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leetNEET Readers!

Who among you is itching to break free and cut loose, but can’t do so because the nearest convention is weeks away!? Fear not – for I have brought the solution!

Descending from the haven of rock heaven in 2003, led by Amaterasu herself, the US has been graced with a musical showcase that has rocked hard and rocked its patrons even HARDER!

What the hell am I talking about, you ask? I’m talking about the annual rising sun band showcase – JAPAN NITE!

Every year, an eclectic selection of Japanese bands and artists gather for a short but epic concert tour across the good old US-of-A. Awesomely exploding onto the stage at the SXSW music conference in Austin, TX – Japan Nite will once again bring to you solid walls of sound!

It's that time of year again. As March approaches, Vocaloid fans everywhere know to be on the look out for 39's Giving Day. 39's Giving Day, a play on words (since 3 is san and 9 is kyu in Japanese it sounds like "Thank You"), is the annual Vocaloid concert held in Japan using 3D technology. This year's event is extra special though.

This year is the final 39's Giving Day concert and as it's name suggests it will be held on March 9, 2012. But if that isn't enough, Hatsune Miku Live Party 2012 (also called MIKUPA for short) is on March 8 this year, meaning two days of back to back Vocaloid events. While tickets to watch both events live may be gone already, Nico Nico Douga and it's English counterpart, NicoNico, are streaming both concerts. Each concert will set you back about $25 and can be viewed any time between when it airs live and March 16, 2012. If you purchase a ticket to watch both it will only cost you $40.

The Tiny Hands' Big Love project is giving all New Yorkers a chance to help the victims of the tsunami crisis in Japan, so clear up your Sunday everybody and get ready to do some good by helping a country that has brought you so much joy.

Tiny Hands' Big Love project's mission

Tiny Hands' Big Love Project was founded by young artists who reside in NY right after they heard the news of the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami that happened on March 11, 2011. We, as individuals, do not have any financial or political power. We are still struggling to put our music or art out there. But we can put all of our talent together and have a charity concert or event, and raise fund to send to the devastated area. The outcome of this catastrophe is still beyond our imagination. And we are determined to continue to support the devastated areas as a long- term project in any way we can. We are planning to send our profit from this concert to Medecins Sans Frontiers (The doctors without borders) in Japan. http://www.msf.or.jp/news/2011/03/5128.php Please note that we will decide which organization we will donate to each time we hold an event in the future.

Maybe each of our hands are small, but if we hold each other's hand together, we can create a big love altogether. Tiny Hands' Big Love starts here.

A Benefit Concert on March 20 Sun at the Living Room

Benefit Concert for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Sunday March 20
6pm-9pm
The Living Room
154 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002

Directions: The Living Room

Donation: Any amount you wish.
All profits will go to charity.

For more information visit their blog: http://tinyhandsbiglove.blogspot.com

Possibly my most favorite J-rock band in the whole world, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, is live streaming the last concert from their latest tour (that started last September resulting in a total of 75 concerts) on USTREAM on Friday March 25^th from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM JST. That means with the timezone difference, it will be live starting at 5:30 AM EST. IF you want to watch it, you'd better get up early since it will not be re-broadcasted. The concert will be held at Tokyo International Forum.

Based in Yokohama, the rock band first catapulted to fame with their hit single “Haruka Kanata”, the 2^nd Naruto opening song. They then followed up with "Rewrite" for Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and "After Dark" for Bleach’s seventh opening. Recently they released "Magic Disk", their 6^th studio album last June.

Source: Tokyohive

EDIT: It should be 3:30am, not 5:30am as written. Japan Standard Time is (UTC +9:00) and Eastern Standard Time is (UTC- 5:00).

Calling all Final Fantasy fans: On April 1st and April 2nd at the BAM Howard Gillman Opera House in NYC, The Distant Worlds Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing! This time they are being joined by Susan Calloway (the artist who sang vocals for the Final Fantasy XIV theme) and the beloved composers Nobuo Uematsu & Arnie Roth. Both of whom will be playing two different setlists of fan favorites, complete with some HD sequences to go along with the music.

With tickets ranging from $65 to $95, or $175 for a bundle with a meet, greet, autograph, and photo session with Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth, this is bound to be an amazing show. Tickets are going extremely fast. If you're planning to go, buy ASAP! I've already booked myself for the second row in the orchestra seating section. Stay tuned during the first week of April to read about my experience!

New York will be the first stop in a seven month tour which includes stops in Sydney, Atlanta, Chicago and London.

For more information, and for tickets, please check the official BAM page. http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2915

Ever wanted the chance to see Utada Hikaru live in concert? Can't fly to Japan though? Well here's your chance to see her next concert. On December 8 at 7:00 pm JST (5:00 am EST) ustream will be streaming Utada's "Wild Life" concert. Her official website also announced a low bit-rate stream for mobile device users.

This is going to be her penultimate concert before taking an indefinite hiatus. Utada had announced in her blog that she was planning to take an indefinite break starting next year. This concert is the first of two at the Yokohama Arena.

via ANN

A K-ON Concert took place on Friday at the Variant Stage. Check out some of these awesome photos of the Official Bandai K-ON! Cosplayers.

If you're a Hatsune Miku fan and you live near San Francisco, great news! According to Anime News Network, the city's J-Pop Summit Festival, which takes place on September 18th in Japantown, is slated for an appearance by Miku in Miku Hatsune LIVE!, making this her first stateside "concert". The concert itself will actually be a showing of a DVD/Blu-ray disc called 39's Giving Day, containing a VOCALOID performance done earlier in Japan as well as popular songs such as "Just Be Friends," "from Y to Y," "magnet," and others. It will also be available for purchase at the event in Blu-ray. Attendees will receive a Miku poster as well.

If you don't know who Hatsune Miku is, then why don't you give this a read?

Sources: Anime News Network, The O-Network Online, Moetron