Hakuho doing a ritual dance, dressed like a sacred Shinto tree

There is something deeply spiritual about sumo. I love that Hakuho’s belt and lightning bolts evoke the ones you see tied around Shinto shrine trees. Maybe the gods enjoy hanging out with the sumo players, as much as with the micro- green spaces by the shrines.

“Would you hold it against me?”

Another video of active duty soldiers, occupying foreign lands and lip-syncing pop. This time it’s US soldiers in Afghanistan lipping and dancing to Britney Spears. I am relieved to know that military service is not just about killing and violence.

(Previously we featured Israeli and US soldiers doing Keisha and Lady Gaga).

Industrial age love and choreography

These dance moves make me hopeful. Genki Sudo’s “World Order.” (Via Joe My God).

Apropos of nothing

Is SMAP entering a creepy Michael Jackson phase?

I feel alternate disgust and pity for SMAP, Japan’s original boy band from the early 1990s. Each year, they release new CDs, sell stuff in ads, and hog a lot of TV time. But it’s increasingly clear that with each year, the band members are desperately trying to subtract a year from their appearances. It’s unsettling to see these 40 year olds posing as teenagers.

In their recent appearance on the New Years Eve Kouhaku show, they did not dance, sang very poorly, and basically showed no interest in performing. Does evil Johnny prevent them from just retiring? At least they are keeping the Photoshop jockeys in business.

Obama dances in India to 50 cents

Obama’s moves look better when the music is switched to 50 cents.

Okinawa dance and music at Tokyo Pride Parade

This Okinawa dance and music group is a regular participant at Tokyo pride events. They performed at the stage during Tokyo Pride Parade and the following day at the Shinjuku ni-chome festival or omatsuri (more on that soon).

I caught some photos of their rehearsing prior to the performance, a video of the performance, and their getting out of costume afterwards.

Parade and stage images from Tokyo Pride Parade

This was the 7th Tokyo Pride Parade, and unlike last year’s “festival” it included a walk through Shibuya and Meiji Jingu Mae. It was odd how the police and organizers allowed traffic between the floats, but it was fun to see the startled reactions of the Saturday shoppers.

Parade supporters lined up on this pedestrian bridge to cheer the marchers. It was cool to see seniors, women, foreigners, and a mix of all types of people.

The stage show was also fun. Great people watching, and some fun music and dancing, along with a transsexual politician. I love how everything was signed for the deaf.

Israeli and US soldiers make videos during occupation

There’s been a lot of controversy over this recently released video of Israeli soldiers dancing to Kesha’s Tik Tok while patrolling Hebron. Some critics complain of a lack of respect towards the people whose land they are illegally occupying. On the other hand, I think for every minute they are rehearsing their dance moves and editing their video, at least no one is being shot, harassed or intimidated.

A similar video came out of Afghanistan where US soldiers re-made Lady Gaga’s Telephone. The dancing is hilarious, as are the props. The higgly piggly background to their music making is surprisingly “real.” But again, at least as long as they are focused on music, dancing, and videos, no one is being killed.

Finally, I always have a soft spot for treason. Apparently Private Bradley Manning breached military security in Iraq and downloaded “150,000 diplomatic cables, as well as secret videos and a PowerPoint presentation.” One video he shared was a helicopter attack in Baghdad where the pilots were speaking gleefully about killing people. It’s hilarious that “military intelligence” (sic) prevents the use of thumb drives, but many of the computers have compact disk drives. Private Manning hummed Lady Gaga songs and pretended to be listening to her music when he was copying the files. NICE!

Tokyo’s Danny Choo Brings Dance Tooper to Singapore

Tokyo based Danny Choo, global otaku extraordinaire, brings his Dance Trooper to Singapore. The little island will never be the same. Two notable parts of this amazing dance video: wiping the sweat from his helmet, and the prominent crotch. If such flamboyant male heterosexuality spreads, world peace will surely follow.