Category Archives: culture

Website announcement: Visualizing Cultures – Image-Driven Scholarship

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Paula

A new spectacular resource for historical and artistic scholarship, MIT’s Visualizing Cultures presents a multimedia approach to looking at Asian history and international social and cultural relations. We have a lengthy description here, but you can also check out the … Continue reading →

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Exploring History in Japanese Castles

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Paula

One look at my keychain (mostly chains, very few keys) will alert you to the fact that I am a huge castle nerd. Besides the fact that medieval Japan is my research specialty (and IMO the coolest time period ever, … Continue reading →

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Book announcement: Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Paula

We do love food here at Shinpai deshou, so we have another new book announcement for you on the topic that looks just as interesting as the last. If you find food history fascinating, it’s surely going to be a … Continue reading →

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Center for Japanese Studies’ Annual Mochitsuki

Posted on December 14, 2010 by LM

For those of you who have never made mochi 餅 (or who simply love it), be sure to attend the University of Michigan’s annual mochitsuki event! It’s free to the public. Here is an article on last year’s event, and there’s a … Continue reading →

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Smart vending machines make corporate big brother a little more creepy

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Paula

Japan is known worldwide for its innovative, if not sometimes bizarre, ventures into new technology. It’s also known for having vending machines on almost every block in most urban areas, carrying everything from bottled drinks to women’s underwear (though the … Continue reading →

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“Shugendo Now” at the International Buddhist Film Festival

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Paula

For those of you in the San Francisco area, there’s a feature documentary tomorrow and Thursday on shugendō, Japanese mountain asceticism, in the modern age. It looks really amazing, so see the site and trailer below for more information! — … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Take a Trip to Cat Island!

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Paula

If our post on Sushi cat and デブ猫 was any indication, or perhaps the enormously popular antics of Maru-chan, you already know that Japan has a ridiculous and wide-spread love of adorable cats. Honestly, most of us here at Shinpai … Continue reading →

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Blog Review: Ishikawa JET blog

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Paula

Being able to share information on working and living in Japan is one of the big perks of having the ability to blog. And when you surf the net, you’ll find a lot of sites are aimed at members of … Continue reading →

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Done with turkey? Now try people!

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Paula

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I’m sure you’re all still in a food-coma, or if you aren’t, you’re out frantically shopping for deals on Black Friday, so today we have some brief links for you that highlight some of … Continue reading →

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Can’t find a turkey? Order internationally!

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Paula

Thanksgiving is upon us! If you’re in Japan, you know what this means: searching stores for someone who carries turkeys (turkey? what’s a turkey?), wondering where you can get a can of mushroom soup for casserole, and trying to find … Continue reading →

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