July 2010
24 posts
20 tags
honne & tatemae
So, I don’t know if you’ve ever interacted with a Japanese person before and have experienced these concepts called honne and tatemae. But in case you do, here’s a heads-up so you know what to expect and how you should converse with someone from the land of the rising sun.
Communication - Western vs. Eastern
Honne (本音) means ‘real intention’ or...
7 tags
the gospel and the poor
Super informative and helpful lecture - Tim Keller: The Gospel and the Poor: A Case for Compassion from Here’s Life Inner City on Vimeo.
The handout for this video is located in our Resources section under “Articles” if you want to read along or print it off.
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speedy edo
Tokyo, Japan time-lapse. Greater Tokyo = 36 million people and counting. That’s almost double Metro NYC.
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Stormy skies - The Big Picture - Boston.com →
I love lightning storms.
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monkey waiters?!
Soon they’ll take over the world!!!
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beibi moppu desu
Please realize this commercial is a joke! It’s kind of hilarious though…
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japanese subculture #2
Their skin is immensely tan. They wear flashy, expensive clothes, unreasonable amounts of cologne and earn their living getting drinks with older women. Their hair is unnaturally blonde and the hair style of choice among them is something descended from Rod Stewart. They are…
GYARUO!
Apparently not all the Gyaruo are chic and...
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can i has graham cracker?
Ha! I want one…
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"For relaxing times, make it Suntory Time!"
Tommy Lee Jones is Boss Coffee’s newest icon and his face is painted everywhere in Japan. Not only is he one of the many debonaire Hollywood gentlemen who have been imported into Japan’s marketing campaigns, but he gets the privilege of portraying an alien who inhabits the body of ‘Jones-san’ in order to study the human race through the Japanese people (and for some reason...
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Another Tokyoite (Tokyoan?) musician for you....
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retasu!
woah this Subway in Tokyo grows its own lettuce.
From Fast Company.com
A Subway Sandwich shop in Tokyo introduced a creative marketing ploy this week to bring in sustainability-minded customers: hydroponic lettuce grown on-site. The shop, located across the street from Tokyo Station, has a “vegetable factory” enclosed in glass that features hydroponically grown lettuce...
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marathon monks
Over 27,000 miles. That’s a distance greater than the circumference of the Earth. Over the course of seven years, Genshin Fujinami walked that amount and completed his spiritual journey in the Hiei mountains, a range of five peaks that rise above the ancient capital of Kyoto. He accomplished this in 2003 dressed in handmade sandals, a robe, and a straw raincoat on his head - at the age...
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no tar balls!
Well…we did find one. But the Gulf was gorgeous and if you’re planning on vacationing there you should still go and support all the businesses in the region.
I heard on NPR that the Atlantic coast is actually more at risk for getting oil than some of the gulf-side if that Loop Current kicks in:
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nujabes + weirdness
Here’s a Nujabes video I came across with some slow-mo shots of Japanese people running at the camera. I think this was actually his music video directed by Sou Ootsuki. Nujabes was that Japanese hip-hop artist I mentioned awhile back that passed away in a car wreck earlier this year and was a pretty big deal on that side of the pond. Not gonna lie, the hypnotic gold in this video is at...
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staunton, va
AC and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary by going to Staunton, Va. for a night. It’s a cool town up in the Blue Ridge Mountains with a lot of history and character. Some highlights were the place where we stayed (which provided a private bar!); exploring the abandoned train yard, and meeting this elderly man named Marvin, a former Dairy Farmer turned junk collector, who showed us around his...
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p-cakes
I married the best cook.
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japanese spider crab
Since we’re away at the beach for a week I thought I’d post some oceanic-related material for the time being. Here’s a time-lapse of the Japanese Spider crab shedding its shell at Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa, Japan. This was over a period of 6 hours. This crab, amazingly, has an average leg span of almost 13 feet. Wouldn’t want to rub up against one of these at the...
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that big ball of fire up in the sky
Gotta love Science Friday on NPR. Some impressive images.
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japanese subculture #1
Subcultures wouldn’t be subcultures if they weren’t a bit…inaccessible. Here’s the first post in a series to give you a taste of some of the undercurrents (past & present) in Japanese society.
Subculture #1 - Dekotora
This group of folks loves to dress up their cars, in the spirit of Pimp My Ride, but with a tad more Vegas-esque/Transformers vibe. This movement to...
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lost in transition
So we moved out. We’re staying with our friends the Taylors. We’re now living in their basement for the next month…and then we’re headed back to the great state of Georgia. As you can see, we don’t have much space and our computer resides in the closet for now. Thus begins our nomadic life. Fun!
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Nagoya, Japan - 4th Most Expensive City in the...
We were referred to this Yahoo Article by our friends the Sinks. They will be serving long-term on the Nagoya team with us. Of the top 10 most expensive cities in the world, Japan takes up 4 of them with Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Kobe.
The Facts:
Nagoya, Japan
Rank in 2009: 3 Food: Lunch at a restaurant: $19 Can of beer from grocer: $3.08 One kg of rice: $9.14 One dozen eggs: $3.33...
