Per the request, moving forward I'll try to cross post my Japundit contributions (perhaps a once-per-week roundup). Here are the past posts, most recent to oldest:
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Horse Breeding in Japan (NY Times)
Japan's Richest (Forbes)
Plague of Crows (NY Times)
Kyoto Travel Guide (NY Times)
The Man Who Saved the Akita from Extinction (NPR, Diane Rehm)
Japanese-Russo Dispute Over Islands (Reuters)
Chinese Leader Hu Jintao Visits Japan (NY Times)
Sports History Made in Japan (ESPN)
McMafia (NPR, Talk of the Nation)
Japanese Health Care (NPR, Talk of the Nation)
Lost and Found (CNN)
Is Japan Conservative? (NY Times, Japan Today)
More Than Just Big Macs (Japan Today)
The Reluctant Communist (Washington Post)
Christianity in Japan (NY Times)
Tokyo Earthquake Consequences (Reuters)
Murder Alleged by U.S. Sailor (Washington Post)
Forbidden Food (NPR, To the Best of Our Knowledge)
NPR Take on Japanese Baseball (NPR, Only a Game)
New York Times Roundup (NY Times)
2nd Place Sakura (Washington Post)
Hotel Hiroshima (Slate.com)
More Japanese Baseball (Washington Post)
Why Fan Comes from Fanatic (ESPN)
Brian, I have ventured into natto territory & it's not an experience I want to repeat. There are exactly two Japanese foods I did not like - natto & mochi balls. I will give mochi balls a second go - I mistakenly expected a sweet soft ball in simple syrup - something akin to Japan's answer to Indian doughnuts (gulab jamun - sp?). So it was more mistaken identity than dislike.
ReplyDeleteAs for natto - It looks & feels like slimy, chunky peanut butter but tastes like blue cheese (something I actually love). I think I just could not get past the texture.
It's interesting reading about religion (specifically Christianity) in Japan. Most of my Christian faith is based on the pastor I had when I was in high school (he's the one who gave the "13 points of love" message at our wedding). He (now deceased) & his wife spent 20+ years in Japan as missionaries. Also, one of the other blogs I read regularly is from a college acquaintance who is now doing missionary work in Japan. As a Christian, I have prayed a lot for the Japanese people.
ReplyDeleteHi Gretchen - How's Zoe (and Zane and Jeff and you) doing?!?!
ReplyDeleteI haven't ventured into eating nato yet. I've heard really bad things about it and "fermented" anything doesn't exactly sound desirable. Mochi is ok - kind of bland but ok. Actually gulab jamen is the opposite -- it's even too sweet for my sweet tooth!
I'm quite sure that we will never see eye to eye on religion (and politics) but I value our discussions as it illuminates other points of view which I would probably not get. That said, missionaries left a bad taste in my mouth in Papua New Guinea. I felt that they were "duping" people into buying their religion. I felt it was very disingenuous. My impression was that people were being sold this "truth" when in reality billions of people disagree as to what the "truth" is. I guess eight years as an educator puts me at odds with selling one belief as the only one when it is one of many. Even in biology, I teach that scientific evidence points to evolution but there are people who believe other things. I never heard of a missionary who said I believe in Jesus but there are other people who believe in the Old Testament or Mohammed or Buddha or Bahaullah.