101–110 of 179 posts
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Oh no, owning property and having a place in the community. What a nightmare.
The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has a poignant commentary on this. Jiro's oldest son is expected to eventually take over Jiro's sushi place, so as a result essentially is toiling for his father into old age. On the other hand, somewhat ironically Jiro's younger son actually has more freedom, so he strikes out on his own pretty early and has his own very successful sushi joint.
I saw another show about a small ramen shop owner who took a half day off a week and never went on a vacation for 5 years straight. That sounds more like prison than a job.
A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to "parent and child donburi" which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing). Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with t…
Could you expand upon this? I've been thinking of moving there for a year or two to focus on my language skills and work on my startup.
I spent a lot of time in Obihiro, Hokkaido in my late teens and had a blast hanging out at the university. Everyone was super friendly.
When I traveled to even more remote towns like Hobetsu / Mukawa, Makubetsu, Ashoro, and Honbetsu, the children would run up to meet me and want to take photos. (They don't see foreigners often.)
I never spent much time in Tokyo, but I did spend a lot of time in Shanghai, Changsha, and other big Chinese cities and almost want to consider that a proxy.
Why is Tokyo lonely? Is it this city in particular? Is it a certain age range?
Post-college and into adulthood does it become lonelier?
Also, what's the startup scene like in Tokyo? I'm considering something a few steps beyond VTuber streaming and think Japan would be a great environment to pull talent from.
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that's what maturation into adulthood is, taking responsibility for social institutions that are larger than oneself and endure longer than oneself, rather than being a 35 year old owning nothing and playing paintball, which is, in contrast to the business culture on display here the future sold to us by the beloved SV companies. Most of which if I had to bet will not last longer than this store.
If everyone took this approach, we'd all be working on family subsistence farms. Though, actually, even agriculture was originally presumably a dangerous and tradition-breaking innovation. Possibly we'd all be doing family hunter-gathering.
The point is not to be backwards, is to be accountable to the community one exists in, be small and not indebted to foreign entities, and put communal interest ahead of profits.
If everyone acted that way we wouldn't have to interface with unaccountable industrial behemoths which can cut you off from your entire existence in a second and will do so without any second thought.
> The Japanese companies that have endured the longest have often been defined by an aversion to risk — shaped in part by past crises — and an accumulation of large cash reserves. > It is a common trait among Japanese enterprises and part of the reason that the country has so far avoided the high bankruptcy rates of the United States during the pandemic. I live in Japan (I'm not Japanese). From experience, the first…
Anyone tried it?
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The oldest restaurant in Nara hasn't changed their menu in 500 years or so: your options are barley rice with grated yam (mugi tororo) or barley rice with broiled eel (unagi). The eel is great. The barley rice with gloopy yam on top... let's just say I understand why nobody else sells this stuff anymore.
What I absolutely love about this comment is that I feel exactly the opposite. Love mugi tororo and cannot figure out how eel is popular at all.
A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to "parent and child donburi" which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing). Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with t…
> Tokyo is an amazing city, though it can be very lonely for an expat. Could you expand upon this? I've been thinking of moving there for a year or two to focus on my language skills and work on my startup. I spent a lot of time in Obihiro, Hokkaido in my late teens and had a blast hanging out at the university. Everyone was super friendly. When I traveled to even more remote towns like Hobetsu / Mukawa, Makubetsu, A…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
that's what maturation into adulthood is, taking responsibility for social institutions that are larger than oneself and endure longer than oneself, rather than being a 35 year old owning nothing and playing paintball, which is, in contrast to the business culture on display here the future sold to us by the beloved SV companies. Most of which if I had to bet will not last longer than this store.
If everyone took this approach, we'd all be working on family subsistence farms. Though, actually, even agriculture was originally presumably a dangerous and tradition-breaking innovation. Possibly we'd all be doing family hunter-gathering.
Swiddening (Agriculture but you move every year) was safer but much harder work by comparison. Higher population densities became possible.
Fixed field agriculture was safer still, but much harder again. Higher densities again.
Historically the people doing this were not usually permitted to leave (eg frequent proclamations banning them from abandoning their lands, soldiers brought in to round up those who had and bring them back to work).
A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to "parent and child donburi" which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing). Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with t…
> Tokyo is an amazing city, though it can be very lonely for an expat. Could you expand upon this? I've been thinking of moving there for a year or two to focus on my language skills and work on my startup. I spent a lot of time in Obihiro, Hokkaido in my late teens and had a blast hanging out at the university. Everyone was super friendly. When I traveled to even more remote towns like Hobetsu / Mukawa, Makubetsu, A…