Some people like playing video games. Other prefer their video games to play themselves, giving birth to the fad of hacking Super Mario World levels that move Mario to the end without any player input required. Still, others took it farther. It wasn’t enough that the game played only itself, it had to play music, as well. And thus begins the legend of 自動マリオ – Automatic Mario.

The typical Automatic Mario music video has Mario being ferried across the level by moving platforms, bouncing off enemies and custom blocks that send him flying. Most videos are uploaded to the Japanese video sharing site, Nico Nico Douga.

Melt

Theme song to Doraemon

This next one gets a bit Mario-ception, being a Super Mario World rendition of a vocal version of a song from Super Mario World. Sometimes blocks and other background objects are used to create graphics related to the song. Can you spot the KY in this video?

Western Show on Super Mario World

Even Luigi gets his own 自動ルイージ – Automatic Luigi:

Danjo

Cirno’s Perfect Math Class

Not to be outdone, some videos feature four separate levels playing out at the same time, to cover even more parts of the song.

Little Busters!

There’s even a four screen version of Queen, one for each member of the band.

Don’t Stop Me Now

Interest in Automatic Mario peaked around mid-2008, but there are still a few new videos being submitted to Nico Nico Douga every so often. In closing, I’ll leave you with an eleven minute medley of songs.

Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga Grand Finale

For some people, Western and Japanese animation are like night and day—two completely different artforms that vary in countless different ways and are more or less incompatible with each other.

And while it’s true that there are clearly big, fundamental differences between Western and Japanese animation, there’s a lot more similarities than people acknowledge. One of the best examples I can think of is Kimba the White Lion, a manga-turned anime series from the 60^s.

Kimba (or “Jungle Emperor” in Japanese) has existed in virtually every form of media in Japan. Like most franchises, Kimba started out as manga, but was turned into an anime, a made-for-TV movie, and an actual movie with a theatrical release.

The series itself is interesting now mostly because of its creator, the Godfather of Anime, Osamu Tezuka; but it’s also interesting because of how it influenced a Disney movie: The Lion King.

The Two Lions

Even if you’ve never seen Kimba the White Lion before, you can tell that the anime and The Lion King share more similarities than can be coincidental.

From the names of the two protagonists (Kimba and Simba), to the character designs of the two franchises, to even some of the scenes and shots, the two franchises have a remarkable amount in common.

Rotten Tomatoes has a quick video recap of some of the more obvious similarities, and Cracked has a pretty good roundup of some of the similarities too.

Kimba is not, by any means, the first story that Disney has borrowed heavily from; just look at Grimm’s fairy tales or The Thief and the Cobbler (seriously, look at The Thief and the Cobbler).

And while the similarities are pretty jarring, it might be a little too hasty to say that Disney just completely ripped off Kimba wholesale. Not only are there pretty significant differences between the two stories, but it wouldn’t be fair to have this discussion without talking about what anime took from Disney.

Disney’s Contributions to Anime

The creator of Kimba, legendary manga artist Osamu Tezuka, was an enormous fan of Disney back in the day. Tezuka devoured Disney comic books and movies, reportedly seeing the movie Bambi 80 times. I don’t think I’ve seen any movie that many times (nor do I want to).

It’s clear that the characters and stories of Disney had an incredible impact on Tezuka. His large-eyed character design, which became a hallmark of Japanese art, was influenced by the style of Western characters like Bambi and others.

“Thumper-kun, stop being so tsundere!”

I guess the takeaway with Kimba and The Lion King is that culture is an exchange, not a one-way street. Artists get inspiration indiscriminately from all over the place, regardless of where in the world they’re located; and especially more recently with the advent of the internet, Japanese and Western artists are influencing each other more than ever before.

Even though Disney doesn’t acknowledge any relationship between The Lion King and Kimba the White Lion, maybe it’s best to think of The Lion King as an homage to Tezuka and Kimba.

But if Pixar’s next movie is about a robot boy named “Astro Dude,” we might not be able to let Disney off the hook.

People ask me all the time what websites I recommend—what blogs that I read as somebody who writes about Japan.

I figure that I’ll answer this question once and for all; or at least until people forget that I wrote this post and start asking me again.

While I skim a lot of the site loaded up into my RSS reader, there are a select few that I really enjoy reading, teach me a lot, and keep me coming back for more

I should clarify that this list contains blogs about Japan written in English with a Western audience in mind. If you want to find blogs written in Japanese, that’s another post for another time.

Here are some of my favorite Japan blogs, in no particular order:

Gakuranman

Long time Tofugu collaborator Gakuranman is more than just a manly, manly rayon body pillow; he’s also an avid haikyo (abandoned building) explorer.

He visited Japan’s forbidden island, Gunkanjima, long before James Bond was taken there in Skyfall; and while the internet was marvelling at the Japanese “anti-zombie fortress” from afar, Gakuranman was able to actually visit the Shime coal mine and tell us a little bit about its history.

While I was lucky enough to explore an old amusement park and the long-abandoned school on Cat Island with Gakuranman, I’m not sure that the haikyo lifestyle is for me; but I’m glad that I can visit see these beautiful, abandoned places in Japan without ever leaving my apartment because of him.

This Japanese Life

This Japanese Life isn’t produced by WBEZ Chicago and has no relation to the popular radio show, but the way that author Eryk tells stories would make Ira Glass proud.

The best posts on This Japanese Life are first-person narratives of Eryk’s life as an English teacher in Japan. The slice-of-life qualities of these posts cut through the popular misconceptions of Weird Japan and reveal the really strange parts of Japanese culture (see the post on kindness and obligation).

I also just really enjoy the writing on This Japanese Life, which is peppered with unique phrases like “Willy Wonka-san” and “kabuki juggalo.” This kind of writing might not be the kind of thing you’d hear in act one of our program, but it’s been more than enough to keep me reading.

Shisaku

Japanese politics can be a mystery. Not only does the Japanese political system function completely differently than the political system of my home country, the United States, but most of the news that us Westerners get about Japanese politics focuses on a few, paltry subjects. Unless a Japanese politician reaches the level of prime minister or says something incredibly stupid about Japan’s military past, then chances are the AP, Reuters, and other big news organizations won’t care at all.

Fortunately, Shisaku is there to pick up the slack. Run by Tokyo-based Michael Cucek, Shisaku is full of independent analysis about Japanese politics. So if I open up the New York Times and find an article about a high-level Japanese diplomat traveling to North Korea, I can count on Shisaku to give me some in-depth context and analysis of the event.

Reading Shiasku is almost enough to make me feel like an expert in Japanese politics. Almost.

Surviving in Japan

While I enjoy blogs that talk very broadly about large, cultural issues in Japan, I’ve been a huge fan of Surviving in Japan for years because it offers a lot of very practical, down-to-earth advice about living day-to-day life in Japan. After all, once you get past the bigger cultural differences, you still have to do all of those mundane, everyday things that you take for granted.

You’d be hard-pressed to find another site that offers as many guides and how-tos on topics like banking, finding personal care products, and how to deal with the different seasons in Japan.

Even though the updates on the site have slowed a bit since its creator has moved out of Japan, Surviving in Japan still gets the occasional new post and has a wealth of information in the archives.

Japan Subculture Research Center

Author and journalist Jake Adelstein has been having a pretty good year so far. His book, Tokyo Vice, is being turned into a movie with Harry Potter alumni Daniel Radcliffe starring.

But aside from his recent Hollywood success, Adelstein is a seasoned Japanese reporter who broke many barriers for foreign reporters in Japan; he was the first foreign staff reporter for the Yomiuri Shinbun and first to be included in the Tokyo Metropolitan Press Club.

Japan Subculture Research Center is Adelstein’s web presence and, together with a few other writers, does a great job covering Japan’s seedy underbelly. You’ll not only find a wealth of information about the yakuza (Adelstein’s area of expertise), but also information about the myriad not-so-legal activities that are usually hidden from public view.

If you want to know about all of Japan and not just the shiny image that’s usually presented to the West, Japan Subculture Research Center is a great place to start.

Spoon & Tamago

Japan has long had a worldwide reputation as a design powerhouse, but it’s sometimes difficult to find concrete examples of that. Fortunately, Spoon & Tamago manages to do a good job at exposing me to Japanese art and design and making me feel at least somewhat educated in the process.

The team of writers at Spoon & Tamago cover all aspects of Japanese art and design, from architecture to photography, to the design of small, everyday things. The best part: it’s all very accessible to those who have absolutely not background in art of design.

Japanese Rule of 7

Every once in a while, I’ll read something that just completely hooks me. For Japanese Rule of 7, the blog by Ken Seeroi, it was comparing knowing Japanese to being like David Blaine doing magic tricks at a party:

Your magic trick is that you can speak English. That’s what everyone wants you to do. And every time you do it, and tell them about how big the cheeseburgers are back home and how people wear shoes inside the house, their eyes will light up and they’ll be like, Wow, amazing!

Seeroi’s sometimes cynical writing, paired with his great stories of Japan, paints an entertaining picture of everyday life in Japan for an expat.

Honorable Mentions

There are a few authors and blogs that I enjoy a lot but, for whatever reason, didn’t quite make the cut. Here they are:

Hikosaemon

While Hikosaemon’s actual blog is infrequently updated, his presence on the rest of the internet more than makes up for it. This Kiwi is a social media God, posting so many insightful links and updates via his Twitter and Google+, it’s scary.

That’s not even to mention his YouTube channel. Between his solo videos and his weekly YouTube show with Gimmeaflakeman (and the occasional appearance by Milkjamjuice) Two and a Half Oyajis, there are probably days’ worth of amazing discussion on Japan on Hikosaemon’s channel.

And when Hiko does decide to sit down and crank out a long-form blog entry, he does an amazing job condensing his experiences living and working for over a decade in Japan. His guest post for us here at Tofugu from a few years back is based on a level of life experience that’s impossible to fake.

Culture Japan

I hesitate to include Culture Japan because I don’t watch anime, read manga, or do any of the things that fall under the umbrella of otaku culture. Given that, it’s sometimes hard for me to understand the allure of Culture Japan, the Dollfie-loving, body pillow-filled otaku haven run by internet superstar Danny Choo.

Even if I don’t always understand the appeal of Culture Japan, it undeniable that Danny Choo is a massive figure online. His blog post “How Discovering Japan Changed My Life” is incredibly popular among Japanophiles, and you’ve probably seen him dressed up as a Star Wars storm trooper, dancing on the streets of Tokyo to Earth, Wind, and Fire.

But beyond his internet fame, Danny Choo does a lot of hard work promoting Japan and Japanese culture. He works for the Japanese government under the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and produces and directs a TV show about Japan also called Culture Japan. So while I might be turned off by figurines and wall scrolls, there’s a lot to be said about Danny Choo and Culture Japan’s contributions.

These are just my personal picks—your mileage with these sites may vary; and I’m sure that I’m missing some amazing sites and writers, so share your favorites in the comments.

Bonus Wallpapers and GIFs!

Our talented illustrator Aya has whipped up some desktop backgrounds and animated GIFs for your enjoyment:

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It’s always strange to see which Westerners are famous in Japan yet unheard of in their own homelands. Aside from foreigner tarento who appear on TV shows, commercials, and magazines today, there are a lot of historical figures who are basically unknown in their home countries, even centuries after their deaths.

We’ve written before about the American man behind the Japanese phrase “Boys, be ambitious,” and the father of the Japanese word for hotchkiss “stapler,” but their contributions to Japan were pretty shallow. It’s definitely cool and interesting that these Westerners made contributions to the Japanese language that are still around today, but it’s not as if they really affected the culture or history.

One Westerner who made a major impact on Japanese history is not only pretty much completely unknown in his native land, but people will probably mistake him for a fast food clown. The man I’m talking about is, of course, Ranald MacDonald.

Before Ray Kroc began serving billions and billions worldwide, there was Ranald MacDonald. Blissfully unaware of how laughable his name would become in centuries to come, MacDonald was a significant figure in opening Japan to the world and bringing the English language to the country.

Lemme back up a bit. MacDonald was born in Tofugu’s home state of Oregon in the early 1800^s during a time when Japan was more or less closed to outsiders. The mystique of the closed country mixed with MacDonald’s supposed Asian ancestry and encounters with Japanese castaways lead him to an intense interest in Japan.

Determined not to let a little thing like the Tokugawa shogunate stop him from visiting Japan, MacDonald eventually found his way over to Japan. Instead of trying to get into Japan through negotiations or official channels, MacDonald did the only logical thing: intentionally shipwreck himself.

Dramatic recreation of MacDonald’s landing

MacDonald joined up with a whaling ship sailing past Japan and more or less just hopped out on his own ship when he was close enough. He landed in Hokkaido and, after being taken in by the Japanese, found his way down to Nagasaki.

Back in the Edo Era, Nagasaki was the one city in Japan where foreigners were allowed, and usually only Dutch traders at that, so MacDonald was a rarity in a big way. Japanese officials, sensing the value of the English language, tasked MacDonald with teaching English to an elite few.

After several months of teaching English to samurai, MacDonald was shipped back to America, where he lived out his life more or less uneventfully. For the rest of his life, he had nothing but good things to say about Japan and, supposedly, his last words were Japanese.

In a lot of ways, MacDonald is the father of the English language in Japan. In a time when only the Dutch were permitted to have anything to do with Japan, English was more or less non-existent in Japan before MacDonald. He unwittingly started the long, beautiful tradition of English teachers coming to Japan and leaving after a year. Maybe they should rename JET?

MacDonald was an ALT before JET was JET

More importantly, MacDonald lay the foundation for the English speaking world to communicate with Japan. Some of MacDonald’s students were directly involved in the negotiations with Commodore Perry when he and his black ships landed on Japan a few years after MacDonald’s visit.

You could argue that MacDonald was the first of what would become many foreign advisors to help Japan through the Meiji Restoration, but unfortunately MacDonald rarely receives that recognition.

At the very least, MacDonald’s legacy isn’t completely tarnished by a fast food clown; at least, not in Japan. The McDonald corporation’s mascot is known as ドナルド マクドナルド, or “Donald McDonald” in Japan, leaving MacDonald’s name untainted.

But if I find out that there’s a Japanese historical figure named “Hamburgler,” I’m just going to give up on everything.

Wallpapers/GIFs

Here are some bonus wallpapers and animated GIFs (that’s “GIF” with a hard G) courtesy of our very talented illustrator, Aya!

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Instead of a regular post today, I wanted to post up a few things. To be fair, one of the sections of this post is about a ginormous guide that was originally going to be this post (but was too guide-y), so if you’re looking for your regular dose of Japanese content, just jump to the link in section one and have yourself a fine ol’ time.

How To Count Anything In Japanese (The Guide)

I wanted to write a guide on Japanese counters that was a little different than most guides out there. We already have a very basic Japanese counters guide up in the Guides Section, so obviously I didn’t want to just do that again. I think one of the problems with Japanese counters guides is that they don’t really contextualize things very well. Sure, 一匹 means “one small animal,” but… what is a “small animal?” What isn’t a “small animal”? What is sometimes a “small animal” but sometimes not a “small animal?”

The only way to figure that sort of things out is by experience, so I wanted to create a guide that would give you some of that experience by listing things that can be counted by various counters. In my Japanese counters guide, I list the counter, its reading, and its meaning. Then, below it, I wrote out a list of things that can be counted in that way. Read that list to understand and contextualize how the counter works. It’s not just a “small animal,” it’s a dog, a cat, a mosquito, a frog, a tortoise, etc.

Go To: How To Count Anything In Japanese

I hope you enjoy this guide and I hope it is helpful to you over the next couple of months / years of Japanese study. Don’t try to learn it all at once, but definitely use it as a reference to understand counters you’ve learned but don’t completely understand yet.

“Project Kuma”

Like I mentioned before, “Kuma” (it won’t be called Kuma, but this is like a super-secret code name) is a site that will have Japanese materials that intermediate / advanced level students of Japanese can use to use to study and bridge that gap between advanced and fluency. It will be flexible, allowing someone to use the materials to focus on things that they need the most help with. Most important of all, the materials will be more interesting than the standard Japanese language resources, hopefully making it more fun to learn.

My “minimum viable product” version of “Kuma” is nearly complete, which means I’m going to be sending out emails to Forever members on TextFugu soon. If there are enough unicorns in the air and if you collect and send to me all your tears, maybe the first invite will go out later this week. If there’s not enough magic, then the first part of next week is looking pretty good. It won’t be everything at once (because things will surely break), so if you are a Forever member on TextFugu and don’t get one right away, don’t fret too much. They’ll be rolling out to you soon. And yes, just like I said last time, TextFugu Forever members get “Kuma” Forever subscriptions on the house. So a big grizzly thumbs up to you.

After that I’ll open things up and have some kind of special Alpha pricing. Anyways, that’s the update on that.

Tofugu Summer Internship 2013

Recently we got all fancy and got ourselves an office. That means we can have real, live interns (not that they’re usually dead, I just mean in-person). This year we’ll be doing just that. We’ve mainly contacted Pacific Northwest area schools, but I know that there are a decent number of Washington and Oregon State Tofugu reader students out there who may or may not be interested in this position. If you are indeed one of those people, please pop on over to http://jobs.tofugu.com to learn more about the summer internship program that we’re offering.

Bonus Wallpapers!

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Last week I wrote a post about how male-female cohabitation is viewed in Japan and the concept of share houses came up a lot in the comments. Two weeks ago I knew very little about the Japanese concept of share houses but now that I’m more informed on the subject it seems like something worth exploring, especially if you’re thinking of moving and living in Japan at some point. So what makes share houses worth living in and what sort of people would you expect to find in one? Let’s find out.

The Concept

Share houses are pretty similar to dorms or big hostels/apartments. A handful of people all live under the same roof and share common living areas, the kitchen, and bathrooms. At the very least they’ll have a bedroom to themselves which can be stocked with their own mini fridge and television. That way the most private of folk can pretty much live out of their bedrooms. But if you’re that private, you probably shouldn’t be living in a share house in the first place.

Like apartments, there’s some sort of landlord or administrator overseeing things at the share house so if any disagreements arise during your stay, you can always take it up and work it out with the landlord. Since you don’t really know the people you’ll be living with, chances are something will come up at some point.

Share houses are most common in city areas and can range from pretty basic set ups to lavish living arrangements. Some even come pre-loaded with cutlery, appliances, and furnishings.

Who Are They For?

While there are no restrictions on who can live in these share houses, they seem to be most popular with people in their 20s and 30s, mostly students and young adults new to the workforce. With the average stay being anywhere from a month to a year, share houses don’t seem to be all that popular for long-term housing. However, they’re great if you’re staying in Japan for longer than it would make sense to live out of a hotel but not so long that you’d actually want to rent or buy a house or apartment.

There are also these so-called “gaijin houses” that are basically share houses geared towards foreigners living in Japan. Those would be better if you’d like to live with people who (most likely) speak English, but where’s the fun in that? Nowhere. The answer is nowhere.

Pros and Cons of Share Houses

Share houses are great for those living on a budget. Most don’t even require deposits or initial fees of any kind as is common in the United States. Even when a share house does have initial fees, they’re usually pretty low. Costs of living can vary greatly depending on the location and condition of the share house and you should expect to pay between 40,000 to 100,000 yen (~$395-$985) per month per person, depending on the share house in question.

Living alone in Japan can be expensive. Add in the fees you have to pay before you actually move in and all the furnishings and appliances you have to purchase and you’re spending a lot of money. Share houses are definitely a lot cheaper than living on your own.

Share houses are great for those who enjoy living with others and like to socialize. Or maybe you’re a foreigner and just want to be around Japanese people to practice speaking with all the time. However, all this social exposure isn’t for everyone so if you are a very private person or can’t handle sharing a bathroom or kitchen, share houses obviously won’t be your thing. And then there’s all the usual roommate issues, plus you don’t really get to pick who you live with in share houses so you might get stuck with a few weirdos.

Share houses can be co-ed but some offer male only or female only houses as well. Some people aren’t so keen on living with the opposite sex, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind if you’re looking for a share house. This seems to be more geared towards women who don’t want to live with males, but I’m sure there are some guys out there who would prefer not to live with lady roommates as well.

Also, share houses aren’t available everywhere. Most of them are concentrated in the big cities and their surrounding areas so you might have some trouble finding one out in the country.

How to Find a Share House

Speaking of finding a share house, what’s the best way to find one? Well, the internet is here to help. Since they know that share houses/gaijin houses are popular with foreigners, a lot of these share house websites will also be in English. Like with any sort of living arrangement, there are big firms owning many share houses and smaller ones that don’t own many and will require more searching around for.

If you Google “Share House in Japan“, or “シェアハウス“, you’ll get plenty of results to browse through. It all depends on where you’re planning to live or visit, but you should be able to find something suitable to your needs. It also helps a great deal if you can read Japanese, especially for those intimidating results from that second search.

Most of the pictures I’ve seen of share houses look pretty nice. They definitely seem like a great option if you’re looking for a short to medium term living arrangement while in Japan and you enjoy the company of others. If you’re thinking of spending some time in Japan, I’d recommend giving these share houses a healthy consideration.

So tell me, have you ever lived in or visited a Japanese share house? What do you think of them? Would you ever live in one yourself? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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. Enjoy!