54 days with Murasaki Shikibu

For my next do-whatever-you-want-while-you’re-happily-unemployed project, I’ve given myself 54 days to finish reading Murasaki Shikibu’s Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) – one day for every chapter. It’s certainly possible to read far more than just one chapter in a single twenty-four hour period (and I’m a pretty fast reader myself), but I think [...]

New DVD Review Alert! – Voices of a Distant Star

Hop on over to Wolf Hurricane and read my review of ADV’s R1 DVD release of the 2002 OVA Hoshi no Koe (release title: Voices of a Distant Star), part of the two-volume Shinkai Collection first launched in 2005.

One step closer to the Empire’s borders

I’ve been planning a trip to the Land of Sakura, Sushi and Exorbitant Prices for a very long time, but all of my efforts would have come to naught if I failed to clear the first major hurdle: securing a visa.
Japan has visa exemption arrangements for over 60 countries and territories, but my corner [...]

Zoku Natsume Yuujin-chou – first impressions (and a note on the continuing hiatus)

Hop on over to Wolf Hurricane and read my first-impressions post on the winter anime series Zoku Natsume Yuujin-chou.
This blog’s extended hiatus is drawing to a close. I never actually thought I’d feel busier after quitting my job than before, but that’s precisely what happened: more intensive Japanese language studies, for a start, [...]

Need a friend in Tokyo? Get ready to pay up.

News flash from the BBC: Money can buy happiness! If you’re a Tokyoite, that is.
Friendship has long been a free-market commodity in many parts of the world, but according to BBC correspondent Duncan Bartlett, the realm of the World’s Last Emperor takes things even further by presenting the lonely denizens of its capital [...]

Era, thy name is Seika

Countdown to the first day of the Heisei Era – night of 07-08 January 1989
Twenty years ago to this day, on 08 January 1989, the Showa Era passed into history and the Heisei Era began. The Showa Emperor had died the day before and his son Akihito was now reigning, [...]

Happy New Year!

May your New Year’s Day be like his . . .

. . . and not hers.

Either way, Miko Tsukasa makes everything good. (^_^)
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UPDATE (02 January 2009): Diego’s mum is dragging him and the rest of the family off to their country retreat for a bit of forced R&R and “quality time”, so this [...]