Put a little love (injection) into your heart and your vocabulary!

The year is coming to an end with a sigh and hopefully not with a bang. Well, hopefully not a bang in the bad kind of things exploding, terrible tragedy bang sort of way.We already had enough bangs this year 3/11 and 3/15. Earthquakes and nuclear meltdowns. My oh my. But amidst the disaster, Japanese culture survived and thrived. This year’s buzzwords include the suggestive “love injection.”  For those of us who have spent too much time in seedy places, the... Read More

Hafu – The Film

this brochure, published in November 2010, gives insight into the lives of hafus Birthed from the Hafu Project, the Hafu Film is a documentary that follows 5 half Japanese subjects as they explore their identity and place in modern day Japan. It is expected to be released next year. Erika Wiseburg of the project describes the film as “an attempt to open the channels of communication and break down stereotypes that are so prevalent (in Japan)”. Hafu Film is currently... Read More

Book Review: Introduction to Zen/Two Takes On The Same Book

 英語対訳で読む禅入門, or Introduction to Zen with Accompanying English Translation, was written by Priest Souen Ozeki and translated by a one Elizabeth Mills (whom I suspect may be using a pen name, as the translation is not native). As stated in the preface, the book was intended for both English speakers interested in the religion and Japanese speakers interested in the English terms for Zen method. Introduction to Zen attempts to clarify the following subjects:... Read More