Today is Licca-chan's birthday! Now, you may wonder why chanpon.org would be wishing Licca, the enduring Japanese fashion doll from the sixties, a happy birthday. But did you know that Licca-chan is a chanpon pioneer? I first realized this...
Joichi Ito, occasional Chanpon contributor and international businessman, has written a short treatise on his joi.ito.com web site about appropriate manners for foreigners doing business in Asia. As a Chanponite, he's well-poised to observe between cultures, and understand people's intentions....
A friend of mine recently showed me an article in the New York Times, entitled Generation E.A.: Ethnically Ambiguous. The article featured a half-page spread of photos of various EAs, and posits: "Ambiguity is chic, especially among the under-25 members...
Browsing other Japanese-language pages created by otherハーフwho grew up in Japan, and whose primary languages are Japanese, I was reminded that I too used to refer to myself as an American and a Japanese (in that order so that people...
私は今、久しぶりに自分と全く縁もゆかりもない国に住んでいる。 語学習得を目的とした韓国滞在は2度目。今回はもう少し腰をすえて韓国語習得に力を入れようと6ヶ月はここにいるつもりでやって来た。今回も滞在先はソウル。なぜソウルかと言えば、私が都会大好き人間で、しかもソウルの熱気あふれるパワーと人々に対して、自分の故郷である日本の東京にも感じない居心地よさを感じるからだ。 ニューヨークのマンハッタンで過ごしたような大学時代の楽しさに加わり、(大学院生でいるよりは)楽な、遊ぶことが仕事とも思える語学学校のカリキュラム、外国に大学や学校の夏休みよりは長い時間をかけて外国語を習いに来ようと言う、どこか変わったことをしている人たちに囲まれて、私の経験は韓国語を習うことだけに飽き足りない。...
There are those of us who defy categorization not as a matter of aesthetic or political principle but rather by the fact that we simply do not fit in. We are not white, nor are we simply asian, latino, pacific...
As I scan the news reports about the US occupation of Iraq, I find myself flashing back on scenes from the end of WWII. Not that I was alive at the time. But I have vivid memories of the occupation...
Giant Robot magazine has been dispensing hip Asian culture to American audiences since 1994, considering Japan as part of the Asian-American urban culture mix. Kevin Kelly was recently turned on to GR by William Gibson, and he responds with this...
A few months back, Time magazine Asia had a large cover story summing up Japan's troubles, "Japan: Rising No Longer." A dire, bleak, unsettling overview of the economy and mood in Japan, as we've come to expect from Western journalism....
If you were ever in doubt about the benefits of chanponism, recent research suggests that early exposure to two languages has cognitive benefits. A recent article in the LA Times writes:. " Kids who grow up in bilingual homes may...
A posting by Penny Kinnear in the chanpon member discussion boards in a thread about raising bilingual, bicultural children: This has been a topic close to my own heart for many years. When our first child was born, my husband...
gen at kanai dot net is a lively web log frequently updated with a lot of links to stories on politics, games, culture and Asia. Gen, who posted here about Chanpon music, looks like a good Chanpon newswatcher....
Edited by Claudine C. O'Hearn A collection of essays by 18 writers from various backgrounds....
Can you tell a Japanese face apart from a Chinese and Korean face? I certainly cannot....
Managing Director, Tokyo, Standard & Poor's Credit Market Services...
