Good news everyone! I have just launched a new blog: 怠け者マイク which means ‘Lazy Mike’ or something like that.
It only contains three updates right now, which are the three I wrote as essays for my lecturer, but I hope to update it once I arrive in Japan in September. When that happens I will probably keep posting them here as well, but it’s nice to have a place where they are all kept together.
So check it out!
That’s right! 21 years ago on March 29th, something terrible happened! But at the same time I was born! So now that makes me 21!
I was going to write a huge post with my thoughts for the year blah blah blah, but I’m having a huge party so I will be too drunk to write anything. The truth is I actually wrote this post earlier on the 28th, then set my blog to post it on the 29th. So this message is coming from the past!
Anyway, thanks for all the support. I’m going to keep blogging through my year at Sophia, so stay tuned!
A Japanese doctor has apologised after saying that people should smoke themselves to an early death to save the country money on elderly care, according to his hospital.
“It is clear that medical costs will increase if non-smoking spreads,” the doctor said last week, according to Ida Hospital in Kawasaki City. “It’s better that people smoke a lot and die early.”
I’m sorry, but when I saw this (on Yahoo! News) I realised I pretty much had to make a blog post about it. Apparently at some big meeting of leading doctors in Japan, one of them busts out this golden gem, that the only way for Japan to relieve the stress of it’s shrinking population is to have everyone smoke themselves to death to stop them claiming a pension and so on.
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s taken a while but finally the US got a president who seemed to offer a whole new look on foreign policy. Being able to post that was an incredibly exciting and refreshing feeling; for the first time in at least eight years, a lot of people felt the US had a president to be proud of, rather than one that should be sent back to primary school, but made to sit away from the other children so as not to distract them.
Obama’s not let us down, either. So far, so good. But what plenty of people are wondering will be ‘What are Obama’s plans for Japan?’ Historically, Japan and the US have had a very close economic and military link, one that has caused tension particularly on the Japanese side, especially with issues like the military bases, Okinawa and Article 9.
I’ve written up a few goals for Japan that I think we can realistically hope for. Please post your thoughts / other goals we might hope to see.
1. Less American forces in Japan
I’m jumping right in and tackling a hot-topic issue here. There are roughly 50,000 US troops in Japan, stationed all over the country with lots in Yokohama (near Tokyo) and Okinawa in particular. The bases in Okinawa are a big issue, because they simply take up so much space and as a result Okinawan culture has sort of been pushed aside by the Japanese government who were and still are desperate to catch up and mimic with the US, and the Americans who sadly only speak English in general.
So Obama how about we have less troops in Japan?! I know there’s a security reason, especially with North Korea being all aggressive and so on, but the continuous expansion of US military presence is simply too aggressive – people see it as a threat rather than a protector. My theory is Obama have up to half of the soldiers in Japan retrain as builders and bricklayers, and build a huuuuge bridge between Japan and Okinawa. Before September 2009, please. I want to go during my year but it’s too expensive.
2. Better Cultural Understanding
Too many times in Japan did I hear ‘You’re from England? Isn’t that in America?” or the like. I’d like to see a closer cultural link between the US and Japan, which would inevitably lead to closer links with Europe, Australia and so on. Making it easier for people to go on holiday to Japan, do exchanges there and vice versa would help everyone and stop the immigration madness we currently go through. Here in the UK universities offering Chinese are getting extra funding as it’s seen as a key subject, why not Japanese too?
Click for bigger! It's authenti...ok, it's not...
I think of these goals this is one of the more realistic ones, so come on! Reform that education system and get Japan, the US and everyone else all working together to help me learn these Kanji!
3. An Obama-Koizumi Dance Off
With Obama being as freaking cool as he is, and ex-PM Koizumi being a great dancer, how awesome would this be?! I reckon one round of ballroom, one round of Latin and a freestyle round. Who would your money be on?
So Christmas and 2009 are nearly upon us. I thought I’d take a (slightly self-centered) look back at the last 12 months, and what they signify for the blog and myself. This post probably isn’t going to be hugely interesting, although I’ll try my best to make it an interesting read.
It was the year I made my move onto Youtube, spent three months in Tokyo with no money, and danced a traditional dance in front of an awful lot of people, all of which were pretty scary. I’ve done a month by month breakdown; see if you can read the whole thing without collapsing from boredom!
January 2008
Wow, a long time ago now. I was revising for my first year exams, something I’d kill to go back and do again now – revising for the second year ones is a lot less fun. I wrote 11 articles, mostly about the news and other cultural stuff. I also wrote my most-commented on post of all time (All About Mixi) although most of the posts are just people asking me to invite them to Mixi – something I can’t do anymore. I think my favourite post of the month was Otaku Spotting: A Guide, a post that got me a hilarious email from some Japanese guy in Tokyo who mailed me to thank me for stopping him from looking like an otaku. Hey, every little helps!
February 2008
This month saw me whine about my exam results and little else. It was a pretty slow month, mainly because I didn’t do much except be at university. I made my return to Flickr and started taking photos again, so I guess that’s something. Best post for me was Underwater Train to Korea : Good Idea? which I loved writing, and it got some funny comments too, so all in all a fun post to write.
March 2008
Well the most important thing was me turning the big 20. I got some lovely messages through the site and email so thanks to everyone for those. It was also the month I saved up enough cash for my Japan 2008 trip and went snowboarding in Chamonix, France. My favourite post was Anime Karaoke? Lame! 5 Karaoke Suggestions although I never got a deal to form a highly successful gimmick Karaoke bar from it! >:(
April 2008
The first time I ever posted a Youtube video on the blog, although it wasn’t mine. I also posted about Ryuki Omura, pen spinning champion, which weirdly enough got me an awful lot of traffic – there’s a lot of people out there who want to hear more about this guy, someone capitalize, quick! I also danced Soran Bushi for an unsuspecting crowd, and wrote The Horrors Of Jpop, a post that got a response from the guy that owns JList. (That site where they charge eleven times retail price for a box of Pocky.)
May 2008
A very slow month. I’m going to save some INTERNET WORDS and just post my favourite post of the month: Tired? Stressed? Call on Paro, the Robot Seal, my favourite purely because that seal really was creepy.
June 2008
So I headed to Japan, with no money and no plan! I had a great time, and it felt great to write some posts in the style of my old 2006 writing. Something I want to do is go back and have a good read of all my old stuff, and try to move forwards into 2009 with a new style built up from all my old writing. Or just get drunk and smash the keyboard. Favourite post was The Donut Lion! simply because I met the donut lion!
July 2008
This is when I started to realise I had to be careful with cash over the summer. Still, I had a great time. I’m going to cheat and choose all three of the ‘drink review’ video posts I put up for my favourite this month – I wish I’d done more. At least they wouldn’t get removed from Youtube for ‘copyright infringement’. (More coming on this next year!) So yes, The Drink Trilogy were my favourites. (Not sure they deserve such an epic name!)
August 2008
The month I recorded translation stations one and two (again, now no longer available on Youtube. THANKS FUJI TV!) which between them got over 150,000 views until they disappeared. Japan Is Doomed also turned 2 years old, which means it should be talking by itself soon. It was also the month I went to the Koenji Awaodori, which was great for me – it was one of the only honestly totally new things I experienced in Japan, so it was very JID 2006. (ie. before I sold out)
September 2008
A terrible month! I had to come back to the UK! Plus, I had to start university! (Well, October 1st really). Still, I had a good month – I had my rant about Japanese immigration, which turned into a crazy comments battle, and got to go to my second Junten School festival. (Which was a nostalgia overload!) Meeting the new volunteers was great too, and taking my mother for my first trip up Tokyo tower was cool, too. Heading to Nikko and writing Nikko, Japan’s Other Shrine Central was awesome.
October 2008
From here on the blog, and especially my Youtube, slowed way, way down. I posted one new video and then haven’t since then, something I want to sort out in the new year. I’m struggling to really spot a post that jumps out at me, but if pushed I’d say New Youtube Account & LEAVE PALIN ALONE! simply because I wish Sarah Palin would be left alone. (In a well)
November 2008
Only one important thing this month. Obama Wins! Having followed and supported him for months made it all the sweeter. I also did those crazy ‘Guess the Japanese band name’ posts, but all in all a lazy month as work was piling up.
December 2008
So here we are. 12 months of fun, photos and complex grammatical conjugations. Wait, that doesn’t sound fun. Oh well, it was fun. I also hit 200 posts on the blog. One thing that definitely did stand out for me this month is being placed at Sophia university, which I’m really happy about. So post of the month is Studying Abroad at Sophia University / 上智大学 which makes me smile when I see it. I can’t wait!
So, 12 months, 12 posts that aren’t random photoshops and bizarre statements about random news articles! (Well, some of them are). I hope you guys enjoyed my writing this year, I’ve loved the feedback and so on I get. I am going to keep writing into 2009, and I have no intention of closing the blog. I’m hoping to do another post before 2009, but no promises, as I’m pretty good at missing blog posts. So, just incase I don’t get chance to say it;
From Mike @ JapanIsDoomed.com