AKB48 is Japanese famous girl group, with their own theatre performance in Akihabara, Tokyo.. They consists of so many teams and personnels, and actually I also confused with their members and names.

Recently AKB48 try their business sense with opening cafe in Singapore, located at Scape level 3 along the famous Orchard Road.

The cafe has a similar design with their original original Akihabara theatre in the heart of Tokyo.

3 of the AKB48 members, Miyu Takeuchi, Haruka Shimazaki and Maria Abe opened the door from within the café to mark the café’s soft launch

The café in Singapore, which can seat 60, has been designed to replicate AKB48′s very own theatre in Japan, where girls with potential to become next-generation idols are given a chance to audition.

Diners can also look forward to exclusive AKB48 video screenings specially created for the cafe here, and get a chance to meet with their idols when they are in town.

Fans will be delighted to know that members of the group are expected to make special appearances on stage, have meals at the cafe or greet fans from time to time.

As for the food, modern Japanese fusion dishes will be served, but the full menu – which will include over 70 dishes and drinks – has yet to be launched.

In the meantime, three set menus for lunch, afternoon tea and dinner will be available, featuring main courses such as Omu Curry Rice and Japone Pasta. Desserts include fruit parfaits and waffles with ice cream.

Three members of AKB48 at the opening of the AKB48 Official Cafe in Singapore.

AKB48 Offical Cafe Singapore Opening menu Special Kaki Gori

Watch AKB49 first cafe in Singapore video here

Japan just got an 8.9 magnitude earthquake on last March 2011, hit and destroy so many infrastructure and factory. Fashion, as one of Japan icon, was serious effected from the earthquake.

The devastating earthquake that struck Japan has cast doubt on the status of next week’s planned Tokyo Fashion Week 2011 A/W events. We’ve been hearing from reporters and photographers who are set to cover fashion week that they’ve already received several individual show cancellation notices for events that were supposed to happen this week.

The official Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo runway shows and presentations are scheduled to kick off next week, but it’s still not clear at this time if JFW will go on as scheduled or not.

Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo after earthquake

But Japan is not alone facing this disaster. Many celebrities around the world are showing their hand to help Japan. What can celebs and artiste do ? Many celebrities began to create an art product or fashion items to sell as a donation to Japan

A lot of famous designers including Tory Birch and Anna Sui, to thousands of lesser-known artists at Web sites like cafepress.com, New Yorkers are creating products and donating portions of the profits to Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief.

For ceramic artist Ayumi Horie, the day after the Japanese earthquake was the day she started plotting a creative way to raise money for Japan. On the phone from her Hudson Valley studio, Horie sounded sleep-deprived after working 18-20 hours a days int he days following the quake to organize an online auction called Handmade for Japan. Horie enlisted her friends Ai Kanazawa Cheung and Kathryn Pombriant Manzella, plus a team of 15 volunteers in New York and San Diego to recruit artists and maintain a social media presence with a goal of raising $25,000.

American popular singer Lady Gaga also take part. She has designed a bracelet that says “We pray for Japan” in both English and Japanese. It costs $5, but you can make an additional donation at purchase. According to Gaga Daily, the bracelet – which will ship around March 25 – has raised $250,000 so far.

Buy Lady Gaga Japan Earthquake Bracelet here

Lady Gaga designed a “We Pray For Japan” prayer bracelet, buy yours now for $5 in the web store and all proceeds go to Japan tsunami relief.

Gaga is the latest celebrity to reach out and help shed light on the devastation left by the tragic events in Japan. Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Adam Lambert, Diddy and many more sent their prayers to those affected via Twitter. Britney Spears encouraged fans to donate to relief organizations, tweeting, “So tragic. My heart is breaking for Japan.”

“Just heard about the huge earthquake and tsunami in Japan,” Kim Kardashian wrote. “My prayers are with everyone in Japan. Seeing all of this footage in Japan is devastating! Please help the people of Japan by texting REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.”

Japan worldwide fashion brand Uniqlo (whose CEO Tadashi Yanai already donated $26 million) and Comptoir des Cotonniers as well as design brand Theory will be accepting clothes donations at their stores worldwide.

A website named Handmade for Japan also help Japan donation by selling an item. Handmade For Japan was born out of concern for Japan’s residents by Japanese-American ceramic artist Ayumi Horie. She, Ai Kanazawa Cheung, and Kathryn Pombriant Manzella have mobilized to solicit, promote, and auction handmade pieces of art generously donated by talented artists throughout North America and Japan.

Handmade For Japan’s GlobalGiving Fundraiser

Paper cranes made of subway maps, grocery store flyers and other materials made by studens in Jackson Heights, Queens. (Courtesy of Handmade for Japan)

Watch Lady Gaga Designs Bracelet for Japan Relief Video here

Japan is a fascinating and favourite country to visit. Not only Japan has many famoust tourist places start from modern city like Tokyo until historical imperial city Kyoto, but also Japan is the center of fashion and wearing style in Asia.

As one of the biggest economic growth country in the world, Japan become the target for businessmen to visit. Before we plan to visit Japan, it is better if we know its public holiday date.

The holiday date is important for those who want to travel and doing some business in Japan. While holiday, the tourist sites of course will be more crowded as well as the fares will be counted as high season fare.

Japan have 15 official holidays in a year. But most of the holidays are based from traditional occassions. The most important holiday may be New Year’s day which start from 1st January, and usually last until the 3rd, and many business re-open on the 4th or 5th.

It is a suprise that Christmas is not the public holiday in Japan. 25th December is a working day, and many business are open, although many Japanese are celebrating Christmas as a festival not as a religious occassion.

Chinese New Year in Japan

Japan once was under Chinese imperial, and due to their close location, some Japanese festivals have their roots in Chinese festivals but have undergone dramatic changes as they mixed with local customs.

The best place to watch Chinese new year celebration in Japan is in Yokohama Chinatown.

It is this destination that celebrates the Chinese New Year with full enthusiasm. From Dragon Dances to Lion Dance Blessings, Yokohoma treats you with all the traditional events that form a part of the Chinese New Year. The dance performers from the Lion Dance troop entertain and thrill the viewers with “tsai qing” style of dance. During and after the performance, the dancers collect “hong pao” from the various shops of Chinatown. These “hong pao” are money kept in red colored envelops or packages.

Chinese New Year traditions in Japan:

As a part of the Chinese New Year celebration in Japan, the year 2011 will also see mass participation in various traditions. Some of the traditions followed during this time are:

Otoshidama:

Otoshidama, Japanese Angpao

Otoshidama is an important tradition, where children are given money in envelops. This tradition is same like the custom followed by the Chinese during Chinese New Year. The money is placed in beautiful envelops, which are also known as ‘pochibukuro’. Envelops are same like Goshugi, which are used during the Chinese New Year. In olden days though, a mochi bag w as accompanied by Mandarin oranges, which were meant to spread joy.

Mochi:

Having ‘mochi’ on the New Year is yet another tradition, which is widely followed in the country as a part of the New Year celebrations. Rice cake s are prepared out of the sticky stalk of boiled rice and eaten to begin the New Year. Kagami Mochi is further prepared from Mochi as a part of the New Year decoration. Mochi’s sticky nature makes it hazardous for health. Several deaths are reported as a result of Mochi consumption.

Chinese New Year at Yokohama Chinatown

The Chinese are everywhere in the world. They often build Chinatown and make their living on their own. In 1858, Japan opend its door to other countries. Port of Yokohama was opened in the following year. Various countries created their settlements there. The Chinese too moved to Yokohama as the translator and broker between the Japanese and the Westerners. As their number grew, they built their own town here. Chinatown collapsed after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and the WWII discouraged their economic activity thoroughly. Since the war ended, Chinatown recovered gradually. It became the touristic site for the Japanese when diplomatic relations were established between China and Japan. Nowadays, it is more like a commercial site for tourists rather than for the Chinese immigrants.

Shunsets (Chunjie in Mandarin) is the celebration of Chinese New Year. Because they use the lunisolar calendar, the Chinese celbrate a different date than the Westerners and the Japanese. It was Febryary 18 in 2007, and will be February 7 in 2008 and January 26 in 2009. On the eve, they have countdown party. At midnight, they explode bakuchiku (firecracker) which gets rid of devils as the Chinese believe.

Chinatown also shows a performance of Chinese dance as well as lion dance during the shunsets season. Shishimai (lion dance) was changed a lot and adopted by the Japanese culture. However, here you can see the original dance by the young Chinese who communicate with each other during their performance in the perfect shape in Japanese.

Annual Nagasaki Lantern Festival in Nagasaki, Japan

Lion dance at Yokohama Chinatown

Chinese temple at Yokohama Chinatown

Watch Lion dance during Chinese New Year in Yokohama Chinatown Video here