We got a very special sneak peek of the incredible exhibition opening this weekend at Japan Society, New York City!

New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters is the first comprehensive overview of centuries-old methods of basketry using bamboo as a new medium for modern sculpture in Japan.

As soon as you walk into the lobby, you’ll be greeted by a large-scale, split-bamboo kakoi (enclosure) by bamboo master Kawana Tetsunori commissioned especially for the exhibition by Japan Society. Even the moss underneath the bamboo kakoi is specially selected by the artist. It’s an incredibly tasteful pairing of matching hues and textures. Along the walls, you’ll see a series of intricate bamboo constructions by the New York-based (and only non-Japanese) sculptor Stephen Talasnik, who illuminates Western architectural and engineering principles.

New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters presents 23 innovating artists, many of whom completed rigorous apprenticeships to become master basketmakers before breaking and bending the rules they so dutifully studied.

New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters opens October 4, 2008 and remains on view through January 11, 2009 at Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street between First and Second Avenues, New York City. More »

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For three days of the NYAF our Ningin crew met so many interesting people. It was great to meet you; the creative people that make a weekend like this a great experience. I wish all our Ningin members could have been there with us to see the these Animated characters come to life. It was truly unbelievable! Costume clad Anime fans came from all over the world to converge in New York. Anime has truly been a wonderful influence on us all. It is something that goes beyond languages and borders and brings us all together. Especially when you realize that you may have grown up with an Anime show that also played in Europe or Asia or Africa. More »

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Ohayo! New York Anime Festival is coming to an end as we start day 3, but let’s recap on day 2. Even before the doors were officially open, the Javits center was packed with cosplayers; it was pretty intense to see so many people there. As such, we were able to take way more photos for our Cosplay Photoshoot Contest. There were a lot of memorable cosplayers as everyone seems to bring their A-game. It’s amazing to think that some of these cosplays are put together by hand! We also met some of the artists and other exhibitionists. They were all really friendly and had some interesting merchandise. The day was a lot of fun but I’m going to let these pictures speak for themselves.

View the entire gallery: NYAF 2008 - Cosplay Photoshoot Contest Day 1 - Cosplay Photoshoot Contest Day 2 More »

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As Americans have Thanksgiving, Koreans have Chuseok. Every year on Chuseok, Korean families visit their hometowns and have a large feast with their families in this three-day holiday. But this year in NYC, we got our own experience of Chuseok although it wasn’t exactly traditional. This year at the Chuseok Festival in NYC, we got to see amazing performances from the talents from JYP Entertainment.

Upon arriving from the train station, we came across a park. We decided the logical thing was to follow the Koreans even though some of them didn’t know where they were going either. After walking for several minutes we decided that pathways were for squares and just walked on the grass. The whole time walking, we ranted and raved about the performance we were so excited to see. We found the festival in the up diagonal-ish direction in the park. After our experience with arrows, we decided that arrows are deceiving and evil. More »

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Every year, the Korean Produce Association in Flushing, New York, puts together a big, public event to celebrate Chuseok - the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving. This year Wondergirls are the headline act and Miss Info of Hot 97 is the host. I’ve also been told that other members of JYP’s label are expected to perform such as J-Lim and G-Soul friends of Ningin from our Rebuilding the Bridge Charity event back in July. Many others, including JYP, will be making special appearances. (Note, I haven’t been able to get hard confirmation of anything besides Wondergirls and Miss Info.)

Ningin has been granted a private, video interview with the Wondergirls which we will post sometime soon after the event! Four Ningin bloggers (yes 4!) will be covering this event, Mia, Lan, Lara, and Jessica because we’re trying to get as many interviews, photographs, and videos as we can. We’re also planning to provide hi-definition streaming of the event, but that depends on weather conditions and equipment setup of the event host. Should be a fun Sunday =)

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Mixr Media, LLC, and Reed Exhibitions announce a new promotional partnership for the New York Anime Festival (NYAF) taking place from Friday, September 26th to Sunday, September 28th at the Jacob Javitz Center.

Mixr Media, LLC, will be providing complete coverage before and during the NYAF on its Asian entertainment community site Ningin.com. Leading up to the start of the festival, anime fans can find pre-show interviews with Anime voice actors and New York Anime Festival founder Peter Tatara.

During the festival, the Ningin.com booth will provide live blogging coverage of the event. The Ningin.com booth will also host free cosplay photo sessions constantly throughout the festival. Cosplayers who get their photo taken at the Ningin.com booth will receive collectible Ningin.com-NYAF stickers. The online Cosplayer Photo Gallery will be updated live from the festival. More »

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Inspired by the infamous Danny Choo’s “A Week in Tokyo”, I wanted to share with you a day in New York. Honestly, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be but it is a fun tourist spot. I spent most of this day just walking through visiting various Asian hot spots namely the Kinokuniya Bookstore and Ktown. Eek! More »

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Taiyo Na, a 25-year old renaissance man of word, sound and action, released his first full-length solo album Love Is Growth in March of 2008 through Issilah Productions.

Influenced as much by Curtis Mayfield as it is Nas, Ben Harper or Chris Iijima, Love Is Growth is a blend of gritty New York hip-hop and classic American soul. Featuring collaborations with singers Vudoo Soul, Conchita Campos and Emily C. Chang, rapper/producer Koba, jazz violinist Jason Kao Hwang, guitarists Minimum Tek of Outernational and Mark Concerto of P.I.C. and more, the album is composed, arranged and produced entirely by Taiyo. Socially conscious, often funky and always personal, the album showcases the artist’s urgency, scope and depth through songs such as the champion’s anthem title track, the pulsating introduction “One More Time” and the ethereal rock-soul ballad “Take My Breath Away.” More »

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Everyday we are sure to hear terms like Viral Videos, Web Episodes, and Cyber Blogging. These are all common day words used by the most ordinary people. The Internet revolution has changed the way people seek entertainment in today’s world.

Enter the stylish, Shyaporn Theerakulstit (Tearahgunsehtaet) a YouTube comedian that is anything but a fly by night talent.

Ever the modest gentleman, he lives up to his nickname “Shy” and admits his videos are no Film Phenomenon. This charming actor proves he is not just another pretty face, as his videos are more than the commonplace, resentful drama web-cam video blog dairies, (called vlogs), but humorous sketches, that sometimes have an ethnic twist. He is best known for his “500 impressions in 2 minutes” video, he then taught us that kittens can fly, documented the daily grind of an unemployed hitman and wrote a zombie musical. He even has represented the only Asian super-friend and put him at the forefront of one of his videos. Never one to loose a clever sketch idea he keeps them on a mirror using dry erase marker. Be assured that each upcoming Holiday there will be another one of his immensely enjoyable videos premiering on YouTube. With such a diverse profile like this, you can easily see Shyaporn is a brilliant artist that is as sophisticated as he is creative. More »

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Ciao a Tutti! MiaCarla here, number five in the new seven of the Ningin newbies! How very exciting to be apart of this fine blogging bunch. As an Italian-American born and raised in Brooklyn NY, I am not your average Asian media enthusiast … but from the first influences of 80’s anime and 90’s Korean Pop, there has always been a drive in me to aid Asian Media acceptance in the western mainstream. Now apart of this global campaign to seek out kindred, as well as diverse fans, to bring them together under one banner. Showing people that, the many facets, of Asian media do not have to be separated by ethnicity’s, language or genre. More »

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This is an archived blog post. Jason Linetsky is no longer a Ningin blogger.

The sounds of hip-hop, Soul, and a little violin filled the air in one of the trendiest Brooklyn bars, Public Assembly, as Resonating Awareness Worldwide (R.A.W) brought together the coasts for the AM Classic. At first it appeared to be a coastal split with East Coast artists taking up the stage in one room and West Coast in the other but the tech and audio crews created a more harmonious idea. The main room focused on the spinners, scratchers, and MCs mixing their beats with a little freestyling flair. Artists from both coasts came up including Hydroponikz, Magnetic North, the Misnomer(s), and the combo of DJ Dstrukt, Dumbfounded, Youthinasia, and Lyraflyp. The back room had the sounds of live musicians with Heather Park, Cynthia Lin, Kelly Tsai, and Warhol Soup. Filling out the rest of the bill for the night were Jay Legaspi, Deep Foundation, DJ Boo, and Brooklyn’s own Koba.

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This past Sunday August 17, 2008, the Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York City was holding a Cosplay Day in honor of the USA representatives for the 2008 World Cosplay Summit (the Olympics of cosplaying). Also, anyone who cosplayed received a discount on merchandise within the store. Sweet! It was honestly one of the most entertaining things I’ve done in awhile (other than AM Classic the previous day).

The event started at 10AM but I didn’t arrive till 3PM which was when the USA reps were giving their interview. Before I even walked in the store I was giggling like a little girl. I was really excited since this was my first cosplay/anime event that I’ve ever been to. The store is 3 stories and the event was held on the highest floor. It had the most amazing view of Bryant Park but that’s not important.

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