Love Hotels by Ed Jacob
Posted by harvey in Books, Crazy Consumers, Culture on 05. Jun, 2009 | 2 Comments
Ed Jacob sent me a copy of his book Love Hotels: An Inside Look at Japan’s Sexual Playgrounds quite some time ago, but I only got around to reading it now. My excuse is that I was only able to receive a PDF copy due to my not being in Japan and I was too [...]
Movie: My Secret Cache
Posted by harvey in Media on 30. May, 2009 | 2 Comments
I recently saw the movie My Secret Cache (ひみつの花園).
To be frank, this was an extremely campy comedy with a completely ridiculous plot. The main character Sakiko, played by Naomi Nishida, is a girl who since childhood has only been able to get excited about money. When guys ask her out on a date, she checks [...]
Marriage Hunting – Japanese Slang and Society
Posted by harvey in Culture, Society on 24. May, 2009 | 18 Comments
That says “konkatsu”. This word isn’t in your dictionary, but if you’ve been studying Kanji for quite some time and know a bit about Japanese society you can probably guess what it means. By the way, “konkatsu” was nominated for the 2008 流行語大賞, if you’re into that sort of thing.
I’ll explain this “konkatsu” slang [...]
A Trip to Yakushima
Posted by harvey in Travel on 22. May, 2009 | 4 Comments
I realized about a week ago that I never blogged about my trip to Yakushima in October 2007. It’s a shame too, because Yakushima was one of the greatest trips that I took during my entire 6 years in Japan! I think blogging on it slipped my mind because I was a bit busy right [...]
Study Abroad in Japan Tips from Joe in Japan
Posted by harvey in Travel on 21. May, 2009 | 8 Comments
Just ran across a blog entry written by Joe who studied abroad in Japan for one year, returning to the states March 2009.
He has some good straight-forward advice on how to get the most out of a study abroad experience in Japan.
Even though I did my study abroad from 1999 to 2000, reading his comments [...]
The Year of No Money in Tokyo
Posted by harvey in Books, Tokyo, Working on 11. May, 2009 | 3 Comments
Wayne Lionel Aponte, the author of the recently published The Year of No Money in Tokyo, sent me a copy of his book to read and review. This was my first casual summer vacation read, and it was an interesting ride. This book did not strike me as a masterpiece, but Wayne’s experience and personal [...]
Shopping Boogie by Kasagi Shizuko (買い物ブギ)
Posted by harvey in About, Culture, Media, Music, Osaka on 02. May, 2009 | 5 Comments
I want to introduce you to Shizuko Kasagi (1914 – 1985) and this great song called Kaimono Bugi (買い物ブギ, “Shopping Boogie”), recorded in 1950, way back during the post-war American Occupation of Japan.
Shizuko Kasagi was known as the “Queen of Boogie” 「ブギの女王」 in postwar Japan. She was born in Kanagawa but moved to Osaka [...]
Japanese Music Giveaway at HearJapan
Posted by harvey in Media, Music on 20. Feb, 2009 | 1 Comment
HearJapan.com is having a limited time music giveaway in anticipation of Japan Nite 2009 which happens this March. Japan Nite is a music event where musicians from Japan come to the United States to perform. This will be the 13th annual Japan Nite.
I must admit, I’m hearing about Japan Nite for the first time. [...]
