I’ve been debating this one for a bit, but I think I’m going to wade in anyway. There’s a YouTube channel called “Find Your Love in Japan”, a channel run by a YouTuber named “Nobita”. He recently made several videos about how he feels about “Black” people and their perceived attitudes. I’m not going to go into how I feel about what he said to any degree, for obvious reasons. Suffice it to say he had a few valid points and a few not so valid ones, and the valid… Read More »Nobita
A new Kinokuniya just opened in Austin. I discovered it by accident, as it is right next door to Kura Sushi, which is one of my favorite places to eat sushi. As I walked in, two thoughts filled my head. “Holy crap, I just found the mother lode” was one. The other was “There goes my budget”. They have Japanese language magazines. They have Japanese language books. They have Japanese language manga. They have books on how to learn Japanese. They have plushes, they have stationery, they have novelties, they… Read More »Kinokuniya
This will be a new weekly feature. I will take a specific song from a Japanese group or artist, and do a deep dive on the lyrics (as much as I can with my current lacking Japanese skills). The first song will be a popular AKB48 song, but I’ll pick from all sorts of groups and artists. Oogoe diamond is a very sweet and a little heartbreaking song, written in a minor key. This actually is something I’ve noticed that Japanese pop groups tend to do – they mix modalities. … Read More »Sunday Song #1: Oogoe Diamond (AKB48)
I had some errands to run this morning up in Cedar Park. On my way back, I decided to stop at Lakeline Mall to see what they had to offer. I was not disappointed. However, I was indeed disappointed by their “Japanese” fast food restaurant in the food court. It was kinda sorta Japanese food, but just barely. I had a chicken bento, and while nothing in it was particularly bad, it was just not of any quality at all. Basically, Japanese food of mall quality. I’ll pass. So after that, I… Read More »Japanese Food and Stores in Austin, part 3.
I am, by training, a classical musician, so from a musical perspective I find most idol music trifling. This does not mean it is always uninteresting. Every piece of idol music I hear (well, almost) has something interesting or thought provoking. Sometimes it’s even in the lyrics, which are mostly insipid but with glimmers of depth to them. For example, the lyrics of “what is love” by Morning Musume: If you can’t even make one person understand you how will you seduce the world? If you leave one person feeling sad… Read More »Shave and a Haircut, HAPPY
I have been continuing my search of Austin, and found a couple of interesting places of note that I thought I’d review. The first is Asahi Japanese Store on Burnet just north of Koenig. It is a store that carries only Japanese groceries and gifts, and is manned (womaned?) by Japanese speakers. It is a small, out of the way place, but it has a lot of unique Japanese treats you will not find anywhere else. I found some berry and mikan daifuku, and while I couldn’t eat the whole… Read More »Japanese Food and Stores in Austin, part 2
I have a serious post in the works, but this one is fun, I hope. Today I went around my current town of Austin, Texas, looking for interesting Japanese things. I found a store called FIT Japanese Store over on Lamar, in the ChinaTown shopping center. It had a pretty decent selection of interesting and cutesy stuff, including toys, housewares, plushes, etc. I was a little disappointed at how small their selection was (I would have hoped there were more plushes and other cute things) but all told, it was… Read More »Japanese Food and Stores in Austin