Gaia :: Profile Comments

Report | 07/10/2014 6:50 am

castigat ridendo mores

Is it perhaps because you're weird yourself? In a way I'm not sure I can explain without sounding offending, lmao.

Report | 07/08/2014 5:43 pm

castigat ridendo mores

Yeah? You sure you want a weirdo like me as a friend?

Report | 07/07/2014 8:14 am

castigat ridendo mores

I am never going to stop liking your posts.

Report | 07/05/2014 7:18 am

Neko Namida Ame

That's a very good point. That aspect was never really discussed by my teachers. It was just something I noticed and picked up. It certainly goes along well with the self-discipline side to it.

Japan seems to have mixed feelings. There's a lot of negative portrayals of them such as the samurai who are romanticized are the good ones amongst a bunch of corrupt, lazy samurai. At some point it looks like Japan thought of them how many people feel about the police - like they were using their position to overstep their boundaries - and that became their primary role starting with the Edo period. Samurai were taken by the unified government to be the police force since before Edo, there was no unified government and samurai often were the local police force already. That may be when their reputation degraded from country protector to a*****e police who ruins my fun, lol. I haven't seen many portrayals of knights as lazy and corrupt (just kings) but I also don't read literature based on knights so maybe you know better than I do. It also looks like knights didn't serve as jailers either. I've only really seen positive portrayals of knights for the most part. It may be from a very different attitude about royalty in society because weren't knights considered upper class if they worked for the king? That and Westerners have no problem ragging on a corrupt king but maybe Japan would struggle with thinking it was the lords who were corrupt and find it easier blame the samurai because they aren't considered upper class.

You're welcome. I've taken a lot of Japanese culture classes both classical and modern but I never get to talk about it. It's fun and informative for me too.

Report | 07/04/2014 10:25 am

Neko Namida Ame

Look up what their favorite things were from when they were alive. But honestly, if that fails, bring them sake and some good food.

I feel the same way. I was taught to be humble with my knowledge. My teachers would give advice but were never ones to talk about doing things the "right way" or how bad a** they were. It's such an important trait to being a fighter that I've met older/more experienced people from the same dojo outside of training who commend me for it. If you know your stuff, you don't really feel the need to talk about it else you're just giving away all your tricks. The truth is, what's "right" really depends on the situation and there's often multiple "right" things to do. Many taught techniques have several different forms so that you can do what's easiest/logical when it happens. I'm not sure if sword fighting works that way but I imagine there's still multiple paths you can take to get the desired effect.

I wouldn't go so far as to say you could never truly understand or appreciate it. Analyzing what relics you have of the culture and immersing yourself in it will give you a good picture of what it is like. I'd say modern Japanese people today have as much access to understanding it as you do considering how much Japan has changed from that time. I also don't know if I entirely agree samurai were considered avatars. Highly respected? Some times. Seen as a proxy and avatar for Japan outside of Japan? Absolutely. But Japan frequently considered them hired blades and not very far up on the totem pole of social hierarchy because their lives could end so easily and also because they were essentially just pawns of the rich and powerful - people who Japan considered truly valuable. Then again what Japan does value from that time may seem unusual and questionable even with regards to giri. You'd think a culture that places a high importance on giri would emulate samurai for capturing it so well but Japan seems more interested in characters like Genji who is very ninjou prone. Same goes for romance stories involving Geisha and the suicide of lovers who couldn't be together which is also very ninjou - escaping your giri to pursue love in the next life. Japan seems like a culture who deep down looked at giri as a burden and appealed to ninjou in response which makes them not too different than their Western counterparts and may also be why they accepted Westernization better than other Asian countries and are very different today. There's still a concept of giri but it's no longer live and die by the state/your lord and it's far more accommodating to individuality. In modern Japanese media, you could even say ninjou is a strength - choosing your peers and using that loyalty to fuel your strength versus the people above you. Think Yugioh - using the heart of the cards against powerful adults and mega company owners who are well above your social status. That's why the disconnect for the average Japanese person with giri is probably as large as yours, lol. It's no longer glorified except by old Japanese men as a way to encourage the youth.

Report | 06/26/2014 2:08 pm

LARSZIEL

i reall like the things you say. they are always very thoughtful

Report | 06/10/2014 11:19 am

Neko Namida Ame

I'm familiar with Japan's view on swords and how they have souls. Your story about the Masamune and the Muramasa is very interesting. I thought that Musashi wielded the Masamune at one point but now I realize their times don't really match. Ah, and don't forget about the Kusanagi that was gifted by Amaterasu. I think Amaterasu is an interesting deity. Speaking of Japan, I've been listening to Japanese dubstep lately. Very good.

I'm interested in two sword fighting style but one handed comes more naturally to me as well. My boyfriend learned how to knife fight and will use two blades. It's really impressive to watch someone who knows what they're doing even with two short blades. There's a lot of close combat options that are useful using that style. Risky compared to one handed swordsmanship, yes, but useful if you're in a bad situation and have to play the cards you're dealt. Also useful for bauffing when you're not worried about getting sliced accidentally.

Don't worry about how long it takes you. I sign on almost daily now. I wouldn't post at all if I had to use a phone instead of my laptop. But yes, Madoka Magika is well written, visually stunning, and culturally progressive from a Japanese stand point. Japanese feminism is very different from Western feminism where Sailor Moon is a good example of being culturally progressive simply in the fact that the main character is "wagamama" or loosely translated "selfish" or "self indulgent" in that she cares about her own wants, needs, and dreams more than putting the wants of others above her own (which is giri in Japanese or "obligation" wink . Being wagamama is considered ninjou or "human nature" in Japanese. Giri and ninjou are seen as inherently in conflict. Today I learned that nihonjinron is the word for a Japanese person's sense of culture and identity in being Japanese. Useful information and something I'll definitely ask people about next time I'm in Japan.

Report | 06/01/2014 9:17 am

Neko Namida Ame

biggrin Your are the mahouest shoujo there is! 一番魔法の少女!

Have you seen Madoka Magika? I love that series.

Report | 05/28/2014 5:15 pm

Koemiko

I'm doing well enough. Glad to see you're still kicking around!

Report | 05/28/2014 4:30 pm

Neko Namida Ame

What books would you recommend? Also, the other books I have are occult books. I'm looking to add books about demonology to my collection. Japanese demonology and ghost lore is particularly interesting. It's derived from Shintoism which believes that everything has a spiritual component and some form of deity associated with it. Here is an online book about it.

Ah yes, the New England Peace Pagoda is very unusual indeed. I just realized the Dalia Lama must have visited the Insight Meditation Society. I should go on a meditation retreat there some time. I'd like some more instruction.

You're a swordsman? I've only ever met one other and I was highly impressed. If only you lived out this way. I'd want to learn your skills.

Report | 05/28/2014 2:37 pm

Neko Namida Ame

I'd be interested in swapping books. I mostly have psychology and sociology books though. What genres do you usually read?

What kind of martial arts have you studied? I took quite a few years of a local form of mixed martial arts called New England Submission Fighting. It's a combination of karate, judo, taekwon do, and grappling. It's taught primarily one-on-one and you're tested by the head master usually with a sparring match. Meditation and Buddhist wisdom would have been a nice touch to the classes. I took tai chi once and that was calming. Truthfully, I don't know a lot about Buddhism but I have visited a few Buddhist temples including in Japan and the local peace pagoda here that houses Tibetan monks. My boyfriend met the Dalia Lama. He makes a yearly trek through his home town in central Mass where there is another Buddhist temple.

Report | 05/21/2014 1:44 pm

Call_me_lovely

Thanks for the purchase!

Report | 05/13/2014 6:20 am

Neko Namida Ame

I live in a strange part of the US. Some of my friends are really in to it. We trade books - Psychology mostly but some times Buddhism and meditation. Modern society would be better if more people took the time to reflect.

Report | 05/12/2014 11:22 am

Neko Namida Ame

I saw your post in the smoking weed thread. Do you smoke or just felt like posting?

I always find it funny when people freak out because they start thinking more. It's like they suddenly can't handle the feeling and run away from it. Usually it means they're the people who need to self analyze the most. Without internal reflection, how can one really grow as a person? I agree - there's no such thing as over thinking when it comes to analyzing.

Report | 05/09/2014 2:36 pm

Koemiko

y u so japanese on your profile

Report | 04/19/2014 11:07 am

Neko Namida Ame

Heehee, when it comes to kabuki many of those genitals may be tucked away anyways when men play female characters.

I've been studying Japan for over a decade now. It's pretty hard to imagine it's been that long.

Report | 04/17/2014 8:29 am

Neko Namida Ame

I see you're in to old Japanese block prints. I have 100+ year old Japanese porn in the form of a block print in my room. They still drew the penises far too big back then too. The female genitalia is also over sized. Their positioning? Unusual and certainly not missionary. I love it.