Ramen is considered one of the icons of Japanese culture, but it is actually from China. Ramen appeared in Japan in 1910 when some Chinese cooks in Tokyo made their noodles with kansui, a sodium-carbonate mineral water. It made the noodles yellow and elastic; the ramen noodles we know. The dish was originally called shina…
Tag: japanese culture
Japan’s Ghosts–The Yurei
Several months ago, I did a post about Aokigahara, Japan’s suicide capital and a purportedly haunted forest. It is widely believed that the forest is haunted by Yurei, which are essentially Japan’s version of ghosts. These differ from the traditional Western style ghosts. On our side of the ocean, ghosts are ephemeral things that can…
Japan’s Forest of Ghosts–Aokigahara
Aokigahara lies at the foot of holy Mount Fuji in Japan. Also known as the Sea of Trees, it is a dense, dark forest, a place that has long been the focus of myth and legend. It is said that great deposits of iron lay underneath the Earth there, and that they play havoc with…
Lolita
Lolita is a type of fashion (and a novel wrote by Vladimir Nabokov) that originated in Japan. Clothing is based on Victorian and Rococo clothing. Rococo is also called the Late Baroque period and developed in Paris, France. Rococo is more lighthearted and intimate than the earlier Baroque periods. The novel (if you are wondering)…
Anime Breasts and the Relationship with Character Personalities
Mammoth marshmallow mounds of mammary marvelousness are a common theme in anime. It isn’t just for fan service or comedy either. Breast size is a common shorthand for characterization too. Okay, not all the time. Sometimes the impossible gravity defying perkiness is just for guys (and girls?) to fantasize over. What Breast Size Represents Anime…
Anime and High School
I already griped about anime and high school. It’s time I look at exactly why so many anime use high school as the main focus…other than letting the artists draw cute uniforms. Certainly teenagers are a good audience to market to, but many manga and anime oriented for adults still feature teens as characters…Perhaps this…