You probably expect me to talk about Japan’s infamous panty vending machines. Alright, alright. I will, but there is more to the story. Did you know vending machines were once considered a threat to Japanese tradition? Do you know why Japan historically has the densest concentration of vending machines in the world? Beyond panties and…
Category: Culture
Oshibori: More than a Hand Towel
Japan has a long history of puppets. In the last 70 years, a new type of puppet has appeared, made from chopsticks and oshibori. Oshibori are damp hand towels given to guests at restaurants. The towels are used to clean hands and in Kitakyushu, entertain businessmen. Going out for drinks after work with colleagues is a part…
The World’s First Novel: The Tale of Genji
Back in the 11th century, a Japanese woman wrote the world’s first modern novel. The novel remained unknown in the West until after the Meiji Restoration and the rise of modernism in literature. In 1925, Arthur Waley’s translation of the work released, shocking novelists of the time (Phillips, 2010). The Tale of Genji stands as…
US Clown Scare, Ghost in the Shell’s Laughing Man Incident?
You may have heard on the news (do people still watch the news?) about murderous clowns rampaging across the US. Okay, not really rampaging, but people are genuinely scared. These clowns are reportedly terrorizing and assaulting people. Actually, there’ve been few assaults, but fear beats reason most of the time. In any case, this clown…
Top 4 Strangest Things about Japanese Culture
Okay, the title of this post is click bait, but from a Western perspective, Japan is strange. Most lists focus on the rare oddities of Japanese culture like panty fetishes, vending machines, and game shows. Let’s approach the topic from a different angle. There are some strange aspects of Japanese culture that go beyond the…
Musings VII: On Monkeys in Japanese Culture.
Story: Three in the Morning, Four in the Evening. In the times of the Song Dynasty[i] in China lived a man they called Sokō, which means monkey trainer. He loved monkeys and reared a whole horde of them at his house. Sokō understood the monkey’s minds quite well, and likewise the monkeys understood their master….