Japanese Society/Culture
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Hatsukoi Redux: School’s Out in HD
Back in 2006, I became a bit obsessed with a video I found on this newly-purchased video sharing (or was it video dating?) site called YouTube. It was a 2-minute ad shot in Hong Kong for Nintendo featuring a catchy tune with enchanting vocals called Hatsukoi by Mayumi Kojima (小島麻由美). I blogged about it back then, and looking at the comments, it actually led to a meetup in real life that led all the way to Thailand (where are you, bro?). That video has disappeared and reappeared (only on YT) several times over the years, always in [potato x potato] resolution, and I’ve tried to keep the post for it…
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Chicano Subculture in Thailand and Japan
There was a resurgence of interest in “Thai Chicanos” last year, resulting in a few articles and videos across the web. The most entertaining video, however, is the one from almost a decade ago, about the “Cholos of Bangkok,” by Coconuts TV. Also last year, an interesting YouTube video documenting “Japan’s Chicano Culture In LA” was published by Peter Santenello: However, the true counterpart to the “Cholos of Bangkok” is “Inside Japan’s Chicano Subculture” by the NYT: From a language and culture standpoint, all of these are enthralling. I’ve watched them all multiple times and pick up on new details every time.
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Paperwork Crossfire
Having lived and worked at a large company in Japan for over a decade, I got used to dealing with red tape, idiot bureaucracy, and daunting stacks of interoffice paperwork and documentation. When I moved to Thailand to live a “simpler” life, it never occurred to me that I might find a tangled mess of paperwork to rival that of any developed country. However, today I find myself in the crossfire of two separate government offices that simply cannot agree with each other and hope to silence the other by firing enormous salvos of paperwork at each other. It seems like every other day I’m getting a new form from…
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Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media – Funky Stuff (1975)
ファンキー・スタッフ稲垣次郎とソウル・メディア You may think you are cool… But you will be much cooler after you pour this in your ear and let it seep from your pores and permeate throughout your personal space. I mean, until you hear homie singing and humming along to the bass line, you really haven’t lived. This is what he looks like: Our storage room with all my Case Logic gear was flooded in October. So I’ve been going through the absolute mess made of my perfectly organized collection and listening to CDs for the first time in 20 years. There’s some real gems in there.
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Octopus, shall we?
Today, I happened upon two of the funniest language-related videos I’ve seen in a long time. And this guy is just crazy talented:
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Jeff Goldblum – The Future is on LSIs (Rohm)
When I started out as a copywriter in a medium-sized translation office in Miyakojima, Osaka, I had more translation and technical writing jobs than anything very creative… but in that first year, a huge job landed on my desk, unbeknownst to me. The job was simple, the client wanted a rewrite and “native check” from a random gaijin on staff – me. The original headline was a single sentence, roughly worded. Something like, “We can see the future on this LSI.” Of course, nobody knew (and to this day, nobody knows) what an LSI was, so: “Large-scale integration (LSI) is the process of integrating or embedding thousands of transistors on…
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The Ghost of Initial D
It’s good to see new blood at Toyota giving a shout out to touge. I miss my Silvia. Plus, there’s the official successor to Initial D making the jump from manga to anime: Almost makes me want to throw a 2JZ in the old Crown.
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Kokumi www
It’s time to research Ajinomoto, AKA, our old friend MSG: The Sixth Taste by Daniel Soar
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Tokyo Expressway in 1971 [60fps HD]
1971年の首都高速 Toyota Crowns have always been popular as taxis. My crown is a rusty old trap car at the moment, daddy needs to save money for a new paint job.
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Life copies art
I legit watched this 20 times straight.
