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Category Archives: Culture
Things That Do Not Belong In This World
I said, “Oh My GOD.” Just follow the link and look over all the details. Screenshots detailed here. This sort of thing just tends to defy any sort of intelligent commentary. Just go look, read, and gape in awe and … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Japan, video games, Weird Stuff
Tagged Bandai, Fate, generation, Good Smile, Haruhi, Namco, Nanoha, nendroid, Rider, Rin Tosaka, Saber, Yuki
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Origami: A Rose By Any Other Name
薔薇 （ばら、bara): Rose Well, an origami rose does not smell just as sweet… though with the scent-free environments dominating schools more and more, this might be a good thing? At any rate, this post is about pretty origami roses.
Origami: The Paper Tiger
Made With Real Paper Perhaps many of us have heard the term “paper tiger” as an expression. Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao) was fond of it. How many of us have actually seen them, let alone made them with origami?
Japan: Sengoku Jidai Weapons: The Yari
The Footman’s Bread and Butter The Japanese yari (槍、やり), or spear, was not originally a dominant weapon of war. My own research into this issue should not be thought of as authoritative, but this post contains my impressions on this … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Japan, video games
Tagged Japan, samurai, sengoku jidai, spear, warriors, yari
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Origami for Quake and Tsunami Victims
A Goodwill Gesture Readers may recall my post on origami and how origami gained international exposure when a victim of the nuclear bombings of Japan set out to fold 1,000 for the sake of other victims before she perished. Here, … Continue reading
Posted in Blog News, Culture, Japan
Tagged earthquake, Japan, origami, quake, tsunami, victom
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On Excuses and Apologies
A Culture of Politeness One of my formative lessons in Japanese culture was an old National Geographic article about the cranked up, high stress, high velocity fresh fish business during the mid-80’s, when Japan was booming. It explained how no-fault … Continue reading
Sushi, Diabetes and Frivolous Lawsuits
Overreach Here in the LA Times we have a story about a man with Diabetes who refused to eat the rice in an “all the sushi you can eat” special offer at a sushi restaurant, wanting only the fish. I … Continue reading
Random Oriental Wisdom, 2-24-11
Wisdom Comes In Various Forms The enemy of my enemy is my cannon fodder. – Random blog Seen in the context of a review of Star Driver episode 20, here. I found it quite amusing… and of real application in … Continue reading
Japanese: Places, Names, Fame and Renown
A Rose By Any Other Name What’s in a name? Today’s subject isn’t any particular place name; it is a term used for famous places as described in an essay on viewing Japanese prints, like ukiyo-e. There is, after all, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Japan, Tourism, Ukiyo-e
Tagged famous places, history, Japan, Japanese, Japanese prints, language, Tourism, ukiyo-e
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