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The Tears of a Cat: Hello Kitty’s Guide to Japan, English and Japanese/ ハローティの英語で紹介する
There’s something incredibly moving about a single tear dribbling from the tiny eyes of Hello Kitty; her lack of a mouth even makes it all the more poignant
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The Japanese Police Department Diet: 20 Yakuza A Month
According to this month’s Jitsuwajidai, a yakuza fanzine, and other sources, late last year the National Police Agency sent out a notice to every Prefectural Police Headquarters, notifying them that they expected each police department to arrest no less than 20 yakuza a month. Even if you estimate the number of yakuza members in Japan at [...]
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A Virtual Hatsumode (初詣） for our readers. Happy New Year!
The first visit to a shrine at the start of the New Year is important in Japan. We went and filled out a votive tablet (絵馬) for you. Good luck and best wishes in 2012! This is our way of saying thanks for sticking with us and the blog for 2011 and expressing our best [...]
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Reviews
What do Clint, John and Hayao have in common? Tokyo International Film Festival Quiz#1
So maybe now you’re asking, who is Akira Kurosawa?
Ghosts in the Shell 2 (Innocence) Review and Second Opinion
Innocence focuses on the increasingly shrinking barrier between humans and technology, addressing the question of what it means to be alive, and pulls in a bit of political commentary as well. 「孤独に歩め。悪をなさず、求めるところは少なく。林の中の象のように」
Meet The Yakuza: The Yakuza Movie Book, more than just about movies.
“There are parallels, however, between Kitano’s dirty heroes and Takakura’s clean-cut ones: Both are contemptuous of death in the best samurai tradition and both define macho cool for their respective generations.”