kawaii - oishii
Japanese animal crackers include sharks, octopi, jellyfish, squid, and various other fish as well.
2007年8月27日月曜日
2007年8月13日月曜日
Real Retro Music on TV
Last night, as I was falling asleep in my cold-addled bleary-eyed state, I listened to "Your Love" by The Outfield (which I mentioned on my "real" blog as haunting me during high school). I used to fall asleep listening to the "Top Nine at Ten" on Z93, and it was standard pop crap from the late 1980's. But occasionally there'd be something good thrown in there.
Anyway, at the end of high school, my friend MC gave me a bunch of cool music he'd copped off his older sister and her college friends. MC was the first real "alternative" kid at my high school that was my age. There were a few older kids who were sorta weird or into wonky fashion, but really, my first experience with "alternative" kids were this guy and my friend QLM. Anyway...
TONIGHT on VCM, the Japanese cable "Video Music Channel" there was a block of music that could have been from the mix tapes MC gave me back in 1989:
"You Spin Me 'Round" by Dead or Alive, an Ultravox song, "Killing Moon" by Echo and the Bunnymen, "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran, U2, a Midge Ure solo song (they spelled his name wrong though), and a Smiths video. Crazy.
You gotta come to Japan to get good music on TV, I guess. It's an hour later, and there are still music videos on, rather than stupid talk shows...
Anyway, at the end of high school, my friend MC gave me a bunch of cool music he'd copped off his older sister and her college friends. MC was the first real "alternative" kid at my high school that was my age. There were a few older kids who were sorta weird or into wonky fashion, but really, my first experience with "alternative" kids were this guy and my friend QLM. Anyway...
TONIGHT on VCM, the Japanese cable "Video Music Channel" there was a block of music that could have been from the mix tapes MC gave me back in 1989:
"You Spin Me 'Round" by Dead or Alive, an Ultravox song, "Killing Moon" by Echo and the Bunnymen, "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran, U2, a Midge Ure solo song (they spelled his name wrong though), and a Smiths video. Crazy.
You gotta come to Japan to get good music on TV, I guess. It's an hour later, and there are still music videos on, rather than stupid talk shows...
2007年8月6日月曜日
62 Years, One Hour, and Seven Minutes Ago...
...the United States of America dropped a nuclear bomb called Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima in the Empire of Japan.
2007年8月3日金曜日
Nagasaki, Part 3
Azrael at GaijinSmash! posted on the topic of Kyuma's resignation, too.
I haven't encountered too many of those responses re: WWII that he has, but I know they exist here. And I also know that the current Prime Minister, Abe, is severely conservative, especially re: WWII, to the point of potentially being a historical revisionist.
I think I'd urge that, when talking about WWII in particular, we distinguish between "Japan" the government and the Japanese people on the street. This is something I hope happens when people talk about "America" the Iraq-invading capitalist superpower vs. me, an American citizen. There's a big fucking difference, believe me, and I know that there are many people in Japan who do not agree with the decisions of their government. I think, definitely, that there's a need for the Japanese people to start making changes to their education system, for example, so as to acknowledge these things for their youth, for sure... just like America has had to try to take responsibility for its own internment of Japanese-Americans and others during WWII, and for slavery, and the genocide of the Native American tribes. This is far from over in the USA, but in Japan it's still in its infancy.
But one big barrier the Japanese have is the fact that, even though the LDP lost SO MANY seats in the elections on Sunday, Abe is still Prime Minister, and will be until he is forced out, because that's just the way it works here. I don't completely get it, but that's kind of scary.
I haven't encountered too many of those responses re: WWII that he has, but I know they exist here. And I also know that the current Prime Minister, Abe, is severely conservative, especially re: WWII, to the point of potentially being a historical revisionist.
I think I'd urge that, when talking about WWII in particular, we distinguish between "Japan" the government and the Japanese people on the street. This is something I hope happens when people talk about "America" the Iraq-invading capitalist superpower vs. me, an American citizen. There's a big fucking difference, believe me, and I know that there are many people in Japan who do not agree with the decisions of their government. I think, definitely, that there's a need for the Japanese people to start making changes to their education system, for example, so as to acknowledge these things for their youth, for sure... just like America has had to try to take responsibility for its own internment of Japanese-Americans and others during WWII, and for slavery, and the genocide of the Native American tribes. This is far from over in the USA, but in Japan it's still in its infancy.
But one big barrier the Japanese have is the fact that, even though the LDP lost SO MANY seats in the elections on Sunday, Abe is still Prime Minister, and will be until he is forced out, because that's just the way it works here. I don't completely get it, but that's kind of scary.
2007年8月1日水曜日
Nagasaki, Part 2
So one of the guys (DeOrio) over at Trans-Pacific Radio has a "Defense of ex-Defense Minister Kyuma" re: the recent Nagasaki hullaballoo.
Hrm.
OK, I'll grant him many of the things he's said. But I won't go so far as to exonerate Kyuma for the remark in the first place. Here's why:
I grew up with the notion, and even repeated a few times in my life, that dropping the bomb "ended the war, saving many lives in the long run." But the lives saved? Soldiers, probably. Americans, certainly. The more we understand about war (and that one in particular), the harder it is to condemn the Germans for "just standing by while a dictator took over and exterminated people," etc. We weren't going to get our feet wet until Pearl Harbor, so American agendas for "life-saving" ring hollow except for protecting our own people. If the Japanese hadn't "awakened the sleeping giant," we would have said fuck the Koreans, fuck the Chinese, and let the Japanese continue to spread their empire throughout Asia, until they finally butted heads with us.
Walking through Hiroshima, seeing the museum, and thinking about these:
If you're a politician from Japan, especially from Nagasaki... fuck. You think before you talk, and just spouting the American history textbook line... I don't think so. I see the points being made, and I see what Kyuma was saying, and I even understand why the author's not thrilled about WHY Kyuma's gone when he's f'd up so many times before. But no. This is that last straw, I think. But it's a straw nonetheless, and to compare it to the "niggardly" thing (which I'm glad to see in print, and know the final outcome of after all this years) seems inaccurate at best.
Also, re: the mayor. Yeah, he may be politicizing this to his benefit... but I wonder if the writer has been to the museum in Hiroshima and seen the plaques commemorating every letter written by a mayor of Hiroshima protesting every instance of nuclear weapons testing since WWII. I don't know, but it would not surprise me if the mayor of Nagasaki feels a similar responsibility. If so, then it would be a lapse in his role and duties NOT to respond in some way to Kyuma's comment. I'm really curious to know if this is the case.
Hrm.
OK, I'll grant him many of the things he's said. But I won't go so far as to exonerate Kyuma for the remark in the first place. Here's why:
I grew up with the notion, and even repeated a few times in my life, that dropping the bomb "ended the war, saving many lives in the long run." But the lives saved? Soldiers, probably. Americans, certainly. The more we understand about war (and that one in particular), the harder it is to condemn the Germans for "just standing by while a dictator took over and exterminated people," etc. We weren't going to get our feet wet until Pearl Harbor, so American agendas for "life-saving" ring hollow except for protecting our own people. If the Japanese hadn't "awakened the sleeping giant," we would have said fuck the Koreans, fuck the Chinese, and let the Japanese continue to spread their empire throughout Asia, until they finally butted heads with us.
Walking through Hiroshima, seeing the museum, and thinking about these:
If you're a politician from Japan, especially from Nagasaki... fuck. You think before you talk, and just spouting the American history textbook line... I don't think so. I see the points being made, and I see what Kyuma was saying, and I even understand why the author's not thrilled about WHY Kyuma's gone when he's f'd up so many times before. But no. This is that last straw, I think. But it's a straw nonetheless, and to compare it to the "niggardly" thing (which I'm glad to see in print, and know the final outcome of after all this years) seems inaccurate at best.
Also, re: the mayor. Yeah, he may be politicizing this to his benefit... but I wonder if the writer has been to the museum in Hiroshima and seen the plaques commemorating every letter written by a mayor of Hiroshima protesting every instance of nuclear weapons testing since WWII. I don't know, but it would not surprise me if the mayor of Nagasaki feels a similar responsibility. If so, then it would be a lapse in his role and duties NOT to respond in some way to Kyuma's comment. I'm really curious to know if this is the case.
