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Former CIR Aaron wrote a very nice post about the problems one faces when translating place names in Japan into English. Even Google is doing it wrong! His suggestions for knocking off the extra "city" or "town" make a lot of sense to me, and so does his reasoning about tautological place names
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Pink Tentacle put a lot of effort into compiling this list of words and expressions from 2008. It's a wonderful recap ride back through the past 12 months of pop culture in Japan. Check it out and see how many you knew, and learn the ones you didn't!
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The Discovery Channel's Mythbusters recently took on the saying "You can't polish a [poop]." (Networks don't like the T-word, it seems. Got me.) They had trouble working up a methodology until they were introduced to the Japanese art of making high-gloss mud-balls, or doro-dango.
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I recently took a trip to the Tottori Sand Dunes. If you're thinking "wait, what?" you should click through to see the pictures and video I that put together as a recap of the experience. It draws visitors from all over Japan. There's even an enka song about it - which you can see in the post!
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"Koji Kondo (born 1960) was just your average Japanese composer when he stumbled into a gig at a playing card company called Nintendo in 1984."
Come on, you know the Mario theme inside and out. Find out about the man who scored all of the Mario games at the Mental Floss blog!*
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Come on, you know the Mario theme inside and out. Find out about the man who scored all of the Mario games at the Mental Floss blog!*
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Food AND drink, indeed. Behold - the humble yaki-imo takes on a new form...as a delicious soymilk snack! Including a video of the mythical yaki-imo truck I personally shot in 2005, this entry makes a good introduction to yaki-imo, as well as fire safety. Ok - maybe that's a stretch. Anyway, enjoy!
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Let's compare and contrast British comedian Eddie Izzard's take on satsuma, aka mikan, with that of a Japanese speedmetal band. What do you think? Mikan vs. oranges? Which fruit wins the war for your affection? Video clips!
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"Fail! To use the iTunes store of a given country, you need a credit card billed there (even for free content), which most of us exchange students don't have. My host sister told me you can get prepaid cards from big electronics stores (Yodobashi, Bic, Sofmap, etc) in Japan, but today I stumbled
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Michael John Grist explores a crazy series of abandoned World War II caverns in Yokohama. His fabulous post includes loads of photos, a video, and some really interesting sidebar stories shared by his commenters (fighting a drugged up guy with a fire extinguisher, etc). Check it out!
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Ha ha ha - poor monk! Going up against a nest of Suzume-bachi (those big freaking scary hornets), his plan backfired and he burned his temple down. "An expert consulted by Fuji TV points out the obvious: fire is not a smart way to treat hornet infestations." Ouch. What hurts worse, the burns or t
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Tip #5 Don’t touch the taxi door! Shane came up with a list of stuff that I really do think could help a traveler new to Tokyo (or Japan in general). It's helpful without exaggerating the cultural wackiness of Japan - which I find that most lists like this tend to. For people who'd like further i
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David, the go-to guy for all Japanese whaling related statistics on the English speaking web, introduces the decor and food of Taruichi on his blog. Taruichi is "one of the most well known whale restaurants in Shinjuku, and indeed all of Tokyo." If whale itself doesn't make your stomach churn, p
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American physicist and origami master Robert Lang delivered a pretty sweet lecture at the 2008 TED conference. In it he explains the fusion of mathematics and traditional origami that has high tech application possibilities in space. His talk, viewable in its entirety, is called "Flapping Birds an
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You may have noticed the "fake gaijin accent" on TV and in the other media for a while now. It seems like recently it's increased with the likes of the "Kaiten SUSHI" segment on Haneru no Tobira and various characters from the drama Nodame Cantabile. This article seems old, but i
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Education is the problem. These Japanese children suffer from a lack of education...The Dems,under Bill Clinton or any other Dem' president, have never treated Japan...But I want an interesting looking face mask. Not one of those plain white things....The Vampire Cafe looks interesting....Agreed. I have not been to a bad one yet....