Sweets for long life

This week I have an entry for an item that is often present and not visible.

chitoseame (1000 year candy) 千歳飴

Usually what one sees is the bag it is in rather than the sweet itself.

Famine Con to date

Last day of the con.

In the Green Room one of the Japanese guests was walking around with his phone streaming live video and reading viewer comments. I wonder what they thought of Piper, the very cute dog.

The Panels have gone well, the last one is Be You Otaku in a few hours.

Well I think I'll get on to the rest of the day. I'll post the new Anime Companion Supplement entry tomorrow.

Fanime 2011

I have my schedule for Fanime 2011 which starts tomorrow.


There is always the possibility of last minute changes but this is a final schdedule.

Friday 7pm - Anime for Parents - badge not required - Panels 1 Mariott Salons I & II

Saturday 1pm - Anime and Manga for Grownups - Panels 1 Mariott Salons I & II

Sunday 12 noon - Older Titles for Newer Fans - Panels 2 Mariott Salon III

Monday 1 pm - Be You Otaku? - Panels 2 Mariott Salon III

Other than that I'll be haunting the halls, talking with folks, looking for toys in the dealers room and generally hanging out.

For those of you who were hoping I would repeat my Sex Trade in Anime and Manga presentation from last year I plan to do that one on occasion but not two years in a row.

Beauty as commercial product

This week I chose a genre of art that has continued to be popular in one form or another for centuries.

bijinga (beauty picture) 美人画 OLD FORM: 美人畫

While usually associated with woodblock prints the subject is found in many other media to this day.

Shizukanaru Don (The Quiet Don)

My review of the Shizukanaru Don (The Quiet Don) manga is now up on the Japan Subculture Research Center site.

Lingerie designer by day, yakuza by night: Shizukanaru Don (The Quiet Don)

Anime and Manga for Grownups

A week after doing panels at Fanime Con I will be doing a presentation at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library.

Click on the image for a better view.

Bringing lunch from home

This week's entry is a common sight in classrooms and offices in Japan.

I bring you the humble bentō bako (bentō box) 弁当箱.

Do you use one for your lunch?

Mine is a Crez which came with an insulated bag and is made from steel.

From here to there, but how?

This week's new entry to the Anime Companion Supplement is something any urban dweller or experienced traveler is likely to have used. Train schedules.

This falls into the: "not seen in anime and manga often but important in real life" category.

Of course it also falls into the: "Gilles wanted to write about this" category.

In any case I present you with:

jikoku-hyō (timetable) 時刻表

By the way, my main two sources of information were articles in JRTR Japan Railway & Transport Review, a magazine that has all of the issues online in PDF format for easy downloading.

Small ordinary, seen often

This week I'm adding an entry to the Anime Companion Supplement for something you commonly see in stories set in the Edo Period. Modest as this is it has a name, it is the :

kanzashi dama (hairpin bead) 簪玉