“Haircut So I got another haircut today. It was amazing. Today’s cut was 100% different from last time. I wanted to mix it up a little bit so instead of going to the ‘salon’ in Harajuku again, I chose a local barber today. Man, I’m glad I did! It was cheaper than last time and I was even more surprised today than before. I went into the shop expecting to see everything that was in front of me: a friendly Japanese man, an old fashioned barber chair, and a couple faded hair magazines. But there is always more than meets the eye! I sat down at the chair and the whole placed pulled an optimus prime. The mirror in front of me flipped down, turning into a sink with hidden cabinets for shampoo and conditioner. The chair reclined into a 180 degree bed with cushions softer than a baby’s bottom. Yes, I was very shocked. The barber was fantastic, we had a great conversation about American vs. Japanese barbers, currency, and the corruption of youth. LOL. After the cut was over he pulled out a magazine and showed me some photos of Japanese models, complete with crazy hair. A bit like this:

He said, “”I hate when people come in and get their hair cut like this, I’m like, “”why do you want to turn yourself into something else? A normal cut is so much better.”" I was cracking up. Haircuts in Japan: brilliant.”

“A lot of people are under the impression that Japanese girls are shy and submissive. Likewise, I’ve heard a ton of people say Japanese guys are nerdy and too thin to be cool.

Allow me to destroy your preconceptions:

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What you’ve just watched is the famous Keio Dance team, “”JADE”" performing at Mita Sai 2007. “”Sai”" is essentially a word for festival, and “”Mita”" is simply the name of my campus. Today was the second day I went to the festival, which was a 4 day event in total. It’s the most famous school festival in Japan, with more than 2.5 million people coming from start to finish. But that’s not what this blog entry is about ; )

I’d like to use the video above to illustrate a point: Japanese people are extremely capable of being talented and passionate. Although I am a huge supporter of people interested in Japan, I believe there are some serious misconceptions that I ought to clear up, otherwise you may be disrespecting yourself or even me.

First, Japan is not a haven for people that ‘don’t fit in’ in other places. You know what I mean by this: there is a difference between someone who likes anime and someone who is obsessed with anime to the point of neglecting hygiene. If you happen to be one of these people, do not think that coming to Japan will solve your problems. Yes, there are ‘otaku’ (translation: nerds) in Japan. And yes, they are viewed the same as nerds are viewed in the states. Whether you chose to live that way or not isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, but the color of your skin will not change people’s perceptions of your personality; only your actions can do that.

This concept applies to japanese girls especially. This can bug me quite a bit at times. I see foreigners disrespecting women on a regular basis in Japan. If you’re one of the guys that only dates Asian girls, that’s fine. Everyone has their own physical tastes in the opposite sex. However, do not think that because you’re white or black girls will bow down to you when you come to Japan. Japanese girls are:

-strong
-intelligent
-capable
-motivated

Japanese girls are not:

-looking for any random foreigner they can find
-the submissive geisha that you’ve seen in movies
-eager to jump into a relationship with someone they cannot communicate with

Japanese girls will not:

-try to make eye contact with you, just because you’re foreign -try to speak with you, just because you’re foreign -try to befriend you, just because you’re foreign

With that in mind, Japanese girls are probably extremely similar to the girls already in your country! That being said, please reconsider the reasons for your Japanophilia. In doing so, you save me the trouble of being tagged as a ‘typical westerner.’ You saw the video, these ladies aren’t innocent school girls. Just like any place in the world, women here are looking for someone they can rely on and respect. Japanese men are extremely capable of this. In fact, I would wager that in terms of work ethic, the Japanese are at the top of the world. I would argue that it is MORE difficult to meet girls interested in you in Japan than where you’re from; chances are they’re working much harder than you to begin with! One of the reasons I’m so attracted to my girlfriend is her incredible motivation; I am not keen on subservient behavior. Finally, think about this: you’ll have to compete with Japanese men that are working hard, 10+ hours a day. Good luck!

I know a lot of people, guys and girls under the impression you can come to Japan, instantly meet a ton of beautiful women/men, and become a celebrity, just for being foreign. This couldn’t be any further from reality. It is far easier to date and live comfortably in America, or wherever you’re from, than it is in Japan. In fact, most of the people I’m living with do NOT want to live in Japan when they are older because they’ve come to realize that their original image of Japan is much different than the reality. I personally like the high level of drive here and is one of the reasons I plan on staying. Of course there are exceptions in every culture, but don’t make the mistake of underestimating the Japanese.

In summary! In Japan, people love to work hard. If you want to fit in, you’ll need to work hard too. Train hard!”

“A lot has happened to me lately. It’s not very late and I’d like to write well about this, but I am absolutely exhausted so we’ll see how it turns out.

First off! I feel like my Japanese is continuing to improve. I had one of my friends, who I’ve known for a long time, comment on my Japanese, saying that he can tell I’m making improvements. Yay for THAT. I’m really trying my best to improve. Waching Risa is extremely inspiring for me, her dedication to English and skill is insane. She knows more SAT words than me! Haptics, for example.

Yesterday I went with her to a park in Shinjuku and showed her what defines me. Yes sir, that would be tricking. I really wanted to do it properly, so here’s what we did. I brought all of my tricking gear, tape, water, camcorder, clothes, etc. Of course, the fundamental element was music. I have my tricking playlist that I always trick to, similar to most tricksters I know. I usually trick “”to”" the music, and I wanted to include Risa in that somehow, so I burned her a cd with all the songs, she put it on her iPod, and we listened to the same thing at the same time, while I trick, and she watched. Needless to say, it was quite the experience. The fact that someone would do that, as a means to understand me, is very humbling for me. Thanks Risa! You’re amazing!

After that we went to some delish thai food, the first I’ve had in Japan, and then settled down in a coffee shop to talk about relations between Japan and China, our dream vacations, and language. It was the first time I got to speak what I feel was real Japanese to Risa, so I’m happy about that too. Summary, yesterday was another fantastic day with my lovely Lisa. (Alliteration).

Finally, I received two e-mails in the past few days that have had quite a profound effect on me, and I’d like to share them with you all. Here you are!

I just read your current blog entry about this guy who sent you this e-mail. What is funny about that is that just yesterday I was thinking on writing la message like that to you, too lol. You’ll probably think something like i want to make myself look sympathic to you or something like that but it’s true and i was kind of scared how much the message of this guy looks like the one i’d have probably written. man i wished i had written that one yesterday evening LOL. hajime no ippo, real passion for japan and also the fact that i just started learning japanese at a different school because mine doesn’t offer it. Further I’m also hoping to go to japan next summer. All that and also the style of the e-mail that was so much like my own thoughts had been…all that seemed really amazing to me. What I wanted to add is that what you wrote about that you’ve been hiding your passion about japan to others is just the situation i’m in at the moment. What you said really opened my eyes and today i quit lying about things so i told a friend of mine that i’m going to my japanese class this evening when he asked me why i had no time to meet. Final i want to say that your blog entrys as well as your tutorials and samplers really inspire me and that you’re one of the most amazing people in the world to me. Thanks Dogen, i mean REALLY thanks Dogen,

Yoichi

Number 2

Hey Kevin, I just read the purpose section on your site and I have to say that it brought tears to my eyes. I don’t really know what else to say except that I am so sorry for all the times that I was not nice to you or criticized you for anything regarding Japan or tricking or anything else. I realized my mistake maybe a year ago and have tried to be nice to you ever since then; I hope you’ve noticed this but I never offered an apology for all the time before that. You are my brother and I love you and that’s all that matters. To be honest I look up to you for a lot of things and have always wished I had your passion and work ethic. I hope this means something to you and know that you don’t have to hide anything from me anymore.

Love, Ryan

Enough to make you cry huh? I know I did. Reading these makes me want to keep doing my best and standing up for what I truly believe in.

Thanks everyone! Train hard!”

“Here are a couple pictures from the park a couple days ago, I love how these turned out. “

“I went to Kamakura today with two of my classmates and a friend of mine who studied at my college last year. It was a beautiful day! This video took a long time to make, but I wanted to do it properly as a thank you to everyone that’s been visiting the site! Enjoy!

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I got this e-mail earlier today and it seriously touched me.

Start: This is kinda weird. I came across your site when, at the Parkour forums I frequent, someone posted your titanium ankles video. It absolutely blew my mind when I read more about your profile and how you’re into Japanese culture, as well as tricking. It seems like you and I had mirroring childhoods involving our obsessions with Japan(including being ostracized by your friends and family on occasion, I can sympathize man!). And Hajime no Ippo has been a big inspiration for myself as well.

Instead of tricking though, I found Parkour instead. Music has also been a fundamental, if not, the forefront of my life for the past 7 years or so.

But anyway, the point I want to get to is, you’re living my dream! I hope to study abroad in Japan in my later years of College. My High School didn’t offer Japanese, so I took it at a Community College during the summers and after school, which took 4 hours out of my day. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish the final trimester of 2nd year due to… well, life. Luckily, when I start college full time, I’ll be into 3rd year Japanese after finishing the final term of 2nd year in my year off(which is this year). I plan on finally fulfilling my lifelong dream by going to Japan next summer, but those are just words at the moment.

Anyway, good luck in Japan. It’s pretty awesome to come across a site like this that almost seems tailored for myself… yeah. Haha.
End

Man, messages like that just make my day. Train hard everyone!

“What is the cutest thing you have ever seen? A puppy? Maybe this?
Well yea that’s pretty damn cute, but I’ll do you one better.

I went to Roppongi yesterday with Lisa and once again had the time of my life. Man, that girl is great! We first went to an amazing art exhibition where I was quite overwhelmed with the beauty of everything; namely pictures of big animals such as rhinos and hippopotamuses. But seriously, there were some remarkable pieces there. One in particular has stuck with me. It was a monochrome painting of the world with a family sitting around it eating. It was as if the dinner table had been replaced by our planet. I stood in front of that painting for a good 5 minutes just looking at it, trying to appreciate it.

It’s so strange ‘appreciating’ art. At a very base level, you can appreciate the beauty of the color placement. Beyond that you can appreciate the beauty of detail. Furthermore, you can appreciate the beauty of meaning, and finally, you can try and appreciate the artist’s mindset: how and why the work was created. These are all questions I asked myself yesterday while standing in front of that remarkable piece. The longer I looked at it, the more hypnotized I became in it. When I finally tore myself away from the gorgeous painting I turned to my left, where my equally stunning girlfriend stood. The one two punch of beauty was a bit like listening to your favorite song while receiving a full body massage, or so I imagine.

A bit later while walking about outside, we got caught in an icy wind and had to run for shelter. Fortunately, our place of refuge was a cozy, cabin like structure overlooking a peaceful garden. We sat and talked, laughing, and smiling. At the apex of that point in time, Lisa looked at me and said one of the cutest things I’ve ever heard, “”I want a hug.”" I nearly passed out. We sat there for a long time, soaking up the moment and each other’s body heat. Perfect moment? I think so.”

Just finished 10 pages of Kanji homework. Shouldn’t have put it off haha. On the other hand, I am still wired from an amazing day with Lisa. I’d write more about that, but right now I’m exhausted; I’ll save it for tomorrow. Good night all. LOVE AND PEACE.

“

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“Check this out, it’s a mind trip: “