After reading the entire comic, all I can say is "Wow".  It’s offensive, but remember, it was 1942. 

"US War Department comic strip included in the first edition of the "POCKET GUIDE TO CHINA", a 75-page booklet distributed to US soldiers (Army and Navy) during their stay in China during World War II."

After my trip, I love the Japanese.  They’re polite, very helpful, and are so stylish.  I’d really like to go back and live in Japan for a year.

Side notes:  Here’s a couple’s 3 week trip to Japan.  Japundit would have been a good blog to have read before my trip.

I have a secret.  I feel guilty for having taken over 1500 pictures during my 1 week trip to Tokyo.  I sort of feel that 1500 pictures is excessive, but don’t feel bad about it.  But I am a little embarrassed to admit it though. 

Tokyo is a great place for people watching.  Many times, I wanted to take some more artistic shots, but if you think too hard, the opportunity quickly passes.  I clicked and clicked and clicked, realizing that I could go back later and choose the ones I liked best.  I never delete my bad pictures, but archive them.  With the advent of digital cameras, many people like to delete less than flattering pictures of themselves.  It’s unfortunate, because ugly or not, that photo captured YOU… at that certain moment in time… that you’ll never get back.  I have lots of ugly, awkward pictures that highlight the many chins I can have, if I’m not careful.  They’re stored away, ready to be pulled out and gazed upon whenever I need a dose of humility.

I don’t take the greatest photos, but there are those moments where I look upon something I’ve taken, and think, "Man, I rock!"  I’d like to have more of those moments and learn more about photography.  I don’t think photography will ever be a career for me, but it has grown into a hobby I love, along with digital scrapbooking, bookbinding, and paper arts.  (Bet you didn’t know those things about me, did you?)

I’m taking the next big step… I’m buying a sler.  Sler is what Ras affectionately calls an SLR.  I’ve set aside $1000 USD from my checking account for my SLR purchase when I go back to the States in a couple months.  That should get me the body and at least one lens.  I’m really excited about the whole thing and was thinking of purchasing one in Korea so that I’d have a camera for my summer trips.  Believe me, it would have been great to have it in Tokyo, but I didn’t want to rush into a purchase that big.  Plus, the word on the street is that Canon is supposed to come out with an upgraded model to the Canon Rebel XT (aka Canon Kiss Digital 2E in Japan or Canon EOS 350D in Europe).

Right now, I’m making due with my Canon SD630 (aka Canon Ixus 65) that I bought a month ago.  Yup, that’s 3 inches of goodness there.  It’s funny, but it’s only the guys who comment on the size of my screen!

I arrived back in Korea late last night (almost 2am).  The weather was dreary when I left, and still dreary upon my return.  The weather in Tokyo was pretty good for my trip.  I had looked at the 7 day forecast before flying out, and it looked like scattered rain all week.  Fortunately, I only experienced about 2 full hours of rain throughout the week.  Another plus, was that it was cloudy for most of the week.  It was so freakin’ HUMID in Tokyo!  After last week, Tokyo and Bangkok are tied as to the hottest places I’ve been in the summer.  The weather was 30-32 degrees Celsius, but the humidity was insane.  For the first couple hours of stepping outside my air-conditioned room, I wouldn’t sweat.  Afterwards, it was so nice to have my bandana to wipe away the sweat running down my face.

It’s hard to imagine that just yesterday, I was taking pictures of this:

and this:

There’ll be a lot more reviews, insight, and pictures(!) on Tokyo in the next week.  Stay tuned…

I’m interested in seeing some irezumi, but probably won’t.  That is… unless I chance upon some yakuza having a throw down.  Even in the unlikely chance that happens, I highly doubt they’d take off their shirts for my view pleasure.  I’ll be on the lookout though.

Written on the Body: Irezumi and the Decorated Skin

Irezumi is widely considered the most artful tattoo form in the world.  Usually completed in blue and red natural dyes, the tattoos often cove the whole body with elaborate designs featuring intricate scenes that derive from Japanese myth and folklore.  The practice of creating irezumi was initiated in the 18th century during the Edo era, when authorities tattooed criminals in order to brand them for their crimes.  When release from prison, they would seek the services of an irezumi-shi, who would disguise the prison marks with tigers and flowers and other patterns, thus erasing an ignominious past.  Like their clients, tattoo artists were considered criminals,, and this practice continued until the Meiji era (1868-1912), when authorities banned tattooing in order to avoid giving visiting foreigners the impression that Japan was uncivilized or barbaric.  To Japan’s surprise, visiting dignitaries, including the Tsar of Russia and King George V were enamored of the art form, so much so that the latter had a dragon tattooed on his forearm in 1881.

Today, the art of irezumi is still widely practiced, though it is still considered by many Japanese to be the mark of criminality or of being from a lower class.  Despite these judgments, or perhaps because of them, some anti-authority outcast groups, like the biker ’speed tribes’ (bosozoku) have begun to acquire more tattoos, though these are often of Western-style hearts or cartoon characters rather than the hand-pricked, full-body irezumi masterpieces.

Perhaps the best place to admire the handiwork of an irezumi master is in a sento (public bath), where yakuza (Japanese mafia) bare it all, just like everybody else.  [from the Lonely Planet]

We went to a place that can only be described as a "potsticker amusement park".  There was a gyoza stadium where chefs battled!

This is for all the men that read my blog.  I have TONS of pictures of Japanese girls.

At the Toyota showroom.

Japanese girls… you gotta love them.