I wrote this article on June 22, 2014. Since then, Japanese women have seen some changes in their status in Japanese society. Their efforts to break through traditional gender roles has taken several decades to get to their current point. In fact, more Japanese women work today than American women. But Japan’s traditional female roles…
Author: Chris Kincaid
Is Being an Otaku Cultural Appropriation?
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate borrowing from another culture. Usually, it happens with a culture that has been oppressed in some way. Think about the Native American cultures in North America as an example. But cultural appropriation has a soft line. It’s hard to know when the line of admiration and appropriation is crossed…
The Problem with Today’s Hype and Spoiler Culture
I’m an old school gamer, the type that grew up making maps for myself. The habit stays with me today. I prefer to go into anime, movies, and video games blind. But it’s terribly hard to do that now. The Internet has made hype and spoilers almost unavoidable. As many of you know, I’m a…
The Man Behind the Legend: Prince Shotoku
Prince Shotoku stand out in Japanese history. During his lifetime, he was even seen as a Bodhisattva, a Buddhist saint, and he was eventually deified in a cult that flourished during the Heian period. Ironically, if Prince Shotoku had lived in China, he would’ve been a normal nobleman for the period. He wouldn’t have stood…
Haruki Murakami’s Portrayal of Women
Haruki Murakami writes bestselling postmodern surrealist fiction. His work often focuses on loneliness and alienation. I’m writing this article in response to a reader’s question about how he writes about women. I’ll focus on two books Kafka on the Shore and 1Q84. This article will focus on sexuality and will quote explicit passages from Murakami’s…
Kaguya-sama: Love is War Actually Made Me Laugh
I’m not one for comedies, anime or otherwise. They usually strike me as dumb and trying too hard. My sense of humor leans toward satire and slap stick like Takeshi’s Castle (if you haven’t seen it, go watch an episode on YouTube right now!). When I saw Kaguya-sama come out in Crunchyroll, I decided to…