With President Obama’s scheduled visit to Hiroshima, he will become the first US president to visit the site of the first wartime atomic explosion. People have debated the need to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagaski, but most of the arguments come from hindsight. At the time, the outcome of the war was uncertain….
Author: Chris Kincaid
Anime as a Storytelling Medium
Anime and manga are storytelling mediums equal to movies and books. Anime has more flexibility and one unique strength that movies cannot have. Anime and manga are a style of their own, just like Cubism or Pointillism. Some people lump anime into the “Superflat” art movement because of the flat nature of anime art. But…
Mayo Chiki!
Every once in awhile I like to watch a fluffy, silly anime. Mayo Chiki! is certainly one of those…on the surface. Underneath the light-harem antics and relationship tangle waited a surprising theme. First, my usual summary. Kinjiro – nicknamed Jiro – is a nice high-school guy with a problem. He is terrified of girls, and…
Gender Expectations of Edo Period Japan
The Edo period made Japan Japan. This long segment of peace shaped Japanese gender expectations and continues to influence them today. Japan was once a matriarchal society. The influx of Confucian ideas from China around the 15th century eroded the ability of women to hold power. Confucian ideas stressed hierarchy, male dominance, integrity, and righteousness….
The No Dating Clause in J-Pop Girl Bands
Take a moment to watch this video. Notice her shaved head? That is a traditional way to show remorse and a desire to repent in Japanese culture, a tradition quite rare for women to practice. So what was her sin? What terrible, despicable thing did she do that warranted a shaved head and this apology?…
Responsibilities of Blogging
This week, lets shift gears. Let’s look at our responsibilities as bloggers and why what we do matters. Blogging is a hobby that comes with responsibilities. The act of writing requires the author to think carefully about the quality of information and what message she wants the reader to leave with. Quality of information is…