When I first saw videos like the one posted above, I took it as a given that Japanese men would ride gigantic logs down steep slopes at the risk of death and maiming, because OF COURSE Japanese men would ride gigantic logs down steep slopes at the risk of death and maiming. Japan is pretty…
Category: Culture
Jisei: the Japanese Death Poem
What will your final words be just before you die? Japan has a long history of jisei, or death poems. Jisei is the “farewell poem to life.” These poems were written by literate people just before their death. One of the earliest record of jisei dates to 686 CE with the death of Prince Otsu,…
Midoricon Coverage 2013 Part 2- Interview with Mr CreepyPasta
This is a guest post by Zach Weaver. At Midoricon 2013, I got a chance to sit down with everyone’s favorite scary YouTuber, Mr. CreepyPasta. For those who don’t know, creepypastas are stories that are posted online and spread around. Mr. CreepyPasta has done and excellent job of bringing these stories to life by reading…
Rodan
Japanese monster films from the 1950s are a great watch. Rodan is a 1956 film that features detailed miniature models of Fukuoka that are demolished in great monster fashion by a pair of giant pterosaur. It all begins when miners accidentally dug up a swarm of ancient bugs known as Meganulon. The infant Rodan emerged…
Ways to Watch Anime For Free or on the Cheap
While we all love anime almost as much (for some fans it’s more than) life itself, it can be a VERY expensive hobby. With box sets being highly priced, and even single DVDs sometimes being priced highly themselves, a lot of fans may find themselves having to choose between paying the rent and eating, or…
The Sokushinbutsu, Japan’s Mummy Monks
How far would you go for your beliefs? If your faith called for it, would you give up your life? What if, to get to heaven, you were called upon to take your OWN life? Sound bizarre? To a sect of Buddhists called Shugendo it wasn’t. These monks and nuns are known now as the…