culture smash
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After Starring In Pacific Rim, Will Japan Finally Adore Rinko Kikuchi?
7In the upcoming Hollywood flick Pacific Rim, actress Rinko Kikuchi is Mako Mori, one of the film’s lead pilots to battle the dreaded kaiju.
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Sometimes, Interaction With Foreigners Is Awkward, Even In Japanese Anime
The long pauses. The nervous gestures. They’re not quite sure what to say, and thus, neither are you. Sometimes when foreigners interact with Japanese people, things can get awkward. Very, very awkward. Good thing there’s anime to remind us how awkward!
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Japan’s Traditional Seals Get Very, Very Nerdy
In Japan and most of Asia, documents require a seal. The Japanese word for these stamps is a typically “hanko” (判子) or inkan (印鑑), and they’ve been used for over a thousand years. People’s names are carved onto them, and take the place of a signature when doing things like opening a bank account, getting…
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The Racial Politics Of A ‘White Guy’ Playing An Asian Bad Guy In Iron Man 3
Ah not a white guy, sighed a Kotaku reader after seeing Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin in the Iron Man 3 trailer. Kingsley, however, isn’t simply “a white guy”, and this isn’t simply another example of Hollywood whitewashing an Asian character.