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On Japanese Insects
A guide to the idiosyncratic wildlife found behind my house. Continue reading →
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Video/Audio: Nakasu Festival, Taiko Calligraphy
In which I watch 50 women carry a heavy object and two guys proving how calligraphy is totally manly. Continue reading →
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The DNA of a Japanese Suburb
“In many new office buildings the windows don’t open. In especially bad buildings, like the average Wal-Mart, windows are dispensed with nearly altogether. This process of disconnection from the past...
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On the Death of Japan
Everywhere you look, people say Japan is dying. The Economist says Japan is dying. Curators say Japan is dying. The numbers say Japan is dying. There is no dispute that the Japanese get older as the...
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Is Japan a “Racist Monoculture”? On Anders Breivik’s Japan
As I was leaving the train station, I heard the Japanese national anthem. People were waving flags. Some guy was shouting about “gaikokujin” (“foreigners”) through a loud-speaker. I stopped and stared...
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Elvis in Nakasu
So this year I went back to catch a night of the Nakasu Festival. The festival is held in Fukuoka’s red-light district, full of host and hostess clubs and worse. During the festival, women from the...
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On Getting Ramen (and a Hangover) in Japan
I took a cardboard box full of instant ramen with me to college. I stocked up on $.30 vegetarian packages of the stuff just for the sake of the noodles. They remained in that box, tucked into a closet...
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On Getting Arrested for Dancing in Japan
There’s a fever sweeping Japan, inspiring city officials and police to crack down on the shady black market for a highly regulated industry linked to the sex industry, gambling, and even human...
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Off the Grid in Japan
I don’t have Internet and I’m not sure when I’ll get it. This post is being written on an iPod touch, saved on my WordPress application, and sent when I manage to sneak under an old Japanese guy’s...
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