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Category Archives: Culture
Japanese Culture: Anime Review, “Asobi Ni Iku Yo”
So, It Was Interesting Asobi ni Iku Yo (“We’re Coming Over To Have Fun”) has finished its run of 12 episodes. I have finally had a chance to see the end of the series and have some thoughts on it … Continue reading
Posted in Anime, Art, Culture, Japan
Tagged anime, art, Asobi ni Iku Yo, culture, Japan
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Japanese Culture: A Monster Hunter’s Life, Pt. 1
Since I’m in-between projects, and I wanted an excuse to blog about this, I have started a new game of Monster Hunter 2 “Dos” . This game never reached American shores on the PS2, but portable (PSP) spin-offs have long … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Culture, Japan, video games
Tagged culture, Japan, Japanese, Monster Hunter, video games
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Japanese Culture: GothLoli (Gothic Lolita) Fashion
Not Quite Goth Or Lolita, Per Se This requires a little explanation. While the term “Lolita” must necessarily hail from the famous novel, the gist is reversed in this context. Rather than little girls dressing like adults, this far more … Continue reading
Japanese Culture: Geisha, A Term Of Art
芸者 (げいしゃ、geisha) Let’s start with a bang: Geisha is a gender-neutral term in the original Japanese. This word is actually quite simple, combining 芸 (“gei,” lit. performance) with 者 (“sha,” lit. “person who does ___”). Thus, the word itself suggests a … Continue reading
Japanese Culture: The Legacy of Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu, Adopted Guru of Japan One rather interesting footnote of Chinese history is that the land where Sun Tzu is said to have hailed, the state of Wu, was more or less the eastern tip of China, the closest … Continue reading
Japanese Culture: Hontai (Main Force – Military Lingo)
A Simple Concept When Put Simply This is an idea used in military strategy, including any video game hailing from Asia. That this is technically Japanese is almost besides the point; the idea goes back to ancient China, to the … Continue reading
Japanese School Culture: The Sailor Fuku and the Gakuran
Origin In Japanese, 服 (fuku) simply means clothing. In the case of an individual set of clothes, we may safely read this as outfit. Sailor Fuku = sailor outfit. The “sailor outfit” came to Japan in the early 1920’s. Although … Continue reading
Conversations: Monster Hunter (Video Game Series)
A Monster Franchise For our second “conversation,” here is IceBurner, an acquaintance of mine from the western half of the United States. IceBurner is a fan without peer of the Monster Hunter video game series, a smash hit in Japan … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Culture, Japan, video games
Tagged art, Capcom, culture, Japan, Monster Hunter, video games
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Gundam 00 In Depth: Ali-Al Saachez
I think I would be inconsiderate to reply to Velocity7’s answers to my “interview” questions without explaining who this guy, Ali-Al Saachez, is. Antagonist, And Proud Of It Imagine, for an instant, a war otaku who’s good at the real thing. … Continue reading
Posted in Anime, Culture, Japan
Tagged Ali-Al Saachez, anime, culture, Gundam, Gundam 00, Japan
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Conversations: Gundam 00, Part 1
So Let’s Communicate Blogging is about communication. It’s essentially a conversation. But, it’s hard to have a one-sided conversation. I’ve decided to start a different kind: blogging interviews with people interested in different aspects of Japanese culture. In this case, … Continue reading