Tag Archives: fun link friday

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: 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: 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: 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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Fun Link Friday: Is Japanese the most difficult language?

Posted on November 15, 2019 by

The Language Nerds blog recently posted an article summarizing reports from The Foreign Service Institute of the US Department of State, categorizing world languages and their difficulty (namely, the amount of time officials have to spend learning them). The categories … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Eiji Ohashi’s lonely vending machines

Posted on October 18, 2019 by

This week is just a quick fun link– a CNN feature on the photographer Eiji Ohashi, who has spent years photographing vending machines that often stand alone in Japan’s most isolated places. Travelers unfamiliar with Japan are often shocked by … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Small Worlds Tokyo

Posted on September 27, 2019 by

If lately you’ve just been feeling insignificant compared to the vastness of the universe, maybe you need to plan on booking a trip to Small Worlds Tokyo, which is set to open next spring. Planned as the world’s largest diorama … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Ikebana Battles 🌿🌻

Posted on September 20, 2019 by

What artful masterpiece can you put together in five minutes? At the third annual flower arranging battle in Ota, Tokyo this summer, spectators got to find out! Although the traditional art of ikebana (flower arrangement) in Japan is often thought of … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: 2019 Rice Field art at Inakadate

Posted on September 13, 2019 by

As long-time readers know, each year we showcase the rice paddy art of Inakadate, Aomori Prefecture, which has a long standing tradition of growing multicolored rice to great gigantic rice paddy art! This year the theme is  Oshin「おしん」, a television … Continue reading →

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