Sad panda is sad Today, 15 Dec 10, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly passed Bill 156 into law. As previously discussed, this law gives the Tokyo government additional powers to restrict the sales of manga, anime and video games based on two additional criteria: glorified or exaggerated depictions of illegal or incestuous sex acts. According to [...]
The law doesn’t touch this The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is set to pass new legislation restricting the sales of manga depicting certain sexual acts to minors under eighteen. Contrary to what certain easily-excitable individuals may proclaim, this is not a ban and this is not the end of the anime. But it will certainly pose [...]
日本鬼子 (ri ben gui zi) is a common disparaging term in China for Japanese, dating back to the Sino-Japanese War(s). After the recent Diaoyu/Senkaku geo-political drama, the term has seen a resurgence in popularity in China, where the anti-Japanese movement comes back in fashion every so often. Some creative Japanese folks noticed that 日本鬼子 can easily be parsed as a female Japanese name “Hinomoto Oniko” and the moé-fication began.
The author holding his book in front of a fuuzoku annaijo Like any modern metropolis, Tokyo’s glittering skylines carefully conceal a more sinister side from the casual observations of an outsider. And like most other things Japan, organized crime in the form of yakuza carries with it cultural quirks that are at times indecipherable for [...]
I was just given YouTube links to what may possibly be the most incredible videos I have ever seen. I realize that this is a claim that I often make, but this time it’s different. Really. Videos are embedded after the break.
Those of you who played the 4th Ace Attorney (逆転裁判) game would be aware of the new jury system being implemented in Japan, first proposed in cabinet review committee in 2001 and subsequently passed into law in 2004. After five years of policy fine-tuning and mock trials, Japan held its first post-war jury trial on [...]
Found a semi-interesting somewhat sensational NYT article on 2D love in Japan. (You can get a login from bugmenot.com) There’s a Boing Boing blog post on it too. Predictably, it didn’t take long before commentators started to sound the paedophile alarm. Cue the righteous condemnations. Honestly speaking, this topic has been way overdone, though most [...]
Man, my drawers are dirty In addition to my Comiket 75 shopping spree, I also contributed diligently to the wider economy of Japan in numerous ways, no doubt single-handedly helping the island nation escape the brunt of the on-going global recession and the collapse of our century-old debt-based financial institution. I’m kidding of course: the [...]
Useless pieces of paper and plastic I’m finally back in Singapore. It’s really hot even in my air-conditioned room. Gah. But anyway, here’s my damage report for Comiket 75. I didn’t buy much. Really.
Sensouji in Asakusa, Tokyo We interrupt the much-delayed Comiket coverage to wish you a belated Happy New Year! 新年明けましておめでとうございます！ While saner people were enjoying the company of their family and friends on New Year’s Eve in the comfort of their homes, I was wandering around Sensouji (浅草寺) to have a look at the infamous midnight [...]
The cosplay area at C75 The three-day long holy celebration of otakuism that is the Winter Comic Market came to a close yesterday. This is my second Comiket, and probably the last one in a long time. I am still in Japan right now, so I may not have time to blog about the last [...]
The Ghibli Museum is a wonderful place to relive your childhood if you are Japanese and born in the last 40 years or so. Otherwise, you are probably a gaijin tourist there to defile this pristine shrine dedicated to the magical world of Miyazaki and oversized creepy-looking cat-raccoon creature things, as I was.
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