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...]
Hello! My name is Mami. I am from Japan, but recently moved to Canada. Having experience with foreign people in Japan, as well as being in a foreign place (♬ Ohhh Canada ♪), one thing I have noticed is the difficulty that … [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...]
It seems like every politician has their own, dumb mini scandal. With the speed at which information travels nowadays, even the most minor gaffe and non-issue can be blown way out of proportion. Even Japan's Prime … [Read more...]