D&F 12/12/22
This trip to Japan has included way more Christmas music than I would typically listen to in five years. I’m writing this from a valley between two shopping malls where a small vendor is selling mulled-wine. It’s good.
I don’t really like Christmas, or any holidays particularly. The amount of over-the-top capitalism, mixed with weird religious sentiment just turns me off. In Japan though, I’m at enough of a distance to enjoy the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack with a mug of wine. Sadly, a Christmas tradition in Japan of eating KFC is rendered impossible due to the copious amounts of milk in almost every chain restaurant item here. It’s wild. Like, the milk producers/propagandists have very thoroughly convinced many nations with a high degree of lactose intolerance to just eat cheese and butter all the time.
At least every 7-11 has a bidet.
This is my first time in Fukuoka, or this far south in Japan, and it’s… interesting. It’s decidedly less used to American travelers than Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka, though there is a large number of Korean visitors right now. Still, there are tons of American flags at steakhouses and on vintage clothes, and an abiding interest in American jazz. I found an ambient music bar last night that really made my week—the owner was chill and we discussed our shared love of Abe Kobo, as well as him introducing me to some whiskies from his home town. This trip is solid so far.
Here’s what I’ve read this week in cafes and bars around Japan:
Links
A fantastic piece on the stories a generative game like Dwarf Fortress can lead to, and the ways they effect us. Reading this, I somewhat regretted not bringing my laptop with me on this trip, but I think it would be so sucked-in that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my trip. When I get home? All bets are off: it’s dwarfin’ time.
One reason I love visiting Japan is the rare chance to be wildly safe while walking around alone. I think some of this privilege comes from being a white lady with few connections to anyone in the country, but street harassment, pickpocketing, and muggings are super rare here. Your mileage may vary, and it’s important to note that Japan is somewhat xenophobic with pretty ignorant ads and signs about black folks and a horrible history wrt Korean women.
For your next vacation, why not try being off the grid (but only kind of because internet).
Don’t let the spiderchrist catch you in his web:
- I am trying this app from Consumer Reports currently to continue my war against weird, shitty public info scrapers. I don’t think that generally you can avoid having your info splattered all over the web, but hopefully stuff like this is part of a broader conversation on right to privacy.
Closing
As much as I love being in Japan right now, I really miss Snorri, my comfortable apartment, and my bicycles. I also miss y’all! Solo trips are fun for sure, but after two weeks of mostly being alone with a 17 hour time-difference between me and anyone I normally text, I’m ready to have a nice dinner with friends. So, please do that in my stead while I’m away. Enjoy each other’s company, and a nice hot wine, space cowgirls~