UPDATE, JAN. 17: It took longer than I thought, but Google finally removed the app from its Play Store. Now, back to your regularly scheduled blog post...
I just had an interesting phone conversation with Leo Duran, a producer at KPCC public radio in Los Angeles, about a burning issue the media must address: Why are there no Asian Santa Clauses? Granted, the image that immediately springs to mind when you say "Santa" is a big fat white man with rosy cheeks, a bushy white beard and a...
[caption id="attachment_4839" align="aligncenter" width="520"] Kimiko Side, recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun award from the Emperor of Japan, toasts "campai" during the Emperor's Birthday reception Dec. 3, with Consul General Ikuhiko Ono at the left of the photo and Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock behind her.[/caption] This was a good year for Japanese and Japanese Americans in Colorado. A...
Living in Colorado has its benefits: Great weather, great outdoor recreation, great people and a central location for traveling to either coast. But it's not the most convenient place if you want to travel to, say, Europe or to Asia. In my case, it's a huge undertaking to plan a trip to Japan. That's because there's no direct flight from Denver...
PSY, the Korean pop sensation whose viral hit video, "Gangnam Style," has been viewed alomst 800 million times on YouTube (that's the official video, never mind the countless other users' uploads and all the spoofs and tributes), closed out the American Music Awards on Nov. 18. In a savvy, surprising and ultimately, ironic, collaboration, the 35-year-old PSY (real name: Park...
[caption id="attachment_4763" align="alignleft" width="520"] This bronze statue of Buddha, at 15 meters (almost 50 feet, or five stories) tall, is the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world. It sits in one of the largest wooden structures in the world, Todaiji Temple in Nara, Japan. I shot this photo during a 2011 trip.[/caption] An excellent, thoughtful and thought-provoking article on...
I have a soft spot for children's music, especially if they're traditional folk songs of any culture. But the children's music that really tugs at my heart are the timeless melodies I grew up with as a kid in Japan. So when I listened to Elena Moon Park and Friends' beautiful and fun album, "Rabbit Days and Dumplings," I was...
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