Posts related to culture
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02 May 2010 - granny bikes
they are called mama-chari (ママチャリ), the standard issued bicycles of japan. these russian and chinese socialist throwback bikes are easy to spot. a grocery basket up front and a child bucket seat in the rear, occasionally removed to allow for your high school girlfriend to ride along.
mama-chari basically stands for granny bike. in america you don’t want to be caught riding one. it can lead to name calling and bullying. ;)
in japan, their existence is undeniable. these grocery-getting chariots of steel announce their presence with a thunderous bell and a thrusting squall, leaving one confused and angered at the threat of injury. the sidewalks are for bikes and the roads for cars, where is a pedestrian to stride?
uncommitted.
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06 February 2010 - the other side of town
i decided to take a stroll in the less visited part of town with a friend of mine. he didn’t want to go alone for safety reasons, but i figured it shouldn’t be a problem in japan. ;)
i hope their fortune is a good one.
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28 December 2009 - boys will be boys
there’s no denying there are cultural differences between western and asian cultures. however, the basic things seem to be the same.
for example, boys will always be boys. i caught this group in the midst of their shenanigans in dotombori (道頓堀) on the famous nanpa hashi, which is a play on the actual name, namba hashi. nanpa means flirting or trying to catch a girl.
so these blocks had the following ingenious idea. they would wait for two or more cute girls to walk in their direction. just before the girls would reach them, one guy (blue jacket in this case), would walk in front of the girls and “drop” his bag (bottom of photo). the rest of the group would then try to “help” the girls maneuver around whilst making fun of their friend. fantastic! they got a bunch of laughs and some short conversation out of it. notice the smiling girls on the right of the photograph.
i was laughing pretty hard.
it was a cute idea. hopefully at least one of them got a phone number. ;)
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20 December 2009 - the ubiquitous vending machine
自動販売機 (jido hanbai ki) is what they call them around here. or more simply put, a vending machine. they are scattered throughout the land, north to south, urban and rural. always noble, always dependable. time is irrelevant to this guard of cravings on perpetual watch. weather it’s tea, corn soup, cigarrettes, or beer – as long as the electron juice is flowing you’ll never go unsatisfied.
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29 November 2009 - osaka in motion
rockin’ out. there a few pedestrian bridges near osaka train station. you can frequently hear bands playing. part of the reason is to get exposure, part of the reason is that houses are relatively small and close together, so playing music with your band might not go over well with your neighbors.
frequently you will see a small group of fans sitting or standing by and listening to a band.
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19 September 2009 - lost items in japan
in japan you will often find items perched on top of something, such as in the image above. these are lost items, or wasuremono (忘れ物). it’s japan’s version of a social lost-and-found.
when somebody finds a lost item, they place it on top of something near by so that it is easily visible. the item is left there in hopes that the person that lost it will return to pick it up. i have seen small change (40 yen) that was found in a vending machine placed on a window sill next to the machine. it was there for weeks.
i have even seen items stay in such places for over a year! someone had lost a small key, not a house key but more likely for a bicycle lock chain or something like that. someone else found the key and hung it on a clothes hanger from a tree next to where the key was found. i saw it on my way to work every day for over a year. amazing. (more…)
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29 August 2009 - professional sumo wrestling
sumo, a traditional japanese sport. dominated by foreigners, sold out to marketers, and influenced by organized crime.
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28 August 2009 - the awesomeness that is the japanese postal service
the mail system in japan is just awesome. i have had packages delivered to me by three different companies and they are all just as great. even the federal system.
first of all they deliver until 9 pm. yes that’s right, 9 pm! the fantastic advantage of such late hours is that if you missed them when they came to deliver the package, say you were at work like i was, all hope is not lost. just get your 再発達要付連絡先 or (more…)
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26 August 2009 - baseball game
yesterday i had the pleasure of attending my third baseball game in japan. the home team is the osaka orix buffaloes (sorry, no english).
i have yet to attend a hanshin tigers game, which from what i have seen and heard, the crowd itself is supposed to be as much of an entertainment as the game itself. apparently every single game is sold out. every fan is a raging fanatic. :) there are (more…)
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24 August 2009 - why the japanese should kill whales
woh, woh, woh… don’t kill me just yet. <dodges incoming projectiles> i’m just sharing a story. ;)
so you have probably heard before that you should avoid discussing politics and religion. especially at the dinner table. well, when in japan you can add the colossally sensitive subject of whale hunting to that list. (more…)
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