black face, shrine and bridge.

This week I have Anime Companion Supplement entries on an unusual fashion trend, a famous shrine next to a famous bar area and a bridge that had a dramatric scene in the You're Under Arrest movie.

ganguro (black face)

Hanazono Jinja (in Shinjuku)

Kachidokibashi

This week is the winding down from over a year of very busy activity, speaking engagements, advising the Asian Art Museum on their Tezuka exhibit, movie screenings, convention appearances, academic quality essays (lots of labor), book signings etc.

Now I can rest a little, I've made it a point of allowing things to die down. I'll still be doing the supplement updates, my monthly column for Newtype USA and I'll finally get to a batch of web page updates that have been sitting for too long.

Oh yes, and get back to studying Japanese, taking notes on a pile of anime I have yet to do so with, and a two week trip to Japan later in the year.