Category:japan
The Girl in the Well: The Ring and Japanese Ghost Stories
One of the most memorable images from The Ring (1998) is that of Sadako crawling out from a well. The story of a ghost girl and a well has roots in Japanese folklore in the form of the tale of Banchō Sarayashiki (番町皿屋敷, The Dish Mansion at Banchō). Given the nature and popularity of legends …
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The Blade or the Armor, the Sword or the Ball: Making a Choice in The Book of Boba Fett and Lone Wolf and Cub
Spoiler warnings for Chapter 6 of The Book of Boba Fett and for Lone Wolf and Cub. Early in the first season of The Mandalorian comparisons were made to the classic Japanese manga and later movie series Lone Wolf and Cub. The themes and motifs of the two collided as the Star Wars series has …
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“A Thousand Tidings to the New Daimyo”: The Book of Boba Fett and an Imagined Japan
<warning: mild to moderate spoilers for episodes 1-4 of The Book of Boba Fett follow> Early in episode 1 of The Book of Boba Fett, the titular character receives emissaries from the various factions on Tatooine after taking over as criminal overboss. One, a Trandoshan, addresses Fett with the Japanese title “daimyo” (大名) Daimyo is …
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Kentucky for Christmas: Japan, KFC, and Christmas Dinner
In Japan, Kentucky Fried Chicken has been the traditional Christmas dinner since the 1970s. The popularity of KFC for Christmas means signups for the holiday meal special start in early December, with long lines for those who miss the presale and big profits for the fried chicken chain. The usual KFC holiday meal comes with …
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Resident Evil in Tokyo
With the imminent release of Resident Evil Village on the horizon at the time of the writing of this post, I decided to look back on the Resident Evil collaborations and promotional events I encountered during my stays in Japan. Resident Evil, or Biohazard (バイオハザード) as it is known in Japan, has been an enduring …
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The Curse of Colonel Sanders
The Curse of Colonel Sanders (カーネルサンダースの呪い, Kāneru Sandāsu no Noroi) is a popular Japanese urban legend that claims the Hanshin Tigers baseball team has been under a curse inflicted upon them by the white suited symbol of the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain in revenge for a slight committed by Tigers fans. In October of 1985 the …
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Higurashi When they Cry: Shirakawa-go and the Inspiration for the Anime
Higurashi When They Cry (ひぐらしのなく頃に) is a horror/mystery media franchise encompassing a series of visual novels, a 2006 anime, live action films and television series, a virtual reality experience in Tokyo in 2018. and now a new 2020 anime remake.
The Tokyo 2020(ONE) Logo and the Ichimatsu Moyou
The logo for the 2020 Tokyo was created by artist Asoa Tokolo and the checkered indigo blue design is based upon the traditional Japanese pattern called ichimatsu moyou. Ichimatsu moyou (市松模様?) is named for the kabuki actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu I (佐野川 市松?) Active as an actor from 1733 until his death in 1762 at the …
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The Politics of Dancing: Love Live, Population Decline and School Closures in Japan
The central plot element around which the storylines of Love Live: School Idol Festival and its successor Love Live Sunshine are draped is the imminent closure of the protagonists schools. In both series, the main characters rally together to become school idols in order to attract new students to enroll and in doing so save …
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Dancing with Myself: Scenes from a Tokyo Nightclub
The origins of Billy Idol’s 1981 hit “Dancing with Myself” trace to a random encounter during Generation X’s 1978 Japan tour. When Idol and other members of the band visited an unnamed dance club in Tokyo, Idol noticed the young Japanese club patrons dancing in front of mirrors–effectively dancing with themselves. Idol further describes the …
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