This is a nice song by an interesting Japanese trio that I’m going to check out. But the video is simply fantastic in its creativity and vision. A true product of the interactive networks we inhabit.

Via Nothing To Do With Arbroath

A hypnotic and seductive look at the vastness of Tokyo.

Another oldie, but a beautiful song nonetheless. Brings me back to a lot of places – from Kakogawa to P-town.

Zap Mama’s new album comes out May 26. Get it, and see her live if possible. One of the greatest vocalists I’ve ever heard. But where in the world is DJ Krush these days?

I spent a total of nearly two years in Japan, living in Nagoya and Tokyo while I was a student in 2002-3 and then again in Kakogawa, Hyogo prefecture as a JET in 2004-05. Of course, the cell phone technology there is light years ahead of what we get in the US, and at the time, cameras were all the rage. The following collage is from that first year. Those of you who have followed What-What from its humble beginnings as first a mass email and then a website built with Frontpage may recognize it as the background image from that original site.

For the full resolution image (1150×1542), click here.

If you’ve come to Hungary as a traveler or as an expatriate, you could probably chalk up some of your impetus to “wanting to see the world.” Meeting the local peoples, sampling local cuisine – these are the things that we revel in. The jet-set hops from place to place by plane, students take the slow route by train, poets hop freights or hitchhike, and those on a mission might ride in a plastic car.

Keiichi Iwasaki, however, is doing something else entirely. He’s going around the world – by bicycle. Currently 6 years and more than 30,000km into an estimated 10-year trek, this air conditioning repairman left his native Gunma-ken, Japanin 2001 with 160 yen (USD 1.25 / HUF 235) in his pocket and a vague notion to yes, see the world. Since then he’s traveled through more than 25 countries and reached unimaginable highs and lows.

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*Title (and video) stolen from JapanProbe.

Ever wanted to know what it’s like to be the main attraction in one of those conveyor-belt sushi joints in Japan? Well this is it:

Today was the last day I will see the students at Toban High School, probably for the rest of my life. The atmosphere resembles that of when I arrived almost exactly one year ago – the rice fields are emerald, the heat is cloying, the house is smelly and the drivers are still bad. I’ve spent the last month in a flurry of activity and will spend the next ten days before leaving for Bali in an even greater rush. After one year I have an array of feelings, but the one that’s most different from when I arrived is that I am tired. I think a combination of the pace of life in Japan and yet being so static here in Kakogawa has drained my sense of adventure and excitement. As hard as it is to do so, it’s time to move on.

Both Japanese people and my friends in other countries often comment that “you love Japan”. At this point it’s not possible for me to either refute or comply with this assessment, and perhaps it never will be. Let me just impart the polar opposites of my experience, what I love and what I hate about Japan. Like a giant iceberg that spans the seas, only arising at one home and another, this is only the tip, and the majority of how I feel lies somewhere beneath the surface. If global warming continues as planned, they’ll be visible soon enough. The following diatribe is intended to be both serious and not, as this represents my experience, so please do not be offended. Let me start with what I hate.

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