A Rough History of Japanese Advertising (and its relationship with pop culture)

I recently took a course on Soft Power/Pop Culture in Japan, and had to do a research project for my final. I'm really proud of myself for not only the research I did, but also for writing my research paper in Japanese. It's the most complex piece of Japanese writing I've done so far, and...

Being Naked is Better with Art, and Art is Better Naked….with sento murals, at least

Japan loves baths, and Japan loves art. So what could be better than looking at some art while you're in the bath? Let's delve into the world of bathhouse murals! Just a quick little translation moment - the term for Japanese baths that you may be familiar with is onsen (温泉). What I'm talking about is sento (戦闘). Onsen refers...

The Surprising Cultural History of….Tentacle Porn

Ok, so I'm sure everyone knows jokes about Japanese tentacle porn. Pretty much everyone knows it exists, but no one knows why. Well....I guess it's actually pretty obvious why it exists....rule 34 and whatnot. What people DON'T know is that tentacle porn has been in Japanese art the 19th century, and perhaps even earlier. So...

Nerikomi Pottery

So, I actually had no idea what nerikomi was until I saw one of those "oddly satisfying" videos that everyone shares on Facebook. And then I got really interested. So I dug into it and am here to share my Facebook clickbait inspired research with you. That video is right below if you're interested. Nerikomi...

Hitofude Ryuu: Badass Art in One Stroke

So, hitofude ryuu (一筆龍) basically translates to "dragon with one brush/stroke." It's an art a bit like traditional ink calligraphy. And it's absolutely amazing. And badass. Anyway, I'll lay it out in a basic process for everyone Big calligraphy brush + sumi ink + years and years of hard training + one incredible artist =...