M-flo, some J-Pop

Yesturday I was strolling around Sakae, the downtown shopping district of Nagoya, when I happened across a crowd of people hovering around a building. It looked like the images from the 50's where people huddled around shops with color TV's. However, it was not a TV, but Japanese pop/hip hop group M-Flo doing a radio interview.

The band consists of two members, Japanese Taku Takahashi and Korean-Japanese VERBAL. Verbal caught my eye as I was walking by. He was wearing a big sideways baseball cap, giant sunglasses, and a big blinging necklace. I couldn't understand much of the interview, but the duo charmed the crowd with peace signs and waves for everyone. Everyone was having such a good time, I lingered for a bit doing my best to translate with my limited Japanese and their body language.

It was only after I returned home that I realized how BIG these guys are. I found videos on youtube and even a facebook group! When I told my staff they were jealous. If only I had taken photos, and/or stalked them after the interview for an autograph. That would have been a good story for lessons and quite an exciting experience. Verbal even speaks excellent English after studying Boston so we could have talked about my favorite city. Hopefully I can get a chance to see them in concert. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to study up on other Japanese bands, so I can be prepared for my next glimpse of celebrity. To check out their songs click here!