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If Japan interest you, or you are just curious, I recommend you to start with a collection of essays Rekin z parku Yoyogi by great Polish writer Joanna Bator. She writes about Japan, mainly about people, subcultures and customs. More interesting are her stories, because Bator deal with culture  from the scientific anthropological point of view, which can be felt quite quickly reading a book. Moreover, Rekin... isn't the first Bator text about Japan, this author wrote Japoński wachlarz  undertooking also the subject of Japan. Bator lived many years in Japan and worked at Tokyo University. However, currently she lives in Warsaw.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

Japanese Otaku

Last posts were about Korea, so it's time to breathe...

 My dream is travel to Japan. This country fascinate and attracte me longtime. For now I recognize Japan only literary, but perhaps I'll visit  someday this island. Japan is today a melting pot of subcultures. One of them is otaku and their headquarters is the Akihabara district. Otaku is a person who fanatically passionate about Japanese popular culture like anime, manga, video games or movies. Otaku idols are not real people, but the products of artificial reality, literature, computer or comic. These are lil, warriors, monsters, French maids... All of this can be seen in Akihabara, where people parade through the streets dressed in these characters.

 Otaku photograph them, eat in restaurants where characters from the anime give him a meal, buy additional figurines of favorite characters. 

About 10 years ago, the district began to attract tourists. However, otaku don't like mainstream. Therefore there is a high possibility that their center will be moved to another, more secluded where nosy Europeans will not reach. 

I don't think I'll see Akihabara in forme that we see it now ... :)

cheese and strawberries ice cream...

Coming back to Korean cuisine, it's, Asian cuisine, but a completely different than e.g. Japanese cuisine. Of course there are some dishes that resemble to a certain extent Asian delights whether it is Japanese or Thai, but generally Koreans have their own highly developed culinary culture. In the most of the traditional restaurant you have to enter barefoot. Flip-flops or slip shoes are very practical. :) In the Korean menu rice and meat in any form - reign. They eat them raw, fried, stewed and boiled. Amateur of soups will be in heaven because all the bars have their rich offer. Of course, ordering the main course, we are sure that we will be treated by side dishes which I've described recently. Instead of sandwiches Koreans eat snack similar in appearance to the Japanese maki sushi, but instead of raw fish in the middle, you'll find fried minced meat or chicken...

In short, cabbage, rice and meat construct the base of this kitchen.

I loved this quite rustic food, although I suffered from a lack of fruits. They are outrageously expensive. For one apple or one banana I had to paid about 10 zl...

BUT … find such masterpieces as ice cream flavored cheese isn't difficult in Korea.. :) As for the title of the post

How about Korean ''hollywood''?

So ... Korea also, has its own factory of stars. In Seul- 20 million metropolis there're. ''stables'' which create new talents. Studies work like barracks. Young people are recruited at a very young age. And they are subjected there to strict discipline. Singing, acting and dancing exercises are endless. This is where they create new girls and boys bands. The whole team supervise over their formation. Their career is programmed to the exact date. Five years of training, eight years on the stage. Then there are new. And so on... The kids say that they wake up very early. They practice, but also work on their exteriors. Plastic surgery doesn't surprise anybody. They are on the agenda. New talents enter on the stage only when they're ready 100 percent. There're not any shortcomings.

And how they look like? These are, of course, long-legged girl with perfect skin and similar hairstyles. The guys are stylized to young romantics. The whole of the industry for me is very homogeneous. Watching Korean TV some time passed before I began to distinguish individual teams. ...

And here they are:

Oh, what the funniest thing. Of course, American culture is very common in Korea. We can drink coffee Starbucks on almost every corner, or eat a Big Mac. In music this trend is very visible too. Singers weave in songs English texts. We listen finally mix of two languages. For me this causes quite

 comical effect...