Following the model laid out by Band of Brothers, The Pacific begins with actual footage of Pearl Harbor and interviews with some of the veterans of the Pacific War. We’re rapidly approaching the time when the generation who fought in WWII will be gone and I find these interviews extremely valuable. In Band of Brothers, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Japan’
HBO’s THE PACIFIC: Part One
Posted in Book Reviews, Film Reviews, HBO's The Pacific, tagged bushido, constantine in tokyo, film review, HBO's The Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow, Japan, Japanese, Japanese history, Steven Spielberg, The Pacific, war, With the Old Breed, World War II, WWII on May 21, 2010 | 12 Comments »
Japanese Film Reviews #20: Takeuchi Tetsuro’s WILD ZERO (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantineintokyo, film review, Film Reviews, guitar wolf, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, takeuchi tetsuro, zombies on May 11, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Wild Zero follows the three band members of Guitar Wolf; Guitar Wolf (vocals and guitar), Bass Wolf (bass), and Drum Wolf (you guessed it, drums). This trio are the hottest musicians in rural Asahi-cho and only believe in three things; love, justice, and Rock’n’Roll. Tired of the dirty ways of their evil yakuza business manager, [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #19: Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s ZOMBIE JIETAI: ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (2006)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, film review, Film Reviews, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, Tomomatsu Naoyuki, WWII, zombies on May 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zombi jietai) is one of the most ridiculous genre spoofs out there…and I mean ridiculous in a good way. A UFO crashes in a forest and releases radiation that can reanimate the dead. In close vicinity to the crash are a gang of yakuza and their chinpira lackeys, a photography [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #18: Kitamura Ryuhei’s VERSUS (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, film review, Film Reviews, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, Japanese zombie movies, Kitamura Ryuhei, Sakaguchi Tak, Sakaki Hideo, zombies on May 10, 2010 | 7 Comments »
Everyone who watches Japanese film knows about Versus. And for good reason, this is an awesome movie. I tend to shy away from movies that are excessively popular. This is because having never been popular myself, I harbor a deep subconscious resentment for all things that become popular. But, in this case, I will grudgingly [...]
Japanese Film Review #17: Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s STACY (2001)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged film, film review, Japan, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, zombie movies, zombies on May 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Directed by Tomomatsu Naoyuki and based on a novel by Otsuki Kenji, the 2001 film Stacy seems like a pretty good idea – what’s not to love about undead zombie schoolgirls? The film opens with the following narration: The beginning of the 21st century. Young girls aged 15 to 17 began dying one after another, [...]
Racism in Japan
Posted in Japan, Japanese Culture, Ramblings, tagged constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, Japan, life in Japan, racism on May 10, 2010 | 23 Comments »
As a part of the ‘Japan YouTube community’ (though somewhat reluctantly) I’ve encountered a lot of the videos that people have posted about racism in Japan. I don’t really agree or approve of a lot of these videos, because they are almost always very negative and extremely one-sided. Personally, I haven’t experienced much racism while [...]
Nakizumo Crying Sumo Festival, April 2010
Posted in Japan, Japanese Culture, Travel, tagged Asakusa, constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, Japan, Japanese, life in Japan, nakizumo, Senso-ji, sumo on April 26, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Yesterday, I braved the crowds at Asakusa’s Senso-ji temple to witness a time honored Japanese tradition – shaking babies. No, I don’t mean the sort of behavior that results in Shaken Baby Syndrome, but the infinitely more entertaining one type that involves young sumo wrestlers. Every year on the 4th Sunday of April, Senso-ji Temple [...]
JET Program Application Process: How Does JET Select Candidates?
Posted in JET Program, tagged ALT, application, interview, Japan, Japanese, JET Program, slection process, teaching English in Japan on April 15, 2010 | 49 Comments »
Last Updated: Sept. 4th, 2010 A Note: Please keep in mind the information in this post is based on the content found in Importing Diversity: Inside Japan’s JET Program by David L. McConnell – one of the few published academic studies of the JET Program. Throughout this post, I continuously note when the data was [...]
川崎の金まら祭り AKA The Kawasaki Iron Penis Festival
Posted in Japan, Japanese Culture, Travel, tagged constantine in tokyo, fertility shrine, Japan, Japanese, kanamara matsuri, kawasaki, kawasaki penis festival, shinto on April 5, 2010 | 1 Comment »
About a 30 minute train ride outside of Tokyo is the city of Kawasaki, a typical Japanese suburb that sports a large train station/depaato and many neon-clad pachinko parlors. Every year on the first Sunday of April, Kawasaki is invaded by a flood of gaijin, Tokyo’s LGBT community, and curious onlookers to participate in (or [...]
HBO’s THE PACIFIC
Posted in Book Reviews, Film Reviews, HBO's The Pacific, Japan, Japanese History, tagged Band of Brothers, Eagle Against the Sun, Eugene Sledge, HBO's The Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow, Japan, Japanese history, military, Pacific theater, Robert Leckie, Ronal Spector, Steven Spielberg, The Pacific, Tom Hanks, war, With the Old Breed, World War II, WWII on March 16, 2010 | 13 Comments »
It only takes the opening theme of Band of Brothers to make me cry. Now, I can add The Pacific to that list. I am not embarrassed to admit this, because anyone who is not brought close to tears when they think about World War II is guilty of either the grossest ignorance or the [...]
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