Japanese technology can be weird sometimes. And I don't mean “weird” like a sex robot or something, I just mean different in unexpected ways. Japanese cell phones, for example, have long suffered from … [Read more...]
Imagine this: You leave work at 3 am yet again, glumly thinking I’m going to become another karoshi statistic. The nearest capsule hotel is just a half-hour walk away, but you’re knackered and you know … [Read more...]
Even though we still don't know a whole lot about how the human body works, we're still doing a lot better than we used to. Throughout history, in various cultures, humans have held some pretty weird claims about the human … [Read more...]
Kawaii (かわいい), most commonly translated as “cute,” is practically everywhere in Japan – and I do mean everywhere. To paraphrase author Mary Roach, the Japanese save money with cute, pray with cute, and even … [Read more...]
I'm sure you've seen people in TV shows or movies say itadakimasu (いただきます） before digging into a meal. Maybe you've been with a Japanese person who's said it. Maybe you've even said it yourself. But what does it really … [Read more...]
We take it for granted nowadays that so much in our lives is standardized. Most places in the world recognize the Gregorian calendar, the metric system, etc., which makes it a lot easier to live our lives. But it wasn't … [Read more...]