Category Archives: fun links

Fun Link Friday: Musical Calculators

Posted on July 3, 2020 by

This week’s Fun Link Friday is a tweet by あたりめ (@atarimae_400), a Twitter user who regularly posts incredible videos of him using electronic calculators, the simple keystroke chimes of an iPhone, and the like to reproduce complex musical compositions. In … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Virtual Museum Exhibits

Posted on June 26, 2020 by

As quarantine continues for many of us, we’re often looking for ways to do things online that we would have otherwise enjoyed doing in person. A couple months ago Tokyo Weekend featured a list of Japanese art museums that have … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Amabie sweets

Posted on May 29, 2020 by

Amidst the regular pandemic news over the last weeks, there have been numerous reports related to Japan centered on amabie アマビエ, a supernatural, mermaid-like creature from Japanese folklore. Although amabie only appears in one text from 1846 (and thus was probably … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: The Thinnest Japanese Paper in the World

Posted on February 21, 2020 by

Just a quick Fun Link Friday this week from Great Big Story! Japan is known the world around for its handcrafted paper, but is it now known also for the thinnest paper in the world? Hidaka Washi Ltd. is has … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Japanese currency redesigns

Posted on February 14, 2020 by

What’s on your country’s money? After traveling overseas, I always come back to the US thinking about how boring our own bills seem! And it appears that Japan is putting even more thought into new and exciting illustrations for their … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Super-sized Sushi 🍣

Posted on January 24, 2020 by

Are you a hungry sushi enthusiast? Are you ready to tackle an 11 pound “Generous Roll”? Check out our quickie fun link Friday today, a video by Great Big Story on Hiromu Inagaki, who makes massive (and tiny!) sushi! Click … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Breakdancing Monks

Posted on January 17, 2020 by

How do you bring your hobbies and skills into your everyday life? This past week Tricycle reported on some fun news in the world of Buddhism: two monks from different Buddhist practices who have formed a breakdancing duo. Hoping to … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Newspaper Sculptures by Atsushi Adachi

Posted on December 20, 2019 by

The holidays are upon us, so it’s a quick Fun Link Friday this week! This article by Spoon & Tamago caught my eye a couple weeks ago– a report about an upcoming exhibit by artist Atsushi Adachi, who plays with the theme … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Move over, gingerbread house, here’s a sweets sailboat

Posted on December 13, 2019 by

While many of us may be honing our skills for seasonal gingerbread house competitions, none of us can hold a candle to the students of the recently opened Noda Kamada Gakuen vocational high school in Yokohama, who created a MASSIVE … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Ukiyo-e project and modern prints

Posted on December 6, 2019 by

We’ve covered modern takes on and uses of ukiyo-e prints from early modern Japan a handful of times for our Fun Link Fridays here at Shinpai Deshou. The latest way in which ukiyo-e can be seen persisting in the cultural imaginary is … Continue reading →

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