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Japan

My School Uniform is Getting in the Way

I have been slowly going through AKB48’s discography and writing review posts for my new site. I knew I would learn stuff about Japanese culture I didn’t know. I didn’t know what I’d learn. The title of this post is the English translation of an AKB48 song called “Seifuku Ga Jamaosuru”. The song isn’t very good, in my opinion. It’s just a JPop song. The dancers are spastic, the song is just a song, and there’s nothing really great about it. But I watched the video. And oh my… The… Read More »My School Uniform is Getting in the Way

Mikan – A Redux

Now that I have made clear what the purpose of this blog is going to be moving forward, I feel like I am a little freer to make the posts I want to make, here. So that’s a good thing. Today I’m going to try to put words to something I don’t have a word for. You won’t know, but I think it’s going to take a very long time to write this post. I think that logic and reason really drive very little about what we do. Oh, we… Read More »Mikan – A Redux

Japanese Gardens

Back when I used to live in Portland, before I got interested in Japanese, and before those antifa idiots decided they were going to ruin the place, I used to enjoy going to the Japanese Gardens there. They were really pretty, and peaceful. It’s the one thing I miss about Portland. I remember hearing, though I’m not sure if it really is the case, that it’s the most authentic Japanese Gardens outside of Japan itself. I took a girlfriend there (back when I thought dating was a good idea) who… Read More »Japanese Gardens

The Shallowness of Japanese Culture

I promised in an earlier post that I would stop complaining about things I don’t like about Japan or Japanese culture. I am keeping that promise. This post is not intended to be as much a criticism about Japanese culture, as using that topic as a springboard into a deeper discussion of two of my previous posts: The Shallowness of Fun and What is Love?. This particular topic, of course, is a difficult one to write. I want to be objective without being judgmental. And that’s a difficult line to toe.… Read More »The Shallowness of Japanese Culture

What is Love?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV) (Holy Bible) I wanted to write a second part to my previous post, The Shallowness of Fun. But there were two things that were stopping me. Thing number one was that I was not sure what… Read More »What is Love?

The Shallowness of Fun

It took me a very long time (for me, anyway) to come up with a decent title for this blog. After I am done writing, I’ll tell you some of the titles I rejected. And I’m still not entirely happy with this one. There is an old joke. A man walks up to a woman and says “Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?” “Sure,” she says. “How about ten?” She acts scandalized. “I’m not that type of girl!” “My dear,” the man says, “We’ve already established that… Read More »The Shallowness of Fun

Weeb

Let’s get back to basics, I suppose. From the very moment I began learning Japanese, and even before, I became aware of a specific breed of person – one that I instinctively had very little respect for. This type of person was called a “weeb”, which is short for “weeaboo”. There are many different characteristics of weebs, but the primary characteristic is a kind of escapism in to Japanese pop culture. I’m trying to find a way to express it that’s not horrifically insulting, but you get the type. Basically… Read More »Weeb

I Think I Messed up.

… but I’m not sure I could have done it any differently. This blog originated with a single premise: a Gaijin learning Japanese. Not much more to it than that. I was learning Japanese, about the Japanese culture, and for some reason I wanted to share it. Probably something to do with ego and a misplaced idea of what people might be interested in reading, but here we are. This was at least two years ago, probably closer to three. As I started learning Japanese, I learned about their idol… Read More »I Think I Messed up.

Wow wow wow seishun

Wow, wow wow youth, there are so many types. When two or three get together, it’s noisy, noisy Morning Musume, Joshi kashimashi monogatari These past couple of weeks have been a time of deep reflection for me. As the time of my youth slips away, I’m forced to look back at many things in my life from a different lens. The truth is, I never really got a childhood. And I never really got to be young. I was always old beyond my years, and by the time I realized… Read More »Wow wow wow seishun

Japanese Culture: The Seduction of Exoticism

Over the past few years, My thoughts on Japanese culture have taken a very definite arc. I started out with a general sense of admiration, but then decided that I wanted to learn more about their language and culture. I immersed myself into learning as much as I could about it. Unlike some “Otaku” or “Weeaboo”, I always kept a sense of balance about it, but there was always this kind of undefined yearning that I couldn’t quite place. I’ve never been to Japan, but for some reason, many things… Read More »Japanese Culture: The Seduction of Exoticism