It’s remarkably difficult trying to find Midnight Diner, with English subtitles, on DVD. This is partly because there are different Midnight Diner seasons that were given different names and numbering before and after the franchise was taken by Netflix. There have also been Chinese and Korean versions of Midnight Diner Made. To further add to …
I love Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s films. I first saw his five hour marathon film Happy Hour at a film festival in 2015 and became an instant fan. I was impressed with his 2018 follow up film Asako I&II (寝ても覚めても). So I was excited to see “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy 偶然と想像”. The movie lived up to …
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Guzen to sozou) film review Read More »
Who says that manga can’t teach you life lessons? The character of Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece has a habit of coming out with surprisingly wise one-liners, observations and snippets of wisdom. His single-pointed devotion to a purpose. His naive-to-the-point-of-endearment purity. His unwavering belief in himself and unshakeable commitment to all those who have …
The 16 Luffy Quotes with the biggest life lessons! Read More »
How was Tiny Light written and produced? The lyrics to Tiny Lights were written by Shun Aratame to music by Momo and sung by Akari Kito. It was released as the accompanying song B-Side to Akari’s February 2020 release “Desire Again” and came to prominence as the Ending Theme to the anime Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun. The …
Tiny Light Lyrics from Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun real translation & background Read More »
The most extensive look at Japanese Christmas Trees on the internet. Includes history of Christmas Trees in Japan as well as ideas and examples of Japaense Christmas Trees
Discussing Japan’s Top 10 Most Popular Christmas Songs So there’s this idea that Japan somehow blindly takes Western culture. There is the cliche of “Big in Japan”. There are movies like “Lost In Translation”, showing washed up movie stars getting paid big bucks to do commercials there. But the truth is that the vast majority …
The Top 20 Japanese Christmas Songs as Chosen by Japanese People Read More »
Today Japanese Christmas is all about deep-fried drumsticks, and eating strawberry shortcake on your way to the love hotel. There is a pretty weird piece of footage of early Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan Chairman Loy Western screaming “Kentucky Fried Chicken banzai!” at a group of somewhat nonplussed, but clapping and smiling in a North Korean …
The History of Christmas in Japan from 1552 to present Read More »
Christmas in Japan is a mirror image of the Christmas known in the English-speaking world. Things look very similar, but everything is back-to-front. The most fundamental difference is that Christmas is about couples in Japan, and about families in the West. Then, while the West is busy partying it up on New Year’s Eve, Japan …
Unfortunately, there is no real “Midnight Diner” that exists. The bar/restaurant that Midnight Diner was shot in was constructed in a set made specifically for the purpose. Specifically, Midnight Diner was shot in Iruma-city, Saitama prefecture, in a large warehouse. It seems both the iconic “meshiya” restaurant and the surrounding street were constructed for the …
Is there such a thing as a cool kanji tattoo? Can Chinese character ink be hip? Can Japanese lettering tattoos be good on a gaijin? These are the questions we tried to answer in this discussion between a native English speaker, and a native Japnese speaker. Don’t fall in to the trap of getting any …
