Asian Lady Rockers

There seems to be a plethora of Asian all-girl vocal groups where the girls just sing (or lip-sync) while doing choreographed dance routines during performances. However, there aren't as many Asian all-girl bands, where the members are performing the music as well as the vocals. Many of these bands are considered underground, because their music is usually harder and not compatible with the sound of the more "bubble gum" girl groups that are so popular throughout Asia.

Even though Asian all-girl rock bands haven't enjoyed as much widespread media exposure in their countries that their pop counterparts have, some have earned international fanbases. The prime example above is Scandal; four hot female rockers from Osaka, Japan. They are from left to right; Tomomi Ogawa (bass, vocals), Haruna Ono (vocals, guitar), Rina Suzuki (drums, vocals), and Mami Sasazaki (guitar, vocals). You won't find these ladies on the same bill with Morning Musume.

Seoul Hooters Girl, Jessie

While researching Hooters restaurants in Asia for last month's entry on Japanese Hooters girls, I happened across some photos of 24-year-old student and former Seoul Hooters Girl, "Jessie."

Very friendly and outgoing, Jessie (her “Hooters Girl name,” not her real one) worked at Seoul's Apkujung Hooters until March of last year. In May, she moved to Sydney, Australia, where she's been working as a waitress in a Japanese restaurant, while going to school to study Spanish. Even though she's currently undecided about continuing with her modeling, she eagerly agreed to be featured here with a brief (and her first ever) interview.

Nara's "Veggie Love" Casting Session

Nara was one of many girls who auditioned for PETA's "Veggie Love" ad, which the animal rights group claimed was rejected by NBC to run during Super Bowl XLV. (Funny, since the Super Bowl was broadcast on Fox, not NBC.)

Anyway, I prefer a girl who likes to sink her teeth into a good steak, and since I assume that being a vegetarian was a prerequisite for appearing in the ad, I don't think Nara would be a good choice to invite out to Sizzler for dinner. Oh, the long white vegetable Nara is enjoying is a daikon, also known as an Oriental radish.

Makeup Artist Stephanie Jun

This unplanned online interview was conducted April 3rd, 2009 at Stephanie Jun's request, because she was, as she put it; "home and bored on a Friday night." So, knowing she had recently begun a career as a makeup artist, I thought; "sure, why not?" and obliged her by asking her some question about her new career and a few other topics.

Stephanie (not surprisingly) never did get back to me with the photos she said she was going to have taken to accompany this interview and we have since fallen off each other's radar. However, rather than scrap this piece and chalk up the time I spent doing the Q&A with her and editing it, to wasted, I decided to publish it here, accompanied with a few photos of her from her now-shut-down Xanga blog.

As of this posting, Stephanie's Model Mayhem profile is still active and features photos of some of the models she's done makeup on.

Japanese Hooters Girls

For those of you who didn't already know, Hooters opened up its Japanese franchise last October 25th in Tokyo's Akasaka Plaza, making Japan the sixth Asian country Hooters has included in their expansion. The other ones are China (Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghi), the Philippines (Pasay City), Singapore, South Korea (Seoul), and Taiwan (Taipei).

Above, we have Tomo, Chica, and Yuu displaying some of what Hooters is famous for....and the food's pretty good, too. Yuu was quoted as saying, "when you come to Hooters, you can look forward to having just as much of a good time as when you go to Disneyland!" 

Satomi, Risa, and Marina for Wrist Cutter G

Here are the late gravure idols Satomi Shigemori, Risa Inoue, and Marina Kanda (RIP) advertising "Wrist Cutter G," which became the hottest cutter for Japanese students belonging to extracurricular wrist-cutting clubs, soon after this spot aired in early 2008.

Unfortunately, the promotional events that were scheduled to follow the national release of this commercial never happened due to the girls' untimely deaths ....which was proof that they actually believed in and used the product they so enthusiastically endorsed.

Japanese Santa's Helpers

For this year's Christmas-themed piece, here are a bevy of Japanese beauties appropriately attired for the season, beginning with JAV idol Kirara Asuka (above) shown here on the DVD cover of Chri Chri Merry Christmas. Definitely not a holiday movie for the kids.