All the regular writers at Tofugu are writing about their favorite posts of 2011, so these are my favorites (koichi). These aren’t necessarily the most popular posts (in fact, none of them were much more than average by the popularity metric), but these are the posts I’m most proud of / the ones that entertained me the most. So without further ado, my favorite 5 posts (and 1 set of videos) for 2011. This will be the last year we do this, because obviously the world is ending at the end of 2012!

The First Time Japan Saw The World [Japanese Cartography]

This post was so interesting to write. I got to do a ton of research, learn the progression of maps in Japan (and China a bit too), and gain a new perspective on how Japan viewed the world (both socially and map-wise) over several centuries. The world maps of Japan were also very artistic and totally different from maps you’d see anywhere else. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in such a small time period. Read This Post →

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Goroawase: Japanese Numbers Wordplay (i.e. How To Remember Japanese Telephone Numbers)

This is another one of those posts where I got to learn a lot and share that learning with all of you. I knew how goroawase worked already, but I had no idea how deep the rabbit hole would go. Turns out it’s pretty deep. Learning about goroawase is like solving a puzzle, and I’ve always believed solving puzzles is the best way to learn (and the most satisfying, much more so than getting an A or a B on a test). See what I mean and Read This Post →

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The Greatest Inventor of All Time: Dr. NakaMats

While it’s up in the air whether this guy’s legit or not, I loved this post by Hashi because of its entertainment value. I’m glad there’s still people like this in the world, inventing all kinds of crazy things just for the love of inventing crazy things. We need more mad scientists in this world. Read This Post →

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Konichiwarrrr, Mateys! Famous Japanese Pirates, Ninja Pirates, And The Wild Wakou

Who doesn’t love pirates? Also, who doesn’t love ninjas? Did you know Japan combined the two at one point in history (the two most powerful things in the world, wrapped into one). Couple that with the fact that Japan is the leader in robot technology and you’ll have yourself a Pirate Robot Ninja… Let’s hope it never gains sentience. But seriously, awesome read on Japanese pirates. I had no idea these existed until Viet wrote about them. Read This Post →

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In Japan, Women Think Mark Zuckerberg Is A Hamburger

Last but not least is a post based off a study that WhatJapanThinks wrote about. I go into pretty deep details as to why these women thought Zuckerberg is a hamburger as well as looked at the other things they thought a Zuckerberg was. It’s really interesting, and also a good little Japanese study that will help you to better understand how the Japanese language works. Read This Post →

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Favorite Video: Cat Island Part 1 & 2

How can these not be my faves? More TofuguTV in the new year, too. Next episode will also have cats in it, too.

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P.S. Have A Great New Year!

I won’t be seeing you until the New Year, so everyone have a happy and safe one. Don’t eat too much or blow anything off with fireworks. Seeyah next year!

And, of course, we’ll be on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ if you need anything. John, Hashi and Viet will be posting their fav-fives this week too, so enjoy!