Chicago Tribune Tokyo bureau chief and RAIN reader Michael Lev is joined by his wife, Carla, for a rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls hit "Slide" at a Roppongi-area karaoke stage bar on Friday night. Both Levs were active in college radio at Northwestern University's WNUR/Evanston alongside Arbitron's Pierre Bouvard.



The MiniDisc format is an extremely popular music format in Japan (for home taping, at any rate) and most users like to keep their MD player inside a pocket or backpack and use the supplied remote control for song selection and volume control. This new Sony model incorporates a wireless remote control within a stylish watch.





Music licensing issues are currently getting in the way of Webcasting in Japan. However, here's an Internet-only broadcaster we'll look later this week.





Tokyo has a reputation as being insanely expensive, but that reputation is undeserved. (The $8 cup of coffee, for example, is an urban legend.)

Here's a great deal at a lively, reasonably-priced sashimi restaurant -- better than any deal you'd find in America: All you can drink (beer, wine, whiskey, fresh grapefruit sours, and more) for 100 minutes for only 1,000 yen (about $9)!

More coming soon as RAIN reports live from Tokyo all this week.









Reprinted from Saturday's edition:

From Entertainment Wire: "On Saturday, March 4, world-renowned musical icon The Artist [Formerly Known as Prince] proudly unveils his brand new website NPGonlineLTD.com, reinforcing his role as the first musical artist to recognize the Internet's valuable role in an independent artist's career.

"Concurrent with this debut, the prestigious Soul Train Awards will honor The Artist's history as the most prolific artist-composer-producers of our time by bestowing him with the Artist of the Decade Award (Male) during the Soul Train Awards telecast on March 4th. Adding to the thrills of the day, VH-1 will grace our airwaves with The Artist's New Year's Eve pay per view concert RAVE UN2 THE YEAR 2000 at 10pm.

"The launch of NPGonlineLTD.com sustains The Artist's breakthrough use of the Internet as a homebase for his groundbreaking music, revolutionary political views, unique philosophies and up-to-the-minute news. Slick and gorgeous, the new site is not only the ultimate fan site, it is weighty in political and social views unique to The Artist.

"The site will also link to Paisley Park studios and his other two sites --1800newfunk.com the retail stop and Love4Oneanother.com which focuses on The Artist's charitable work. 'It's my hope that NPGonlineLTD.com will become a place where all creators who seek and desire true artistic freedom will come and express their views. The voices of change are always welcome here,' comments The Artist.

Part Two:

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