As someone who moved to Japan over 8 years ago, the observations make sense!
Also, if you're considering "living" in Japan (which is a totally different beast from visiting as a tourist), here's a hypothetical scenario. See how you feel the first time you read it.
You, alongwith a group of friends/group tour members are walking down the street towards the station to go to your next (sightseeing) destination in Tokyo. Assume none of your friends/group tour members are ill-meaning (as in, they don't behave like bad tourists, littering the streets, being loud because they want to etc.).
Now, assume that the group you are with is being louder than other locals around you, possibly because they are in good spirits after a good meal or sightseeing experience. What is your way of thinking:
a) Do you realize that your group is being louder than other locals around you?
b) If you realize so, do you still not feel anything and keep walking with the group?
c) Or do you feel uncomfortable that your group is being louder than others around you, and want to distance yourself away from your group?
If you're more inclined towards c), then your way of thinking is closer to the Japanese people.
Source: had the same experience when I visited Japan over 10 years ago for the first time, and I was so uncomfortable it felt like torture just walking with the same group.
Japan, for better or worse, is "unique" in many ways even today, including how people think and behave.
It's not for everyone, but if you think the article's observations and the scenario above are something you like and want to be a part of, you'll likely not have too much of a hard time adapting to life here.
Also, if time and energy permits, please, learn the language. It'll expand your world so much here.
>>Also, if time and energy permits, please, learn the language.
My opinion: Even taking ten hours to learn a few polite phrases makes a Japanese trip infinitely better. It signifies to Japanese people that you're trying to understand them and they very much love it.
I have to agree. I don't mean to disrespect the existing app, it looks really good and well-polished, but... as someone new to the MacOS ecosystem, $150 feels highly pricey. It's as costly as a Windows / Office license!
At the same time, there are apps like Mindkit [0], which seem to do similar things as this, but with more features, but which cost 3000 JPY(20 USD) lifetime.
Personally, the only time I can justify 150 USD for a purchase of an app is when it has as many features or is as impactful as Word/Excel/Powerpoint combined.
No disrespect to the people who made it, good luck with the app!
Interesting talk about Bruno by the founder about Bruno! Includes its naming origin (very nice btw), the philosophy, a brief demo and overview of the architecture, with a couple of interesting surprises at the end. Is a good watch!
If someone is looking for more recommendations based on anime they've watched and their locations, here's a 2019-version in Japanese (there's a huge number of videos in Japanese it seems, I just took a random version).
While that does seem like a nice idea, I highly doubt it'll materialize because of the sheer cost of ロケハン(location hunting). Atleast some of the key staff would need to visit every prefecture in Japan to take photos, gather local material(a lot of which might not exist online), which would cost time and money; both things the anime industry lacks.
Collaboration between different studios is also not viable because barring some exceptions (PA Works in Toyama, Kyoto Animation in Kyoto/Nara), almost all the studios are concentrated in Western Tokyo.
Unless, if the anime was crowdfunded. Maybe.
(I don't currently work in the industry; I'm just voicing my personal opinion.)
I loved In This Corner of the World! It's a really good take on WWII in Japan told from the eyes of an ordinary housewife in Hiroshima.
For Fukuoka, I also remembered that the recently aired Buddy Daddies is also set in Fukuoka. Two assassins end up taking custody of a little girl who is the kid of one of their targets. The kid is super innocent and cute, and from what I've seen, it's more about bringing up a kid (the checklist for things to prepare on day 1 of kindergarten seems very real) in Japan. Can recommend!
Really nice article with lots of good shows! My personal underappreciated yet awesome and highly recommended ones from that article are:
- Aomori: Flying Witch: Highly relaxing show with lots of nature.
- Wakayama: Summer Time Rendering: A highly highly underappreciated sci-fi thriller that picks up in the latter half and keeps getting better and better, with an awesome ending. Iirc the show was underappreciated in Japan because Disney+ had exclusive streaming rights when it was airing and it flew under a lot of people's radars due to that.
Also, doing pilgrimage for an anime you like provides a really good motivation to actually visit and explore the place. Japan is quite homogeneous but each place has their own charm.
Summer time Rendering was airing on at least BS11 (free channel on satellite broadcast), Tokyo MX and Kansai TV. It was made available on other streaming services like Amazon Prime, d-anime, Abema, etc. after the broadcast ended.
Hyouka and Zombieland Saga are both really good shows. I especially loved Karatsu in Saga prefecture when I visited it back in 2019.
Apart from Yuri no Ice, Karatsu is also very aware of Zombieland Saga. I walked up to the tourist information desk at Karatsu station and asked if they had a map with spots for Zombieland Saga, and the guy not only got me one, but also marked a few additional spots while guiding me like "You know that scene in episode 1 where the girl was walking in the rain? That's this bridge right here", and lots more which even I didn't remember! I was really impressed how much knowledgeable he was.
Interesting! Reminds me in Japanese how you can (almost) tell what a sibling is composed of just by looking at the kanji characters. These are ALL read as "kyoudai":
兄弟：Elder brother, younger brother
姉弟：Elder sister, younger brother
兄妹：Elder brother, younger sister
The 4th remaining case is 姉妹, and is read "shimai".
Also, if you're considering "living" in Japan (which is a totally different beast from visiting as a tourist), here's a hypothetical scenario. See how you feel the first time you read it.
You, alongwith a group of friends/group tour members are walking down the street towards the station to go to your next (sightseeing) destination in Tokyo. Assume none of your friends/group tour members are ill-meaning (as in, they don't behave like bad tourists, littering the streets, being loud because they want to etc.).
Now, assume that the group you are with is being louder than other locals around you, possibly because they are in good spirits after a good meal or sightseeing experience. What is your way of thinking:
a) Do you realize that your group is being louder than other locals around you?
b) If you realize so, do you still not feel anything and keep walking with the group?
c) Or do you feel uncomfortable that your group is being louder than others around you, and want to distance yourself away from your group?
If you're more inclined towards c), then your way of thinking is closer to the Japanese people.
Source: had the same experience when I visited Japan over 10 years ago for the first time, and I was so uncomfortable it felt like torture just walking with the same group.
Japan, for better or worse, is "unique" in many ways even today, including how people think and behave. It's not for everyone, but if you think the article's observations and the scenario above are something you like and want to be a part of, you'll likely not have too much of a hard time adapting to life here.
Also, if time and energy permits, please, learn the language. It'll expand your world so much here.
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