Speaking of suicide, that reminds of of something I saw about the Aokigahara area regarding how popular a spot it is for committing suicide. The park worker said rarely a month goes by that he doesn't find at least one body in the forest. I don't think I'd want his job.

I don't know what's up with all this talk of suicide, but it's time to brighten this place up a bit!

Itadakimasu! Dining with the Chef was on today.

WOW! a repeat (this is the first time I've noticed this).

It's the episode where they made Tonkatsu, Onigiri, and Japanese Potato Salad.

Is any of this accurate? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Japan

Awww that's so sad, now I wanna go there and stop them

Aokigahara looks pretty cool though. Here in the Desert we rarely have trees. The forest has something to do with Demons in Japanese Mythology though.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Aokigahara...

Yes. Comes as a consequence of having a s*** economy for the past 10-15 years, and a culture where not having a job is a Very Bad Thing,.

At least five times I've had my train delayed because of suicide in Japan. That would have happened five times in my entire life in Australia.

I wish people didn't make fun of this stuff it really interests me.

Well, we do have this book. D:

Japan can be kinda weird, but God bless 'em, they make great video games, electronic devices in general, and cars. (and NO, I don't mean any disrespect to them by calling them weird — they just kinda are and weird is not a four letter word — so please, PLEASE no flamewar spam, kthx.)

I know it's just like every other place, and I'll give my opinion when I actually can have a legit one, but a lot of people seem to try and talk me out of it by saying its horrible (IDK if they've been there, and if they have we're they in a bad part?) but I know I wanna give it a chance for sure, if it's not for me then it's not.

Personally, I don't have more of an idealistic view of Japan than I do any other country. People are people no matter where they are in the world, and there's going to be good & bad no matter where you go.

I just happen to be interested in the beauty of Japan, and the Japanese culture. I don't find it at all odd or strange to be interested in another culture. In fact, it's perfectly normal to want to learn & experience other cultures (people travel to other countries all the time, after all).

As for why I tend to focus on the positive aspects in conversation? Well, I guess the same reason as anyone else, who would WANT to talk about the bad aspects of anything? It'd be a pretty depressing place if we were talking gloom & doom all the time (and with that said, if I hear of a major event in Japan that's on the negative side of the spectrum, I won't hesitate to bring it up, to inform those who may not know).

I didn't intend for this thread to get so "deep". I just figured it'd be a nice way for those who've been to Japan to share their experiences, for people interested in the culture to ask questions, post news, and share what's new in Japanese pop culture. As the creator of this thread, I take full responsibility for allowing the conversation to take this dark turn, and I ask everyone here to get back to the lighthearted yet respectful conversation this once was.

but unless you live here, get involved in the society and language and culture, you'd never come close to knowing anything about it.

I'm glad I have your permission to know something about Japan, then.

Japan can be kinda weird, but God bless 'em, they make great video games, electronic devices in general, and cars. (and NO, I don't mean any disrespect to them by calling them weird — they just kinda are and weird is not a four letter word — so please, PLEASE no flamewar spam, kthx.)

I find America more alien. What is and isn't weird depends entirely on your circumstances.

@Tsuchinoko
Sorry if you got offened by my comment, but I'm no Oatku, who doesn't know what hes talking about most of the time, and praises japan's happy cute image.
But, to be fair, you are over reacting, this is a Japan discussion thread, is it not?
I was simply talking about japan's history, and seppuku is part of it. Japan isn't all Anime and happy konnichiha faces, I want to talk about samurais,japanese food, and women with bird poop make-up.
And that whole "Batman shooting" was uncall for, you were out of line there, and you are derailing the thread.
If anything, I deserve an apology for you taking too far, and misreading my post. What you did was so dishonorable, a seppuku would be a fitting apology.

If you want to talk about Japanese culture (cuisine, samuai, history, ect.), that's fine. That is the reason why this thread exists after all.

As Waltz (if I may call him that) said, suicide is an issue worldwide, and not really a Japanese exclusive issue. In your original post, you made it sound as if the good parts of Japan, are all just a front put up to hide the "fact" that it's a dark place where everyone is killing themselves, when in reality, it's no more dark (or "happy-go-lucky", as you put it) than anywhere else in the world. I think the tone you used (or the way you worded yourself) is what people took offense to.

If for whatever reason, you wanted to talk about seppuku in a historical context, I suppose that's fine, but it seems you worded yourself poorly.

Again, as the creator of this thread, I'm asking that peace resume, and we get back to a civil discussion. I don't want this thread locked, and I'm assuming none of you want that either.

The title is Japan discussion.

Not Japanese culture discussion that isn't too deep.

If you'd like, we can talk about gravure instead. I think we can all agree that's a happy topic ^_^

I'm here. Looks like now is a good time to join the discussion, wise choice Waltz. Topic: watched.

lol.

Anywho, I'm watching Tokyo Fashion Express, and they're showing that neon colors are making a big splash in Japanese fashion right now.

Looking at some of those clothes, it's like they've been attacked by the 1980's!

@LordJumpMad Fine, I'm out of the conversation. I deleted my posts.

Got up early, so was able to watch this morning's NHK World programming. They had a show called Last Artisans.

They covered Mr. Nakajima. He's an expert painter that creates murals for Sento (bath houses). He's well known for his paintings of Mt. Fuji.

There used to be many Sento muralists, but now there's only Mr. Nakajima & one other muralist. The reasoning behind this is that Sento have been on the decline since home baths were introduced.

He loved drawing as a kid, and was inspired by a mural of Mt. Fuji he saw in his youth. Soon after that, he left his factory job, and became a muralist's apprentice at only 19 (it took him 3 years before his mentor allowed him to paint an entire mural).

Truly a skilled individual. It's a bittersweet story you hear all too often anywhere in the world. Someone with amazing skill, in a world that no longer values that skill as it once have.