Cherry blossoms from a few weeks ago:





Random graffiti:


My new hair, courtesy of the miraculous (and expensive) Japanese Straight Perm:



And for your viewing pleasure, one of the more wacked-out Japanese music videos that I've seen recently:


At this point, I've finally gotten good enough at Japanese to be able to say "Yeah, I can speak Japanese." It's taken three and a half years, and I've still got a long way to go, but...well, yeah, I'm pretty decent. On that note, 95% of people who call themselves "bilingual" are 100% full of shit. That's an official statistic.

I had never thought about it before tonight, but the polite Japanese word for "bathroom" actually translates to "honorable place of hand-washing."

And now that Japanese TV makes semi-sense, all sorts of doors are opening. Last night, I watched "Ainori" ("Meeting Ride," better translated as "Hookup Road Trip") followed by a comedy show in which a group of Japanese celebrities try to solve puzzles.
Among the gags:
Hot tea being poured on a guy's crotch. ("It hurts, it hurts!")
A skinny guy going behind a screen to be replaced by a fat guy in the same outfit ("I'm surprised!")
One guy being served nothing but burnt food at a traditional banquet. ("It's burnt!")
A squat Japanese guy jumping around in a loincloth, a necklace made of horns, a curly black wig, and white-painted lips. ("OogaBooga!")
Oh, Japan.