Category Archives: Japan

Free Ebook: The Allure of Japanese Swords

Here. Take it. I tried pushing this thing in preview form a while back. I’d rather give it away for free than have no one look through the whole thing. It’s about Japan, swords, samurai, art, culture… and more swords. … Continue reading

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Gundam Unicorn, Episodes 1 and 2

It Started With A Conversation This post is as spoiler-free as humanly possible. – J I was talking to my friend Andrius (readers of my long interview with him about Final Fantasy 14 may recall him) about Gundam Unicorn and … Continue reading

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Japanese Culture: Sakura Shinguji

真宮寺さくら In Japanese, the family name is said first. Also, while romanized as Shinguji, a word processor would want “shinguuji.” Sakura means cherry blossom (though it can also refer to the cherry tree). Shinguji here uses kanji at variance with … Continue reading

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The Impact of Japanese Fashion

Quick Post This Time. I just wanted to bring this article to everyone’s attention. It’s from the Japan Times, which is in English here, about the impact of Japan’s fashion input on the wider global fashion industry. The part that … Continue reading

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Japanese Culture Blogging: My Future Legacy?

What Bloggers Leave Behind Them This post is part of a blog series on Brazen being sponsored by Entrustet. As a member of Brazen Careerist, I was asked to make a post about what I want my legacy to be. … Continue reading

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Japanese Folklore: Yuki Onna (The Snow Woman)

雪女(ゆきおんあ) While I like the younger, cuter version in Nurarihyon no Mago, by rights, Yuki Onna a.k.a. “Snow Woman” is one of Japan’s more popular and enduring figures in folklore. The above image is taken from “Kwaidan,” a film from … Continue reading

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Why We Watch Anime, Part One: Creativity

So Why Do People Watch Anime? This is a question posed to me by Andre Klein, the guy who owns the server this blog runs on and the man behind Learn Out Live. A German national, he has a family … Continue reading

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Fortune Arterial: Vampires and Astonishing Normality

OK, OK, The Gallery Was Right… How Can It Be This Normal? Fortune Arterial is a show that starts out with a special little twist unworthy of spoiler tags: the leading girl (as well as her big brother) is a … Continue reading

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A More Sincere “Iron Man” Worth Watching

A Better, More Human Tony Stark If there’s one thing that I have to criticize the Iron Man movies for, it is having a Tony Stark who is, in terms of his persona, someone absolutely impossible to sympathize with. His … Continue reading

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Japanese Tea: Kombucha (Kelp Tea)

A Random, Confusing Issue So I saw someone randomly refer to “kabucha” in a list of food. Apparently this is a common misspelling of “kombucha,” but the problem is, the actual “kombucha” in the English language is not the Japanese … Continue reading

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