Asian Invasion: Taiwan, Japan, and Vietnam

If you’re heading down to SXSW in Austin, Texas, be sure to stop by the Taiwan Beats showcase at Venue 6 (The Venue ATX). The Taiwan-curated long-running music export project sponsored by Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development (BAMID), will spotlight some Taiwanese artists on the global stage – and is a rare opportunity for you to see these bands in person (as they rarely do a full North American tour).

See full schedule below.

Former X Japan’s piano player, Yoshiki recently announced his collaboration with Formula 1 to perform the Japanese national anthem, “Kimigayo,” at the upcoming 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship Aramco Japanese Grand Prix.

More than 200,000 spectators are expected to gather at Suzuka Circuit, with the final race (set for Sunday, March 29, 2026) will be broadcast to more than 180 countries and regions worldwide … so Yoshiki’s performance will be witness by countless people.

Yoshiki talked about his return:

The Formula 1 performance will be the prelude to Yoshiki’s upcoming “YOSHIKI CLASSICAL 2026: Awakening Eve,” taking place April 3–5 at the Tokyo Garden Theater. These shows represent “Chapter One”of his 2026 world tour, marking his official comeback to the classical stage after two and a half years.

Award for the worst title goes to Chase for Amber (short for Ambergris) or Fish, Fists, and Ambergris (the title on the movie poster) for the Vietnamese film Truy tìm long diên hương. This film came out in Vietnam last year, but officially launched to the USA market on January 30, 2026.

The American title is just terrible, because no one, including myself, knows what an ambergris is. I had to look it up, it’s basically sperm whale’s poop. The whale’s body produces this substance cover sharp objects and protect the whale. It’s like pearls from oysters. I know it’s supposed to be valuable, but as a normal person, I just don’t understand why people are willing to murder other people to own the ambergris. It would make more sense if there was a valuable diamond inside the ambergris… then I would be on board why everyone is fighting over this thing.

The Vietnamese title, Truy tìm long diên hương, translate to something like “Chasing the Incense Dragon”, which, I feel is a better English title. The translation is clever, because the term ‘chasing the dragon’ is long accepted drug terminology to getting that fix and trying to reach that high… but it has double meaning, because, in the movie, our heroes are trying to chase down/track/find that ‘dragon’.

If you can get past that bad title, the comedy/action Vietnamese film is entertaining. A long-lost third brother shows up to a small fishing village to see his lost family (who lives in a monastery). The next day, they discovered that the third brother stole the monastery’s valuable whale ambergris. So now our hero, Hung and his brother, has to go to Saigon to track him down and bring back the relic.

On their journey, the brothers had to use Kung-Fu to fight a gang. The martial art fight scenes are passable. The fighting never quite feels real and plays off more like comedy. Most of the competent fighting comes from our main hero Hung, while his brother has a goofy fighting Jackie Chan style. The more you watch, it’s pretty clear that the filmmakers were inspired by comedy kung fu, with a splash of Stephen Chow’s style. Much of that comes from the silliness of the violence, but also in the soundtrack at the end of the film, which eerily reminds me of Kung Fu Hustle. As for the Jackie Chan influences, the filmmakers showed reels of stunt bloopers as the credits roll.

I know it’s just a film, but I also couldn’t get past how empty the streets of Saigon were in the film. If you’ve ever been to the city, you know just how busy it gets. I suspect it wasn’t filmed in Saigon (it’s probably not even possible to setup a chase sequence in that city), but in a remote Vietnamese city.

After a throwdown at an empty warehouse, the film ends where it began: at the remote fishing village. Now all three brothers have to join forces to take down the villain of the story. It’s a weird thing with Eastern culture – that often it’s acceptable to have two or three or five guys group up to fight one bad guy. In American culture, it’s often the opposite… where there are multiple villains unfairly trying to take down the good guy. The hero has overcome all obstacles to come out on top.

Read more Asian Invasion and Movies (Kung-Fu).

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