Showing posts with label Japanese culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese culture. Show all posts
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Color of Life
I've got nothing of my own right now, so please enjoy the following video selection. I don't have much in the way of comment about it, because I don't really know anything about it, except that it's a clip from defunct Japanese TV show called Vermillion Pleasure Night. It's really pretty interesting and cool, both visually and musically, for what it's worth. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
[VIA]
[VIA]
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Friday, November 06, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Kimono
My daughter turns seven later this week, and shichi-go-san (lit. 7-5-3) is coming up next month, so it's time to go for the customary expensive-as-hell photos of her in a kimono. (Don't worry, this isn't one of them!) As usual, we were only permitted a couple of minutes away from the set to take some personal photos. I've been playing around with layers lately, so I thought I'd try this as a way to show the kimono with a less intrusive background. I still need a lot more practice.
The shots we'll have printed are really very nice. A lot better looking than this:
The shots we'll have printed are really very nice. A lot better looking than this:
Monday, August 03, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Twilight of the Idols
The shot below was taken at the Hizen Yume Kaido theme park I posted about last month. There's nothing particularly striking about the picture, but I quite like the 50's Japanese fan magazine covers. The 50's are pretty cool, actually, so long as we're only using our eyes...
Friday, October 12, 2007
Old Folks' Day
The third Monday of September is "Respect for the Aged Day" in Japan. In practical terms, it's generally a celebration of grandparents, and it's pretty common for school kids to do something special for Ba-chan (Grandma) and Ji-chan (Grandpa). Here in Miyazaki most (or perhaps all?) of the elementary schools had the kids draw pictures of their grandparents, and then put them all on display at the local shopping center.
Now, you may be wondering why in hell I'm posting about this now, some three weeks after the fact. Well, it so happens that I took some pictures of the above-mentioned drawings while at the shopping center with my daughter a few weeks back, and I'd forgotten about them until today, while I was trying to capture a shot of the corpse of a giant spider that I found in my office... well, that's another story! They were shot with my cell phone, so they're not up to the usual artistic standards of everything else here (har har). Still, I found the kids' drawings to be colorful and interesting. It was also interesting how drawings from different schools were done using different "techniques" (er, almost as if they came from, um, like, different "schools", if you know what I mean...).
Anyway, here are a few of them (click to enlarge). Oh yeah, let's get Phoctober!
Now, you may be wondering why in hell I'm posting about this now, some three weeks after the fact. Well, it so happens that I took some pictures of the above-mentioned drawings while at the shopping center with my daughter a few weeks back, and I'd forgotten about them until today, while I was trying to capture a shot of the corpse of a giant spider that I found in my office... well, that's another story! They were shot with my cell phone, so they're not up to the usual artistic standards of everything else here (har har). Still, I found the kids' drawings to be colorful and interesting. It was also interesting how drawings from different schools were done using different "techniques" (er, almost as if they came from, um, like, different "schools", if you know what I mean...).
Anyway, here are a few of them (click to enlarge). Oh yeah, let's get Phoctober!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Taking It on the Chin(chin)...
Sigh... just when I start to think that things are going smoothly and I'm beginning to "fit in" around here, I go and put my foot into it yet again. Last night after I returned home from work my wife pulled me away from talking to our daughter to inform me, somewhat sternly, that I have, yet again, caused an uproar at our daughter's kindergarten. Before I explain, perhaps some brief background is in order for those unfamiliar with daily life in Japan...
Readers might be familiar with the fact that the Japanese are not as hung-up on the body and bodily functions as North Americans (and perhaps English-speaking people generally) often appear to be. I think one reason for this (maybe the main reason?) is that, from the time they are born through to the end of elementary school, boys and girls in Japan share the same changing rooms and, in kindergarten at least, the same washrooms. (I know that elementary school kids change their clothes together, but I'm not sure if they use the same washrooms.) These kids typically are not "ashamed" of their bodies and the things their bodies do because they've seen it all and have learned at an early age that there's nothing to be ashamed of.
Related to the above, it's also customary in Japan for immediate family members to share a bath, and there's nothing unusual about a mother being in the bath with her young son, or a father with his young daughter. In fact, in our household it's generally my "job" to give my daughter her evening bath, so we share the tub together. (Yes, my 4-year-old daughter has seen me "naked". Hundreds of times. If anyone is shocked by this then I respectfully suggest that that's their problem.)
Anyway, it should be clear from what I've already written that my daughter knows the difference between a boy and a girl (well, she knows the physical difference). And, like most Japanese kids, she also has a pretty rich vocabulary for describing those differences. She knows, for example, what "chinchin" (ちんちん) means. In Japanese "chinchin" means "penis". A few nights ago, while we were in the bath, she asked me how to say "chinchin" in English. I was reluctant at first to tell her, but then, in a chain of perfectly logical but fatally flawed reasoning, decided that since she already knew what a "penis" was and knew how to say it in Japanese, there could be no harm in telling her how to say it in English. "Penis," I said. "Penis," she repeated and, apparently satisfied, she nodded her head and seemed to forget about it...
Back to last night, my wife, looking somewhat exasperated, pulled me aside and asked me if I had taught our daughter how to say "chinchin" in English. Suddenly I felt all cold and sweaty. In the realm of possible questions a man might be asked by his wife, this was one question I had never considered, one combination of words that had never occurred to me. Without yet knowing how or why, I knew with dread certainty that I was guilty, trapped, doomed. I made blubbering noises as my mind frantically tried to figure out what had happened, what had gone wrong. Finally, feebly (having drawn a blank), I said that yes, I had told our daughter the English word for "chinchin"...
According to my wife, who heard it from my daughter's kindergarten teacher, yesterday while my daughter and the other kids were changing into their swimsuits, my daughter pointed at one of the boys' "chinchin" and said "Penis! In English "chinchin" is penis!" This new word spread like wildfire among the children, and apparently the boys (being, after all, boys) were especially taken with this new word. "Chinchin is penis!" "Hey! I have a penis!" "This is a penis!" "I pee with my penis!" What a scene it must have been! As my wife was telling the tale I was trying to keep a straight face (and I was certain that I caught a fleeting, quickly-stifled smile on her face too). My wife finished with an admonishment to be more careful about the words I teach our daughter.
"But really, dear, what's the big deal? What's the harm?"
"What's the big deal!?"
"Yeah, the whole thing sounds kinda cute and funny to me."
"Oh really? Tell me, do you have classes next Wednesday?"
"What? No, you know classes finish this week. Why?"
"Next Wednesday is parents day. It's in the morning, so it's mostly just the kids' mothers because the fathers are at work."
"Umm... yeah?"
"I have to work next Wednesday. You don't. You're going. Have fun..."
Readers might be familiar with the fact that the Japanese are not as hung-up on the body and bodily functions as North Americans (and perhaps English-speaking people generally) often appear to be. I think one reason for this (maybe the main reason?) is that, from the time they are born through to the end of elementary school, boys and girls in Japan share the same changing rooms and, in kindergarten at least, the same washrooms. (I know that elementary school kids change their clothes together, but I'm not sure if they use the same washrooms.) These kids typically are not "ashamed" of their bodies and the things their bodies do because they've seen it all and have learned at an early age that there's nothing to be ashamed of.
Related to the above, it's also customary in Japan for immediate family members to share a bath, and there's nothing unusual about a mother being in the bath with her young son, or a father with his young daughter. In fact, in our household it's generally my "job" to give my daughter her evening bath, so we share the tub together. (Yes, my 4-year-old daughter has seen me "naked". Hundreds of times. If anyone is shocked by this then I respectfully suggest that that's their problem.)
Anyway, it should be clear from what I've already written that my daughter knows the difference between a boy and a girl (well, she knows the physical difference). And, like most Japanese kids, she also has a pretty rich vocabulary for describing those differences. She knows, for example, what "chinchin" (ちんちん) means. In Japanese "chinchin" means "penis". A few nights ago, while we were in the bath, she asked me how to say "chinchin" in English. I was reluctant at first to tell her, but then, in a chain of perfectly logical but fatally flawed reasoning, decided that since she already knew what a "penis" was and knew how to say it in Japanese, there could be no harm in telling her how to say it in English. "Penis," I said. "Penis," she repeated and, apparently satisfied, she nodded her head and seemed to forget about it...
Back to last night, my wife, looking somewhat exasperated, pulled me aside and asked me if I had taught our daughter how to say "chinchin" in English. Suddenly I felt all cold and sweaty. In the realm of possible questions a man might be asked by his wife, this was one question I had never considered, one combination of words that had never occurred to me. Without yet knowing how or why, I knew with dread certainty that I was guilty, trapped, doomed. I made blubbering noises as my mind frantically tried to figure out what had happened, what had gone wrong. Finally, feebly (having drawn a blank), I said that yes, I had told our daughter the English word for "chinchin"...
According to my wife, who heard it from my daughter's kindergarten teacher, yesterday while my daughter and the other kids were changing into their swimsuits, my daughter pointed at one of the boys' "chinchin" and said "Penis! In English "chinchin" is penis!" This new word spread like wildfire among the children, and apparently the boys (being, after all, boys) were especially taken with this new word. "Chinchin is penis!" "Hey! I have a penis!" "This is a penis!" "I pee with my penis!" What a scene it must have been! As my wife was telling the tale I was trying to keep a straight face (and I was certain that I caught a fleeting, quickly-stifled smile on her face too). My wife finished with an admonishment to be more careful about the words I teach our daughter.
"But really, dear, what's the big deal? What's the harm?"
"What's the big deal!?"
"Yeah, the whole thing sounds kinda cute and funny to me."
"Oh really? Tell me, do you have classes next Wednesday?"
"What? No, you know classes finish this week. Why?"
"Next Wednesday is parents day. It's in the morning, so it's mostly just the kids' mothers because the fathers are at work."
"Umm... yeah?"
"I have to work next Wednesday. You don't. You're going. Have fun..."
Friday, July 06, 2007
Shazai ("Apology")
Choose an appropriate apology, proportional to the degree of guilt. Append "sumimasen" ["excuse me/I'm sorry"].
An interesting and informative video on shazai ("apology") in Japan. The "perpetual ojigi" is a personal favorite, but the "predominantly used by ninja" bow on one knee is also pretty cool ("be wary of approaching enemies!").
Now you too can grovel with the best!
Friday, June 08, 2007
Air Sex: It Just Won't Go Away
First there was Air Sex: The Story. Then there was Air Sex: The Video. Now we have Air Sex in America [link via Japan Probe].
Believe me, folks, it's only an ingrained journalistic imperative to "follow through" on a story that keeps me posting about this stupidity. Well, that and the inevitable page hits...
Believe me, folks, it's only an ingrained journalistic imperative to "follow through" on a story that keeps me posting about this stupidity. Well, that and the inevitable page hits...
Monday, May 07, 2007
To Hell and Back...
Last week I mentioned that I would be going to the Hell known as Harmony Land, one of the many homes of the nefarious cat-character Kitty-chan, spawn of Satan and purveyor of feline fetishes. Well, I've been, and I'm back.
The good news: The primary goal of pleasing my four-year-old daughter and giving her enough cherished memories to last at least one month was met.
The bad news: Daddy feels like a sucker every time he so much as thinks about the concept of "theme park". Yes I feel like a sucker, and I don't care how many thousands, nay, millions, of happy faces you see grinning back from grainy cell phone photos, Junko with Kitty-chan, Hiro with Mickey, Billy Bob and brood with the T-rex from Jurassic Park, whatever... I don't care about any of that. What idiot in his right mind would be happy, positively fucking gushing with gratitude, to spend a wad of his hard-earned cash, cash that he's likely had had to whore himself out in some way to get, on nothing? No, check that. Here's what you get. You get sunburn from standing two hours in line to get on a ride that you've already paid for; talk about shooting fish in a barrel! You get to be jostled and trampled and generally abused by throngs of "happy" customers, who tend to have a dim view of the fact that you don't seem to be smiling much. What, am I wearing a sign that says "stupid"? I'm actually at the wrong park, right? I wanted the amusement park. I wanted to be amused. I didn't want this manifestation of Hell on Earth. This must be the masochist's theme park, right? And the sheer inanity of it all. How have we been duped into letting ourselves believe this is fun for our children? Who has pulled this con? The average kid's senses are under assault the moment she sets foot into one of these shit holes. Sensory overload--here's everything she thinks she wants, right here, right now. It's just too much. You will never hear more blood-curdling cries of rage and anguish coming from children than you will at one of these places. It's inhuman, I say.
All in all, though, things went about as well as could be expected. I didn't kill anyone, my wife didn't kill me, and my daughter, between fits of impassioned crying and bouts of maniacal laughter, seemed to enjoy herself. Below you'll find some photos I took that pretty much capture what I remember of Harmony Land (click to enlarge, if you really think it's necessary...).
Hello Kitty.
Hello Kitty has a train.
Hello Kitty has a bazaar.
Here's Kitty-chan's castle.
I don't fucking know...
The good news: The primary goal of pleasing my four-year-old daughter and giving her enough cherished memories to last at least one month was met.
The bad news: Daddy feels like a sucker every time he so much as thinks about the concept of "theme park". Yes I feel like a sucker, and I don't care how many thousands, nay, millions, of happy faces you see grinning back from grainy cell phone photos, Junko with Kitty-chan, Hiro with Mickey, Billy Bob and brood with the T-rex from Jurassic Park, whatever... I don't care about any of that. What idiot in his right mind would be happy, positively fucking gushing with gratitude, to spend a wad of his hard-earned cash, cash that he's likely had had to whore himself out in some way to get, on nothing? No, check that. Here's what you get. You get sunburn from standing two hours in line to get on a ride that you've already paid for; talk about shooting fish in a barrel! You get to be jostled and trampled and generally abused by throngs of "happy" customers, who tend to have a dim view of the fact that you don't seem to be smiling much. What, am I wearing a sign that says "stupid"? I'm actually at the wrong park, right? I wanted the amusement park. I wanted to be amused. I didn't want this manifestation of Hell on Earth. This must be the masochist's theme park, right? And the sheer inanity of it all. How have we been duped into letting ourselves believe this is fun for our children? Who has pulled this con? The average kid's senses are under assault the moment she sets foot into one of these shit holes. Sensory overload--here's everything she thinks she wants, right here, right now. It's just too much. You will never hear more blood-curdling cries of rage and anguish coming from children than you will at one of these places. It's inhuman, I say.
All in all, though, things went about as well as could be expected. I didn't kill anyone, my wife didn't kill me, and my daughter, between fits of impassioned crying and bouts of maniacal laughter, seemed to enjoy herself. Below you'll find some photos I took that pretty much capture what I remember of Harmony Land (click to enlarge, if you really think it's necessary...).
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...
It's Golden Week in Japan, which means I have four days off work beginning tomorrow. It also means that, following Japanese custom, my family must travel somewhere, preferably some place inconvenient, expensive, and (especially) crowded (hot, muggy weather is optional). My wife (code name "Virgil") is generally responsible for planning and organizing these little excursions.
Tomorrow I'll be going to Harmony Land with my wife and daughter. Harmony Land is also known as "Kitty-chan Land". While there I expect to experience more "cuteness" in a few short hours than my consciousness has hitherto accumulated.
I'm not a religious man, but I would not deem your prayers for my well-being (mental and physical) inappropriate, if you should happen to feel so inclined. On the off chance that I'm still capable of rational, coherent thought when I return (if I return), pics and details will follow.
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate...
Tomorrow I'll be going to Harmony Land with my wife and daughter. Harmony Land is also known as "Kitty-chan Land". While there I expect to experience more "cuteness" in a few short hours than my consciousness has hitherto accumulated.I'm not a religious man, but I would not deem your prayers for my well-being (mental and physical) inappropriate, if you should happen to feel so inclined. On the off chance that I'm still capable of rational, coherent thought when I return (if I return), pics and details will follow.
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate...
Monday, April 09, 2007
O Hanami, Pt. 3
In front of my condo...
Preparing for a hanami (flower-viewing) party. One of the truly great Japanese customs. Good food, good drink, good company, beautiful scenery, and a good time...
Preparing for a hanami (flower-viewing) party. One of the truly great Japanese customs. Good food, good drink, good company, beautiful scenery, and a good time...
O Hanami, Pt. 1
Everything is in bloom here at this time of year. Sakura (cherry blossoms) in particular. Here and in the next couple of posts I'm going to put up a few pictures, without much in the way of comment.
The shots below were taken early in the morning last week at a small park near my place.
The shots below were taken early in the morning last week at a small park near my place.
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