Tag Archives: japan

On Lenin’s Feet and the Taxi-Driving Buddha

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Eryk Salvaggio

If you visit Kyoto, you may stumble into a small home next door to a shrine and, as you’re looking for the shrine entrance, a woman may ask you for 500 yen and assure you that there is English being … Continue reading →

Posted in language, Shrines, Temples and Ruins, Thinking, Uncategorized, Zen | Tagged buddhism, japan, Kyoto, Lenin | 2 Comments

Ongakuyōbi: Broken Little Sister

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Eryk Salvaggio

I’ve dealt with a lot of bands from the 1990’s, so I wanted to shift gears into more recent Japanese bands. Broken Little Sister got started in Yokohama in 2005, mixing a kind of My Bloody Valentine wall-of-noise with shoegaze, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Uncategorized | Tagged broken little sister, japan, music | Leave a comment

Ongakuyōbi: Nobukazu Takemura

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Eryk Salvaggio

I can’t lie, Nobukazu Takemura is pretty hit or miss with me. A lot of his career is basically straight acid jazz, which isn’t my thing, but his roots are in hip hop, and his first performances were as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged glitch, japan, music, nobukazu takemura | Leave a comment

On Nature in Japan, or: On Getting Killed By a Wild Goat in America

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Eryk Salvaggio

Signs were erected to warn hikers about aggressive mountain goats in Olympic National Park. Imagine, if you can, the mountain goats of the Pacific Northwest. They look like messed-up dogs or disappointing unicorns; they eat lichen in the wild and … Continue reading →

Posted in Shinto, Shrines, Uncategorized | Tagged japan, nature, shinto, wildlife | Leave a comment

Ongakuyōbi: Shugo Tokumaru

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Eryk Salvaggio

This album actually hit the top 40 in Japan – which is great, but it would be unfathomable in the US for a record this weird to compete with Justin Bieber and 50 Cent.