SL Video: "My Second Life"

 

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 From Blue Storm Productions in December 2024, "This video is about how I feel about my life in Second Life. Hope you all enjoy this video. It was a lot of hard work to put together (not to mention a lot of money too). Thank you for watching!"

The Yamato Memorial Returns

 

 

Battleship fans will know about a number of ships, among them the Yamato. This symbol of Imperial Japanese might served from December 1941 to April 1945, when it was sunk in the Imperial Navy's last major operation in World War Two, the sinking sometimes considered a metaphor for the end of the Japanese Empire.  The ship would live on in poetry, as well as the "Star Blazers" anime.

Second Life has its own version of the Yamato. First appearing around 2008 or 2009, it's vanished and reappeared a few times over the years. The Newser last wrote about the sim-long vessel five years ago in March 2018. 

The ship would once again vanish some time later. But I was told by a friend recently it's back, alongside the carrier Akagi and the cruser Myoko. While you can't go below decks, it's still one of the most impressive ships in Second Life.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/YAMATO%20Memorial/172/50/26

 

Hat tip: Anne Brightstar

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Hamster Festival 2022

 

Earlier this week, Linden Lab put an amusing event in it's Destination Guide, the Hamster Festival.

If you’re looking for some wacky fun, you'd be hard-pressed to find a virtual world that offers more of that than Second Life! 

Azuran, owner of the Hamster Bar and creator of the incredibly adorable Hamster Festival, also runs a Hamster blog all about the wheel turning activities taking place at the bar. The blog may be in Japanese and most avatars may be of the furry kind, but human avatars are more than welcome and many of the participants also speak English. 

This two week festival runs until August 20th and includes a live DJ event and a shopping mall where you can pick up all your hamster accessories. Follow Hamster Fest on Twitter for updates.

One of the Hamsters featured in the video is Sanny Yoshikawa, who can usually be found in a squirrel or cat avatar but also enjoys being a hamster. The Hamster Festival is one of Sanny’s favorite events in Second Life.

Sanny has been a Second Life Resident for many years and tells us, “I am Japanese and have lived in Australia for 20 years. I joined SL when I saw the news about Japanese towns being created in SL. Now I live in a Sakura Linden Home. 

 The event is at https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Redlion/220/164/21/  While there is some English, most of the kiosks and displays are in Japanese.

 

Sakura Linden Homes Now Open

 

On Monday, the Sakura style of Linden Homes were made available for Premium residents. This meant that the sims where they're located, north of Bellisseria's Stilt Linden Home sims, are now open to the pubic. Patch Linden had an announcement in the forums.

Sakura is our take on a Japanese inspired home theme: a mix of modern architecture that respects classical design concepts. Houses are clustered together in cozy neighborhoods with carefully manicured landscaping befitting of a Japanese motif. Retaining walls provide dramatic terrain height changes, canals, and privacy between parcels. The canal and road network runs throughout the theme winding among volcanic peaks and valleys.

All of the Sakura regions are offered in both 1024sqm and 512sqm sized parcels. Sakura provides 8 beautiful and highly unique house models, and the smaller 512sqm parcel homes can also be placed on a 1024sqm parcel, giving you a larger outdoor garden space. Every Sakura region has public rezzing zones for both cars and small to medium sized watercraft (just mind the numerous bridges please). 

As always, we have provided a theme-specific content pack available from the house controller, enabling you to match the style and theme with any modifications you wish to do around your home. Please refer to the covenant rules.

Checking the area for myself,  I found the neighborhoods had not just roads, but rivers and canals as well. Not only were there vehicle rezz zones here and there, but also some boat rezz ones. I would also see numbers of pink-petaled cherry blossom trees. There were also bridges over the water, and in places some water plants. I also came across railroad tracks, a sign the place would somehow soon be connected to the rest of Bellisseria. 

There are sixteen varieties of Sakura Linden Homes. Eight are in 512 square meter sized parcels: Benibarba, Botan, Haibisukasu, Himawari, Kinmokusei, Kosumoso, Tenjikubotan, and Tsubaki. And the other eight are in 1024 square ones: Ajisai, Asago, Kaneshon, Kuchinashi, Rabenda, Renge, Shion, and Sumire. 

As with other recent themed neighborhoods, the Sakura sims have a community center. Located at Shobu (167/128/21), this large structure had an interior pond with plants and koi swimming in it, and numerous tables with cups of tea and plates of sushi. There were also numerous bonsai miniature trees, paper lanterns, and other Japanese-style decor. Around it were stone paths, and plenty of bamboo plants and cherry trees.

Not far north of Shobu is a snow-covered mountain covering four sims. Named Mount Shobi by the Lindens, it's an impressive landscape feature that towers over the neighborhood. Climbing it and maxing one's draw distance, one can see pretty far. 

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On an amusing note, Linden Lab included a video with the announcement, one showing some funny banter between Magellan Linden and Plunkey Mole and giving Mount Shobi a bit of supposed lore. 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

New Linden Home Theme: Sakura

 

At the opening speech for the Bellissaria Third Anniversary celebration, Patch Linden announced the new theme of Linden Home. It is Sakura. The style is inspired by Japanese architecture. He would say more on Flickr.

I am pleased to announce the next new Linden Homes theme, Sakura. This is a modern day take on a Japanese based motif for a theme. This theme boasts sweeping hilly landscapes, mountains, canals, and streets in a modern day rural theme and layout with plenty of various types of accessibility along with beautiful Japanese and Asian inspired gardens, plantings, and ponds. 

There are sample homes that can be seen in four demo sims, SSPSD1, 2, 3, and 4. 

Stay tuned for more information.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Tempura Island Closing

 

Some sad news. After fourteen years in operation, The Tempura Island sim is closing. The announcement was given in the sim's group.

After such a long journey of 14 years traveling together in Second life, we made hard decision to close TEMPURA sim.

When opening TEMPURA we could never imagined that will last for so long time.　TEMPURA touched so many hearts and bring amazing memories to everyone　and for that we are deeply glad.

With humbleness and huge grateful we Thank you, to each of you who ever admired, loved and healed,
at TEMPURA.

Tempura is a SIM of love! We say Bye to you, but it's a Welcoming of a new beginning.

May Buddha full your hearts with love and happiness!

Dropping by, I found the area quite picturesque. While it is Japanese-owned, not everything is Japanese-themed. Tempura's largest structure is the palace in the north, which has a large dance ballroom, and a number of places and private rooms for couples. The south had a wooded area, partially green and partially autumn red and orange. In between was a circle of meditation pillows and a tai-chi practice area, both of which were being used when I dropped by at close to midnight SL time. There's plenty to explore, including a few hidden areas.

The sim does have a blog, http://japan-tempura.blogspot.com/, which has a description at the beginning of how things got started in 2008. 

No date has been given for the sim's closing.

To drop by, head to http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/tempura%20island/128/39/33 .

Bixyl Shuftan
 

CDS Announcement: Aki No Odori

 

Our dear friends from Kyoyo Kagai will perform three dances for us, including the wonderful "Two Frogs"

Sunday, Nov. 22, 2021
11am-12 noon
C.D.S Amphitheatre
 

SL Video: "Strawberry"

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From Sunweaver/Angel resident Liffento on November 26, "My character dances Strawberry ☆ sung by Kagamine Rin. Song produced by Yuugou-P. Dancer in Second Life was made by cleaglass of Little Pierce Music Studio."

The Yamato Memorial

Some battleships live on in history, such as the Missouri and the Bismark. For Japan, the one that lives on in their memory is the Yamato. The vessel is noted for two things. It was the the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleship. But it is also remembered for it's final voyage, a one-way mission which was a last-ditch attempt to defend it's homeland. The ship has been in and out of Second Life a few times over the years. Recently, it came back after an absence of several months. It's not the only warship in the area, but there are others worth seeing.

Read more in Places.

SL Video: "Yanfes!" Trying Dancing at the Han Festival"

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From Fair Saeed on April 6, "Using costumes and items sold at YANFES held in Second Life from April 1 to 30, 2017. I tried composing Yosakoi dance at YANFES venue too! Everyone who cooperated, thank you (, ..), Pekorit "

Hat Tip: Hamlet Au

Sakura Matsuri

Bloodykitty stopped by a place in the Ryukyu sim known as Sakura Matsuri. A Japanese marketplace owned by More Laville, Bloodykitty spent her time not buying anything, but looking around. She enjoyed the view of the design of the buildings and area, with it's lanterns and cherry blossom trees.

Read Bloodykitty's article at Places.

Baron Wulfenbach's Anniversary Party

On Thursday night, one of the more unique personalities of Steelhead and the Steamlands, and his partner, celebrated their anniversary with a dance party. The requested wear was traditional Japanese clothing.

Baron Klaus Wulfenbach and Baronin Zantabraxus invite you to join us for our Anniversary Celebration. Thursday Aug 6th   7-9 pm SLT. Please join us in Edo for a Traditional Formal Japanese celebration held in beautiful cherry blossom gardens. We will have live music provided by Zanya, dancing, gifts, and enjoyment for all.

The event was held in the Caledon Stronghold sim. Getting there, the place was packed with people in kimonos and other older style Japanese

fashions. But DJ Zanya's music was familiar enough to the steamlanders and friends of present. Among those in the Asian flaire were the Baron  amd Baronin, Klaus whom had put aside his normal Victorian era and slightly unkept hair (the common fashion among Steam-Age scientists), was wearing a male kimono and styled his hair in.

The Baron, and Baronin Zantabraxus, can be found at Steelhead's City Hall meetings on Tuesday nights, Steelhead's Friday night dances, and several other regular Steamland events.

Bixyl Shuftan

Japanese Dance at the Fashion For Life

There's more going on at the "Fashion for Life" Relay event than just fashion shows. On Saturday March 21, there was a troupe performing a number of Japanese dances.

Among the dances was, " 'Soran Bushi'-a traditional Japanese dance from the northern most. It is fisherman's dance, representing the process of catching herring. This powerful dance uses one's entire body to express hard work."

"Fashion for Life" goes on until Sunday, March 29. The event is coordinated by Frolic Mills.

Bixyl Shuftan

Performance at Club Image

Grey Lupindo recently saw a dance performance event at a place called Club Image. The audience was treated to four dance acts on stage. Although most of the performers were Japanese, language wasn't really an issue here with the dancing and music. So what did Grey think of the event?

Read Grey's article in Design.

Reader Submitted: The Koto Project

Fritter Enzyme has another story of a place he explored. This time he tells of his time at the Koto Project, based on a Japanese town from sometime in the Feudal era. Although the roleplay group is open only to human avatars, nonhumans such as furs are free to explore around. Fritter found quite a bit to see and do in this faithfully recreated piece of Japan's history.

Read more in Places.

A Dream of Snow

While I was checking for more winter sports venues I came across a very lovely sim you should explore. It is called "Yuki No Yumi ... A Dream of Snow." The region is a natural Japanese winter setting created by Jac Mornington. It is elegantly beautiful, incorporating the mountains, valleys, brooks, and seas  enveloped in snow. Delicate bridges connect the hillocks that are surrounded by running streams. Several lovely typical Japanese homes fully decorated sit in an area near the center of the region. 

 

While I was there some lovely Japanese avatars were wandering through and enhanced the beauty of the area. As you follow along the paths you will be charmed by discoveries, a hot spring, where you can relax, a chair overlooking a pond inhabited by a duck family. an ice covered pond where majestic cranes stand. I passed a stag watching over his family while they visited a feeding station. 

 

High on a hill there are temple ruins and below a small buddhist worship temple stands along the entrance road. The view is so majestic with waters and mountains it is difficult to find the edges of the sim. It seems to go on and on which adds to the beauty. Take a walk and relish the tranquility, a good way to start the new year. 

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sand%20Bar%20Island/197/213/51

 

Gemma Cleanslate

A Visit to the Yamato

Miyuki Naidoo, the hostess of Club Zero Gravity, at the Yamato memorial. When hearing about the battleship in Second Life, she wanted to pay a visit. She ended up going with a group, including one Japanese animation fan interested in seeing the ship behind the "Star Blazers" sci-fi anime. Miyuki's choice of wear was a kimono, her feeling it would be more respectful.

The Yamato Memorial

A few years ago, among the big ships rebuilt in Second Life was the Imperial Japanese battleship Yamato. Om March 2012, the ship and its sim were found to have have vanished. But recently, the Yamato was discovered to be once again on the Grid. Grey Lupindo went over to the sim to take a look at this huge warship.

Read Grey's article in Places.

Virtual Museum of Architecture Spring Build-Off

The Virtual Museum of Architecture (VMA) 2013 Spring Build-off is coming soon.   The theme is the homes of Feudal Japan.    The competition will be to create the most functional and appealing house within the parameters of the Japanese feudal era.

     Registration will be from February 1 through February 28, 2013.   The building will take place during 48 hours, from March 1 through March 3.     This is always an exciting event, with both an Opening Ceremony and ending with a big celebration party.

     To register for the Build-off, or for more information, visit the kiosk at the VMA Storefront, located at BUILDER'S BREWERY - CREATORS VIL, Builders Resource (212, 59, 23).

      There will be both Pro and Novice divisions.    A Pro is defined as anyone who has sold builds in-world or on SL Marketplace for at least three months, although residents can voluntarily choose this category.   All others would be in the Novice division.   The specific rules will be given to residents who register for the competition and pay a donation fee of $500L. 

       For more information, contact Djinn Dasmijn, Build-off Coordinator, for the Virtual Museum of Architecture.  

Grey Lupindo

Two Women of Edo Japan

Grey Lupindo recently spent some time in an historical Japanese area in Second Life. Japan Chubu is set in Japan's Edo period, known for it's samurai, and Grey looked at one of the villages. Grey met and talked to two women with different roles in the area, one of whom she sat down and interviewed.

Read Grey's account in Places.