山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
[EDIT]: The results of Taiyô's b-day contest are out! ^o^ You can find them here (SunDay LJ comm) or here (tribute site).
This is not the entry I wanted to post on Taiyô's birthday, but I'm very busy with work and haven't had the time to write it. ;___; It will come though, hopefully tomorrow, a proper birthday entry.
It's already January 18th already in Japan, so I thought I'd just log in to say happy birthday to the birthday boy ^___^and to let you all know that I'm alive ^^;;;.
Thanks a million too to all the wonderful people who have voted so far! If you haven't voted yet and want to vote, you still have time: until today at midgnight GMT+1.
I also want to take the chance to thank again all the people who are taking part in the contest, and the people who have submitted - and keep on submitting- tributes to Taiyô. This little b-day project has been a huge success thanks to you all. I think Taiyô can be very proud of his fans. =D You can keep on posting your tributes at the SunDay LJ comm at any time. They'll all be reposted at Taiyô's permanent tribute site, A Tribute to Taiyô... and with a little luck there's a chance Taiyô himself might see them!
A few days ago Shiraishi Chiyo (白石知世), one of the young actresses who starred in Kinpachi Sensei 7 with Taiyô (actually she's Taiyô's age) made a post on her official blog about an outing with some of her Kinpachi co-stars - Taiyô among them. They went to a karaoke place, and she posted a small photo she took with her cell phone. He's not smiling in the photo, but he looks well and it's great to know he went out to have fun with old friends and that he keeps in touch with them. He'll probably keep in touch with his JE friends no matter what as well. =] I learned this from a Japanese LJ friend. Somebody asked Chiyo to take down the photo in case it might harm Taiyô [though I can't really see how ?__?], and she's deleted the entry and has replaced it with another one that simply shows a photo of the karaoke machine.
Anyway... I asked this friend of mine to help me translate a short message to Japanese, and I left a comment on Chiyo's blog asking her to tell Taiyô about the tribute site. Hopefully she will and then Taiyô will know he has lots of fans not only in Japan, but also abroad. =]
What follows is another tribute entry I wrote for the tribute site, about the Taiyô headers this blog has had. To check all the other tributes that were submitted, please visit A Tribute to Taiyô. There are videos, poems, drawings... all about Taiyô and for Taiyô. ^__^
TAIYO HEADERS
I've always thought that the graphic part of a site or blog is a very important part, and the headers of my blog are, just like my posts, another way of expressing my moods, feelings, and impressions. And there's always a little history behind each one. I thought I'd share with you the history of the main Taiyô headers I've used so far... and also show you the one I'll be using on his birthday. ;-)
The header on the left is a header I made last year for Taiyô's 16th birthday. I wanted a picture that reflected a mature and calm Taiyô, so I used that one of him with the striped shirt. The smaller pictures on the right of him with a Dalmatian are from one of my favourite Taiyô photoshoots. The grin in the small picture at the top is so bright and sincere. The second picture is... gosh, I love that picture. Taiyô's smile and the way he's looking at the dog are so warm. ^__^ And the third picture is like a reflection of the child Taiyô will always have inside, no matter how tall he gets. =] The circles obviously symbolize the sun, with the glow around them, and the header itself has the 3 colours the sun shows at the different times of day: red, yellow, and orange. =]
The header on the right is not exactly a Taiyô header, but there are four versions of that picture if you remember, one with each of the Ya-Ya-yah members standing in front and the other three behind, and I chose the one with Taiyô in front because he was the one that looked best. Honestly, Taiyô is almost always the one that looks best in pictures. He's so photogenic! For some reason this photoshoot reminded me of Matrix, so I turned it into a Matrix header. XD
The header on the left... *sigh* That header is from the time when we learned about the HSJ debut and all of us were wondering what was going to become of Taiyô and Shoon and I was still campaigning with the "I want Ya-Ya-yah to go on". ;__; Looking at this picture and the Yabu-Hikaru one from the same article, it almost seems like it was an omen of what was going to happen: Yabu and Hikaru standing with one foot inside a golden heart, and Shoon and Taiyô sort of trapped behind an almost intangible barrier.
That one was so depressing that I just felt I had to make another, and also at that time Taiyô had stopped appearing at Shounen Club, so I made the one on the right. The text in Japanese means "I want to embrace the sun/I want to give Taiyô a hug", because that was what I wanted to do at that time. The pictures I chose were pictures that showed each member's bond with Taiyô. The Shoon and Taiyô one is a favourite of mine and of most people, I think. It's just too adorable for words. The Taiyô-Hikaru one is one of my favourite pictures of the two, especially because of how cute and childlike both look. And the Yabu-Taiyô one... I love that one too. I love the bond between Yabu and Taiyô. I think Yabu loves Taiyô's simplicity and kind nature precisely because he's a complicated guy. I feel that around Taiyô Yabu can be himself.
Not much to say about the header on the left. That's a header I made for Taiyô's 6th anniversary in JE this year. I made it in a bit of a rush, but I chose one of the earliest pictures of him, to signify the long way he had made. Who would have said he wouldn't celebrate any more anniversaries in the jimusho? ;___; Yui posted yesterday an entry on her blog about crushed hopes, and that's something I'll never forgive JE for: for crushing Taiyô's hopes.
The one on the right is a very gloomy one, the header I used the day I learned Taiyô had left JE. I thought a sun eclipse on a cloudy day was the best way to show the way I was feeling then. However, I also chose this picture because the sun shows a little, because as I wrote on my blog when I took that header down, even though we can't see Taiyô now, I want to think that the Sun is out there, somewhere, shining over Tokyo. =]
The one on the left is the header I used when I took down the eclipse one. I wanted a happy header to say thanks to Taiyô because I think he wouldn't want to see his fans sad, and I chose that pic because I wanted a picture that showed what I'm sure Hikaru, Shoon, and Yabu gave him when he told them he was going to quit: their support.
And, finally, the one on the right is the header I'm going to use on his birthday this year. =] I chose that paparazzi picture of him because it's one of my favourites too. He looks mature, very handsome... and kind of skeptical, which fits what I want to convey. I think Taiyô is an intelligent and hardworking person, and I have no doubt he'll find something else on which he'll pour his energies and dreams, but I'm afraid that what has happened must have made him lose some faith in the world. That's another reason for me to hate JE. However, I wanted this header to have a positive symbolism too for the future, and that's why I used a dark background, and that picture of Taiyô, because the sunlight is shining on Taiyô's face, and it looks as if he himself were really the sun, glowing and bringing light into the darkness. That's also why I used that quotation and the golden glow for the text. =] The bad poem at the bottom is by me, and those of you who read my blog know what it means. ^^
PS: sorry about all the comments and e-mails I still have to answer. m(_ _)m
[EDIT]: The results of Taiyô's b-day contest are out! ^o^ You can find them here (SunDay LJ comm) or here (tribute site).
This is not the entry I wanted to post on Taiyô's birthday, but I'm very busy with work and haven't had the time to write it. ;___; It will come though, hopefully tomorrow, a proper birthday entry.
It's already January 18th already in Japan, so I thought I'd just log in to say happy birthday to the birthday boy ^___^
Thanks a million too to all the wonderful people who have voted so far! If you haven't voted yet and want to vote, you still have time: until today at midgnight GMT+1.
I also want to take the chance to thank again all the people who are taking part in the contest, and the people who have submitted - and keep on submitting- tributes to Taiyô. This little b-day project has been a huge success thanks to you all. I think Taiyô can be very proud of his fans. =D You can keep on posting your tributes at the SunDay LJ comm at any time. They'll all be reposted at Taiyô's permanent tribute site, A Tribute to Taiyô... and with a little luck there's a chance Taiyô himself might see them!
A few days ago Shiraishi Chiyo (白石知世), one of the young actresses who starred in Kinpachi Sensei 7 with Taiyô (actually she's Taiyô's age) made a post on her official blog about an outing with some of her Kinpachi co-stars - Taiyô among them. They went to a karaoke place, and she posted a small photo she took with her cell phone. He's not smiling in the photo, but he looks well and it's great to know he went out to have fun with old friends and that he keeps in touch with them. He'll probably keep in touch with his JE friends no matter what as well. =] I learned this from a Japanese LJ friend. Somebody asked Chiyo to take down the photo in case it might harm Taiyô [though I can't really see how ?__?], and she's deleted the entry and has replaced it with another one that simply shows a photo of the karaoke machine.
Anyway... I asked this friend of mine to help me translate a short message to Japanese, and I left a comment on Chiyo's blog asking her to tell Taiyô about the tribute site. Hopefully she will and then Taiyô will know he has lots of fans not only in Japan, but also abroad. =]
What follows is another tribute entry I wrote for the tribute site, about the Taiyô headers this blog has had. To check all the other tributes that were submitted, please visit A Tribute to Taiyô. There are videos, poems, drawings... all about Taiyô and for Taiyô. ^__^
TAIYO HEADERS
I've always thought that the graphic part of a site or blog is a very important part, and the headers of my blog are, just like my posts, another way of expressing my moods, feelings, and impressions. And there's always a little history behind each one. I thought I'd share with you the history of the main Taiyô headers I've used so far... and also show you the one I'll be using on his birthday. ;-)
The header on the left is a header I made last year for Taiyô's 16th birthday. I wanted a picture that reflected a mature and calm Taiyô, so I used that one of him with the striped shirt. The smaller pictures on the right of him with a Dalmatian are from one of my favourite Taiyô photoshoots. The grin in the small picture at the top is so bright and sincere. The second picture is... gosh, I love that picture. Taiyô's smile and the way he's looking at the dog are so warm. ^__^ And the third picture is like a reflection of the child Taiyô will always have inside, no matter how tall he gets. =] The circles obviously symbolize the sun, with the glow around them, and the header itself has the 3 colours the sun shows at the different times of day: red, yellow, and orange. =]
The header on the right is not exactly a Taiyô header, but there are four versions of that picture if you remember, one with each of the Ya-Ya-yah members standing in front and the other three behind, and I chose the one with Taiyô in front because he was the one that looked best. Honestly, Taiyô is almost always the one that looks best in pictures. He's so photogenic! For some reason this photoshoot reminded me of Matrix, so I turned it into a Matrix header. XD
The header on the left... *sigh* That header is from the time when we learned about the HSJ debut and all of us were wondering what was going to become of Taiyô and Shoon and I was still campaigning with the "I want Ya-Ya-yah to go on". ;__; Looking at this picture and the Yabu-Hikaru one from the same article, it almost seems like it was an omen of what was going to happen: Yabu and Hikaru standing with one foot inside a golden heart, and Shoon and Taiyô sort of trapped behind an almost intangible barrier.
That one was so depressing that I just felt I had to make another, and also at that time Taiyô had stopped appearing at Shounen Club, so I made the one on the right. The text in Japanese means "I want to embrace the sun/I want to give Taiyô a hug", because that was what I wanted to do at that time. The pictures I chose were pictures that showed each member's bond with Taiyô. The Shoon and Taiyô one is a favourite of mine and of most people, I think. It's just too adorable for words. The Taiyô-Hikaru one is one of my favourite pictures of the two, especially because of how cute and childlike both look. And the Yabu-Taiyô one... I love that one too. I love the bond between Yabu and Taiyô. I think Yabu loves Taiyô's simplicity and kind nature precisely because he's a complicated guy. I feel that around Taiyô Yabu can be himself.
Not much to say about the header on the left. That's a header I made for Taiyô's 6th anniversary in JE this year. I made it in a bit of a rush, but I chose one of the earliest pictures of him, to signify the long way he had made. Who would have said he wouldn't celebrate any more anniversaries in the jimusho? ;___; Yui posted yesterday an entry on her blog about crushed hopes, and that's something I'll never forgive JE for: for crushing Taiyô's hopes.
The one on the right is a very gloomy one, the header I used the day I learned Taiyô had left JE. I thought a sun eclipse on a cloudy day was the best way to show the way I was feeling then. However, I also chose this picture because the sun shows a little, because as I wrote on my blog when I took that header down, even though we can't see Taiyô now, I want to think that the Sun is out there, somewhere, shining over Tokyo. =]
The one on the left is the header I used when I took down the eclipse one. I wanted a happy header to say thanks to Taiyô because I think he wouldn't want to see his fans sad, and I chose that pic because I wanted a picture that showed what I'm sure Hikaru, Shoon, and Yabu gave him when he told them he was going to quit: their support.
And, finally, the one on the right is the header I'm going to use on his birthday this year. =] I chose that paparazzi picture of him because it's one of my favourites too. He looks mature, very handsome... and kind of skeptical, which fits what I want to convey. I think Taiyô is an intelligent and hardworking person, and I have no doubt he'll find something else on which he'll pour his energies and dreams, but I'm afraid that what has happened must have made him lose some faith in the world. That's another reason for me to hate JE. However, I wanted this header to have a positive symbolism too for the future, and that's why I used a dark background, and that picture of Taiyô, because the sunlight is shining on Taiyô's face, and it looks as if he himself were really the sun, glowing and bringing light into the darkness. That's also why I used that quotation and the golden glow for the text. =] The bad poem at the bottom is by me, and those of you who read my blog know what it means. ^^
PS: sorry about all the comments and e-mails I still have to answer. m(_ _)m
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