Nihon n' on

I am a multi-interested nerd (like a polymath, only not awesome). Science, film, music and lots of other things have proven sources of research/fascination/procrastinating. One of the longest-standing areas of interest has been Japanese culture.

It is amazing to me that after centuries of feudalism (guaranteed by a series of policies handed-down from the Tokugawa Junta that restricted exposure to 'foreign' ideas and goods for most of the population- this lasted for more than 200 years) this tiny island nation modernized, survived a crushing defeat (that included the only wartime nuclear deployment in human history) and still came back as a major research and financial power.

One can easily argue that the path has been fraught and is still a work in progress (as a still mostly homogeneous society, treats some international influences as desirable and exotic while individuals can experience xenophobia that is overwhelming, and the police response to crime tends to be, 'must be gaijin'), the combination, and sometimes juxtaposition, of ancient and modern, indigenous and foreign makes for interesting stuff, including some amazing films.

But what is the mandate of this blog? Ah yeah, the bad, so here is the trailer to cinematic gold. From the opening moments of mumbled English(ish) V.O. and a knock-off of the theme from 'Live and Let Die' we learn about the deadly tools of Robogeisha including 'Tengu Milk' and the most feared of all- 'Fried Shrimp.' Yup, lots and lots of material there for someone to look at Japan and wonder WT everlivin' F? Well, um... see, in a country with Lobster vending machines, we may get some sense of the various directions the society is being pulled... but whoa, Nelly there is much, much more to come...