three favorites of the moment.

[acchikocchi]

song. Utada Hikaru - Take 5. This song is so gorgeous. I can't stop listening to it. I wish there was a good translation for me to link you all to. ): I may have to do it myself, instead...

fic. Door, by fightfair (Gokusen, Hayato/Ryu). I just finished rereading it. What an amazing fic. If you've somehow missed out on hearing about it do yourself a favor and go read it right now, it's so fantastic.

book. Japanland, by Karin Muller. Recommended to me by winterspel. I've read a lot of books about Japan, and a lot of books along the lines of foreign-author-in-Japan-tries-to-find-him/herself. This is not like those. It's absolutely fabulous. The writing is sharp and her anecdotes are unique and enthralling. I got all teary while reading the last couple chapters. Anyone interested in Japan should read this. And then tell me your thoughts. :)

I hope everyone's week starts off well! ♥

Comments

[an-cat-dubh.livejournal.com]

I read it before I came to Japan, kind of to see what I was in for. I really liked it. I found some of the things she said to be incredibly true, while others were off the mark a little in my experience (for which I was thankful).

Overall, I would recommend it to anyone wanting to read about Japanland.

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

Oh, neat! I didn't read it until long after I returned - and I'm so glad or I would have been utterly terrified about a home stay! *g* Just out of curiosity, what did you find off the mark a bit? If you remember, of course - I'm having trouble thinking of anything specific and I only read the book a couple weeks ago. XD

[an-cat-dubh.livejournal.com]

The thing about taxi drivers not stopping to pick up gaijin . . . ever. I've never had a problem with that and never heard of any of my friends having a similar problem. I kept expecting it to happen, especially since when I initially got here I was in a much smaller town than Tokyo.

It is what I remember the most clearly.

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

Oh! Yes, that's right! Actually, something like that happened to me in Osaka, when I was with an American friend, but can't be sure if that's because we were gaijin or because of some other reason, because I never had any other trouble with it, and I was also in a small town (Nagasaki). Good point!