I’m confused as to why a post I made four months ago is getting attention, but sure ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here’s a new one. Got a message from a Japanese person recently who knew I spoke English, Japanese & Arabic but instead of writing in Japanese or English they… tried to use machine translated Arabic. Guessing this is another weird manifestation of Japanese attempts at politeness but come on 🤣

Ainu on UK TV: Traditional Ainu medicine was featured on the most recent episode of "Worlds Apart", a British reality series on Channel 4 that pairs young people with pensioners for a treasure hunt across Japan. In the episode, one pair learns about traditional remedies from an Ainu individual.

Ainu on UK TV: Traditional Ainu medicine was featured on the most recent episode of "Worlds Apart", a British reality series on Channel 4 that pairs young people with pensioners for a treasure hunt across Japan. In the episode, one pair learns about traditional remedies from an Ainu individual.

US-Japan research team finds suggestive similarities between pre-Clovis stone-tool styles in North America and 20K-yr-old tools in north Japan--hinting that the ppl in Hokkaido may have been the origins of the ppl who were all over North America by ~16K yrs ago.

Was a pleasure to finally meet UK-based Japanese type designer Toshi Omagari and have a chat over dinner! His book Arcade Game Typography is definitely worth getting if you’re interested in fonts in games (and I got mine signed tonight!)

The Mitsuishi Ainu Society is holding an Ainu Music Festival on Sunday at the Hamanasu Hall in Shinhidaka. Free entry, doors open at 12pm and performances start at 1pm. Ainu artists Oki & Rekpo, Marewrew, Nin Cup and Kapiw & Apappo are among those performing. More info: kaih.at/iEHLM

Back in Japan! Brought some things that I can’t easily find here too.

Very early tomorrow morning I will be leaving the UAE again to come back to Japan. While I enjoyed visiting my parents, I don’t think I could come back and live here. I found myself missing Japan - probably because I’ve built up a good life for myself there.

Every time I come back to Dubai I try to visit one particular place I used to eat at every Friday morning - a “Japanese” fast food place called “Fujiyama”. I would always have their teppanyaki chicken. Sadly not many branches are open now so it took a while to find one.

عودة إلى الصحراء التي أنتمي إليها 🇦🇪

Hold on a second…

Hold on a second…

Today I visited the Qasr Al Zabaa ruins in Ras Al Khaimah. Also known as “Queen of Sheba’s Palace” - local legend ties it to the famous queen said to have ruled the Marib Kingdom in Yemen around 1000 BC. However, there’s no basis for this. It’s likely a fort from 1300-1600 AD.

Going to bring this up again seeing as today is Godzilla Day 🦖

First up on my agenda today in Dubai was visiting my tailor. I had to fix a tarboosh, the tassel which you find on kandura - traditional Emirati dress. I had it brushed out and trimmed, before buying a spare one as a backup.

In Dubai for a few days. Was wandering through a clothes store when I came across this… “imitation Japanese” lettering on a bunch of t-shirts.

More kanji. Doing some of the simple ones first to get a feel for the direction I should go in.

Finally downloaded the Nintendo Music app. - Quality sound - Not a huge selection but that doesn’t bother me much - Some tracks have issues (e.g NSMB boss theme is slower than in-game) - Extend feature is nice, but… - Lots of the extensions are very badly stitched 3.5⭐️ (4+ if the loops get fixed)

Found an old set of blackletter kana that never seems to have been digitised. Currently playing around with it. ディジタル化されなかったブラックレター仮名の書体を見つけて、ちょっと試しにベクターに交換してみている。

Tokyo Shimbun has released a follow up article about this action from the University of Tokyo. They note that while academics and other intellectuals have called the apology "groundbreaking", the reaction from Ainu groups has been frostier. www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/445125

Thank you so much to @repunseta.bsky.social for drawing me a new profile picture! It combines both Celtic and Ainu patterns alongside the tartan of my clan, Clan Mackay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Sonno iyayraykere!

Differences in communicating/getting in touch with people in the West vs Japan is something I still need to work on it seems. Usually with non-Japanese it's easier to get some sort of reply, even if it's just a "sorry, busy/not interested". People here seem to ghost more on average.

Tokyo Shimbun has released a follow up article about this action from the University of Tokyo. They note that while academics and other intellectuals have called the apology "groundbreaking", the reaction from Ainu groups has been frostier. www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/445125

I’ve been feeling a bit burnt out recently with all the things I’ve been trying to do. Looking forward to my holiday next week and spending some time with my parents. I could do with a break to try and relax and reset.

Some people in Osaka are already wandering around in clothing that makes it seem like it’s sub-zero outside, meanwhile I’m still in short-sleeves and shorts ☀️

Someone should tell the Emirati government that "red pills" are not physical tablets

Comparative demographic map of Hokkaido Best I can do with current data. Based on a survey conducted in 2023 by the Hokkaido Prefectural Government with the assistance of the Hokkaido Ainu Society (which is why the numbers seem a bit low)

Only one more hour of watch time needed before I unlock channel memberships! If you haven't seen the video that marked my return to YouTube, please give it a watch below.

Updated my name here in reflection of my desire to register a tsūshōmei - a Japanese legal alias that foreigners can use in certain situations. In my case, my very long real name is often a pain to use in a country used to short names. My employer also prefers I don't use my proper name online.

Russia has officially assigned names to two uninhabited islands in the disputed S Kurils/N Territories. One is to be named Nikolai Kasatkin, the priest who brought Eastern Orthodox religion to Japan. The other will be named after priest Innokenty Veniaminov. www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/article/1226...

The LDP and Ishin no Kai have agreed to form a coalition. Ishin was the only party to vote against the 2019 Ainu Policy Promotion Act. (Aside from the one member of Kibo no To - a conservative party founded by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike) The reason given was concerns over reckless public spending.

Apparently Adobe has only just realised that I'm not a student anymore and is cancelling my Creative Cloud discount. I graduated in 2022.

The University of Tokyo has issued an official apology on its website regarding the issue of the theft of Ainu ancestral remains and announced its efforts to address the matter. www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/ja/art...

Something like this happened with the Scots Wikipedia where it turned out it was mostly written by one obsessive American teenager with no actual knowledge of the language. I remember it being described as the biggest act of cultural vandalism against the language ever.

The University of Tokyo has issued an official apology on its website regarding the issue of the theft of Ainu ancestral remains and announced its efforts to address the matter. www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/ja/art...

You can go fuck yourself Xbox

In 2020, Ghost of Tsushima gave life to an oft-overlooked slice of Japanese history. But in the new Ghost of Yotei, familiar samurai action-adventure thrills don’t quite live up to its new setting.

Anyway I have the beginnings of a garden now on my balcony. And some solar powered lights! Hopefully once I get some planters and some more plants it’ll take shape.

I think pita bread is one of the most difficult things to find in Japan. I’ve been to three Asian Supermarkets in Osaka including one that specifically advertised itself as selling Middle Eastern foods (with the Saudi flag) and NOT ONE OF THEM had any pita bread!! Insane.

Manga series Golden Kamuy has passed 30 million copies in circulation. I think it’s safe to say it’s responsible for the recent spread of Ainu culture among the public that’s come with cultural revival and promotion. Like everything it has things you can criticise but probably a net positive.

Manga series Golden Kamuy has passed 30 million copies in circulation. I think it’s safe to say it’s responsible for the recent spread of Ainu culture among the public that’s come with cultural revival and promotion. Like everything it has things you can criticise but probably a net positive.

Even without looking at gameplay it’s easy to tell what it’s going for. Ginkgo leaves are everywhere. Not just on the cover but also in the logo and display props. Ginkgo trees aren’t native to Hokkaido - colonists brought over much later than the game’s setting of 1603.

Ghost of Yōtei display in Yodobashi camera. If it wasn’t for the explanatory wall of text telling you about the setting you could genuinely not know it’s set in Hokkaido. That’s a big issue. The Ainu content in the game is completely absent from the display and videos.

This evening I am in Fukui Prefecture, in a city called Obama. They have a… not so great statue of the former president near the centre of town.

This morning I visited the Ibaraki City Christian Relics Museum. This area of North Osaka was home to one of Japan’s strongest Christian centres before the religion was forced underground. The museum displays both Christian and “Hidden Christian” relics from that period.

Honestly the influx of tourists in downtown Osaka keeps getting worse. Almost a daily occurrence now that I feel like moving out to somewhere quieter.

Less than 90 followers to go until I reach 1K here! Thank you to everyone who follows and continues to follow me here. I know sometimes my posts are a bit all over the place as people follow me for varying reasons, so it means a lot 🙏

Me as a non-Japanese reading recent Japanese tweets about foreigner problems

Takaichi Sanae has connections to the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi group, who was responsible for the recent revisionist exhibition in Sapporo which denied Ainu indigineity. Probably going to be difficult for Ainu and Ryukyuan rights activists to make progress under her.