It’s important to answer the literal question first: in a fight, of course, ninja would win. No matter how skilled a swordsman, your samurai can’t be awake every moment of the day, and no ninja worth his (or her) salt will be dumb enough to charge their foe head-on in broad daylight. But since these two warrior archetypes are so often juxtaposed, it seems worthwhile to ask: how are they related, and what do they represent? Sure, ninja, unlike samurai, “have no honor,” but isn’t the truth (as usual) more complex? More »

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To begin on a serious note, I was among those who cheered the news that Japan’s entrenched, right-wing “Liberal” Democratic Party was finally giving somebody else a chance to run the country. Yet we may pause to shed a tear for the man whose incompetence helped bringed about this change, Taro Aso; for he was, after all, one of us. I hereby present a salute to the man we hate to love, Japan’s late and (debatably) great Otaku Prime Minister (that’s him in the lower right-hand corner). More »

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So we’ve been calling each other baka and kawaii since june of nineteen eighty-five. Perhaps it’s time to take things to the next level, if only to decipher incomprehensible messageboard arguments on 4-chan.* Here are eight more esoteric Japanese terms commonly encountered in anime and the discussion thereof; and as someone who considers anime the most legitimate of art forms, I think it’s time some of them entered our broader cultural discourse. After all our artists, it seems, have known about tsundere for years. More »

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“Nin, nin! de gozaru.”

Okay, regardless of who would win in a fight, can we all agree that Talk Like a Pirate Day is a tad bit–shall we say–overplayed? In honor of Ninja Week, your resident pidgin-Japanese speaker is here to teach you how to Talk Like a Ninja. More »

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Liberal or Torry? Catholic or Proddy? Pro-Skub or Anti-Skub? But more importantly: Anime dub or anime sub?

I long took for granted that the issue was resolved in favor of subs; but there apparently are those, after all, who prefer dubs–and at that, quite vehemently. To me dubs are the most preposterous idea; the only place I’ve seen them outside of anime is on the Criterion edition of Kurosawa’s Rashomon(!?). But I can understand that subtitles take some getting used to. It must be confessed that there a few good dubs out there–and more than a few very, very bad ones. Thus, without further ado (because everyone loves lists)(and because we like to accentuate the positive), the top five best anime dubs of all time: More »

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Kasuga Hachirou, one of the first Enka stars

The process of cultural influence that led to the flowering of J-Pop produced numerous offshoots. Some of the earliest Japanese pop, which has a distinctly 1950’s vibe, is preserved admirably in the radio broadcasts of Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H; but while the British Invasion swept Japan as well, a certain genre has remained stuck in the 50’s: Enka. More »

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Title: TIME MACHINE ni Onegai By: Sadistic Mika Band Covers: Browny Circus Length: 4:26 Available on: NARKISSOS (SMB), Kamikaze Girls OST (BC)

It seems to me that the J-Pop scene is often more about cults of personality than about the songs themselves; which is, no doubt, how some artists like it. But what are some of our favorite J-Pop/Rock tunes–that can even survive their creators to be given new life by another artist? One of my personal favorites is the mid-tempo rocker TIME MACHINE ni Onegai, originally penned by 70’s rock group Sadistic Mika Band. More »

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Greetings, all! I’m here to offer you the latest news and my thoughts on J-Pop, and to a lesser extent, anime. I thought I’d introduce myself with a brief speculation on what it means to be a Japanophile (or, in the vernacular, “Weaboo” or “Wapanese”). Now, not all of you may consider yourselves such, outright; but for some crazy reason, I suspect I’m not the only one. More »

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Kanon (Key Studios, 2006)

“For love is as strong as death, Its jealousy as unyielding as the grave.”

–Song of Solomon 8:6

In making the transition from “self-professed anime expert” to “self-professed J-Pop expert,” I will probably find myself unable, from time to time, to refrain from making my own recommendations. This is one such instance.

I can mince no words in saying that the 2006 adaptation of Kanon (originally a pioneer “girl game”) is one of the most beautiful works of art I’ve seen. Kanon is probably best known in the West as a favorite of Fred Gallagher, and accordingly the original sad girl in the snow; but when the ‘06 series was released in the States, it suffered from a poor dub and a lack of promotion resulting from the unfortunate breakup of ADV Films. But those who have seen it know the uncanny emotional power of this series. More »

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Now I will write about music. Well, in a manner of speaking. It’s a transitional thing. In the anime Lucky Star, the otaku heroine Konata taxes the American exchange student, Patti–who claims to “love Japanese music”–with only liking artists who have done anime work. “And what’s more,” she adds, to Patti’s tearful acknowledgment, “you only listen to their anime songs!”

In such a spirit, I’d like to direct the spotlight to a truly remarkable female on the Japanese music scene: Aki Hata. More »

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