Hal, an animated Japanese film from 2013 directed by Ryōtarō Makihara, is the second of two movies we recently purchased. The first was Patema Inverted, which I reviewed here. These movies were so totally different in almost every way. This movie begins with a terrible plane accident that results in the death of Hal (more… Read More »
Me and my wife stumbled on this book in a Kinokuniya bookstore (either New York or San Jose, I forget which), and decided to purchase it to read to our son who we are raising bilingual Japanese/English. This book is based on a simple premise – imaging up various possibilities for a apple which the narrator,… Read More »
Yesterday I had put up a review of the podcast 「ゲームモゴモゴ」 here, and I had sent a Tweet to the authors of the podcast on Twitter. Within 24 hours they had sent me a private message on Twitter, thanking me for the review as well as providing a clarification on their name. I’ll give the… Read More »
For quite a while I had been listening to some of the NHK podcasts, which are all great resources to practice Japanese, with the caveat that these are heavily weighted towards polite and somewhat formal language. In many cases the people are talking are professional radio DJs or have refined their skills of speaking to a great extent.… Read More »
Despite my obsession with studying Japanese language for a major chunk of my life, I’ll admit to a weakness of knowledge when it comes to Japanese culture. Though I feel I know many of the basics, especially concerning modern Japan, I know very little of Japan’s history and there are many areas of their culture which I… Read More »
While I do enjoy reading Japanese manga (comics) occassionally, I’ve spent a much greater proportion of my time either watching Japanese anime or reading novels. When I was young I wasn’t really into comic books at all, and as a result it takes me extra effort to follow and appreciate them. When I first started… Read More »
Being a fan of Japanese anime, I rarely watch American cartoons. This is both because I am usually turned off by their, well, cartoony and unrealistic art style, plus the fact that on average the stories are just less interesting to me. I’ll admit to a major bias here, which probably came about because I watched hundreds… Read More »
Cool Japan Guide, by Abby Denson, is marketed with the catchy subtitle: “Fun in the land of manga, lucky cats, and ramen”. Despite the fact I am pretty heavily into Japanese culture, I haven’t read a printed book on it in some time, so I was looking forward to reading this book. This 128 page… Read More »
There is something adventurous about picking up a book in a bookstore which you know nothing about except the title and cover page. It feels like you were dropped in the middle of an unknown country without a map, with nothing to go on but your own sense of direction. This is much how I… Read More »
Jizue is a Japanese instrumental band originating from the city of Kyoto which combines elements of rock, comtemporary jazz, and other genres. They were formed in 2006 and have released 4 albums between 2010 and 2014. The band consists of the following members, all who have been there from the start except the piano player who… Read More »