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japan. art...culture...
Colin/Snowmonkey, this is for you (and anyone else that's been to Japan). Chat away. About all things Japan. Aug 19 07 05:04 pm Link Bukkake! (Sorry, I'm trying to compensate for my Rowland fix) I also like Ukiyo-e, Shunga, Unagi, and big-eyed girls in sailor suits with machine guns. Aug 19 07 05:08 pm Link ok..well the first thing that struck me when i hit japan ,besides a sore fist..was all these people wearing white masks..even the babies..i thought..there can't be that many surgeons in japan...and boy are they training them young...no ok they are very health conscious..when you come out of the tube/ metro to you guys..there are people normally woman handing out free tissues..now if you are a guy..you can have them up until 6.00pm..after that only women get them free..this narked me off..i thought sexist..why can only a woman have free tissues after then..do they have a monopoly on colds..it became my mission to get the tissues..ok sad i know i'd come 1000 miles and i got hooked into a silly ritual.. that'll do for now..there were many things i loved about japan ,including the monkeys. Aug 19 07 05:10 pm Link i'm inspired. my muse is japanese. shandra, for you and snowmonkey...i'll post some japan shots later. :-). the photos say it far better than i could with words :-) Aug 19 07 05:14 pm Link i went to a buddhist temple near fuji, apriil 86, then again aug 98, april 2000, aug 2000...    Aug 19 07 05:17 pm Link one thing i will say about the japanese people is that they are extremely friendly and helpful...i was going for an interview in tokyo and got lost..i asked a japanese business man for directions, noticing i looked confused ( not hard i normally am  ) he not only took me to the building but made sure i met the right person..i cannot imagine that happening in the uk ...there desire also to see that their guests are comfortable too often goes beyond ..it is a wonderful country, no doubt it has changed radically since i was last there..but i hope one thing does not change and that is the innocence that can exsist..Aug 19 07 05:23 pm Link I have been fascinated with the Japanese culture since the very earliest childhood (4 years of age roughly) although all "mysticism" and martial arts that was talked about and on television was Chinese (Kung Fu with David Carradine) etc. My first brush with the culture came when I begun with Judo training at age 7 and later I started to become interested in Zen mediation etc. I never "tried to be Japanese", I simply like the clear thinking and sense of beauty and perfection of Zen that influences the culture. Anyway, I spent time in Asakusa/Tokyo to get my tattoo. This was a very interesting and fascinating experience. I love that you have in Tokyo a hightech highrise building and right adjacent to it, you find a little ancient hotel that is on the same spot for hundreds of years. The combination of old and new is most fascinating. I had there the weirdest strip club experience of my life... shows how much different our cultures and understanding of eroticism is. Aug 19 07 05:33 pm Link udor wrote: hi Udor ,i agree with you , i love Japanese and Chinese architecture, rainbow bridge in Yokohama..to the castles and temples..it was though disappointing that when Japan held exp 2005 ,they did not show off these skills of harmonising the old with the new or recreating old style buildings but in a modern way..but instead went for a very broad green theme that was by all accounts disappointing. Aug 19 07 05:45 pm Link my dad was transfered there when I was two and I spent the next 5 yaers of my life there. I have no memory of the states prior to coming back so I will always think of it has home. Aug 19 07 06:07 pm Link I never got the whole "the Japanese are reserved" thing. My grandmother is Japanese, and she's one of the loudest in the family! Also: Japanese game shows are fun and ridiculous. Aug 19 07 06:13 pm Link There is a brilliant woman on this site who make kimonos. Someone please invite her to this thread; I don't know her name. Aug 19 07 06:17 pm Link araki! daido! miike! used panty vending machines! Aug 19 07 06:18 pm Link Marcia DeFiore wrote: i use to love on game show with the comedy duo 99..and another one with Samma (sp)..and if you watch late night Japanese television that is conclusive proof they are not reserved. Aug 19 07 06:19 pm Link Shandra wrote: Aug 19 07 06:20 pm Link Christopher Bush wrote: i came across many different vending machines..cigarettes been the most obvious...but so much choice..i needed a vending machine with a therapist..i did find a vending machine for batteries..but i thought what if the machine blew a fuse. Aug 19 07 06:25 pm Link Hey Shandra; I found recently a television series from BBC that you can see on YouTube, it's called Japanorama. Aug 19 07 06:29 pm Link udor wrote: Johnathon Ross BBC4..Japanorama, i find him a bit patronising to the Japanese sometimes. Aug 19 07 06:32 pm Link Snowmonkey Design wrote: Probably, but besides his style, it's still an interesting documentary. Aug 19 07 06:35 pm Link oh i miss japan!!!!!!! the food, the culture, but NOT the weather! Aug 19 07 06:35 pm Link The Japanese culture is in my opinion, quite possibly, the most beautiful and exquisite culture on Earth. There is a ritualistic sense to even the ordinary (tea ceremonies, bath houses, introductions, etiquette, bushido), and there is an otherworldliness to to the beauty and spirit of the land, the people, the calligraphy (kanji/katakana/hiragana, etc) and the art. I have promised myself that should I ever become famous in the fields of art I'm practicing, or at least have enough money to make some thing happen for myself, I want to build an entirely Japanese home, from the house itself, to the yard, to the interior. I would love it. It would be absolute paradise. The beauty of Japan is astouding. Since I was young, I've been taken by it. I also took martial arts. I am a black belt in Pagoda-Ryu (Shorin-Ryu, Kenpo, Aikido, TaeKwon Do- blend) and in Okiniwan Karate. I've also achieved colored belts in Chendokan Aikido, Sanuces-Ryu Jujitsu, Muay Thai, and Capoiera, and plan on finishing those when I have the free time to dedicate myself to studying the arts again rather than teaching. So beautiful. As far as Japan is concerned, I've been to Tokyo, Yokohama, and Okinawa. I plan on returning. Hell, I may even move to Tokyo. Aug 19 07 06:42 pm Link udor wrote: fair enough on Ross..you might want to search for Graham Norton..he did a series on Japan..but even worse than Ross ..he stayed with a family..had video cam ..etc...also Jon Snow Channel 4 news presenter did a season on Japan a few years ago..but he focused on everything bad about Japanese culture...there was an excellent program on Geisha and one on Hiroshima..one was BBC2 the other Channel 4 i think.. Aug 19 07 06:44 pm Link Aug 19 07 06:54 pm Link Goodness! I am such a Japan Fan, Culture wise, i saw some art i liked but i can't remmeber who it was by, I am a fan of Loli, Manga, Anime, Food, music, Films... *claps* Just yay! Aug 19 07 08:28 pm Link syntheticdrkness wrote: i love anime ..mostly Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki but my favourite is Barefoot Gen about the bomb in Hiroshima..sushi of course and love making it, most Japanese films and especially Kurosowa...but there are some great young directors breaking through...but the two things i miss most from Japan are sitting in a hot spa in the snow...and the monkeys...cute things. Aug 19 07 09:16 pm Link Well, no doubt about it, Japan is an interesting, odd, culturally stimulating, often wonderful place, but, having lived there about twenty years--16 of those in a row, between 1984 and 2000, I can also say it's one thing to applaud and appreciate in the abstract a distillation of the finest things a culture has to offer (which is what we do when we coo about how great kimonos and calligraphy are), and quite another to deal with everyday life in a modern Japanese city. All that cool stuff about Japan we see on TV and read about is genuinely cool. However, Japanese people can be as rude, dirty (the Japanese are great litterers), noisy, and obnoxious as anyone else. We were talking about this last night at dinner. The subject of bridge tolls came up. It costs $5 to cross the Golden Gate Bridge--and you pay only in one direction, so it's $2.50 to cross it, really. How nice. My wife is from one of the little islands between Shikoku and the big Island of Honshu. It costs $15 EACH WAY to cross the bridge that connects her island to the next one (and there are several bridges like this if you go the whole way across to Honshu). It's almost cheaper to fly from Tokyo to Osaka because of all the highway tolls you have to pay if you drive. Japanese banks are hopelessly slow and antiquated, the Japanese police have a real fascist streak in them, expecting a car to stop for you in a Tokyo crosswalk is likely to get you killed (especially if it happens to be a taxi that's approaching you), the rainy season is sometimes six weeks of relentless drizzle, the summer is unbearably hot and humid, in the winter it tends to RAIN at about 33 degrees (snow is so much drier), pachinko really is a pointless way to spend a day, the country still pretends its citizens of Korean ancestry aren't real people, the Ainu don't officially exist, you haven't endured bureaucracy at its finest until you've dealt with a Japanese government agency, etc., etc. Don't misunderstand. I wouldn't have lived there so long if there wasn't a lot to like about it, I just mean that it's not perfect. Aug 19 07 09:32 pm Link heya Colin, i did not spend nearly as long as you in Japan, and yes there are things i hated about it too. the motorbike gangs that ride slowly through the towns often wearing old Nazi helmets..i also had a run in with the Japanese please, my ex asked me to collect a bike from the underground, i was pounced upon by under cover police..they questioned me for hours convinced i was a bicycle thief, they eventually let me call my ex ,though she was at work..it turned out her father had found the bike on a skip and retrieved it, but it had been stolen. the police let me go but they refused to apologise for their error..i also hate the Japanese whaling industry and the excuse that they give that it is for scientific research..but i guess the thing i dislike the most is their refusal to except what happened in China during ww11. i belonged to a Japanese conversation group over here and their hatred of the Chinese and other Asians was strong..i fell in love with a Chinese woman ( yes the one in my port) and they did not like it and asked why i could not fall for one of them..i said her nationality was irrelevant. that said like you , there is much i still love about Japan and given the opportunity i would return. Aug 19 07 10:05 pm Link Oh yeah, you reminded me. I forgot about the politicians in the loudspeaker cars and their ultra-nationalist brethren driving their convoys through the streets with the loudspeakers blaring. My police experience was a seven-hour interrogation over a $1.50 train ticket I supposedly didn't buy (I had bought it) with no breaks, no food, no calls, nothing. It included wonderfully pertinent questions like "What is the name of the grade school your father attended?" and "Do you like sushi?" Aug 19 07 10:21 pm Link Colin Talcroft wrote: yes i remember those politians akin to our bnp party over here...i forget her name but there was a Japanese woman who was great, they had the opportunity to elect her but chickened out..speaking of loud music..do you remember the music piped into the streets..and often someone speaking.. Aug 19 07 10:26 pm Link I find the Japanese culture fascinating and beautiful, and love visiting the country. My wife, who is Japanese, finds it boring and always wants to spend our vacations traveling elsewhere to see "more interesting places." The grass is always greener on the other side... Aug 19 07 11:49 pm Link two new ones from Japan in May up...one from Shikoku, one from Hakone :-) sumimasem,,,, kampai :-))))) Aug 20 07 12:33 am Link I love Japan too. Aug 20 07 04:24 am Link Sharon Thornhill wrote: Aww... come on Sharon... Aug 20 07 05:12 am Link Shandra wrote: my assistant is from Japan and has been in the US only 3 years. Aug 20 07 06:00 am Link Okinawa is a little different then mainland. but here goes. The smell of this island is an amazing mixture of incredible food, fresh plants, and the salty ocean. My house is directly on the beach and right next to a fishing port. I buy sushi at a grocery store. I pay bills when I eat breakfast. I will never go thirsty. there are 30 vending machines alone within a 3 block radius of my house. Everyone is way super nice and everything is incredibly clean. practically no crime. everything is open 24 hours. shirts are hilarious dresses and clothes are cheap and every color of the rainbow. I can eat weird food for breakfast. the toilets wash and blow dry my butt and play tinkle music. I no longer have a toilet next to my bathtub. I could go on forever. oh, and I haven't eaten at a bad restaurant yet. Aug 20 07 06:04 am Link Sharon Thornhill wrote:
Aug 20 07 06:50 am Link Christopher Bush wrote: hey, we don't have 700 dollars special toilet seats in our fast food restaurants... Aug 20 07 06:51 am Link I want to go to Japan. Aug 20 07 09:29 am Link Megan Mariee wrote: come visit me Aug 20 07 09:48 am Link Sharon Thornhill wrote: They have their high tech toilets, but don't forget about their other toilets. The flushable holes in the ground. I'll never forget my astonishment at my first encounter with one after arriving in Japan for the first time. I was like, "WTF is this?!" Aug 20 07 10:01 am Link See, my point confirmed. Japan has the world's greatest high-tech toilets (I never go near the things personally) but also the most primitive (I never go near the things personally). Aug 20 07 10:45 am Link |
