The illusion of Japanese Culture: An introduction to nihonjinron

To set the tone of this series of articles straight away: the Japanese culture does not exist. Despite many ‘scientific’ attempts, all under the banner of nihonjinron, to describe and prove the uniqueness of Japanese culture and its people, there is no unique Japanese essence, passed on from time immemorial, that units each and every…

歌舞伎の導入 (culture introduction)

[These culture introductions are short introductions of Japanese cultural aspects written in easy Japanese.] 歌舞伎の導入 歌舞伎(かぶき)は、日本固有(にほんこゆう)の演劇(えんげき)で、17世紀(せいき)に始(はじ)まりました。歌舞伎(かぶき)は歌(うた)や踊(おど)りのある芝居(しばい)です。

Culture Files: Introduction

Introduction Each person has their own way of travelling. For some nature is important, for others culture is most important. Some organize their trips around regional dishes. And some like a mixture of all those things together to create a balance that satisfy their needs. Nevertheless, the greater part of the people who travel to…

Foodfiles Nagoya: RedRock

Introduction Can Nagoya really be considered “the most boring city in Japan”, as Philip Brasor ( 2016/10/08) puts it, or is this general thought about Nagoya making the city bleaker than it really is? We are convinced that the latter is the case. In our view, if your focus is either on regional cuisine, Japanese…

Mono no aware: An addendum to Umimachi diary in springtime

“The poetry of Yamato has one 􀂝heart􀂞 as seed and myriad words as leaves. This kokoro is the one that knows mono no aware.” (In preface of Kokinshū, see note 1). An Introduction for springtime. The Sakura trees are blossoming, the casket of nihonshu has been broken, the time to enjoy Ohanami with friends, lovers,…

Mono: a small mono-graph on Japanese post rock.

Introduction This short and brief report on Mono’s concert in Bruges (3/12/2014) doesn’t entail a review by all means. It aims at giving a possible explanation on the effectivity of their music, the effectivity of their instrumental post-rock. I’m not a music expert, nor did I wade through theory to be able to write this. You could…

Small commentaries: Zentai: Hokkyoku Nigo (North Pole No. 2).

Small commentaries is a new segment on Psycho-cinematography. The main purpose of this segment is to provide commentary on Japanese culture, media, news, … . This often rather crude commentary aims to instigate discussion. The commentary is thus more a question than an answer. So if you want to reply, critique or corroborate my writings…

Zentai

Introduction of the term   The signifier Zentai (ゼンタイ) is a portmanteau word, which is a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms. Zentai derives from the term: “zenshin taitsu”, 全身タイツ. Let’s take a closer look at that last signifier and the kanji’s and katakana’s of which…

An ordinary way of saying what’s to come

Hello, こんにちわ, to everyone who’s reading this, to everyone whose interest in Japanese culture (the high and/or the low arts) made him find this blog. I want to give everyone a brief heads-up, a brief look into the future. No, not into your future, but into the future of this blog. For this, I ask, like Robin Hood…