US Vice President Joe Biden once said that health care is a “big f’in’ deal,” and I tend to agree. I don't just mean in the US, where Biden was referring to Obamacare, but across the world people … [Read more...]
If you've read much about Japan, then you've probably come across the saying “出る釘は打たれる” or, in Inglés, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” People usually use this saying to make a point … [Read more...]
There are tons of cliches when it comes to tattoos. Everybody knows the tramp stamp, tribal and sailor tattoos; but one in particular interests those learning Japanese: kanji tattoos. Over the years, it seems like … [Read more...]
Every Sunday we gather the week's weird and interesting Japanese news and present it to you in our Sunday News column. It might not always be hard-hitting news, but we hope that it still informs and entertains you. … [Read more...]
As an American, it's sometimes kind of strange to me that other countries have Ministries of Culture. The US, being the melting pot that it is, doesn't really have the same sort of shared cultural heritage that other … [Read more...]
Certain clichés permeate different films. Parodies like Scary Movie (and the other, awful franchises that followed) couldn't exist if movies didn't draw upon these stereotypes. Japanese samurai films are unquestionably … [Read more...]