Sure, Japanese culture is more popular than ever, but popularity isn’t the same thing as genuine, lived presence. More anime and claw machines, more boba and merchandise… I don’t know. I know there’s other resources now (I saw kitsuke being advertised! See photo)

It was a perfect Japanese language oasis, whether you were a learner, a Japanese expat temporarily here working for one of the automobile companies, or someone like me who was a heritage learner? It was a genuine connection to daily life in Japan And today?

Children’s history books! Basically Japanese school-age supplementary materials. DVD rental sections with dramas, variety shows, etc. Things Japanese-speaking customers living locally want: Japanese media from back home. Fashion magazines that Japanese women would miss

Looking at these from 10+ years ago, my heart aches. Sure, there were books for people who were interested in Japanese culture to learn Japanese. But there were so many things FOR Japanese people living in Metro Detroit too.

I remember when Mirai first opened. It was not a place for Americans to buy “Japanese themed” goods. It genuinely served Japanese people living in Southeast Michigan, granting pieces of ordinary Japanese life for Japanese abroad. And the photos from old Google reviews prove it

I will probably have someone back in Osaka help me repair him

I entirely forgot I still have this, and no, I am not selling it. Apparently they didn’t make that many of them But gosh, his arms are broken! I’ll have to have them professionally put back on

Here is a photo! Sadly it’s not in mint condition, but this is what it looks like

Comic book collectors/sellers! So, I used to collect Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics growing up. And I have a LOT of them. I’m currently visiting my childhood home in Michigan, USA and I can’t take all of them back with me to Japan… so I’d like to sell them

100% true story

…I miss Japan already 🫣

…I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but I just snagged christine-daae on Tumblr (yes, there ARE people still there!) and I couldn’t be happier about it

idk if I will be finished with all my office work to get back to Osaka from Kyoto at a reasonable time I feel like this mouse 🫣

I am extremely funny

I don’t know if anyone will notice or support BUT I have finally made an account for my novel writing (and yes, including any upcoming information for the Phantom of the Opera prequel novel from Christine Daaé’s POV!) Please consider following! @ krfujikake on IG!

I was blissfully unaware of Hasan Piker until now and I now sincerely regret this knowledge entering my brain

wake up babe, a new country just dropped

🤭

Oh, and it suggested the Edo Tokyo Museum on a Monday for this agent’s itinerary. (Spoiler alert: the museum is closed on Mondays) Please stop using weird GenAI roleplay as a replacement for tour coordinators and guides like me 😭

Sigh. I spent two hours of my life on Friday undoing an “itinerary” a travel agent built using ChatGPT for that not only totally messed up the Kumano Kodo and had the guests hiking *past* their hotels by an extra 17 km (!!!!) but it also entirely messed up the ropeway in Hakone.

I hope these services make planning a little less stressful for anyone visiting Japan. (Please excuse the emojis. I love whimsy… and I wanted to be able to tell the difference easier if anyone purchases them in my inbox)

Also I desperately need them to keep this line, and properly voice acted too

She came to Japan for an academic conference. This is our first time meeting IRL, and I’m very excited to show them both a wonderful day. It involves kimono, cakes, and flowers ✨ Consider following me on Instagram to see! ☺️

In short, Bourdain embodied kindness as a traveler. But reaction “content” (I feel nauseous at the idea of calling it such) is about judgement. It may not get views, but it certainly is not difficult to follow examples like these instead

Recently, someone wrote an article about traveling in Japan, and he said this part EXTREMELY well “In 2026 you couldn’t move without hitting a Westerner filming themselves for some kind of content.” aftermath.site/japan-overto...

Heck, there was even ranking systems based on proximity to whiteness and Eurocentric beauty standards. Our Asianness was conditional, and it NEVER should have been. This was written in 1993, and it needs repeating more than ever

There are so many things I learned to love and adopted from my time there. Waking up at 6 am to go do Taiji in the park (I’m in the middle below!), learning to play the guzheng (badly 🫣), calligraphy, brush painting, even learning to cook dishes that I can’t even go a month without anymore...

The program was based in Shanghai, and was basically this: a week or two in Shanghai, then traveling. Because it was 20 years ago, it was mainly overnight sleeper trains and some flights. We went to Beijing, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Lhasa, Gyantse, and Shigatse.

When I was 20 years old, I walked into a Masterpieces of East Asian Literature course. The professor was a gentle, sagely man from Shanghai who said he ran a three-month study abroad to China. I went home that night and told my grandma I wanted to go. NEEDED to. She laughed at me. I went anyway.

…I think I have mice in my house 😭 😭 😭