Answers to your Knight DarkBat questions: Why were we the only ones with snacks in that half packed theater anyway? A) The other people ate their snacks while you were getting your tickets, then buying your snacks. You waited for the movie to begin before starting to munch. Why did everybody sit together even though they don't know each other? A) The same reason they are spaced evenly apart when relaxing along any riverside, or in a park. The ability to spontaneously "group" or "ungroup" is uniquely Japanese. The "group" function is also commonly present on sidewalks and in the street, especially when you are nearby and in a hurry. Why does a movie ticket cost $18, er, 1800 yen? A) Due to a lack of competition, and the self-imposed limitations to "blockbuster" movie offerings, theaters can charge anything they desire. Why are hotdogs not more popular in Japan? A) Have you ever put shō-yu on a hot dog? What about vegetarian tofu dogs, there's lots of tofu going on around here. A) I know of the Shiba-ken, and Akita , but have never see a Tofu dog.

I didn't read this but I looked at the pictures. What's up with the Rainbow Bright shirt? Maybe it's a distraction tactic.

Thanks for sharing. I like hearing people's perspectives.

Have you ever had this hot? It's naaaasty. Cold noodles are great though.

HELL YEAH! This was a great movie, but I know about it due to the advertising on the net and in U.S. media. It's a dark movie, it's based off of an American comic book, it's more fun if you know the story already, so I don't see how it could appeal to Japan without tons of advertising. Now Hancock... that movie was a P.O.S.!!! The movie trailer is all the best parts, the rest of the movie is junk. Anyway, The Dark Knight, I'm not critic and I'm there for the entertainment value only so it was a great movie and had spectacular acting in my opinion. It cost about 9000 Yen for the three of us (OMG!) but you gotta have the snacks. Seriously. Lots of them. Why were we the only ones with snacks in that half packed theater anyway? Why did everybody sit together even though they don't know each other? Why does a movie ticket cost $18, er, 1800 yen? Why are hotdogs not more popular in Japan? What about vegetarian tofu dogs, there's lots of tofu going on around here. The world may never know. The Dark Night -> SEE IT!

Maybe we've been taking different buses. Mine usually have a mix of middle age men, women, and college aged people. One guy drank for about 2 hours straight. Drink, toilet, drink toilet, good times. Everybody is quiet and nobody stinks. You need to stop taking those busted lines and hop on the smoother VIP routes.

I agree ti was a good film, not sure it beats Batman Begins but it's definitely the best Batman out there (don't even talk to me about the Burton films - sheesh they stank)but I'm afraid Maggie Gyllenhaal sucked a lot of my enjoyment out - otherwise I loved it!

Big stars. I agree. Needs Dicaprio. Big hit. Also, not cute enough. No squeaky anime voices? And, Batman? In Japan- who's he?

The Dark Knight is awesome. See it!!! I read an article somewhere giving opinions why it is not successful in Japan, if I find it, I will soc it.

You're a lot more convincing than the commercial, Jason. You've actually made me want to see it. Out of curiosity, what was the movie you saw 10 years ago that still betters the Dark Knight?

It is a sequel to BATMAN BEGINS, but THE DARK KNIGHT is so exponentially better than that movie, and any other movie of recent history, it may seem like its own movie. THE DARK KNIGHT was the best movie I've seen in 10 years. The experience I had in the movie theater was very intense. The whole audience was enthralled. (I went to the sneak preview a week before its opening at a late showing at Roppongi Hills Virgin Cinema screen #7) The Japanese people I know that have seen it have loved it. I cannot recommend THE DARK KNIGHT enough. It is many things: possibly the most badass movie ever, the best comic book movie ever, the best action movie ever, the best movie about chaos in modern times ever. I wrote a full review of THE DARK KNIGHT here: http://jasoncollin.org/2008/08/03/the-dark-knight-2008-review/ Friends I saw the movie with commented on that review, including a few Japanese.

It's not strictly a sequel to Batman Begins but it is definitely the same series. There is no reason it "should" do well here but a reason it won't - the cast. They are unknown here for anything but controversial reasons. Noone seemed impressed when they were here and you really need someone popular here to make it worthwhile putting any money into promo here - I assume that's why the producers didn't bother.

Well, speaking for myself, I haven't seen much advertising for it and I don't really know what it's about. I thought it was a sequel to Batman Begins, but it's not. So why reinvent Batman so soon after Batman Begins? And, yeah it does look really dark and I haven't a clue who's in it. I bet most Japanese don't even know it's a Batman film. Is there a reason why it *should* be doing well in Japan?

A brief description of a tasty dish. Made me want it ..right.. now!

How can you sleep with the stench of salaryman socks all around you? ;)

I've taken the highway bus plenty of times and it's not a big deal. I mean... it's a bus. Who doesn't know what a bus is like before you get onto one? I don't get what the big deal is. I usually watch a DVD or play my DS or sleep.

good point made in this blog entry. People really need to open up a little more when it comes to culture.

I was particularly happy to get some context for the sign for 'pull' but I bet I still push the doors as I'm reading the sign!

I'll support any administrative decision on this and am not looking to challenge it. But, in general, I think if the article description contains a sentence or two in English saying something like, "This is a ______ language site about Japanese ______," that seems OK to me. I think multilingual users of JapanSoc could benefit from such submissions. However, I could see JapanSoc being hijacked by a group of fellow bloggers who would only submit non-English stories and be unwilling to create a JapanSoc-like site in their own language. I mean, JapanBlogger has been hijacked to a small extent by a bunch of J-Pop blogging freaks who keep rating all non-J-Pop blogs at 1 star while giving their friends' blogs 5 stars. Anyway, it's tough, but if the English-only rule stands, so be it. Again, though, this is just my opinion, not a challenge.

There's a scene like this in that really popular movie from a few years back, "Sekai no choushi de, ai o sakebu". Wonder if it inspired it...they presented it in a "romantic" way in the movie.

Of course Tae's a man. Whatever made you think otherwise? Ahem.. cough, cough.

Errr...I have been under the impression that Tae Kim is a man...am I wrong, or are you? Hmmm...

You guys are too funny! I recently packed some guests off to Fuji-san on the highway bus and they didn't comment either way - then again they were pretty stoked to have the Fuji-san sunrise experience and it was only a couple of hours from Shinjuku.

Really interesting read. I learned many of those when I did Heisig, but I didn't know that those were the real meanings in all cases. Thanks for pointing the way!

Ok but I don't see the problem because, nothing say during my sumbmission, that my site must be English...