I thought I’d post something fun to end the week with. This is a short “documentary” (Japanese with English subtitles) I found while surfing a Japan-related blog last night. It’s based on the daily life of one young lady in Japan, where attacks by monsters like Godzilla are just a part of every day life. I love how seriously it’s played, making it all the more hilarious. Brilliant.

Stumbled upon this group playing at Oasis 21 in Sakae the other day. They’re called Gotcha — if I remember correctly (but I can’t find their website to confirm that). And they were great. Unfortunately the video quality is not so great, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

This video was shot tonight at some friends’ house, and features the making of some delicious Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. Please excuse the low quality. It was shot on my cell phone, on the “economy” setting in order to fit it all. But I think it’s got some good entertainment value anyway.

My latest newsletter has just been uploaded and can be found HERE. Go check it out for an update on my ministry. And if you haven’t seen it already, here’s a video I put together highlighting the short-term mission trip I hosted in May (and talk about in the new newsletter). Enjoy:

It’s been a while since I posted a video, so since my friend captured these on the weekend, I thought I would go ahead and share them with you all. In these videos you get to meet some of my friends, hear my poor Japanese, and see me slowly figure out that I’m being videoed and not photographed. Taken last Saturday after a strawberry-picking expedition with some friends from my church. Enjoy.

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I just realized I could subtitle these on YouTube, so maybe I should do that some day… But not tonight.

I’m officially free from language school for the next two weeks. And let me tell you, it’s going to be nice. Studying Japanese full-time is a lot like drinking from a fire hose, and I don’t always get the time to digest everything like I should. Hmm… maybe that’s mixing metaphors; do you really have to digest water? Anyway…

This will quite likely be my last post till after Christmas, unless I take my laptop to Tokyo with me and get bored/inspired. Though it looks like my vacation time will be pretty full and fun. So, one last time, here’s a Christmas greeting by a Japanese person who’s obviously a genius. Merry Christmas, everyone.

A friend posted this on Facebook and I had to share it here, because it’s so amazing. Note how quickly they retrieve the bike later in the clip. Also note the creepy similarities between this place and something out of the Matrix.

I’m breaking my weekday blogging fast because I took a sick day from school on Monday (nothing too serious, just a nasty cold) and finally got around to watching a DVD that I received a while back. Before I tell you what I thought of it, why don’t you check out this trailer?

Mujo No Kaze is an award-winning short film that my friend Paul (from the Japan Christians in the Arts Network) was involved in the production of. What’s it about? The official site describes it like this:

After a Japanese exchange student is murdered while studying in the US, his best friend in Tokyo is thrown into a world of depression in which a series of hallucinations lead him to a divine encounter in the countryside. Mujo No Kaze is a short film about finding hope in the midst of depression, suicide, and the futility of life.

I found the film to be really well-produced, culturally relevant, and redemptive but not preachy. I’m looking forward to seeing what Studio Re comes up with in the future, and I’m excited to see them stepping out in faith with this ministry.

If you’re interested, you can view the entire film HERE. It’s pretty short, just over ten minutes, so it’s definitely worth your time.

Well, it’s just a theory, but not the first time I’ve come across it. This video is from Japanese TV, so it’s of course overly dramatic, but it’s a really interesting video. There are a lot of similarities and coincidences at work here, and just enough to make you go “hmm… Maaaybe…”

I’m going away on Sunday and Monday, to Hamamatsu. Hopefully I’ll have some fun stories or pictures or something to share. In the meantime, here’s a video:

Ice Sculpting Contest in Nagoya, Japan. Specifically at Oasis 21. I came upon it after leaving Starbucks and shot some video on my cell phone. Probably the video quality doesn’t do it justice, but it was pretty impressive in person.

Thanks to those who commented on the previous post. Feel free to add your two cents if you haven’t already, and maybe I’ll come back to it with a follow-up sometime. For the record, I’m not worried about my future or anything; just curious to see how things will all pan out for us all, economically, and what that means for people like me.

I have been feeling a bit de-motivated, tired and distracted the past couple of days, though. I think I just need to re-adjust to school again and get back into a groove. Sometimes vacations don’t seem worth it. Anyway, prayers are appreciated; it’s going to be a busy next couple of weeks.

See you next week. That’s a wrap for now.

Japan is known to have one of the worst suicide rates in the world. This video from CNN talks about that, but also about how one man is making a difference. We need more guys like this. And we need more missionaries too.

I think it’s funny that I posted tons more content more frequently when I was away in August and not even online than I have since. Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately. Not much is going on, other than what I told you last week about finishing the semester successfully. But I’ll try to get back to posting more regularly when my schedule is more regular again.

In the meantime, here’s another video tour of my apartment. I’ve made some changes since the previous one, so I thought I’d show you around again. Enjoy.

At the end of August I visited my friend Scot in Fukushima — this video features him and myself and Ramune (Ra-Mu-Nay) — an oldschool Japanese soft drink that tastes a lot like cream soda, and comes in a fun bottle.