In seventh grade I had my half-Japanese friend burn me a CD full of her favorite Japanese music. That CD, full of Japanese boy bands, ballads, technopop, and anime themes, was my first introduction to J-Pop. That music was … [Read more...]
Anyone who's been to Japan knows that they have some pretty advanced technology over there. Anyone who's gone to the bathroom in Japan knows that they have some pretty awesome toilets. No, I'm not talking about the old … [Read more...]
Over the last few years of studying Japanese, I've met more than a handful of J-pop fanatics. Heck, some people I know owe all their mad Japanese skills to studying AKB48 lyrics like their life depends on it. Honestly, … [Read more...]
After one particularly controversial Japanese blog post last week, Japanese Twitter was blazing up (炎上/えんじょう) with tweets of anger and support. The topic? Trains. The controversy? "The reason I don't give up my seat on the … [Read more...]
Have you ever spent time with a Japanese person of the female persuasion? She probably carried around a purse, right? I bet she pulled out some interesting things out of it, like strips of oil-eating tissue paper, or a … [Read more...]
The word "hengao" means "strange face" (変顔/へんがお) and it's just about everything you're probably imagining. Recently it's gotten popularized even more by the comedian ワッキー (Wakki) who is not only good at making weird faces, … [Read more...]