At work I have set up this Google Homepage thing. It allows me to use all sorts of plugins to have all sorts of fun info and media delivered to me every time I hit refresh. One of the plugins grabs a random picture from Flickr.com with a given tag that I can specify. As you may have [http://thepete.com/thejapan-part-1/|read last weekend] I have a moderate obsession with Japan and Japanese culture so I usually have it grab me pics tagged with "Tokyo", "Akihabara", "Shinjuku" or other areas of Japan that I hope to one day live in (or at least visit). Below are two pics that popped up that I thought I should share with you.
This first one is just a great shot. I love still images of a lot of activity without any fancy-shmancy "fx" mixed in to make it look "cool".
click the pic!
Isn't that cool? The next pic represents just one reason I'd love to live someplace near Akihabara (a region of Tokyo):
click the pic!
In fact, Flickr.com is a wonderful resource for pics and info on Japan. I find the pictures of Japan I find on there to be intoxicating. I can just spin through them for hours and hours. There are the obvious "nature" shots of incredible waterfalls, tranquil gardens and of course, sakura (cherry blossoms). However, there are also a lot of images for the urbanites out there (like me).
One great site for learning about what's going on in Japan on a more daily basis is Japundit.com. I don't visit the site a whole lot, but when I do I always find interesting stuff. Mainly I listen to their podcast, Japan Talk, which you can check out at JapanTalk.org. It's hosted by a guy called JP (JaPundit?), an American who has been in Japan for 30 years. He's an average guy but seems to love Japan and as a result he is fun to listen to. Early on, he tried to emulate the [http://metropolis.co.jp/podcast/|podcast] at http://Metropolis.co.jp, the "number one English language magazine in Japan". The thing is, that podcast is made by professionals who are clearly trying to deliver an American-style radio show. These production values seem to clash with JP's everyman kind of style. He also tried to take a page from American comedy radio show host Phil Hendry and make up a fake character who JP interacts with during the show, but it just didn't work.
In my opinion, Japan Talk is the best Jculture podcast I've heard so far and I've listened to a few of them including the one I mentioned above from http://Metropolis.co.jp. I listened to it based on JP's recommendation on his podcast. I was immediately floored by the voice of host Kamasama Kong. I was shocked to hear this dude's voice--it was a flawless American accent and it just didn't sound like a Japanese guy I had ever heard. Even Japanese Americans don't have powerful, booming voices like Kamisama does.
I decided I'd have to find a picture of the dude online just so I could believe that Kamasama Kong was, in fact, a Nihonjin (Japanese person).
Turns out this is Kamasami Kong:
Dude looks about as much like a "Kamasami Kong" as Sean Connery looked like a ninja in You Only Live Twice. So, I guess it really bugs me that this dude totally misrepresents himself as a Japanese guy on his podcast. What bugs me more is his podcast. OH man, it's hideous. It's everything that I HATE about American radio. Loud voices, obnoxious sound "fx" that don't sound like anything in the real world (like those electronic ant-farts) and dumb gimmicks like calling up people who are pretending to be people that they're not. Oh yeah, the woman who reads the local events going on he calls "Suzie Newsie".
vomit...
Then there's the constant beat of music behind almost everything that is said on the show. It's really enough to make you turn off the podcast and listen to someone who is actually a real human being, like JP of Japan Talk, instead of some over-engineered American robot programmed to bring the hell of obnoxious American radio culture to Japan.
Jeez, do we have to export EVERYTHING sucky from America??
Another good site I try to visit when I can is TokyoTimes.Org. They're a bit on the randy side with some of their commentary, but over all, it's a good read. I'd say it's not entirely worksafe.
Another good site about Japan's culture is 3yen.com. It's got all sorts of great info from TV, to politics, to laws, and more all from the gaijin (non-Japanese person) point of view.
Right! Next weekend we'll get into...um... more... Japanese...uh... stuff. Anime? Shopping? Stop by and find out!
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