The Japanese fascinate me. I get a steady feed of Japanese information from my wife, who does a lot of business with Japan, and I'm a dedicated reader of web logs by western writers who have been transplanted to Japan and send dispatches about the cultural currents over there. My favorite Japanese expat blogs are Tokyoshoes and Antipixel, but note the list of others great expat Japan blogs linked on Nadine's Tokyoshoes homepage. Unlike many, I'm excited about the comic possibilities of Bill Murray's reportedly slow-moving Japanese culture comedy, Lost in Translation. I don't understand Japanese culture; I never will. But it fascinates me and Japan has a constant, sweet-and-sour travel allure.
Even as the Japanese continue in a decade-long economic funk, their consumerism supports an electronics industry that has a leg up on the US. The the average Japanese cell phone technology, for instance, is 18 months ahead of ours. And they love their cell phones. Check out these photographs illustrating aspects of the Japanese cell phone culture. Here's a Japanese perspective on the features your cell phone should have. But students of Japanese consumerism may tell you that the cell phone craze will turn as soon as the fickle Japanese find the next thing. The so-called "herd mentality" is apparently a central driver of what the Japanese like, and just as suddenly, what they no longer like. A few years ago skiing was the craze in Japan. Outside of Tokyo they built an artificial mountain for skiing (it's called SSAWS, which stands for "spring, summer, autumn and winter snow"). Here's a Japanese site about it with lots of photos. I'm told the craze has now shifted and the massive SSAWS artificial mountain closed on September 30, 2002. Reportedly, the new thing the Japanese are crazy about is soccer.
Moshi Moshi, Ernie sent me this post. I'm his kid brother; lived in Japan for nearly five years ('86-'90). I went because my Panamanian granfather encouraged me to go . He was agreat admirer of the Japanese, said they were more intelligent than the rest of the world. I don't know about that, but they're pretty damn special. They love gadgets; the smaller the better. Hell, there's no space. I had a great time and many wild experiences. I would love to go back, but I've got two girls, 8 and 7, so we haven't taken any long trips for a while. And when the girls are a little older and I can take some time off, I'm going to Italy! I'll keep up with your site!
Posted by: Stu Svenson | October 30, 2003 at 10:42 AM