Welcome to Purgatory

bakachon:

American teacher in Japan under fire for lessons on Japan’s history of discrimination:

Miki Dezaki, who first arrived in Japan on a teacher exchange program in 2007, wanted to learn about the nation that his parents had once called home. He taught English, explored the country and affectionately chronicled his cross-cultural adventures on social media, most recently on YouTube, where he gained a small following for videos like “Hitchhiking Okinawa” and the truly cringe-worthy “What Americans think of Japan.” One of them, on the experience of being gay in Japan, attracted 75,000 views and dozens of thoughtful comments.
Dezaki didn’t think the reaction to his latest video was going to be any different, but he was wrong. “If I should have anticipated something, I should have anticipated the netouyu,” he told me, referring to the informal army of young, hyper-nationalist Japanese Web users who tend to descend on any article — or person — they perceive as critical of Japan.
But before the netouyu put Dezaki in their crosshairs, sending him death threats and hounding his employers, previous employers and even the local politicians who oversee his employers, there was just a teacher and his students.
Dezaki began his final lesson with a 1970 TV documentary, Eye of the Storm, often taught in American schools for its bracingly honest exploration of how good-hearted people — in this case, young children participating in an experiment — can turn to racism. After the video ended, he asked his students to raise their hands if they thought racism existed in Japan. Almost none did. They all thought of it as a uniquely American problem.
Gently, Dezaki showed his students that, yes, there is also racism in Japan. He carefully avoided the most extreme and controversial cases — for example, Japan’s wartime enslavement of Korean and other Asian women for sex, which the country today doesn’t fully acknowledge — pointing instead to such slang terms as “bakachon camera.” The phrase, which translates as “idiot Korean camera,” is meant to refer to disposable cameras so easy to use that even an idiot or a Korean could do it.
He really got his students’ attention when he talked about discrimination between Japanese groups. People from Okinawa, where Dezaki happened to be teaching, are sometimes looked down upon by other Japanese, he pointed out, and in the past have been treated as second-class citizens. Isn’t that discrimination?
“The reaction was so positive,” he recalled. For many of them, the class was a sort of an a-ha moment. “These kids have heard the stories of their parents being discriminated against by the mainland Japanese. They know this stuff. But the funny thing is that they weren’t making the connection that that was discrimination.” From there, it was easier for the students to accept that other popular Japanese attitudes about race or class might be discriminatory.
The vice principal of the school said he wished more Japanese students could hear the lesson. Dezaki didn’t get a single complaint. No one accused him of being an enemy of Japan.
That changed a week ago…

read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/02/22/american-teacher-in-japan-under-fire-for-lessons-on-japans-history-of-discrimination/

ashisaloser:

the-grudge-girl:

Answer Man
The Answer Man is an urban legend about a game that is played by kids in Japan. They say the game can invoke an evil spirit that will answer any question given to it.
You need:
Ten people who each own a cell phone
Step 1: Gather ten people in a loose circle. Each person must have the cell phone number of the person to their left.

Step 2: On the count of three, each person presses the call button to contact the person on their left

Step 3: Everyone puts their phone to their ear and listens

Because everyone is calling each other at the same time, all of the phones should be busy and nobody should receive an answer.

However, one person will find that their call is mysteriously answered and they will hear a voice on the other end of the line.

This is the Answer Man.

When you are on the phone with the Answer Man, you can ask him anything. He will answer whatever questions you choose to ask him. However, after he gives you your answer, he will have a question for you. They say that if you answer his questions incorrectly or are unable to give an answer, a large gnarled hand will appear from the phone and tear off a piece of your body.

who wants to do this with me?

575 | Perfume

Miss A - Touch

erucres:

Chata - Ayumi

Compose & Arrange: bermei.inazawa, ESTi, Oshima Hiroyuki, zts, k-shi, mewlist

From the album “Jiritsu ~Sayonara 20dai~”

Doujin Circle: Sayonara 20dai Seisaku Iinkai

erucres:

Yanagi Nagi - Light Song (prkrock edition)

From the album “Cover of Parallel Filter”

Doujin Circle: -PF audio-

gunbla:

“おおかみは赤ずきんに恋をした” by YURiCa (ユリカ) and Pokota from the album “Dirndl.Frau”

erucres:

Katakiri Rekka - Kakushin no Toki

From the album “Villa Olmoka b”

Doujin Circle: Closed/Underground

milesjai:

ポイント (Point) | Perfume

軽やか風吹いて優しく揺らすの
“The light breeze blows and gently sways,”
空まで届いて永遠に続いていく
“It goes on forever until it reaches the sky.”

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FUCKING SONG FOREVER.