My Daughter, the Dojikko
I've always thought my life would make a good basis for a 4-koma (4-panel) manga, perhaps called "Papa wa Gaikoujin" ...
Tag: Gundam
Gundam is to Star Trek as Macross is to Star Wars
People who study marketing know that competitions often come down to two companies, like Coke and Pepsi for carbonated sugar ...
Election Time in Japan (Ugh)
Bad news for anyone in Japan who likes sleeping late in the mornings: election season will be starting at the ...
Happy Gundam 30th Anniversary
Today is an auspicious day for anime fans everywhere: the 30th anniversary of the start of Mobile Suit Gundam, which ...
Amuro, the Nature Documentary Narrator
The other day my son and I were watching an NHK documentary on penguins and elephant seals living on King ...
Interesting Observations by Children and Linguistic Children
One thing that's fun about having kids is all the creative observations they make. Like the time my daughter saw ...
Genshiken
One of my favorite anime/manga series is Genshiken, an exploration of the deeper aspects of anime, manga and related culture ...
How Japan Deals with War: Anime?
Japan's defeat in World War II was a huge emotional blow to the country which is still felt today. Although ...
Our “Second Childhood” Through Anime
One thing I like about being involved with Japan and anime is the "second childhood" it allows us all to ...
The uncanny ability of the Japanese to deal with crowded spaces
It's natural for the Japanese to be more skilled at some things than folks in the U.S. or Europe. For ...
The interesting status of voice actors in Japan, shortening foreign words in English and Japanese, and ways that the Japanese aren’t so polite
Anime has really gotten big in the U.S. in recent years, changing the face of popular culture as people are ...
Thoughts on innovation and cameras in cell phones, the “next” Brad Pitt as an Otaku, and update on all those lovely fires…
Is teen heart-throb Zac Efron, the so-called "next Brad Pitt," an otaku? That's the question asked in a Japanese magazine ...
Learning about Japan through late-night TV, update on international marriage in Japan, and learning Chinese “for free”
I watch more than a little late-night Japanese TV, and I enjoy its light- hearted goofiness. The other night I ...
Japan dealing with counterfeit products from China, understand society and economics through Bull-Dog Sauce, and
Like other developed nations, many of the products the Japanese use every day are manufactured in China, and recently the ...
Weird new products in the U.S., getting Japanese onomatopoeia on the brain, and what to the Japanese think of us?
Whenever I come back to the U.S., I like to cruise the grocery stores to see what new products have ...
Gaijin battling to be the “King of Akihabara,” silly thoughts on Japanese company names, and life sometimes being fair in your favor
One Japanese TV show that never fails to please is TV Champion, which pits exceptional people against each other in ...
Shared experiences through anime and manga, on raising kids who are “half,” and understanding an aspect of Japan through Newsweek
Anime and comic books -- which are collectively referred with the term "manga" in Japanese -- are an inseparable part ...
Buddhist lucky and unlucky days in Japan, a funeral for a great anime character, and do you have a “good head”?
If you want to get married on the cheap in Japan, I suggest you do it on Butsumetsu ("Buddha's Death"), ...
Shinto funerals vs. Buddhist ones, what to wear to a funeral, and the three ages of anime
I attended a Japanese funeral over the weekend, after when the father of a friend passed away at the age ...
The Japanese fear of making mistakes, the end of the Japanese blood type myth, and panty shots in anime you didn’t expect to see
Although the Japanese generally study six years of English (or up to ten if they take it in college), they're ...
An expected bit of Irish in Japan, thoughts on Japan’s slow-changing educational system, and all about the concept of “kakko ii”
Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, a celebration of all things Irish in the U.S. and, presumeably, Ireland. As you might ...
Interesting careers open to gaijin in Japan, getting used to strange words, and do you know what year it is?
I get a lot of mail from people who'd like to live in Japan someday, and I do my best ...
What’s up with those big eyes and colored anime hair, and, understanding Japan’s great Meiji Restoration adventure
Many people first experience Japan through its animation, which has been a staple of entertainment here since Astro Boy was ...
More ways we foreigners can save Japan, all about “Nihonjinron” and superstitions about death
Last time I put forth the idea that perhaps one solution to Japan's birth rate woes might lie in international ...
