Strange Sushi Commercial
Lisa Katayama calls this a “funny sushi restaurant commercial.” For me the words that come to mind are “bizarre” and “disturbing”.
Category: Japanese Culture
A Japanese Scholar Considers Anime Bad For Kids
“Author” is puzzled by a Japanese graduate student at an American university who lets his children watch American cartoons, but not anime. I don’t think that’s very surprising. Assuming that… Read more »
When Sumo Wrestlers Go Bad
Sumo wrestler steals cash machine from Moscow shop. (via)
Memoirs of a Samurai Gangster
Musui’s Story–The Autobiography of a Takugawa Samurai by Kokichi Katsu offers an unusual glimpse into a side of historical Japan that is rarely discussed, the seedy underside of life in… Read more »
Wife of Prime Minister Visits Venus
Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, seems to have some unusual views. She traveled on a UFO to Venus “while my body was asleep.”… Read more »
Why Pagodas Don’t Fall Down
The Economist examines the question of why Japanese pagodas don’t fall down during earthquakes. The answer is a bit surprising.
Blessed Cellphone
Brian Ashcraft of Wired was having terrible luck with cell phones: he ran through four of them in less than a year. So he took his next one to the… Read more »
Ask Anything You Want
The tourists are even allowed to consult the Oracle at Delphi. That scene reminded of when Chaz and I visited an ancient temple at Ise in Japan. Outside the gates,… Read more »
Polite Speech in Anime
I’ve argued in previous posts that you as a non-Japanese-speaker can pick up a lot of information by listening to the Japanese sound track while watching anime with subtitles–nuances that… Read more »
Hinano on The Evolution of the Weeaboo
A timely warning, which may hopefully spare someone considering the JET program a grave disappointment. In case anyone doesn’t get the joke, if they tell you your Japanese is “jouzu”… Read more »