Japanese Society/Culture
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Dajiban Glory
Road & Track published their first cool story online, maybe ever: The Glorious Madness of Japanese Dodge Van Racing If I were still in Japan, I might be into that… Different and kinda expensive, but not overly weird. Then again, I think about my homie that drove around a Suburban and was constantly getting stuck parking spaces, narrow streets, and once, even a car wash, and it might give me pause. Still… Those oversize Watas are pretty awesome. Check out the drifting from around 9:10!
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Kasahou – Osaka?
Just a placeholder for something I’ve been looking into… What the hell is Kasahou?
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Auto-parking Slipper Resort in Japan
Alternate usages: Segways for cats (light load bearing) Go Go Gadget Rollerslips (heavy load bearing) Tech-enabled procreation aid for rapidly aging population (G Parking) Ad-hoc conveyor sushi party set I wish Nissan would quit spending resources on clickbait and just make better cars… My RB-20 cries itself to sleep every night knowing that its great grandkids are (under) powering ugly hybrid bimbo boxes with whiny CVTs and ridiculous start/stop features.
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Katakana English Song
Japan started a visa exemption program for Thais a few years ago, which successfully created a huge tourism boom. Japan is an ideal destination for Thais that have the money to go on vacation, because although their cultural relevance has been overshadowed by Korea in many sectors here (cosmetics, home electronics, music, tv series, etc.), their image remains strong in others (cars, high end cosmetics, top name electronics, food, manga, etc.), and was much stronger before. In addition, Japan is perceived as a more friendly and alluring place to visit because of the language (which many Thais can speak a few words of), the food (local versions of which are…
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Finnish Polka Idoru – A Video Chronology of Loituma (from 17th Century Scandinavia to Modern Day Japan)
Disclaimer: The following is an approximate timeline; mistakes are inevitable. This is more of a way for me to record a collection of nodal points in case I want to revisit them in the future. Methodology: YouTube embeds with sparse linkage to other sites. Why YouTube only? I’m inclined to track views on the embedded videos as well, because I have a hunch that they tie into something larger than Japanese Anime-Finnish Polka synergy. 1. In the Beginning, there was Stiff Bread Finnish quartet Loituma releases “Ievan Polkka” (Eva’s Polka) in 1996. They seem to be as popular and relevant as you would expect a Finnish quartet to be at any…
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Maha Sarakham Police Using Sasumata
This is an interesting video I found on FB, purportedly from this article in the Nation, although I can’t find it there. It’s interesting mainly because the nonlethal weapon sasumata (known as a “man-catcher” in English) was adapted from an an ancient and very deadly samurai weapon of the same name (in Japanese, the English translation of which is “spear-fork”). Text from the Nation article: Muang Maha Sarakham police demonstrate how to use sticks to subdue a suspect on Tuesday. A video of Maha Sarakham police using Y-shaped and hooked sticks to subdue a frantic drunken man, which went viral on Monday, was part of a wider strategy, it…
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Misushit?
This is probably the best Matsushita knockoff name, ever (combined with a retailer’s misspelling) – and that’s saying a lot since Matsushita and National brands were folded into Panasonic years ago. These trusted brand names live on in developing countries, even if new product lines do not. I’ve seen quite a few Matsushita, National, and Panasonic knockoff names (and that’s just a few from this electronics group), but the most often honored here and elsewhere is probably Mitsubishi, including the following permutations: Mitsuboshi:”Three hats” Mitsubashi: “Three bridges” Mizubashi: “Water bridge” Matsuboshi: “Pine hat” etc. “Mitsubishi” literally means “three water chestnuts,” but “-hishi” is what we call a diamond mark so it’s just…
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Issan-Japan Fusion
Accidentally found on Google; cannot find original source but will link to it if I do.
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Finding where Bill’s Bar was located.
Note to self: Look for the yellow building with slit windows. Surugamachi 2? Goddamn Japanese street numbers. Bill’s Bar Sound, Nara ( ????) https://www.google.co.th/maps/place/Japan,+%E3%80%92630-8357+Nara-ken,+Nara-shi,+Surugamachi,+35%E2%88%922+%E4%B8%AD%E7%94%B0%E3%83%93%E3%83%AB/@34.6784822,135.8207621,3a,60y,328.03h,89.04t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sE_QVszFnHQ3pRUsmsXCwlA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x60013a2581e65349:0x5daa2b94dd96e74c!2zSmFwYW4sIOOAkjYzMC04MzU3IE5hcmEta2VuLCBOYXJhLXNoaSwgU3VydWdhbWFjaGksIDM14oiSMiDkuK3nlLDjg5Pjg6s!3b1!8m2!3d34.6786425!4d135.8208921!3m4!1s0x60013a2581e65349:0x5daa2b94dd96e74c!8m2!3d34.6786425!4d135.8208921?hl=en
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Chicken Fingers
There are a few tonkatsu chefs in Japan that I’ve seen test the temperature of frying oil with the edge of their thumbs, but I’ve never seen anything like this….
