I'm Buddhist, no wait now I'm Shinto?

This week I have another religious entry to the Anime Companion Supplement

Kompira 金比羅

This one illustrates the haziness between Buddhism and Shinto in Japan.

New recommended manga

I have added two new entries to my recommended manga list:

Times of Botchan.

and

Satsuma Gishiden

Both of these are presently incomplete in English but still worth picking up as what is out pretty much stands alone.

A word for now and then

This weeks entry is for lovers of poetry.

kigo (seasonal word) 季語

Why for lovers of poetry? Read the entry and find out.

I'm getting this entry in a little later in the day than usual. Got a box of discs in the mail so I just finished watching Assault Girls and am about to view something literary.

Fist of the North Star!!!

Jake Adelstein in NYC

Folks, on March 10 Jake Adelstein will be speaking NYC. If I was in the area I'd be there!

This is one man I want to hear speak (great film afterwards). I also highly recommend his book Tokyo Vice

Yakuza in Popular Media & Real Life: Cracks & Chasms

Sweets and toys for the good girls and boys

This week I get to cover a type of neighborhood shop, which while declining in numbers, still exists in many parts of Japan. This week's entry is on the dagashiya (cheap sweet shop) 駄菓子屋. Those of you who are enjoying 20th Century Boys will recognize this one.

Of the splitting and adding of subjects...

I'm (not) enjoying this weekend with a tickle in my throat and a slight cough so I am staying indoors.

But a 3 day weekend is a good time to get caught up on things so I started editing the: Topical/Subject Index for the Anime Companion.

I have changed:

Clothing to Clothing & Accessories

Clothing - Headwear to Clothing - Headwear & Hair Ornaments

Under Food & Drink I have subdivided - Vegitables & Fruit, Including Aquatic & Mushrooms into:

- Aquatic Vegetables

- Fruit Vegetables

- Leaf, Inflorescent & Stalk Vegetables

- Root, Bulb & Tuber Vegetables

- Seed Vegetables

- Mushrooms, Fungus & lichen

- Vegitable based ingredients & dishes

- Vegitable Other

I also subdivided Sounds into:

Sounds - Human and Sounds - Natural

I have added a new section for Seasonal Clues subdivided into:

- Winter

- Winter - New Year

- Spring

- Summer

- Fall


And another new section for Terminology - Criminal

Out, out damn you!

This week I have a term that is used in a varity of contexts but always means the same thing.

Expulsion, banishment, excommunication are a few of the words used to translate hamon.

hamon (formal expulsion) 破門