kozan is a shakuhachin expert and also offers lessons to those interested in picking up the instrument. Details and more videos can be found on their website: http://www.shaku8kozan.com
 

Kamo, Kyoto e Iku Eps 1-6

In a season saturated with cop procedurals (my least favourite J-drama genre ever), Kamo, Kyoto e Iku has, much to my surprise, emerged as my shining ray of crack.

I use the word “surprise” because when I skimmed through its synopsis, I thought it was going to be Gokusen set in a ryokan, with genius lady boss winning over her hostile employees one by one with her pluck and unconventional ideas (though after Rich Man Poor Woman, I now take the Todai credentials of J-drama heroines with a huge pinch of salt.) I also wasn’t sure what to expect from Matsushita Nao as I had never seen her in anything before and couldn’t glean much from her appearance on the April 4 VS Arashi special. If anything, she was so low-key there that I wasn’t sure she’d be able to carry this drama on her own. All in all, I didn’t have high hopes for it but decided to check out the first episode anyway to satisfy my inner perv fangirl.

It’s a good thing I’m so shallow because I wouldn’t have known how wrong I was about Kamo, Kyoto e Iku otherwise. Nor would I have found out that Matsushita’s character is really a heroine after my own heart.