Hello from all of us on the Flipnote Hatena team. This is Aaron at Hatena's offices in Kyoto, Japan with another edition of our weekly news blog.
Every year one of the most famous festivals in Japan, known as the Gion Festival takes place in Kyoto. The first Gion Festival began during the early Heian period (794-1185) as an event held to stop a series of plagues, and has continued almost every year since its origin.
Huge floats, known as "Yamaboko" are pulled around the city by teams of up to 50 men during the festival parade which takes place every year on July 17.
Men and women often wear a traditional cotton kimono (known as a "yukata") during the Gion Festival and many Hatena employees came to work this week in traditional clothing. Tomorrow, many of the members of the Flipnote team will be enjoying the view of the Gion festival parade from our office windows.
This week's new themes
The Flipnote team has created two new Creator's Room themes that are available in the Color Star Exchange this week. Below are some screenshots and details about the new themes.
- A legendary Griffon will be born and grow in 5 stages as you post more Flipnotes. (50 color stars)
- This theme features a trio of cute donuts and some colorful clouds. (10 color stars)
The best of last week's topic: "Body Language"
We've selected some of the best Flipnotes posted from around the world that we hope you'll enjoy.
You can see all of the Flipnotes posted about last week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
You can also see the Flipnotes for last week's topic by entering the command 
via "Command Search" on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
Hatena's favorite "Body Language" Flipnotes from the Europe & Oceania region
★ NEVERTIME (id:Nevertime) created this cool Flipnote with a cast a characters that spell out the word "hi".
★This Flipnote is a collaboration between …∴ToaTom∴… (id:ToaTom) and geezer (id:geezerdk) that features 2 of their characters communicating with each other using body language.
★ We really liked this Flipnote by Tobbe (id:Tobbe) that shows how to use sign language. Can you read the title?
★ Two young lovers express their feelings for each other with body language in this short and sweet Flipnote by Shelby★ (id:PATD)
★Dozens of stick figures work together to make a message in this Flipnote by VAMPBLOOD (id:cullencoven)
★ geezer (id:geezerdk) created this short animated cycle of a sad walking man. I wonder why he's feeling down?
Hatena's favorite "Body Language" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★Name Nom (id:Mohamed) created this wonderful Flipnote about a round headed character who finds happiness despite being in a bad situation.
★Two characters communicate their feelings to each other through body language in this nicely illustrated Flipnote by Phenomenon (id:fish-33).
★ A boy falls in love with a girl, but she thinks of him differently in this funny Flipnote by CesrScizzr (id:smasher1998).
★ Stef (id:stefstefstef) created this cute Flipnote featuring a man spelling out "I LOVE YOU" in sign language for his hearing impaired friend.
★ We enjoyed this Flipnote by K (id:smashingpumpkins) where human bodies are used to create numbers.
★ A man's body has a mind of it's own in this humorous Flipnote by king Eric (id:Platypus42)
Hatena's favorite "Body Language" Flipnotes from Japan
★ A character gets trapped in a mess between an octopus and a squid who misunderstand the meaning of his gestures in this Flipnote by sho. (id:showest).
★ A character wants a car to stop and give him a ride and waves his hands, but the meaning of his body language is misunderstood in this Flipnote by TAKATO (id:TJH102933909).
★A young girl communicates the Japanese phrase "Dai Suki!" (I love you!) through body language in this Flipnote by Yukino (°w°) (id:yukino1129)
★This Flipnote by Chrime (id:tirime) is another variation of human bodies being used to make numbers.
★ A group of characters use their bodies to make the international symbol for "help" in this Flipnote by Harimaru (id:okamoto-78)
★ A character uses body language to make a request that is misunderstood in this Flipnote by Hiroki (id:kerokerokerokero0317)
This week's topic: "Fruits & Vegetables" (7/16/2010 - 7/23/2010)
For this week's topic we'd like you to post Flipnotes about the topic of fruits and vegetables. Create a Flipnote about a certain fruit you like, or make stories with fruit and vegetable characters, or make animations of any style related to this topic. We're looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes, and will feature some of the best ones next week here in the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News. Post the Flipnotes you create to channel 7 from Flipnote Hatena on your Nintendo DSi.
Also, please do not use copyrighted music in your Flipnotes if you want them to be featured here. Check out some of the sites below for Creative Commons licensable and other royalty free music:
You can see all of the Flipnotes currently posted about this week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
Weekly Frog Sighting
If you are interested in having your frog photo or illustration featured in the "Weekly Frog Sighting" section of the blog please post them on Hatena Haiku and we might feature it here.
Please submit only original photos/illustrations that you have created yourself.
★ This photo was taken in front of a restaurant in Osaka, Japan by id:Michael77
★ This is a photo of a frog themed stained glass window posted by id:bryce-cronin
Please let us know what you think about the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog by posting any comments you might have in the box below. Thanks!
