May 2012
2 posts
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February 2012
1 post
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December 2011
1 post
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October 2011
1 post
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September 2011
1 post
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August 2011
4 posts
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July 2011
4 posts
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Auld lang syne = hurry up and go home!
Today’s 毎日驚く is about the song Auld Lang Syne in English, or 蛍の光 in Japanese. As an American, whenever I hear this familiar tune, I’m instantly reminded of New Year’s Eve. It’s often played right after the change over to the new year. Sometimes this song shows up at other events like funerals and has other associations, but it primarily holds its spot as the new...
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Oktoberfest in Japan
Today’s 毎日驚く is Oktoberfest in Japan. Now, this is maybe not so surprising as German beer, sausage, lederhosen, and singing has infiltrated many countries across the globe. However, while most people enjoy Oktoberfest in the month of October, hence the name, Japanese love it so much that they hold the festival several times in a year, often not even in October! For example, this weekend...
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Remote menu system at izakaya
Today’s 毎日驚く: at most izakaya (japanese style pub), people usually order food through a waiter or waitress or the chef directly. However, some izakaya have an electronic remote menu system. This system allows the diner to see the entire menu, select what they want to order by category or photos, choose how much of each item they want, and even calculate how much they’ve spent so far...
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毎日驚く
I’ve decided to try and start adding a 毎日驚くto my blog. I find that every day I’m in Japan, something new surprises me, so I think it’s probably a good idea to try and keep a record of these small wonders to remind me why I chose to live in this country. Today’s surprise:
Actually, this surprise is from a few months back, but I figured it was good enough to start out my...
June 2011
1 post
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ジャパン (honne and tatemae a case study)
I’ve been lucky because I have had a great experience during my time in Japan. I’ve made some really good friends and I’ve come to understand Japan and the Japanese people a little better. There’s so much I love about this country and its people. I could see myself living here for a long time.
But then there’s the reality that I am, in fact, a foreign person living...
May 2011
1 post
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この頃
So, what the hell have I been up to lately? Work mostly. That, and a new found obsession with Tom Ford (in a strictly plutonic way). Although I can’t afford to buy his clothes now, I hope someday to buy his ever-so classic amber-framed glasses. I mean, the man has more style in his eyebrows than I will probably ever have in my lifetime. Sensational. In case you don’t believe me, check...
March 2011
1 post
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February 2011
2 posts
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Mad Men
I’ve almost completely caught up with Mad Men. There’s so much I love about this show. It’s clever writing, it’s insanely addictive style, and it’s brilliant cast.
The way I see it, the show is about conspicuous and inconspicuous images. It speaks of a quietly repressed time masked with conservative ideals yet teething with voracious liberal underpinnings....
January 2011
5 posts
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Cam with Me →
This is a great interactive website for Sony’s handycam. It allows you to play the role of a parent and record your daughter’s growth (using a handycam of course) from baby to woman, capturing important memories along the way. At the end of the journey, the website edits your clips together so you can watch a nostalgic movie memory of your daughter’s life. So clever. So sleek. A...
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ノルウェイーの森
I finally went to see ノルウェイーの森 after many months of anticipation and here’s my take on it - well, from what I could understand anyway. I watched it all in Japanese (without subtitles) and I have to admit, I probably understood less than half of what was being said. So, my review here is really just a small take on a much bigger picture.
For a filmmaker, to turn an internationally acclaimed...
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外人 or Foreigners in Japan
先日、同僚と飲みながら、日本にいる外国人について話していました。私たちは全員で外国人なので、この視点というのは正確ではないかもしれません。ただ、考えてみたところなんですが、ご覧下さい。
それでは、本日のブログです。
基本的に、日本では外国人のタイプが三ついるらしいです。
１。日本の女性と付き合えるため、日本に来る外国人の男性（〜７０％）
こちらのタイプというのは、ほとんどアメリカ人だそうです。なぜなのでしょうか？海外には日本のイメージがだいたい良いですけれども、地によってそのイメージが変わります。いくつかの場所で日本と見られているのは伝統的だが、別の場所でエキゾチックで、不思議にもなるようです。しかし、アメリカだったら、すばらしいイメージです。メディアによると、日本はアドバンスな国らしいです。電気機器とかデザイン製品とか上品みたいなもので最高です。
...
December 2010
0 posts
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November 2010
7 posts
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text messages →
here’s a cool website that will simplify any message to short text messaging lingo. i’ll have to try using some of this lingo more in my own text messages. try entering: i need you to pick up some milk from the grocery store.
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Watch本日のビデオはJapan Probeで見つかりました。１１月８日は「いい歯の日」と言われました。
このビデオによると、最近歯の健康活動のブームが増えてきていることが現れました。ランチのあと、トイレで会社の女性がしっかり歯を磨いているそうです。それから、ランチ歯ブラシも店で販売されているそうです。
うちのマネージャ（女性）は常にご飯をたべたあと、歯を磨いているらしいです。さすが。
みんなさん、ランチの後、歯を磨きますか？オフィスで歯ブラシを持っていますか？
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Proposing
Here’s something interesting to think about. Marriage proposals are more or less the same wherever you go, right? It’s the same question, same answers…more or less. So, in the US, some of my friends have been pretty creative when it comes to proposing. One guy made a short-movie of photos that he and his girlfriend had together. He showed this movie at an actual movie theater and...
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office romance →
Occasionally I like to read the latest online rankings (surveys) that many of the search engine websites like goo.jp or yahoo.co.jp produce. While it’s good practice for my Japanese to read the original versions, there’s also an English version of some of these rankings posted on whatjapanthinks.
Today’s survey was about fantasy romance scenes in the office. I found the answers...
October 2010
5 posts
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interesting article on my current,... →
I was told about this article by a fellow coworker and decided to have a read. It touches on some well-known flaws with the company and reports on the overall health of the company, its “employees”, and the constant thorn in its side: the union. Warning: this article reveals how little the instructors are actually paid and the lack of benefits that they receive.
While I agree with...
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I’ve been listening to a lot of 坂本龍一...
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What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20
I’m reading a great book about success by Dr. Tina Seelig, a Stanford University Neuroscience Professor. The book, “What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20” has been a bestseller and was number one at the bookstore in Marunouchi. On a whim, I decided to pick it up. It’s proved to be more than well worth the buy.
She talks a lot about how to see a problem as an opportunity and how...
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秋
今日のブログを、日本語で書いてみようと思います。がんばります。lol
最近、日本語験（能力試験）を受けるため、勉強をしています。いや、違います。先月と今月の上旬に勉強するはずでしたが、今はモチベーションが低くなっていて、あんまり勉強をしていません。なぜでしょうか？
やっぱり、外国語の勉強することは本当に大変です。上達するように、毎日、少しずつ単語とか文法とか（漢字も）いろいろなことを勉強しなければなりません。俺は英会話講師ですが、そういうことをいつも話しています。でも、I should follow my own advice. （ごめんなさい、英語を書いちゃった。日本語で同じ慣用語があるかも、でも知らない）難しいですよね。
...
August 2010
5 posts
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a culture of waiting and point cards, pt. 1
Today, I decided that the title of my book (which has yet to be written) will be: “A Culture of Waiting and Point Cards: My Experience in Japan”.
Now, I know there are probably a lot of (legitimate) questions that come to mind with such a claim - the first being, why would I write a book, let alone a book about my experience in Japan? Well, the idea to write a book has always been...
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Tokyo again
On the flight from Honolulu to Tokyo. As mentioned before I’m reading Murakami’s memoir while working my way through a glass of red wine. Merlot. I’m not sure why I chose red wine this time. Seemed like a good idea.
One of the reasons I first wanted to come to Tokyo was because of Mr. Murakami’s novels. I don’t know, something about the way he paints Tokyo in his stories - a thriving metropolis...
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What I think about when I'm traveling
I’m currently reading “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”, a memoir by Haruki Murakami. This is a great read and some nice inflection from an author I feel I already know through his first-person narratives. The thing I love about Murakami is the simple beauty with which he composes his sentences. They’re easily accessible, yet always poignant. I feel like his words are pouring directly...
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“The most important thing we ever learn in school is that the most important...”
– Haruki Murakami
July 2010
5 posts
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Watch(via nagasex) great video of some hot spots in SE Asia. definitely makes me want to travel more and take some cool video.
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WatchI noticed the other day passing through Shimbashi station that the train melody had changed. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
Japan Probe had the answer.
Suntory has paid JR East to change the train melody at Shimbashi Station to that of the Suntory Highball CM melody.
No wonder every time I go to Shimbashi station, I feel like drinking a highball!
...
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Totoro's Home in Suginami
An interesting article popped up on the Japan times yesterday about a park in Suginami-ward that has reopened as a place “that would make visitors feel [like] Totoro would live there”.
Drawing inspiration from the acclaimed Miyazaki Hayao animation “My Neighbor Totoro”, this park, which includes a house that was modeled after the home in the movie, has over 100 kinds of...
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WatchI can’t believe this almost worked.
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June 2010
3 posts
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“I had hoped to land a job with a large firm that does something. I’d then meet a...”
– Metropolis’s The Negi on the job shortages for new graduates in Japan
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May 2010
7 posts
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別れさせや "splitter-uppers"
I found this on the NY Times Freakonomics blog and was quite surprised when I read about it. The 別れさせや or “splitter-uppers” offers a very unique relationship service in Japan, and we’re not talking about that of the match-making variety. Rather this is a highly specialized sting-like operation with the intention of doing just the opposite: tearing relationships apart.
Imagine...