Although I’ve been a long-time reader of Tofugu (since ‘07, I think?), this was my first year getting to write and work for Tofugu. It’s been a lot of fun writing and reading so many posts this year, especially because 2011 had more Tofugu posts than any other year ever.
These 5 posts were my absolute favorites from 2011. They might not have been the most popular, but I really enjoyed each of these posts for different reasons.
Save The Salarymen Foundation
The video for this post was easily my favorite of this year. The shots (as directed by cinematographer extraordinaire, Koichi) were so spot-on for the kind of charity commercials that we were trying to satirize.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyP4cIsDZ0A']
Plus for the video I got to wear a fake mustache and a necktie on my head while drinking in public. What’s not to love? Read this post →
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Understanding Japan Through the Karate Kid
I was really grateful that Hikosaemon did this guest post for us because not only because it freed up a good twelve hours for Starcraft 2 practice, but also because it was probably one of the insightful articles on Japanese culture I’ve ever read.
Hikosaemon has the kind of life experience in Japan that you can’t imitate nor find in many people. The result of that is a post with a lot of first-hand insight into the Japanese mentality. If you want to stay in Japan for any extended period of time, this is a must-read. Read this post →
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Are We The Nation Of Sushi Abomination?
I thought this was one of the funniest posts all year. I’ve always been wary of the crazy Americanized sushi rolls (like the cream-cheese-laden Philadelphia Roll), but Koichi uncovered whole classes of sushi abominations I had no idea even existed.
And even with all of those abominations, Koichi still didn’t talk about famed TV chef and fashion criminal Guy Fieri‘s sushi restaurant, Tex Wasabi’s, whose cuisine and website are both blights upon the earth. And why do you wear those sunglasses on the back of your head, Mr. Fieri? What are you hiding?! Read this post →
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All You Need to Know About Japan’s Weirdest Dialect, Tohoku-Ben
Another great guest post from this year was written for us by Ken Cannon A.K.A. Ken Cannon Rush of Japanese Through Anime. I picked this post because I learned a lot from it. Not only was I pretty much completely unaware about the different Japanese dialects (something I’d never really thought about), but I had no idea about the stereotypes associated with dialects like Tohoku-ben.
And of course, as we all know, other dialects have very specific stereotypes associated with them. For instance, the speakers of Koichi-ben are known to be both devastatingly handsome and Starcraft 2 savants. It’s a tough life. Read this post →
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Cup Noodle Museum Opens; College Students Everywhere Rejoice
When I die, I want to be remembered for one thing above all others: the stupid captions I add to pictures in my posts. Not only did I really like writing about the Cup Noodle Museum (it sounds like a fun place to visit!), but I had a ton of fun writing the captions for that post. Content? Pff! It’s all about the captions, baby. Read this post →
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That’s pretty much it for posts in 2011, I’ll be sure to see you all in 2012!
Be sure to check out John and Koichi’s “best of” posts, and watch for Viet’s post tomorrow!
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