今週

I'm going to Japan this week!

The orientation will take place at the end of next week and the first day of classes is on September 2.

I'm sure I'll be busy once I arrive in Japan, and I'll need to figure out how to connect to the Internet, but I hope to start blogging soon after my arrival.


In addition, here are two books concerning Japan that I've read that may interest you:

Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation

about the hikikomori and other phenomenons of Japanese society and culture

I will point out that this book is kind of depressing and suggests that Japan is doomed.

(also, there is a chapter later on about South Korea and how democracy was achieved there)

available on Amazon

Now the next book!

Japan at a Glance for Young Adults

I bought this book the last time I was in Japan. It's in Japanese and English and it's quite informative. It has many pictures and drawings and lists facts about Japanese culture (mostly traditional things such as art and clothing and so on). It's a great resource about Japanese culture and it's easy to read.

Sections in this book cover various things, including seasons, climate, national symbols, clothing, diet, housing, ceremonies, gestures, transportation, tea ceremony, calligraphy, traditional crafts, shrines, temples, castles, martial arts, origami, sightseeing, religion, education, and so on.

I posted a lot of links about social issues in South Korea over on my Korea blog but I don't think I can do the same for my Japan blog simply because I am not as informed about Japan. I know many resources for finding information and news about Korea, but not for Japan. Like I said, I like East Asian Studies and I really like Korean Studies. I happen to be a lot more familiar with certain Korean things.

While I do come across some articles about Japan once in a while, it is not enough to make frequent link posts.

I also realize that I talked about various things on my Korea blog that most readers were completely unfamiliar with. I realized this because of an experience I had. While I am familiar with K-Pop, I know next to nothing about J-Pop. Sometimes, on the rare occasion that I come across J-Pop or briefly try to look into something I feel like I'm blind. Because I don't know anything about the singers and bands, the industry, or the fandom. It's confusing. So I imagine this may be what it's like for people who are not into K-Pop when I write or post about it.

I'm going to stick this into this post too :)
[TRANS] 130819 ‘The First, The Biggest And The Best’, Making TVXQ’s Japanese ‘Live Tour 2013′ Shine
because I am a fan and I wanted to brag about this