August 27, 2014 by Jd Banks

This Week at Jade’s Escape: Godzilla, Big Hero 6 Manga

Godzilla

I watched the new Godzilla movie.

It gets Razzie of the Year in my book.

Unused talent: Ken Watanabe and Bryan Cranston do not work together. It’s not even a Bryan Cranston movie.
One-dimensional actor takes the boring lead: Aaron Taylor-Johnson keeps looking at the camera, adding to his unconvincing role as Bryan Cranston’s military son.
Too many kids: This is not a family movie! When did throwing kids into the mix equal “human element”? True Lies, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, and Back to the Future had kids in them, but they actually served some role other than “Let’s make this a family movie.”
Gun/nuclear-happy Americans: I would have to say that this pro-military movie portrays Americans’ top specialty–using their guns first and coming up with sound answers later.
Horrible villain monsters: In the Godzilla franchise, there are tons of interesting and badass monsters to choose from. I would’ve gone with King Shisa (I’m impartial to the Okinawan shisa) or King Gydra (the Hydra).
Picture from the best Godzilla books ever in Japan, ゴジラ人間 series, printed in 1984 by Shogakukan Publishing.
Friendly Godzilla: When was Godzilla on our side? OK, so he crushed a few buildings, but he’s nothing like the Godzilla from the past franchise.
Movie should’ve ended in the beginning: If you’re a foreign who gets arrested in Japan, unless you’re married to a Japanese person, you’ll get deported, not sent back to your apartment. Godzilla would’ve easily ended in the first 20 minutes of the movie.
Japanese people don’t speak English: Sorry, English teachers, but I know this as an English teacher here in Japan. Few Japanese people speak English, especially fluent English, and most freak out when they see a foreigner, even if it’s in a convenience store.
Japanese people don’t take orders from Americans: How many foreign executives have you seen in Japan?

I started watching the 1998 Godzilla: The Series TV show just to wash the taste out of my mouth.

Big Hero 6 Manga

This is a first: before Disney’s Big Hero 6 release, Disney is releasing the manga for free through Amazon.co.jp, Boollive!, and Yahoo! Bookstores etc. from August 20th (limited time only). You can read the manga in Japanese here.

August 26, 2014 by Jd Banks

Women’s Equality in Japan

Happy Women’s Equality Day!

Women’s equality in Japan has come a way–not so long, not so short–but Japanese women are still seen as servants in and outside of Japan.

You can see the inequality by how many women are in various areas of Japanese life. In politics, less than 30 percent of the Diet has female politicians, and only 2 out of 18 people on Prime Minister Abe’s cabinet are women. In business, only 1 percent of senior executives are women and the gender wage gap is around 28 percent. Even in daily life, women’s inequality is visible.

Living in Japan, I’ve seen many Japanese women who work full-time and still make 3 meals a day for their children and husbands as well as care for the elderly. Some people could say that lunch, cleaning, and familial duties are signs of love for women. “OK, carry this human for 9 months, give birth, clean up, wake up, and raise that child into adulthood, make meals for the child and husband for 30 years, and work the same hours for only 72 percent of the pay.” Does that sound like love? It sounds like servitude. I’m not saying that women shouldn’t cook, clean, or take care of their families. I’m saying that there are other able-bodied persons in a family who can share the duties. Besides, learning how to cook, clean, and take care of others are skills every person should have to live–everybody eats.

Outside of Japan, the stereotype is Japanese women are subservient. When it comes down to Japanese women marrying non-Japanese men, that stereotype is untrue. Why do you think most single, average-looking foreign men who come to Japan marry beautiful Japanese wives? Many Japanese girls and women think foreign men will cook, clean, and take care of the family. Where this idea came from I’m not sure (my money’s on Hollywood). Even my students say to me, “I want to marry a foreigner.” The funny things is the illusion of subservient Japanese women helps Japanese women marry foreigners. Once the curtain falls away, most foreign men realize that Japanese women aren’t as mousy as they thought.

I may be against the way Japanese women are seen, but I greatly respect Japanese women. They raise their families, take care of their bodies, and help each other when help is needed. Even though I don’t have kids, as a married woman, I’m suddenly part of a community of women who trade recipes, talk about their problems, and go walking together. These women are responsible for fostering children’s imaginations while filling their tummies with nutritious foods. It’s better than some women who substitute healthy cooking with cheap blood-clotting burgers, have 3 to 5 children from different fathers, and can’t take care of their physical, mental, emotional, or financial well being. In this way, irresponsible women have a long way to go.

August 20, 2014 by Jd Banks

Submit Your Info to the Cartoonists of Color Database

Awesome!

The Nerds of Color

For the last several days, the award-winning graphic novelist MariNaomi has taken to social media to solicit names for a database of cartoonists of color she is currently assembling. And now you can help by adding your name to the list!

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August 19, 2014 by Jd Banks

Viz Media Announces the Release of Manga Story Collection Time Killers by the Creator of Blue Exorcist

Cool!

Lesley's Anime and Manga Corner

Viz Media is announcing that the company is releasing Kazue Kato’s Time Killers manga story collection on September 2, 2014.

The single-volume standalone collection of manga shorts from the creator of the Blue Exorcist manga series will be published under the Shonen Jump imprint, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $17.99 CAN. Time Killers also features 13 pages of full-color artwork as well as a fold-out, full-color gatefold poster. Included in this collection is Boku to Usagi (Me and the Rabbit), as well as the stories and character designs that would become her breakthrough series, Blue Exorcist.

A digital version of Time Killers will launch digitally on September 2, 2014 for $10.99 (USD/CAN) from VIZManga.com and through the VIZ MANGA App for the Apple iPad®, iPhone® and iPod® touch, Android-powered smart phones, as well as through the store…

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August 18, 2014 by Jd Banks

Manga Pens for Manga Artists Outside of Japan

Japanese manga artists have it good. They can walk to the nearest bookstore and buy any line of pens all suited for creating manga. Artists outside of Japan, however, have a challenge in getting manga-purposed supplies, especially cheap inking pens.

Right now, pens by Too are cornering the inked market. They make Copic-brand supplies, from nibs to colored liners. In Japan, a set of 9 regular Copic multiliner pens are around 1795 yen or $18 while Western online shops sell them for more than $20. Copic drawing pens with nibs and Copic Ciao color brush pens are 250 yen or $2.50 each, half the cost of what Western stores sell.

So where do you get these pens and how much do they cost? Here’s a list of online stores selling pens for manga artists and ship internationally. (Prices may vary.)

Brand / Pen Type	# of Pens	DickBlick	JetPens	Jerry’s Artarama	Chicago Airbrush Supply	Blue Line Pro	Comic Artist Supplies	Akadot
Copic Multiliner Fine Nib Pens	1		$4.60			$2.99
Copic Multiliner Fine Nib Pens	4	$8.69
Copic Multiliner Fine Nib Pens	7	$16.75				$20.93
Copic Multiliner Assorted	9	$19.95				$26.91
Copic Multiliner SP	1			$7.96		$8.95		$7.55
Copic Multiliner SP Set	5					$44.75
Copic Multiliner SP Set	10					$89.50
Sakura Manga Sensei Series	1				$1.99		$2.00
Sakura Manga Sensei Series	6						$11.99
Sakura Manga Sensei Series	9	$11.62
Sakura Pigma Micropen	3			$6.72	$5.28
Sakura Pigma Micropen Set	6			$13.04	$10.56
Sakura Pigma Manga Comic Pro Set	6	$7.97					$18.00
Sakura Pigma All-Black Collection Cube	16						$39.99
Kuretake Manga Penholder	1
Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Pen	1		$2.15
Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Set	3
Deleter Neopiko Line 2 Pen	1					$3.99		$5.40
Tria Triple Nib Marker	1			$2.49		$5.99
Faber-Castell Extra Superfine Pitt Pen	1			$2.06	$2.10
Faber-Castell Pen Set	8				$13.97
Faber-Castell Extra Superfine Pitt Pen Set	10			$26.68
Prismacolor Illustration Markers	4			$7.32
Prismacolor Premier Fine Line Marker Sets	5				$9.93
Prismacolor Premier Fine Line Marker Sets	8				$15.87
Acruit Technical Drawing Pen	1			$1.00
Acruit Technical Drawing Pen Set	9			$8.99
Acruit Technical Drawing Pen Set	12			$9.99
Isoman Technoart Pen Nib	1			$1.99
Marvy Uchida LePen	12			$15.48
Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph Points	1			$16.35
Rapidograph Pens	1			$25.26	$24.83
Pentel Sign Pen	1				$1.23
E + M Artists Nib Holder	1		$9.50
Tachikawa Linemarker	1		$13.50
Tachikawa School-G Nib Pen	1		$6.75					$5.80 – $6.58
Zebra Comic Pen Nib Holder	1		$3.30
STABILO Fineliner Pen	1				$.75
STABILO Sensor Pen	1				$1.49

*All prices are not guaranteed, so please check with their websites.

Japanimation

This online anime store has two pen lines, the Deleter Neopiko Line 2 Pens ($47.19 for 10) and the Tachikawa New Nib School-G Pens ($10.39 for 1). They also have international shipping.

Manga University

This online manga university also sells manga tools, including Tachikawa All-in-One Manga Pen ($9.99 for 1) and the Ultimate Manga Pen Set ($24.99 for Tachikawa and Nikko nibs and nib holders). To calculate your country’s postage, enter your location after adding the item(s) to your cart.

For UK artists, there are 2 shops that will ship to you at a cheap rate.

Kuretake Shop

This is the UK-based shop of the brand, Kuretake. Their most-popular pens are the Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Pens ($1.94 for 1 or $4.36 for 3). The Kuretake Shop only ships to the UK and Europe.

Scribblers

What better way to find Japanese pens and pen holders than by going to a calligraphy specialty store. This shop has everything calligraphy related, including art pens. They carry Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Pens (£1.55 for 1, £4.75 for 3), Kuretake Manga Pen Holders (£5.05 for 1), and Kurecolor Fine and Brush for Manga (£2.45 for 1), including the VAT at 20 percent. Scribblers has international shipping.

For even cheaper supplies, don’t forget to sign up for the shops’ club cards or mailing lists.

Dick Blick offers a 10 percent discount if you have a Dick Blick Preferred Card.

Jerry’s Artarama has various discounts when you’ve signed up for their Online Email Club.

Blue Line Pro has a yearly membership for their Club Blue Artist Discount Club that drops prices by 15 percent. This membership isn’t free—it costs $14.99 per year.

Akadot’s Retail Membership is $15 per year to get a 5 percent discount on your purchases. After $1000 of purchases, they’ll give you a $20 gift card.

Jade’s Recommendation

When I first started drawing manga, I used to buy the Sakura Pigma and Pigma Micron pens at Michael’s (they sell them at full retail price). I didn’t have a car or much money. It was when I started going to conventions that I saw there were many different pens out there, and I quickly realized that pens from Sakura Pigma and Faber-Castell were stealing my money. Both brands don’t give you enough ink (that’s why they’re so lightweight), the nibs break or split in half after a few uses, and the line quality is really bad. Right now, I’m using Copic, Tachikawa, and Mitsubishi pens. They give me a good amount of ink and the nib replacements are cheap and easy to find. They do cost more than Sakura Pigma and Faber-Castell pens, but they’re also higher quality.

Professional Artist Veronica Fish’s Reviews

Review of Marvy Uchida’s LePen Series

http://veronicahebs.blogspot.jp/2013/05/review-le-pen-le-plume-pen-sets.html

Review of Pentel, Zebra Comic, Tachikawa School-G, Deleter #5, and Lowe Cornell Pens and Brushes:

http://veronicahebs.blogspot.jp/2011/02/manga-pens-comic-art-supplies-review.html

Review of Pentel Brush Pens: http://veronicahebs.blogspot.jp/2010/01/japanese-brush-pens-review.html

If you’d like a printable version of this post to compare prices, you can download Manga Pens for Microsoft Word.

UPDATED (6/29/2015): Nibs are an alternative to using liners and pens. For a guide on nibs and nib holders, check out JetPens’ Guide to Nibs and Nib Holders.

August 17, 2014 by Jd Banks

Traded an Aged Theme for an Old One

The “Suits” theme aged on me, so I changed to the “Misty Look” theme. Other WordPress blogs don’t use this one much anymore because it’s old (2010 is considered ancient in internet terms). I wanted this new layout to be kinder to the eyes and easier on the clicks. I hope you like it!

August 11, 2014 by Jd Banks

Lefties in Japan: Do Southpaws Get Little Love Here, Too?

Happy International Left-handers’ Day!

Did you know I’m left-handed? My father, my grandfather, my aunt, and my husband are also left-handed. Imagine all the smear stains we’ve gotten on our cuffs, how many artful turns of a paper we did to avoid ruined sleeves, how many decisions we’d have to make–throw left or right?–in our entire lives. No matter how many left-handers there are in my family, there aren’t many in the world (only 10 percent!). Left-handers are just as rare in Japan as in the States, but unlike their American counterparts, they don’t have as much trouble dealing with a right-side world.

In Japan, left-handedness isn’t seen as a conspiracy to make do with the Devil as it is in Western and Catholic countries. Sure, there was a time when Japanese viewed southpaws as impractical because of traditional calligraphy writing. Even though Japanese people still write from left to right when they make banners, the taboo of being left-handed, or giccho, is considered old news.

In recent times, Japanese students use regular notebooks or genkou youshi (原稿用紙), a Japanese manuscript paper for writing essays. This kind of paper has little boxes, each box for one character, and they’re read from right to left. Because traditional Japanese is read from the top downwards, essays are written the same way, top to down. It makes it easier for us lefties to write an essay in Japan, even if they’re apology or detention essays (you’ll see it in manga, anime, or in the discipline office in Japanese schools).

Poor Houtarou from Hyouka has to re-write an essay he forgot at home.

Of course, left-handers in Japan still face problems in the right-hander world. In contrast to manuscript paper, writing calligraphy on horizontal banners is oriented for right-handers. I wonder if famous calligraphers like Michiko Imai, Shinjo Ito, or Shingai Tanaka ever had trouble writing Japanese characters.

Oh, Flanders, you'll only get orders from Japan. Go online!

Oh, Flanders, the Simpsons and the Leftorium are washed up. Get your butt online, man!

Looking for your real Leftorium? Here are some shops that can help you with your left-handed needs on this fine International Left-handers Day:

1. Lefty’s – https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/ (Special discounts on International Left-handers’ Day)

2. Anything Left-Handed – http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/

3. RU-Lefthanded – http://ru-lefthanded.co.uk/ocart/

4. Left-hand N.Z. – http://www.lefthandnz.com/

August 2, 2014 by Jd Banks

Fun Link Friday: Three Tales of Okiku

This will definitely go with the Manga Corner’s summer podcast about obon and Children of the Sea.

What can I do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies?

Obon season is fast upon us, so get into a spooky mood with three variations on the one of Japan’s most famous ghost stories over on Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai.

Okiku is one of the most interesting yurei in Japan. She is a true folktale, with multiple versions spread across the country. Anywhere there is an old castle and a well, there is a legend of Okiku. She isn’t always named Okiku, and she isn’t always counting plates, but the same details are there.
Here are three translations of some different versions of the legends. I started with the oldest, so you can see how the tale has changed over time. Over the course of learning about her, Okiku changed from a yurei I thought was kind of boring, to one of my favorites. She is the most Japanese of Japan’s famous ghosts.

If you like Okiku, there’s going to be a whole…

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August 1, 2014 by Jd Banks

Happy International Beer Day!

How’s beer in Japan? The good news is Japanese beer is cheaper than any Western beers like Budweiser and Guinness ranging from 80 yen a can to 320 yen for a bottle. The bad news is Japanese beers all taste alike. “The nail that sticks up must be hammered down” is a proverb that explains both Japanese culture and the sameness between the top beer brands in Japan. I don’t know if it’s Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo, or Orion’s faults for making these beers. Maybe it’s just the people who’ve learned not deviate from the tastes of their peers and try something new, and so, the companies cater to their flavors.

I would recommend going to a liquor store, local brewery, import wine shop, or a good bar that sells import drinks for different beer tastes. My favorite place is the import wine shop in Chatan that carries imported German, Austrian, and Italian lagers and alcohol. Just watch out for the price tag–imports are very expensive.

July 31, 2014 by Jd Banks

McDonald’s Japan just released Tofu Nuggets, and they taste… 【Taste Test】

Tofu-mixed nuggets don’t sound so bad. Sounds more like a bento element invaded the menu. Thank goodness I don’t eat at McDonald’s or fast food joints. Those places are poison factories.

July 29, 2014 by Jd Banks

7 Useful Websites to Survive in Japan

Imagine getting an invitation to your welcome party and a co-worker hands you a map to the location. You don’t think to ask about the place or what do all the squiggly lines mean–not like you can if you don’t know Japanese–so when the time comes to go to the welcome party, you realize that you don’t know the way. But that’s only one worry from living in Japan. Japanese language resources, English books, organic products, and even emoticons are different in the Land of the Rising Sun. Thanks to the internet, you can simplify your needs while living in Japan.

Google Maps: In Japan, you can easily get lost. There are no street names, and multiple routes with the same number make finding a certain business nearly impossible. Good thing all businesses must print their ads with a map to their shop…right? If everyone relied on those 5-centimeter sized maps, no one in Japan would use Google Maps. My advice: stick to landmarks!

Japanese Emoticons: Western emoticons are great, but Japanese ones are easier to read and have more pizzazz. Plus, each emoticon conveys the exact emotion I’m looking for in a tweet or email. ＼（＾▽＾）／

Japanese Fonts: If you’re learning Japanese or you make anything with text in Japan, this website is the best! You can download and install the fonts that actually write Japanese, not the gibberish you find on Fontspace. Just be on the look out for the fine print. Some fonts are licensed for non-commercial uses, which means you can only use them for unpaid projects.

Book Depository: Japan has a severe lack of English books that aren’t condensed readers for English exam takers. Some Japanese English-reading residents are fine with the scant choices of English literature at Toda Books and Book Off (they mostly have YA and best sellers). For those who want books without the expensive shipping fee from Ebay, Amazon, Abebooks, Book Depository is the best. They ship books worldwide for free. Are the books cheaper than Ebay or Amazon? No, they’re full price, but they’re brand new books.

iHerb: If you’re missing your beloved African soap bars or certain organic cookie mixes and you can’t get them from home, iHerb is the next best option. They have a flat $4 shipping rate to Japan and they sell organic and vegan household products.

Weblio: Japanese is hard. Even Google Translate has a hard time making Japanese understandable. Weblio is another translation website that offers a literal translation of the English and example sentences using the main verb.

Wunderground: Between June and October, Japan is plagued with typhoons and stormy weather. Reliable English-language weather forecast sites like Wunderground are few in total, considering that many are in Japanese. Still, Wunderground is a good place to watch any severe weather changes in the Western-Pacific region.

July 26, 2014 by Jd Banks

Make your own cup of noodles at the Instant Ramen Museum

Instant ramen noodle vending machines? Only in Japan!

slouching somewhere

Open lid. Pour powder from the packet into cup. Pour hot water. Close lid. Wait for three minutes. Open lid again and have a quick and hot filling cup of instant ramen.

This was how I was introduced to ramen. Since our comforting noodle soups here in the Philippines are of the batchoy and mami varieties (both must-tries if ever you find yourself in the Philippines), my first slurp of the Japanese noodle soup was from a styro Nissin Cup. I didn’t love it but I thought it was genius. No cooking involved! It’s like being 16 and letting that boy you sort of like hold your hand just because you think holding hands is the best thing ever. (That’s acceptable behavior, right?) And then you get to taste the real thing. Authentic ramen from its motherland, fresh noodles, broth that has been deliciously boiling for hours, mouthwatering slices of…

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July 22, 2014 by Jd Banks

Square Enix and Humble Bundle offering “Pay What You Want” Games for Charity

Like PC games? Into recent hits Deus Ex, Hitman, Silent Assassin, or Lara Croft? For the next 13 days, Square Enix is teaming up with digital bundle master Humble Bundle, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and GamesAid to offer popular games for any amount you want to pay for them.

“Pay $1 or more for Thief Gold, Mini Ninjas, Daikatana, Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Anachronox,” the Humble Bundle website says. “If you pay more than the average price, you’ll also get Deus Ex: Invisible War, Deus Ex: The Fall, Hitman: Absolution,Battlestations Midway and the Nosgoth Veteran Pack. Those who pay $14.99 or more will receive all of the above, plus Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut,Just Cause 2, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days.”

Your contribution can go to Humble Bundle, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, or GamesAid, a UK video games charity for disabled people.

For more information go to Humble Bundle’s website here.

July 21, 2014 by Jd Banks

Manga Assistant’s Dream Realized: The Princess of Tennis Review

When I was 13, I wanted to be a manga creator. Between college and Japan, I forgot that dream. After reading Jamie Lynn Lano’s The Princess of Tennis, that 15-year-old dream cried out and I realized why: Lano never forgot her dream and became a manga assistant for Takeshi Konomi’s The Prince of Tennis, or TeniPuri by some fans.

Lano’s journey starts with already living in Japan for 4 years as an English teacher before applying to Konomi’s call for manga assistants. Throughout the book, Lano not only talks about how manga is made (it’s less technical than I thought) but also the ups and downs of being a 6-foot-1 foreign woman in Japan.

The Princess of Tennis is an easy and fun read. Lano keeps the tone light and friendly, and when she turns to darker themes–the invisible red tape for foreigners, real Japanese customs, and women’s 1950’s role in Japanese culture–Lano always remembers that this true story is a happy one, minus the tinted glasses.

While Lano makes her book accessible for all readers, The Princess of Tennis best fits otaku and aspiring manga creators and editors. She uses Japanese words and emoticons that anyone can find in a manga. For readers outside of the manga-reading audience, this book comes off as a borderline Young Adult novel or fanfiction, especially when the grammatical errors are considered. Because Lano’s voice and amiable nature is consistent, readers can forgive the missing words, incorrect punctuation marks, and passive sentences.

As with many books about Japan, The Princess of Tennis uses many Japanese words. Some might find it charming, but I believe that if a book is for the English-reading community, it should stay in English. I wouldn’t say, “Konomi Teacher”. Even “Mr. Konomi” is passable. Still, I’d just omit the word. In the West, using someone’s last name is also a sign of respect. Untranslated Japanese words with simple English meanings–“ohayo” (“Good morning”), “hajimemashite” (“Nice to meet you”), and “ganbare” (“Good luck” or “Do your best”)–are still in the book. I think I removed every romanized word with corrector ink just to polish the text.

Aside from the mistakes, The Princess of Tennis was entertaining and inspirational for me. Remember my dream of becoming a manga creator? Maybe my TeniPuri call is waiting for me to answer.

July 21, 2014 by Jd Banks

Gurren Lagann to Debut on Toonami

SANTA MONICA, CA (July 19, 2014) –Aniplex of America, Inc. has announced today that the legendary TV anime series GURREN LAGANN, will debut on Adult Swim’s TOONAMI™ Saturday line-up this August. The first episode will premiere on August 16th at 2:00am EST.

From the SAME team that brought us KILL la KILL, GURREN LAGANN comes from the genius minds of Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and Script Writer/Series Composition Kazuki Nakashima. In response to its global popularity, the series was also adapted into two full-length films, Childhood’s End and The Lights in the Sky Are Stars. Aniplex of America re-released the GURREN LAGANN TV Series on home video last year featuring both the original Japanese and English dub which features many popular voice actors such as Yuri Lowenthal (as Simon), Kyle Hebert (as Kamina) and Michelle Ruff (as Yoko). This past July, Aniplex of America also released the GURREN LAGANN Movies in a Double Feature Blu-ray Set (Japanese Language only with English subtitles).

Story of GURREN LAGANN
This is the story of a man who has yet to realize what destiny holds in store for him….
In the distant future, mankind has lived quietly and restlessly underground for hundreds of years, subject to earthquakes and cave-ins. Living in one such village are 2 young men: one named Simon who is shy and naïve, and the other named Kamina who believes in the existence of a “surface” world above their heads. The destiny of these two starts moving drastically when the ceiling of their village falls in, and a gigantic “Gunmen” and a beautiful girl named Yoko, wielding a superconductive rifle, come from the surface. Together, Kamina, Simon and Yoko ride the mecha “Lagann” that Simon digs out of the ground, and fly up to the surface!

For more details, please visit: www.AniplexUSA.com/gurrenlagann

July 20, 2014 by Jd Banks

Japanese Candy and Snacks Haul

I’m doing an international candy swap, so I bought a ton of candy and snacks that’re very “Japanese”.

CIMG2861

Because Attack on Titan is so popular in Japan and abroad, I couldn’t pass up these chewy candies with chibi Attack on Titan characters. CIMG2857

Similar to Attack on Titan, One Piece has a strong fan following. It’s no surprise to see Trafalgar Law representing this pack of chews.
CIMG2858

This box of Kidorikko cookies were too cute to pass up! Plus, in Japan, cute characters are on all products targeted for kids. Think of this as animal crackers for Japanese children.

July 16, 2014 by Jd Banks

Stop Saying Japanese Students are Obedient!

During orientation for a trip to an American high school, I told the students, “If you fall asleep in class, you’ll get kicked out. If you talk during class, you’ll get kicked out. If you misbehave, you’ll get punished.” My Japanese students were shocked. Their eyebrows lifted and their mouths opened after they processed my words.

“Huh?”

I’ve worked at seven junior high schools and two senior high schools in Japan, and 95% of the classes are the same. Kids fall asleep, chat, and read books during class. They destroy the stereotype that Japanese students are obedient students.

When I told my high school students that they couldn’t do those things, they couldn’t imagine what class was like, especially when an immediate punishment followed their behavior. Disruptive and sleeping students don’t get punished right away, that is, if they get punished at all. Teachers wait until the end of the day to lecture students or send them to the discipline committee for punishment (writing an apology essay, cleaning early in the morning or after school, parent-student conference). So far, the best schools I’ve taught at had swift punishments for troublesome students. I’ve seen one junior high school student sit on his knees in traditional Japanese style for thirty minutes listening to three teachers yell at him about his disruptive behavior. In the end, he cried, and I never saw him near the teachers’ office again.

Where does this “obedient Japanese student” come from? My guess is what silence means to a Westerner versus a Japanese person. In the West, silence means that you’re listening and being well behaved. In Japan, silence can mean anything. My students will sit and stare at the clock without feeling bothered. When the test rolls around, students leave nearly half of their tests blank, including multiple choice questions. It’s my students’ way of protesting school.

The culprits of such a bad system? Japanese culture. Learning is not designed to be from Person A to Person B and that’s it. Learning is about taking the new information, reshaping it in certain situations, and applying it. In Japan, the direct approach does not exist except in English class (on a varying level). Ask, “What’s ‘cat’ in Japanese?” and 40 pairs of eyes blink at you as if they don’t know what a cat had two pointy ears and said, “Meow”. English is hard to learn–and so is Japanese–but when administrators just want students to parrot words and sentences, how much of that is learning?

Aside from the classroom setting, Japanese culture has one thing that hovers on the shoulders of all Japanese people: wa (和), meaning peace, or “Don’t rock the boat”. There are over 157 million people in Japan, which is the size of California. That’s a lot of people, and that’s not a lot of space. With so many people breathing down your throat, wa is a way for Japanese people to stay sane. Instead of giving your opinion (from Point A to Point B), you say your opinion in a round-about way (from Point A to Point D to Point C to Point B). What you really feel is hidden beneath a guise called honne (本音) while what you say is seen as tatemae (建前). English has an opposite design–I’m going to give it to you straight. Westerners want to be understood regardless of things such as feelings. We don’t have physical space to worry about. But Japan has a space crisis and overpopulation, and this system of wa permeates all of Japanese life, including school.

Even if my students pretended to be obedient Japanese students in the American school they visited, I know it’s just a front.

July 13, 2014 by Jd Banks

#6 of 33 Art Projects: Sketches for Writing

I write different stories for contests, and every day, I get stuck. Sometimes, I can’t imagine a character’s clothing or a certain scene. I draw to brainstorm ideas until I get a clear image in my head. CIMG2850

Costume ideas for a story.

Scene for a science fiction story.

First scene from a story…and, no, it’s not a manga.

Studying glass of water for a T-shirt design.

CIMG2849

As William Zinsser says, “[…] look for your material everywhere, not just by reading the obvious sources and interviewing the obvious people” (On Writing Well, p. 58). I usually draw people I see because they provide material for stories. The picture above are two people I saw at the bookstore. Oh, and I do write in Japanese sometimes. Saves space.