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Zato #3
I’ve been delinquent in my Zatoichi viewing. I will finish them all before I leave, however. Katsu Shintaro embodies so much of what is lost in modern Japan. And that…
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Burn Hollywood, Burn.
It just occurred to me that I can’t remember the last time I’ve been inside a movie theatre. It’s been at least a year, maybe two. Yet I’ve seen every…
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Clap your hands say WTF
Yesterday we saw the most interesting car on this island. I applaud the concept: – A brand spankin’ new Lexus SC 430 in jet black – Top lowered to enjoy…
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Me not Chinese
“If you cannot decipher anything, then try pulling the corner of your eyes as if you were Chinese. It works!” I totally had to pull the corner of my eyes…
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King of Siam
You know what? The political situation in Thailand right now is confusing the hell out of me. From what I gather, another round of parliamentary elections was cancelled last weekend,…
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Chuppies
A friend in marketing taught me this term the other day. Chuppies = Chinese yuppies. They are the next trendsetters. God save us all. My friend says anyone who is…
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sorry, i’m stupid
You know those situations where you refrain from explaining something to somebody because you don’t think they’ll get it, then they turn out to understand it better than you do…
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Subtlety in Self-naming 101
What is it with Asians giving themselves western names at the workplace? I work with Tommies, Jacks, Johns,etc., on a daily basis, yet these are all assumed names. More often…
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The Grinch of Hanami Present
Hanami is when Japanese people start acting like a bunch of Mexicans, laying around under trees and drinking beer. – Grinch-san, 2006 You know what? Grinch-san’s comment cracked me the…
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Location, location, location
It’s always amusing to see columnists writing about places they’ve obviously never been: Clash of the superstores / Yamada Denki enters Osaka’s competitive electronics market Basically, it’s hype like this…
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Zato #2
I’d review it, but why bother? Opinions on chambara are fairly polarized; when a chambara swordfight flashes by as you flip through channels late at night, either you stop and…
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Parking in Japan
… is about to get worse, if that’s even possible: No quarter for illegal parking from June This may have changed since it’s been a couple years since I got…
