Japanese Discovery

Me reading this: *read read read* Wait, what? What does this have to do with m- Ohhhhhhhhhh... XD
I... think I might need a new dose of Haruhi, as I seem to be losing my touch with catching the references...

 

I've been around. You just havent seen me.

 

Oh, i thought you left. lol, nice to see you again.

 

Revisiting another topic from last year, I'm going to talk about Yukata, again.
A little more information this time from GaijinPot, so you can head to that post to read the full story.
Basically know this, they're extremely lightweight, fashionable, and traditional.
You dont need to be attending a festival to wear one. You can wear Yukata anytime you want.
I definitely want one!

 

^ I need dat.

 

Situated on Tokyo Bay in Kanagawa Prefecture (map), this station is probably not where you’d want to wait out a storm with large waves. It is, however, an excellent destination for sight-seeing. In addition to the view of the bay, rail riders are afforded an excellent view of the Yokohama Bay Bridge, Tsurumi Tsubasa Bridge, and fireworks launched from Yamashita Park in the summer.



More information here
Visit the JP Discovery blog!

 

The Awa Dance Festival (阿波踊り Awa Odori) is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year.

Groups of choreographed dancers and musicians known as ren (連) dance through the streets, typically accompanied by the shamisen, taiko, shinobue flute and the kane bell. Performers wear traditional obon dance costumes, and chant and sing as they parade through the streets.
Awa is the old feudal administration name for Tokushima prefecture, and odori means dance.





Yosakoi (よさこい) is a unique style of dance that originated in Japan. Yosakoi started in the city of Kōchi in 1954, as a modern rendition of Awa Odori, a traditional summer dance. Yosakoi-style dancing has spread throughout much of Japan. The style of dance is highly energetic, combining traditional Japanese dance movements with modern music. The choreographed dances are often performed by large teams. Along with a number of professional yosakoi schools and town dance teams, yosakoi is also a popular event during the sports festivals held by Japanese elementary, junior, and senior high schools. Yosakoi participants include men and women of almost all ages – sometimes within a single team.




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Man, if I had more time I would keep up to date with these posts. The only way I am learning about certain aspects of Japan is through the medium of videos, like this one:

 

I post when I can, which lately I havent been able to.
I put a few quick videos on the FB page and also @BK-201 and @Miss Elegent Serenity are making posts.

 

Like knee socks? Maybe you just have a fetish for legs?
November 28th is known as 'Good Knee Sock' day in Japan



On the Japanese web, November 28th is known as the Good Knee High Socks Day (Japanese: いいニーハイの日, Ii Nīhai no Hi), an unofficial anniversary day for over-knee socks, usually called “Knee High” (ニーハイ). Since 2013, it has been an annual event among Japanese Twitter users to upload “Knee-High” photos, illustrations or selfies with a hashtag.

From Twitter, pics abound~!


Source


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For more images [Warning: Some may be NSFW], hit the thread here.




Sources: RocketNews24, KnowYourMeme, Twitter

 

Why Did Japanese People Stop Performing Seppuku?



Seppuku, a highly ritualized form of suicide that involved cutting one's own stomach, was once part of the bushido samurai code, and considered an honorable way to die and, until the 20th century, was quite common. So what happened? Why did this practice die out?

Now, this is not to say that suicide is not still a relatively common practice in Japan, nor that some people don't attach rituals to their suicide. But, while martial suicide is a practice found in numerous cultures, the act of ritual self-disembowlment is peculiar to Japan. However, after World War II, the act of seppuku has become so rare as to be shocking. The seppuku of famed author Yukio Mishima in 1970 was seen as anachronistic and something of a national embarrassment, and judoka Isao Inokuma's 2001 death by seppuku was an anomaly. But in the 19th century, seppuku was not only a relatively common practice, it was a much-desired death among members of the samurai class.

The End of Judiciary Seppuku
For two centuries, Japan existed in relative isolation. It was forbidden for Japanese citizens to leave the country, and trade with the outside world was limited to Chinese and Dutch ships, which were permitted to enter Nagasaki harbor. But in the mid-19th century, all that changed when Americans and Russians invaded Japan, taking trading rights by force. What resulted was a period of major social upheaval for Japan.

Many members of the samurai class resented the government reforms that came with reopening the ports and the appearance of foreigners on their shores. The imperial household had long held a largely symbolic position in Japan, but with the appearance of these foreigners came a kind of cultural fundamentalism, with many Japanese recommitting to the Emperor against the Japanese government. It was also a period that saw a number of killings of foreigners and those who made treaties with foreigners by members of the samurai class. Some of these samurai (who, in order to avoid bringing punishment down on their lords, would sometimes renounce their lords and become rōnin) would commit voluntary seppuku following these killings. Others were arrested and, if they were fortunate, permitted to commit obligatory seppuku as a judiciary punishment.

Matters were not helped by the Emperor Kōmei, who in 1863 issued an order to "expel all barbarians." While the government was passing reforms to modernize Japan, many samurai took this as moral permission to kill foreigners. Westerners who made the mistake of pushing their ways through samurai processions (something considered extraordinarily rude) or violated Japanese laws, might find themselves on the wrong end of a samurai's blade.

It was during this period that the Western fascination with seppuku (known by the somewhat more lurid term "hara-kiri" by Western writers). British diplomats Ernest Satow and Algernon Mitford witnessed incidents of judiciary seppuku and published detailed accounts of what they saw back home. Far from believing seppuku to be a barbaric practice, these writers stressed the nobility (and impressively quiet decorum) with which the condemned conducted themselves, and deemed it an honorable act of chivalry.

But things changed with the 1868 Incident at Sakai. Sakai is a costal town, which at that time was still closed off to foreigners, but in March of 1868, thirteen French sailors rowed to shore. There is some disagreement about what they did while they were there; some claimed that the sailors were a bit rowdy while eyewitnesses reported that they had only purchased some fruit. But the samurai of the Tosa clan took this small foreign invasion quite seriously, killing eleven of the unarmed sailors. Japan's French consul, Léon Roches, insisted that the culprits be executed. Twenty samurai, mostly chosen by lots, were sentenced to death by obligatory seppuku.

Roches sent one of his captains, Bergasse du Petit-Thouars, to witness the execution, which they had anticipated would be by beheading. Much to Du Petit-Thouars' surprise, the first samurai, Minoura Inokichi, marched out, shouted insults at him (saying, "You won't want to eat meat after this, Frenchmen!") and disemboweled himself. This was actually a particularly aggressive and grisly seppuku ceremony, lacking much of the reserved decorum that Satow and Mitford had written about. On top of that, the kaishaku, whose job it was to chop off the head of the seppuku practitioner once he had finished cutting his stomach, were particularly incompetent, hacking through the samurais' necks rather than slicing them off with a single cut.

After eleven samurai had cut their stomachs, Du Petit-Thouars declared that the ceremony was over. Eleven samurai had died for the murders of eleven soldiers, and the captain decided that was sufficient. Believing he was performing an act of mercy, Du Petit-Thouars left over the objections of his Japanese hosts. This actually proved a grave mistake, with the official Japanese reports calling the Frenchman a coward. The Westerners were little kinder, with Satow shaking his head at Du Petit-Thouars' actions, saying that he made it seem that the French were more interested in revenge than justice.

Other Western diplomats living in Japan learned something very important from this incident: judiciary seppuku was not a deterrent to killing Westerners. A glorious and honorable martyrdom was hardly a punishment to the more xenophobic samurai. The British consul general petitioned the government to outlaw judiciary seppuku, and by April 8th, an imperial decree had been handed down, saying that any samurai who killed a foreigner would "be stripped of their rank, and will meet with a suitable punishment." Translation: even if a samurai is the one who kills a foreigner, judiciary seppuku would be out of his reach. That did, in fact, prove a deterrent to killing foreigners. There was one incident in 1870 when a battle between two rival samurai factions did result in a final judiciary seppuku, but otherwise, the practice was dead in the courts.

The Meiji Restoration
While judiciary seppuku may have ended with the imperial decree, martial seppuku continued as a dying cry of the samurai class. In 1868, a return to imperial rule under Emperor Meiji was announced. This was the proceeded by the resignation of Tokugawa Yoshinobu as shogun and the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate — which, in turn, initiated the decline of the samurai.

Many samurai who remained loyal to the shogunate were displeased with the new direction that the country was taking, and anti-imperial samurai rebellions raged in the following decade. Perhaps the most famous to Western readers is the Satsuma Rebellion, led by Saigō Takamori, whose final stand against the Meiji government provided the historical basis for The Last Samurai.

Takamori didn't have the opportunity to commit seppuku himself; he died from bullet wounds during the Battle of Shiroyama in 1877. But so certain were his supporters that he would take control of his own death that commemorative prints of his imagined seppuku appeared immediately, and it took years for people to understand how Takamori really died.

But there were other famous incidents of seppuku during this period. During an 1868 battle in Aizu during the Boshin War, the youngest brigade of soldiers was known as the Byakkotai the "White Tiger Force." The brigade was supposed to consist of 16 and 17-year old sons of the Aizu samurai, but some of the boys were even younger. During the battle, 20 members of the squad looked over the castle town and believed that they saw a fire. Thinking that their force had been defeated and their lord was dead, the boys decided to commit suicide. One read a death poem, in accordance with the samurai tradition. They then proceeded to kill themselves and each other in a number of ways, some of them driving their blades into their stomachs. One boy, Iinuma Sadakichi, survived his wounds and learned the terrible truth: the smoke they had seen was from cannon and rifle fire. The castle was not on fire and the battle had not yet been lost. The boys' tragic adherence to the samurai code immortalized them, however. When Italian dictator Benito Mussolini heard the story, he donated a column from Pompei to stand by the boys' graves.

In 1876, the Meiji government put a major nail in the coffins of the samurai class and seppuku by banning the carrying of swords. Only commissioned army officers and certain security officials, it decreed, could carry swords. Supporters of the samurai were incensed. The sword was a symbol inherently tied to the samurai, and a ban on swords made anti-reformist outrage even stronger.

Kaya Harukata, a Shinto priest, and his former classmate Ōtagurō Tomō founded a new Shinto faction, called Keishin-tō, the Party of Divine Reverence. It became more commonly known, however, as Kumamoto Shinpūren, the Kumamoto League of the Divine Wind. Harukata and Tomō recruited the sons of samurai families and students from the Shinto schools, many of them teenagers. Others were men outraged by what they saw as the decline of Japanese culture. In the end, the force was less than 200 men strong, but they decided to attack Kumamoto, where an Imperial Japanese Army was stationed. It was 173 samurai against some 2000 armed troops. And, to make the odds even worse, the Shinpūren fought only with swords, a symbol of their commitment to the samurai way of life.

Although the samurai made an impressive showing against the superior manpower and firepower of the Imperial Army force, they were eventually beaten back. A few dozen made it back to their shrine, where they decided to disband and say their farewells to the living world.

The suicides went on for days, with the defeated fighters disemboweling themselves to avoid capture. Some performed seppuku while on the run from the army and police. Others made it to their homes, where they were able to speak with their family members before slicing their bellies. Still others went to relatives, friends, and temples to find a venue for their suicide. All told, 87 of the rebels died by suicide. The tale of the Shinpūren Rebellion would inspire other anti-reformists, but samurai culture eventually lost out; the Meiji government was victorious and the emperor remained in power until his death in 1912.

Modernization, it seemed, had killed seppuku.

Seppuku in the 20th Century
Thirty-five years after the Shinpūren Rebellion, former Commander of the Imperial Third Army General Nogi Maresuke begged off the funeral of Emperor Meiji and was later found dead from two crossed wounds gut across his stomach. Nogi was himself a member of the samurai class, but during the early Meiji period, he took the side of the imperial government, crushing the very rebels that his friends and family were often sympathetic to. In fact, Nogi's younger brother was killed fighting for the rebels during an insurrection in Hagi.

Nogi may have become suicidal after an incident involving the Satsuma Rebellion, during which he lost the regimental flag presented to him by Emperor Meiji. A fellow officer, Kodama Gentarō reported that, after the flag was lost, he discovered Nogi about to disembowel himself and ended up confiscating the man's sword. After the emperor died in September 1912, Nogi put his affairs in order, rewriting his will and visiting his friends. Then, on the day of the funeral, he and his wife went into a large windowed room in their residence where Nogi stabbed his wife (this appears to have been consensual on her part) and then sliced his own abdomen.

The Japanese reaction to Nogi's death speaks volumes about how the Japanese viewed seppuku at the time. This sort of death was anachronistic, and some commentators were actually quite outraged by it. Nogi had committed a violent act from Japan's past while Japan was enjoying a more modern image in the world. It struck some as selfish, sullying the national character for his own samurai ego. The message was clear: seppuku was not an act that belonged in modern Japan.

Martial suicide would see a resurgence during World War II, including acts of seppuku. And when World War II found the Allies victorious, many officers decided to kill themselves rather than surrender. But in the wake of World War II, Japan underwent another great upheaval. The Allied forces occupied Japan and forced the country to abolish the Meiji Constitution in favor of the Constitution of Japan. The Emperor became a figurehead once again as Japan adopted a parliamentary-based government. And when, in 1970, Yukio Mishima barricaded himself in an office of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, delivered a speech demanding that power be returned to the emperor, and then disemboweled himself, the reaction from embarrassed Japanese commentators was non unlike the response to Nogi's suicide: that seppuku was simply not an act that belonged to modern Japan.

Sources: Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide by Andrew Rankin
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Ikebana
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Ikebana(生け花, "living flowers") is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, also known as kadō(華道, the "way of flowers").

More than simply putting flowers in a container, ikebana is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. Contrary to the idea of floral arrangement as a collection of particolored or multicolored arrangement of blooms, ikebana often emphasizes other areas of the plant, such as its stems and leaves, and draws emphasis toward shape, line, form. Though ikebana is a creative expression, it has certain rules governing its form. The artist's intention behind each arrangement is shown through a piece's color combinations, natural shapes, graceful lines, and the usually implied meaning of the arrangement.

Another aspect present in ikebana is its employment of minimalism. That is, an arrangement may consist of only a minimal number of blooms interspersed among stalks and leaves. The structure of a Japanese flower arrangement is based on a scalene triangle delineated by three main points, usually twigs, considered in some schools to symbolize heaven, earth, and man and in others sun, moon, and earth. The container is a key element of the composition, and various styles of pottery may be used in their construction.

The spiritual aspect of ikebana is considered very important to its practitioners. Silence is a must during practices of ikebana. It is a time to appreciate things in nature that people often overlook because of their busy lives. One becomes more patient and tolerant of differences, not only in nature, but also in general. Ikebana can inspire one to identify with beauty in all art forms. This is also the time when one feels closeness to nature which provides relaxation for the mind, body, and soul.

Evolution of styles
Patterns and styles evolved so that, by the late 15th century, arrangements were common enough that they were appreciated by ordinary people, not just the imperial family and its retainers.

Ikebana in the beginning was very simple, constructed from only a very few stems of flowers and evergreen branches. This first form of ikebana is called Kuge (供華).

Styles of ikebana changed in the late 15th century and transformed into an art form with fixed instructions. Books were written and Sedensho is the oldest one, covering years 1443 to 1536. Ikebana became a major part of traditional festivals, and exhibitions were held occasionally.

The first styles were characterized by a tall, upright central stem that had to be accompanied by two shorter stems. During the Momoyama period, 1560–1600, splendid castles were constructed. Noblemen and royal retainers did large decorative Rikka floral arrangements that were the most appropriate decoration for the castles.

The Rikka (standing flowers) style was developed as a Buddhist expression of the beauty of nature. It includes seven branches representing hills, waterfalls, valleys, and other objects of nature arranged in a specific way.

When the tea ceremony emerged, another style was introduced. The style used for tea ceremony rooms was called Chabana. The Chabana style is the opposite of Momoyama style and emphasized rustic simplicity. The simplicity of the Chabana in turn helped create the Nageire or “thrown-in” style.

Nageire is a non-structured design which led to the development of the Seika or Shoka style. The style is characterized by a tight bundle of stems that form a triangular three-branched asymmetrical arrangement which was considered classic.

Seika or Shōka style consists of only three main branches, known as 'ten' (heaven), 'chi' (earth), and 'jin' (human). It is a simple style that is designed to show the beauty and uniqueness of the plant itself.

Jiyūka is a free creative design. It is not confined to flowers; every material can be used.

20th century styles
In the 20th century, with the advent of modernism, the three schools of ikebana partially gave way to what is commonly known in Japan as Free Style.


Ikebana arrangement

• Moribana upright style

is considered as the most basic structure in ikebana. Moribana literally means “piled-up flowers” that are arranged in a shallow vase or suiban, compote, or basket. Moribana is secured on kenzan or needlepoint holders, also known as metal frogs.

• Moribana slanting style

is the reversed arranging style that can be used depending on the placement of the display or shapes of the branches. Branches that look beautiful when slanted are mostly chosen for this arrangement. This style gives a softer impression than the upright style.

• Nageire upright style

is arranged in a narrow-mouthed, tall container without using kenzan or needlepoint holders. Nageire literally means "thrown in". This is a simple arrangement that can contain just one flower and does not use frogs to hold the flower(s).

• Nageire slanted style

presents a gentle touch and flexibility. It is ideal for ikebana beginners.

• Nageire cascading style

arrangements have the main stem hanging lower than the rim of the vase. A flexible material will create beautiful lines balancing with flowers.
Culture
Ikebana is shown on television and taught in schools. An example of a television show that involves ikebana is Seikei Bijin (Artificial Beauty). The story incorporates the importance of natural beauty.

International organizations
The oldest international organization, Ikebana International, was founded in 1956.

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If maid cafes weren’t strange enough to begin with, the profusion of cutesy cafes in areas like Akihabara has led to some operators stretching the concept in ridiculous directions in order to get noticed. So if being called ‘master’ (goshujin sama), having young ladies sing to you in childish voices and getting cute faces drawn on your omelette leaves you underwhelmed, then the following varieties may pique your interest.

Mean Maids
The concept of maids in Akihabara is very much about subservience. The customers (usually male) are always addressed formally and the maids give the illusion that they are there to do everything they can to please their ‘masters’.

Flipping this idea on its head (although actually not so different) are ‘little sister’ maid cafes where the maids are rude, insulting and will intentionally get your order wrong – until it comes to leaving, at which time they will suddenly beg you to stay.

This is based on a popular character development concept in otaku games, manga and anime called tsundere.

Ninja Maids
Shinobazu Cafe isn’t really a maid cafe, just a cafe bar in which the all female staff dress as cute, anime inspired ninjas. In fact, it’s not strictly a cafe. The ninjas serve hot bowls of noodles between assassinating the staff of rival restaurants. OK, that’s not true, but a rival ninja cafe in the area closed at the end of November. Coincidence?

Gyaru Maids


‘Gyaru’ is a shortening of the older term ‘kogyaru’ – ‘ko’ as in the Japanese word for school and ‘gyaru’ for ‘girl’. These days it’s just ‘gyaru’, and doesn’t really have much to do with school girls apart from the approximate age and gender of those who identify as ‘gyaru’. While maids are at home in Akihabara, gyaru rule in Shibuya – the place where the subculture suddenly sprung into existence at the start of this century.

Gyaru are a part of kawaii culture too, but in style and nature, they’re nothing like maids. They’re loud, garish and irreverent, which is why the concept of a gyaru maid cafe is a bit like a cat cafe with dogs. While most of these other cafes are in Akihabara, true to their roots the Gyaru Cafe called ’10shon’ is in Shibuya.

Mario Maids
One of the bigger chains, Maidreamin – with stores throughout Tokyo – has a special cafe kitted out like the inside of a Mario Brothers game. Maids leap around hitting digitally controlled boxes hanging from the ceiling like those you see in the game.

While an interesting gimmick, it’s hard to see how they could get the punters back for a return visit. Like the actual Mario Brothers game it could probably be improved with go-karts.

Cross Dressing Maids
Otoko no Musume Cafe & Bar New Type (literally Daughter Male Cafe & Bar New Type – which still doesn’t make much sense) is a maid cafe staffed entirely by young men in drag. Their maid costumes are just as frilly as their regular maid counterparts, although the clientele is much more likely to be female than a regular maid cafe.

If you’ve ever been to a cosplay convention you’ll know that male cross-dressing is a not insignificant part of otaku culture, so New Type isn’t at all out of place in Akihabara.

These are just some of the many unique maid cafes that you can find in Akihabara. To learn more about the craziness and attractions of Akihabara download a free copy of A Cheapo’s Guide to Akihabara.

 

Valentine's Day (February 14) in Japan is basically the day for women to give men chocolates or gifts. This is how Valentine's Day is celebrated in Japan and attractively packaged chocolates are widely sold at stores in Japan before Valentine's Day. Women are expressing love to men by giving chocolates on Valentine's Day. But it's also common for women to give chocolates to men who they don't actually love, such as co-workers and friends. This kind of chocolates are called giri-choco which mean chocolates given because of obligations. Japanese women commonly buy many giri-choco.

Men who received chocolates or gifts on Valentine's Day are supposed to give gifts back to the women on March 14 called White Day. Gifts for White Day vary but they are usually sweets, such as candies and cookies.

New Valentine's Day customs have recently been practiced in Japan. One is called "gyaku-choco (reverse chocolate)" which means chocolates given by men to women. Also, "tomo-choco (friendship chocolate)" is becoming popular among Japanese girls. They give their friends chocolates on Valentine's Day.

 

Workers in Japan are often perceived by the rest of the world as possessing an extremely strong work ethic, which drives them to daily acts of unpaid overtime, selfless sacrifice of rightfully accrued holiday time, and occasionally even to karoshi, or death by overwork. So pervasive is this perception that the image of the exhausted salaryman splayed out across train carriage floors after a hard day’s work has become a sort of unofficial symbol of Japanese working life.

But what people who have actually worked in Japanese offices will tell you is that, while simply existing in the strict hierarchical system of a Japanese workplace can be an exhausting feat in and of itself, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody’s getting loads of work done. In fact, Japanese workers may be just as lazy as the rest of us. So how come everybody still thinks they work so hard?

To try to break down the reasons why Japanese people aren’t actually doing as much work as we in the west think they do, we’re going to talk about three misconceptions about Japanese working life, and the ways in which they are kinda false.

Misconception 1: Japanese workers never take holidays; therefore they must work hard

It’s common in Japan to only get around 10 days paid holiday a year to begin with, but most of those paid holidays end up going unused, not because people are denied when they try to take them (they’ve earned ‘em, after all) but because in general nobody ever even asks to take them.

Why it’s false:

The perception is that Japanese workers voluntarily give up paid vacation days because they would much prefer to work. Not only is this not true, it gives too much credit to workers’ dedication and fails to address the real reason why nobody wants to take paid holiday – peer pressure.

Taking paid holiday means leaving coworkers to pick up your slack, which is a total no-no in Japan’s group-oriented society. Also, since getting ahead at a company in Japan relies so much on how you behave, nobody wants to look like a slacker who would rather be sipping beers on a couch somewhere than hard at work. There’s also the fact that asking to take paid holiday usually means directly petitioning your supervisor, who only has to raise an eyebrow to let you know in no uncertain terms that they consider your request to be the ultimate in bare-faced cheek.

Also, Japan actually has a hefty amount of public holidays. There’s a week at the end of the year, Golden Week, Obon, and numerous stand-alone national holidays which pop up practically every month. With another tantalising national holiday always just around the corner, it’s easier to just hang on until then rather than specifically ask for paid holiday. Basically, while it’s true that people aren’t taking their paid holidays the way they probably ought to be able to do, it’s not necessarily because they’d rather be at work or don’t wish they could use them.

Misconception 2: Japanese workers do loads of overtime; therefore they must work hard

“I would never want to work in Japan, because Japanese office workers don’t get home until midnight!” is something I hear a lot from friends back home. Certainly the Japanese seem to be doing quite a bit of overtime, and the last train is usually stuffed full of near-comatose salarymen and office ladies.

Why it’s false:

Working more hours doesn’t necessarily mean working harder, especially in Japan where it’s a common sight to see people stretching out small tasks and generally faffing around in order to try to spread the normal amount of work they have across a full day and into the overtime hours. This can be attributed to two factors: peer pressure again, and, secondly, wanting more money.

Companies that offer paid overtime usually find that their employees take them up on it, every single day. After all, that’s extra money you could be bringing home in today’s tough economy, and since nobody seems to actually care if you’re working or not as long as you’re on the clock, then why not spend the evening goofing around at your desk and making bank for it? Unpaid overtime is a whole different kettle of fish, and is usually undertaken for simple reasons such as “everybody else is doing it” and “I couldn’t possibly go home before the boss without bringing shame upon my entire family and getting daggers from my workmates.”

While the Japanese might well be spending more time at work than people in other countries, it’s not necessarily true that they’re being more productive. With the average day including endless, pointless meetings, verging on voluntary bureaucracy, filing of entirely unnecessary paperwork, and sneaking naps at your desk, it’s amazing that some people in Japan get any work done at all.

Misconception 3: Japanese workers are exhausted all the time, therefore they must work hard

Those poor salarymen slumped on street corners, so exhausted they’ve somehow lost control over their own bodies and on occasion a few articles of clothing too. That poor office lady snoring and drooling on everyone’s shoulders on the last train of the night. They must just be run ragged at work.

Why it’s false:

As we mentioned above, it’s pretty common for workers in Japan to try to conserve energy during the day by not getting especially stuck into their work. Then, in the evening, it’s all nomikai, or drinking parties, and schmoozing, a vital part of staying part of the work group and getting to know the right people in order to further one’s career and be looked upon favourably by the boss.

Maybe those people on the train aren’t tired out from working – maybe they’re tired from compulsory socializing. That’s not to mention the huge quantities of booze that are required to lubricate these post-work social engagements. Conbini shelves are stuffed full of supplement drinks in order to keep exhausted post-work partiers going longer, and to help alleviate the inevitable hangover symptoms. We can’t deny that long days full of work-stretching and drinking with the higher-ups isn’t exhausting, but does it result in hard work and getting things done?

With evidence now suggesting that it’s actually the Americans who are working the hardest in the world (as reported last year by ABC News), is it perhaps time for the myth of the hyper-diligent Japanese worker to be debunked, once and for all?

Source: Yurukuyaru

 

May 23 is Kissing Day in Japan, apparently. If you didn’t know that, don’t worry – chances are no one in Japan knows either. But May 23 is the anniversary of the release of Hatachi no Seishun, the 1946 movie celebrated as the first Japanese film to feature a kiss scene, and someone decided to declare that date as kisu no hi (キスの日), a date for romantic first encounters and anything-goes puckering up.

And a nightclub in Tokyo is offering couples the chance to experience that famous kiss scene for themselves, by, er, kissing each side of an acrylic “window”!

Koi Nobori is essentially a singles party with some extra kissing-related rules. Each attendee receives one glow band on entry. When they find someone they want to kiss, they offer them the glow band.

▼ The romance! The magic!


baggout

If accepted, the happy couple can make their way to the kissing booth, where they can exchange the glow band for the experience of kissing through a piece of clear acrylic.

The acrylic sheet trick is a homage to the kissing scene from Hatachi no Seishun(‘Twenty-year-old youth’), in which the lovers smooch on either side of a window.


iromegane

You can watch Koi Nobori’s promotion vid for the event below.

▼ Warning: Prepare to be underwhelmed.



We’re still not sure what the point of the acrylic sheet is. Perhaps it’s to protect from any nasty diseases the stranger you just met in the club might be carrying? Or to allow you to keep your distance from someone you don’t really want to kiss? That’s not too romantic a prospect though, really…

Event detailsKoi Nobori @ Edition Aoyama, Tokyo
Saturday, May 23rd, 7pm-9:30pm
Admission: men 5,500 yen, women 3,000 yen

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Edo Period porn exhibit proves human mating habits remain unchanged for hundreds of years 【NSFW】



If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed over the course of human history, it’s humans. Sure, we like to pretend that we’re above nature and instincts by carrying around fancy phones and sending people into space, but when it really comes down to it, we’re all still mostly interested in the same exact same thing that humans thousands of years ago were interested in.

If you need further proof, then check out the upcoming Shunga Exhibit in Tokyo of erotic Edo Period woodblock prints. The pictures on display there aren’t too far off from what the Japanese adult media world produces today. Just be sure your boss isn’t looking over your shoulder while you get your Japanese history lesson, because these pictures are not safe for work!


The Shunga (literally: “erotic pictures”) Exhibit is going to be held at the Eisei-Bunko Museum in Tokyo starting September 19, 2015 to December 13, 2015. Interestingly enough, this will mark its first opening in Japan. The last time the exhibit took place was in 2013 in England, where it drew over 88,000 visitors in just three months.

The exhibit will include 120 pieces in total, composed of prints not only owned by museums in Japan, but also from England and Denmark as well. Apparently those Edo Period woodblock prints got around even more than the subjects they depicted!

One interesting thing to note is that the Shunga Exhibit in England allowed patrons of any age to view the pieces, provided those under 16 were accompanied by a chaperone.However, in Japan, no one under 18 will be allowed into the exhibit. We’re not exactly sure why that, is considering you can see far more graphic images just walking around Tokyo, or merely making a few clicks on the internet, and at least these images have historical and artistic value.

But either way, we know what you came to this article for, so now it’s time to deliver.Here’s a sample of some of the prints that will be one display at the Shunga Exhibit, though the quality obviously cannot compare to seeing the real thing.

▼ And hey! We start off with a bang! (Ba dum ch)



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Spoiler: One that’s PG at the top then gets a whole lot more X-rated the further down you go.

▼ Not exactly sure what’s going on here, but I’m guessing they’re building a pillow fort.



▼ Man, pillow forts sure were popular back in the Edo Period.



▼ I’d go to the exhibit just to get an explanation of what’s going on in this picture.

If the Shunga Exhibit sounds like something you’re interested in, and you’re lucky enough to live near Tokyo, then check it out. You have plenty of time to plan a trip and do, uh, do some research to see how the prints compare to modern Japanese erotica.

Shunga Exhibit
Date: Sept. 9, 2015 – Dec. 23, 2015
Location: Eisei-Bunko Museum
Address: Tokyo-to, Bunkyō-ku, Mejirodai 1-1-1
Website

Source: Eisei-Bunko Museum via KAI-YOU
Images: Eisei-Bunko Museum

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